From the beginning, Napoleon emerges as an utterly corrupt opportunist. Though always present at the early meetings of the new state, Napoleon never makes a single contribution to the revolution—not to the formulation of its ideology, not to the bloody struggle that it necessitates, not to the new society’s initial attempts to establish itself. He never shows interest in the strength of Animal Farm itself, only in the strength of his power over it. The only project he undertakes with enthusiasm is the training of a litter of puppies. He doesn’t educate them for their own good and they become his own private army or secret police, a violent means by which he imposes his will on others.