Jones abused his position of power and degraded the animals immensely. As old Major put it, "Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty." (Orwell, page 18) This passage from Old Major's speech to the farm animals evokes many emotions in the reader. Orwell pulls on the readers heart strings by using such intense imagery, which gives the reader a picture of the horribly hard lives these animals have been forced to live. The tone in old Major's speech is so powerful that once again, incredible emotion arises within the reader. Personally, when I read this part of the novel I felt horrible for the way that I have treated some animals in my life, for example squishing insects and running away from cats. Orwell uses just the right amount of exaggeration when it comes to getting his point across, so that readers believe him when he does so. The most evident example of Jones's exploitation of the animals was again reiterated by old Major, "You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year? And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies. And you hens, how many eggs have you aid in this last year, and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens? The rest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men." (Orwell, 19) The theme of Orwell's novel is that no matter what totalitarian system, they are all equally as bad. In following this theme, the examples of Napoleon's exploitation are clear, as the occasions are abundant. Orwell successfully depicts how Napoleon's leadership was no better than Jones's, as Napoleon commits many crimes against the animals.
