Thursday, January 22, 2015

Why did Napoleon allow Moses to return and talk to the other animals about Sugarcandy Mountain in Animal Farm?

Moses is first introduced as a spy for Jones.  He is
deployed for the purpose of keeping the animals' minds off of their labor and their
toil. In preaching to them about Sugarcandy Mountain, Jones uses Moses to keep the
animals in check, telling them that their reward comes in the afterlife and that the
purpose of this life is to work towards that end.  In doing so, the animals do not feign
rebellion because they believe that their struggle now pays off for them later, while in
the meantime they are manipulated by those in the position of power to reap the benefits
of their work.


While there is no outward evidence of some
type of deal brokered between Napoleon and the pigs and Moses, it seems that the same
purpose is invoked when Moses comes back and tells the animals again about Sugarcandy
Mountain.  In this setting, the pigs have become the forces in the position of power who
greatly benefit from distracted animals.  In this respect, Napoleon sees no problem with
Moses preaching to the animals because it prevents any sort of opposition or dissent to
his power.  Orwell tells us that Moses receives food for his services, implying that he
is a tool of Napoleon's power structure and apparatus of control.  In the end, Moses'
return also indicates how things have changed and not changed.  On one hand, there was a
time when the pigs led by Snowball and Napoleon actually did not want Moses on the farm
because of his preachings of the afterlife.  This is certainly not the case at the end
of the narrative, as the pigs benefit from Moses' preaching serving as distractions for
the other animals.  In the end, Moses return indicates how the more things change on the
farm, the more they stay the same.

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