How does animal farm relate to Lord Acton's quote?

Question

the quote "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely"
I have to do a paper relating the two.....and sadly enough, i'm drawing a blank

Answer 1

One of the main themes of Animal Farm is that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Allow me to explain: In the beginning of the book, the animals felt that their human master, Mr. Jones, was treating them badly and had too much power. So as a result, the animals overthrew him and ran him out of his own farm.

The animals rejoiced that they got rid of the humans and decided to created like a 'free democracy' kind of farm where everyone was treated equally. But as time went by, Napoleon the pig started getting more and more powerful, and corrupt, and started restricting the rights of the other animals.

(This next part I copied from Cliffnotes): 'Napoleon’s lust for power increases to the point where he becomes a totalitarian dictator, forcing “confessions” from innocent animals and having the dogs kill them in front of the entire farm. He and the pigs move into Jones’ house and begin sleeping in beds (which Squealer excuses with his brand of twisted logic). The animals receive less and less food, while the pigs grow fatter.'

'As more of the Seven Commandments of Animalism are broken by the pigs, the language of the Commandments is revised: For example, after the pigs become drunk one night, the Commandment, “No animals shall drink alcohol” is changed to, “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess." '

So as Napoleon gets more and more corrupt, the Seven Commandments keep getting broken and eventually removed, until finally it is reduced to a single law: “All Animals Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others.”

(More from Cliffnotes): 'The novel ends with Pilkington sharing drinks with the pigs in Jones’ house. Napoleon changes the name of the farm back to Manor Farm and quarrels with Pilkington during a card game in which both of them try to play the ace of spades. As other animals watch the scene from outside the window, they cannot tell the pigs from the humans.'

So basically in the end of the novel, the animals become exactly as corrupt as the humans that used to rule them. In other words, they became ruled by exactly what they had strived so hard to be rid of: corruption.

I hope you understand now. Good luck with your essay!

Answer 2

Lord Acton Quotes

Answer 3

Haven't you read the book?? Last time I read it was in high school, so I kinda forgot the details. It shouldn't be hard to conect the two, they go hand in hand. Talk about communism and socialism and how corrupt it is because they have absolute power over their people. Just research.

Answer 4

I'm not going to write your paper for you, but if you read the book, think about what happened as the pigs gained greater power.