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Animal Farm
by George Orwell
George Orwell's novel Animal Farm does an excellent job of drawing
parallels from the situation leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Animal Farm is a satire that uses its characters to symbolize leaders of
the Russian Revolution. The animals of "Manor Farm", the setting of this
novel, which symbolizes Russia, overthrow their human master after years
of mistreatment. Led by the pigs, the farm animals continue to do their
work, only with more pride, knowing that they are working for themselves,
as opposed to working for their human master, Farmer Jones. Slowly over
time the pigs gain power and take advantage of the other animals. They
gain so much power that they become just as power hungry and corrupt as
their human master. The theme in the novel being that in every society
there are leaders who will, if given the chance, likely abuse their
position. Old Major is a prize white boar who helps point out to the
animals that no animal in England is free. He continues to tell the
animals that the their labor is stolen by man, who benefits alone. The
animals in return get near nothing, just enough to keep them away from
starvation. Old Major gave many speeches to the farm animals about hope
and the future. He is the main animal who got the rebellion started even
though he died before it actually began. Old Major's role compares to
Lenin and Marx whose ideas would spark the communist revolution. Lenin
became the leader and teacher of the working class in Russia, and their
determination to struggle against capitalism. Like Old Major, Lenin and
Marx wrote essays and gave speeches to the working class poor. The
working class in Russia, as compared with the barnyard animals in Animal
Farm, were a laboring class of people that received low wages for their
work. Old major tells the animals that the source of the problem is man,
they must overthrow man to abolish tyranny and hunger. Soon Old Major
does die, but his words still echo in the hearts of all the animals. With
the leadership of the pigs, the smartest animals, they repel against the
human and gain complete control of the farm. This would symbolize the
Russian Revolution.
Another parallel represented in the book is Farmer Jones. His
character is similar to the politician Czar Nicholas who treated his
people similar to how Farmer Jones treated his animals. The animal
rebellion on the farm was started because Farmer Jones was a drunk who
never took care of the animals. This made them very angry, fed by the
words of Old Major the animals decided to rebel like the Russians. Czar
Nicholas was a very weak man who treated his people similar to how Farmer
Jones treated his animals.
The Czar made his working class people very uneasy with the way he
used his authority and preached all the time, and the people suffered and
finally demanded reform by rebelling.
The animal Napoleon can be compared as a character representing
Stalin in Russia. Both were very mean looking, didn't talk very much but
always got what they wanted through force. In one part of the book
Napoleon had the dogs charge Snowball, another animal, as soon as he
thought that the pigs were becoming corrupt. Stalin became the Soviet
Leader after the death of Lenin. He was underestimated by his opponents
who always became his victims, and he had one of the most ruthless,
regimes in history. In was not till very many years later that the world
found out about the many deaths that Stalin created in Russia during the
Revolution.
Another strong parrael would is the character of Snowball with
the Russian leader Trotsky. Snowball was very enthusiastic and was a
leader who organized the defense of the farm. He gave speeches and
instructions but was not very beneficial. All the other animals liked him,
but he was outsmarted by Napoleon. Trotsky and Stalin's relationship was
very much like Snowball's and Napoleons. Trotsky organized the Red Army
and gave speeches and everyone in Russia thought he would win power over
Stalin. After Lenin's death Trotsky lost all his power to Stalin and was
expelled from the communist party.
George Orwell has created a masterpiece which is excellent if it
is read without any prior knowledge to the situation in Russia. However
the added element does wonders for this novel. Orwell is a genius and he
has cleverly hidden the satire in such an excellent way, that everything
fits into the picture like a jigsaw puzzle. I give this book five stars.
This rating is given for many reasons. It is a very easy read and quite
enjoyable to many levels of education.
By: RickyG
Word Count: 801
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
The Animal Farm
George Orwell’s, , depicts how power can corrupt society. If one person receives too much power, one will most lik
Comparison Of Animal Farm To The Russian Revolution Of 1917
Animal Farm was published in August 1945, just near the end of World War II. It is commonly accepted as a fable describi
Analysis Of Animal Farm
Protagonist: The protagonist of my story was Napoleon the pig. When the story stareds out, it appeared that Napoleon mig
Animal Farm: Notes
Protagonist: The protagonist of my story was Napoleon the pig. When the story stareds out, it appeared that Napoleon mig
Animal Farm And The Russian Revolution
have many similarities and ideas. The characters, settings, and the plots are the same. In addition Animal Farm is a sat
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