A corrupt government is a government that claims to be protective but deceives the people to take advantages. Ukraine is considered as one of the most corrupt countries today because it allows illegal crimes that are committed to slip through as a result of bribery without taking severe actions.
However, this can be prevented if the government interferes with these crimes and set apprehensions of imprisonment to those who violate the laws. The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell portrays Animal Farm as a corrupt government that is run by the pigs after Mr. Jones is overthrown. Corruption is evident because of promotion of inequality, scapegoating and having difficulty in discerning the truth from falsehoods.The government of Animal Farm is corrupt because it promotes inequality. The pigs are seen superior; thus they should take the milk and the apples as the rest of the animals have fewer rights. The pigs also change the Seven Commandments entirely for them to introduce greater privilege to themselves as the rulers of the farm. After the mystery of the missing milk is cleared up, the ripening apples are thought to be shared equally amongst the animals for their hard labour.
Unfortunately for the rest of the animals, the pigs decide that the milk and apples should only be given to the pigs as a result of terminating Mr. Jones’s control over the farm. However, Squealer says, “we pigs are brainworkers.
The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades” (Orwell 23). Because Squealer convinces the animals that the pigs should take the apples and milk for the sake of the farm, the animals are not smart enough to protest and are seen below the pigs. Therefore, they are being mistreated. Furthermore, as Clover cannot read ever since she was young, she still notices the Seven Commandments looking different than they used to be. Therefore she tugs Benjamin and leads him to the end of the big barn, where they are written.
Benjamin consets to break his rule and reads out the only commandment written on the wall: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Orwell 90). Because the animals are easily deceived, pigs had taken leadership over the farm and changed the Seven Commandments completely. They have more privilege than the rest of the animals; inequality is publicly being promoted.The farm is evidently seen as corrupt because it uses scapegoats.
Napolean blames Snowball for the destruction of the windmill and Squealer, being the spokesman of Napolean, uses scapegoats Snowball to blame him for the crimes that occur on the farm. After a stormy night, the heavy wind destroys the windmill. The next morning, the animals find out that all their hard work had been wrecked. Napolean, frustrated to speak, makes up his mind and says, “Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!” (Orwell 47). Because Napolean is at a loss for words, the first thing that comes to his head is his number one enemy; Snowball. Snowball is blamed for the destruction of the windmill even when Napolean is not certain of this conviction.
Therefore, Snowball is used as a scapegoat. Later, as more problems and crimes are committed in the farm during the night, Snowball is always the first to be blamed for them: “If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough, they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal” (Orwell 52). Because Squealer convinces animals of the farm that Snowball is the enemy, they are dumb enough to follow his route.
Snowball, who is innocent of all the crimes, is used as a scapegoat on the farm. The farm is also undoubtedly corrupt because the truth becomes difficult to discern from falsehoods. Squealer deceives the animals into thinking they are mistaken about what they read on the van. Instead, he lies to them, and the animals believe him; they are gullible.
As the pigs’ hierarchy changes, they begin to dress up as humans and stand on their hind legs. The animals on the farm can no longer distinguish them from man to pig. After Boxer is put in the van, the animals say their goodbyes thinking he will go to a veterinary surgeon. However, Benjamin yells at them and tells them to read what is written on the van.
They read out: “Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels Supplied” (Orwell 82). After the rumours are heard by Squealer, he says, “It was almost unbelievable, said Squealer, that any animal could be so stupid.
Surely, he cried indignantly, whisking his tail and skipping from side to side, surely they knew their beloved Leader, Comrade Napoleon, better than that? But the explanation was straightforward. The van had previously been the property of the knacker and had been bought by the veterinary surgeon, who had not yet painted the old name out. That was how the mistake had arisen” (Orwell 83). Because the animals are too gullible to protest, the truth becomes more difficult to discern from Squealer’s lies and manipulation, except for Benjamin; he is more clever than the animals.
At the end of the book, the humans visit the Animal Farm to meet the pigs. The pigs stand on their hind legs and wear the same clothing as Mr. Jones’ which makes them look similar to humans. Meanwhile, the animals peak from the windows as they play the cards game. Napolean and Mr. Pilkingon each play an ace of spades simultaneously.
Therefore, they cheat, and the shouting against each other made them hard to distinguish from each other. The narrator shows there is no difference in the behaviour of the pigs and the humans, as well as the look of their weights: “No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 95). Because there is no difference in the appearance of the pigs and the humans, they are hard to distinguish from their corruption as rulers.Animal Farm promotes inequality, scapegoats and changes the Seven Commandments. Therefore it indicates a corrupt government. Promotion of inequality is seen when the pigs take the apples and the milk for themselves, and when they change the Seven Commandments into One Commandment only. Scapegoating is also identified when Snowball is blamed both by Squealer and Napolean as a result of using him as a scapegoat.
He is seen as the reason for every crime that is committed at night. And the final one, Squealer manipulates the truth about what the animals read on the van and convinces them that the van belongs to a veterinary surgeon. And the pigs look the same as the humans, and they are hard to distinguish from each other.
Nevertheless, similar to the corruption present in Animal Farm, Ukraine also experiences problems due to corruption in the government. There had been a recent movement of two bills toward anti-corruption advocates in Eastern Ukraine. This brings hope in erasing corruption permanently in this repellent nation.
