Power

The most obvious leitmotif of Animal Farm is that of power. It is essentially the driving force behind many of the events of the novella. Within the very first chapter, readers are positioned to witness the mistreatment of the animals by their negligent owner Farmer Jones, demonstrating an obvious imbalance of power. Embodying Karl Marx’s political ideals, Major’s speech to the animals serves as idealistic projection of a future where power is equally shared amongst the animals. Here, we begin to see shades of the Marxian theory of dialectical materialism, in which the oppressed animals are yearning for freedom.