You Would Have Done the Same
When people have finished reading George Orwell's book Animal Farm more times than not the average reader will blame the farm's downfall solely on Napoleon and his charismatic sidekick Squaler, and rightly so. After all, Napoleon did act in very corrupt ways. However, when one is given power as Napoleon was, it is merely human nature to try to get the most for oneself out of this newly achieved power. It is most hypocritical for one to blame him, for anybody would have done the same, being that they're human. And anyway, it was inevitable for Animal Farm to fail, because its initial plan, which was created by Old Major, was too idealistic and not thouroughly followed through. And if Animal Farm's starting off with a plan bound to fail was bad enough, it was also composed of stupid citizens. The animals can not be blamed for their idiocy, however, there was one animal that did know what was going on and what was bound to happen. This animal was Benjamin, the cynical donkey. If he knew this, then he should have done something about it instead of simply keeping quiet. And so, Napoleon can not be blamed for Animal Farm's undoing, for the society which he ruled over was bound to fail from the beginning, especially when the only animal that could have done something about it chose not to.
When one has absolute power, they will corrupt absolutely. Any human will corrupt to the extent they can in order to get what they want, for as described earlier, it is human nature to desire. If one has no power, they will not be able to be corrupt. However, when one has absolute power, as Napoleon did, they will corrupt absolutely, for they will be able to corrupt to the extent of their power. Therefore Napoleon acted normally, for it is human nature to be corrupt to the extent of their power, and he shouldn't be blamed no matter how corrupt he was. Even though he did do such things as hoarding the animal's food, banishing his opponents from the farm, making the animals work while he relaxed, switching the commandments, and basically defying all of the original principles of Animalism of which the society was based upon, it was only his human nature for him to do so, and you would have done the same.
While Napoleon was being corrupt, the animals who where being corrupted were busy being too stupid to notice. Napoleon could do anything he wanted, and all he would have to do was get Squealer to confuse them and they would go along with his corrupt plan no matter how preposterous it was. The animals should not be blamed for their stupidity, however, for it is not their fault that they are not as smart as others. However, one of the animals was not so stupid, and he did know what was going to happen from the beginning. Benjamin, the cynical donkey, always knew that, "life would go on as it always had, and that is badly."
Benjamin knew this, yet he did not do anything about it. The only time he even attempted to speak out was when his dear companion Boxer was being taken to the glue factory, and after the event was undoable he went back to being his old, cynical self. He could tell from the beginning that their utopia was to collapse, but he just let it be. He was a very smart animal. With all the evidence that he had on his side, had he chosen to reveal Napoleon's corruption to the animals then not even the charismatic Squealer could have convinced them that Benjamin was lying. He obviously could have done something about it, yet he chose not to. And so Benjamin can easily be blamed for the downfall of Animal Farm. If a society is going to become successful, its leader must be kept in check. In the constitution of the USA we have what we call checks and balances. These both balance the powers of the different leaders of our society, and check that no one branch of power can be corrupt. Benjamin could have been a check and balance himself. He could have kept Napoleon in check easily, yet he didn't.
Napoleon would not have corrupted absolutely had he not had absolute power, for you can only corrupt to the extent of your power. And so the descent of Animal Farm can be traced back to where its ascent began, and that is with Old Major. Old Major was the one who set up the society of Animal Farm. He attempted to turn Animal Farm into a utopia; "this single farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep, and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining," he preached. Perhaps he did not realize that in the society that would come to be after the animals revolted would not be able to fulfill these idealistic dreams of his. Perhaps he did not realize that because it seemed to be a tradition that the pigs were leaders, that the pigs would become such autocrats. Perhaps he did not see that there would be nobody to keep these leaders in check. And perhaps he did not forsee that these leaders would need to be kept in check. These are all things that Old Major should have thought of before he told the animals to prepare for the rebellion. He should have first made sure that the society that would come to be after the rebellion would be a good one, instead of so naively assuming that everything would be all right. And so Old Major can be blamed for the destruction of Animal Farm, for he merely gave the animals a few days of a utopia, while really only preparing them for the end.
And so, in conclusion, Napoleon should not be blamed for the downfall of Animal Farm, because in reality he was only an average human being placed into a faulty society. And the society was faulty because the animals that could have kept Napoleon in check were too simple-minded to do so, except for one member who was too cynical to do so. The society itself could have also been better prepared by its founder, so that perhaps the animals could have been taught to resist the corruption of their leaders instead of following along servilely. While it is easy for one to blame the pigs, one should look beyond what appears to be obvious and see that there is more to this story than a few corrupt pigs.