SparkNotes: Animal Farm: Analysis of Major Characters Analysis of Major Characters Themes, Motifs & Symbols Napoleon From the very beginning of the novella, 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. Thus, the only project he undertakes with enthusiasm is the training of a litter of puppies. He doesn’t educate them for their own good or for the good of all, however, but rather for his own good: they become his own private army or secret police, a violent means by which he imposes his will on others. Although he is most directly modeled on the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Napoleon represents, in a more general sense, the political tyrants that have emerged throughout human history and with particular frequency during the twentieth century.

His namesake is not any communist leader but the early-eighteenth-century French general Napoleon, who betrayed the democratic principles on which he rode to power, arguably becoming as great a despot as the aristocrats whom he supplanted. It is a testament to Orwell’s acute political intelligence and to the universality of his fable that Napoleon can easily stand for any of the great dictators and political schemers in world history, even those who arose after Animal Farm was written. In the behavior of Napoleon and his henchmen, one can detect the lying and bullying tactics of totalitarian leaders such as Josip Tito, Mao Tse-tung, Pol Pot, Augusto Pinochet, and Slobodan Milosevic treated in sharply critical terms. Snowball Orwell’s stint in a Trotskyist battalion in the Spanish Civil War—during which he first began plans for a critique of totalitarian communism—influenced his relatively positive portrayal of Snowball. As a parallel for Leon Trotsky, Snowball emerges as a fervent ideologue who throws himself heart and soul into the attempt to spread Animalism worldwide and to improve Animal Farm’s infrastructure. His idealism, however, leads to his downfall.

Relying only on the force of his own logic and rhetorical skill to gain his influence, he proves no match for Napoleon’s show of brute force. Although Orwell depicts Snowball in a relatively appealing light, he refrains from idealizing his character, making sure to endow him with certain moral flaws. For example, Snowball basically accepts the superiority of the pigs over the rest of the animals. Moreover, his fervent, single-minded enthusiasm for grand projects such as the windmill might have erupted into full-blown megalomaniac despotism had he not been chased from Animal Farm. Indeed, Orwell suggests that we cannot eliminate government corruption by electing principled individuals to roles of power; he reminds us throughout the novella that it is power itself that corrupts. Boxer The most sympathetically drawn character in the novel, Boxer epitomizes all of the best qualities of the exploited working classes: dedication, loyalty, and a huge capacity for labor. He also, however, suffers from what Orwell saw as the working class’s major weaknesses: a naïve trust in the good intentions of the intelligentsia and an inability to recognize even the most blatant forms of political corruption.

Exploited by the pigs as much or more than he had been by Mr. Jones, Boxer represents all of the invisible labor that undergirds the political drama being carried out by the elites. Boxer’s pitiful death at a glue factory dramatically illustrates the extent of the pigs’ betrayal. It may also, however, speak to the specific significance of Boxer himself: before being carted off, he serves as the force that holds Animal Farm together. Squealer Throughout his career, Orwell explored how politicians manipulate language in an age of mass media. In Animal Farm, the silver-tongued pig Squealer abuses language to justify Napoleon’s actions and policies to the proletariat by whatever means seem necessary. By radically simplifying language—as when he teaches the sheep to bleat “Four legs good, two legs better!”—he limits the terms of debate. By complicating language unnecessarily, he confuses and intimidates the uneducated, as when he explains that pigs, who are the “brainworkers” of the farm, consume milk and apples not for pleasure, but for the good of their comrades.

In this latter strategy, he also employs jargon (“tactics, tactics”) as well as a baffling vocabulary of false and impenetrable statistics, engendering in the other animals both self-doubt and a sense of hopelessness about ever accessing the truth without the pigs’ mediation. Squealer’s lack of conscience and unwavering loyalty to his leader, alongside his rhetorical skills, make him the perfect propagandist for any tyranny. Squealer’s name also fits him well: squealing, of course, refers to a pig’s typical form of vocalization, and Squealer’s speech defines him. At the same time, to squeal also means to betray, aptly evoking Squealer’s behavior with regard to his fellow animals. Old Major As a democratic socialist, Orwell had a great deal of respect for Karl Marx, the German political economist, and even for Vladimir Ilych Lenin, the Russian revolutionary leader. His critique of Animal Farm has little to do with the Marxist ideology underlying the Rebellion but rather with the perversion of that ideology by later leaders. Major, who represents both Marx and Lenin, serves as the source of the ideals that the animals continue to uphold even after their pig leaders have betrayed them.

Though his portrayal of Old Major is largely positive, Orwell does include a few small ironies that allow the reader to question the venerable pig’s motives. For instance, in the midst of his long litany of complaints about how the animals have been treated by human beings, Old Major is forced to concede that his own life has been long, full, and free from the terrors he has vividly sketched for his rapt audience. He seems to have claimed a false brotherhood with the other animals in order to garner their support for his vision. Animal Farm: At a Glance | CliffsNotes First Published: August 17, 1945 Setting: Mr. Jones' Manor Farm Major Thematic Topics : animalism; mob rule; virtue; religion as a drug; distortion of reality; death; false allegiance; political corruption Motifs: rebellion; power; communism Major Symbols: Cold War; the barn; the windmill The three most important aspects of Animal Farm: Animal Farm is an allegory, which is a story in which concrete and specific characters and situations stand for other characters and situations so as to make a point about them.

The main action of Animal Farm stands for the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union . Animalism is really communism. Manor Farm is allegorical of Russia, and the farmer Mr. Jones is the Russian Czar. Old Major stands for either Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin, and the pig named Snowball represents the intellectual revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Napoleon stands for Stalin, while the dogs are his secret police. The horse Boxer stands in for the proletariat, or working class. The setting of Animal Farm is a dystopia, which is an imagined world that is far worse than our own, as opposed to a utopia, which is an ideal place or state. Other dystopian novels include Aldous Huxley's Brave New World , Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 , and Orwell's own 1984 . The most famous line from the book is " All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. " This line is emblematic of the changes that George Orwell believed followed the 1917 Communist Revolution in Russia. Rather than eliminating the capitalist class system it was intended to overthrow, the revolution merely replaced it with another hierarchy .

The line is also typical of Orwell's belief that those in power usually manipulate language to their own benefit. Animal Farm Themes | GradeSaver Animal Farm Themes Buy Study Guide The Soviet Union under Stalinism Animal Farm is a satire of totalitarian governments in their many guises. But Orwell composed the book for a more specific purpose: to serve as a cautionary tale about Stalinism. It was for this reason that he faced such difficulty in getting the book published; by the time Animal Farm was ready to meet its readers, the Allies were cooperating with the Soviet Union. The allegorical characters of the novel represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. These include Karl Marx (Major), Vladimir Lenin (Major), Leon Trotsky ( Snowball ), Joseph Stalin ( Napoleon ), Adolf Hitler ( Frederick ), the Allies ( Pilkington ), the peasants ( Boxer ), the elite ( Mollie ), and the church ( Moses ). The resemblance of some of the novel’s events to events in Soviet history is indubitable. For example, Snowball’s and Napoleon’s power struggle is a direct allegory of Trotsky’s and Stalin’s.

Frederick’s trade agreement with Napoleon, and his subsequent breaking of the agreement, represents the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact that preceded World War II. The following Battle of the Windmill represents World War II itself. Despite his fairy-tale clarity in satirizing some historical events, Orwell is less specific about others. For example, the executions in Chapter VII conflate the Red Terror with the Great Purge. The executions themselves bear resemblance to both events, although their details connect them more to the Moscow Trials than to the Red Terror. Squealer ’s subsequent announcement that the executions have ended the Rebellion connects them to the period of the Red Terror, however. Orwell leaves some ambiguity in the identities of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed. These ambiguities help the reader focus on the overall satire of Stalinism and the broader warning about the evils of totalitarian government. The Inevitability of Totalitarianism Orwell held the pessimistic belief that totalitarianism was inevitable, even in the West. According to Russell Baker, who wrote the preface to Animal Farm’s 1996 Signet Classics version, Orwell’s pessimism stemmed from his having grown up in an age of dictatorship.

Witnessing Hitler’s and Stalin’s movements from afar, as well as fighting totalitarianism in the Spanish Civil War, Orwell came to believe in the rise of a new species of autocrat, worse even than the tyrants of old. This cynicism is reflected in both of his highly successful novels, Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell emphasizes the insidiousness of totalitarianism early in the novel, when the pigs take the fresh milk and apples. The pigs justify their actions on the basis of their superiority; they are smart and need more nutrition than the other animals to fuel their brainpower. There is no scientific basis for the pigs’ claim—in fact, if anyone needs more food to fuel their labor, it is the manual laborers—but they can count on the animals’ being too ignorant to realize that. In this way, Orwell makes the point that totalitarianism need not be blatant in order to be operating. It can hide under the guise of the “greater good” as it did in the Soviet Union before the totalitarianism became obvious. Orwell uses a cyclical structure in Animal Farm, which helps advance the idea of totalitarianism’s predictability.

The novel begins with Jones as autocratic tyrant and ends with Napoleon not only in Jones’s position, but in his clothes as well. Over the course of the novel, Napoleon essentially becomes Jones just as Stalin becomes an autocrat after pretending to espouse equality and freedom. Orwell cements this idea in the book’s final scene, where he writes, “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (139). The circularity of Orwell’s story prevents the reader from imagining a better future for Animal Farm. After all, even if another Rebellion were to take place, its leaders would eventually come to emulate Napoleon. According to Baker, technology turned out to be the force freeing people from Orwell’s age of dictators. But “technology” can be just another banner under which to rally the people. While Orwell does portray technology as a source of progress in Animal Farm, he points out that it is useless unless it is in the people’s hands.

Most notably, even when the windmill is finished it is used for milling corn instead of its original purpose of supplying the animals with electricity in their stalls. Intelligence and Education as Tools of Oppression From the very beginning of the novel, we become aware of education’s role in stratifying Animal Farm’s population. Following Major’s death, the pigs are the ones that take on the task of organizing and mobilizing the other animals because they are “generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals” (35). At first, the pigs are loyal to their fellow animals and to the revolutionary cause. They translate Major’s vision of the future faithfully into the Seven Commandments of Animalism. However, it is not long before the pigs’ intelligence and education turn from tools of enlightenment to implements of oppression. The moment the pigs are faced with something material that they want—the fresh milk—they abandon their morals and use their superior intellect and knowledge to deceive the other animals. The pigs also limit the other animals’ opportunities to gain intelligence and education early on. They teach themselves to read and write from a children’s book but destroy it before the other animals can have the same chance. Indeed, most of the animals never learn more than a few letters of the alphabet.

Once the pigs cement their status as the educated elite, they use their mental advantage to manipulate the other animals. For example, knowing that the other animals cannot read the Seven Commandments, they revise them whenever they like. The pigs also use their literacy to learn trades from manuals, giving them an opportunity for economic specialization and advancement. Content in the role of the intelligentsia, the pigs forgo manual labor in favor of bookkeeping and organizing. This shows that the pigs have not only the advantage of opportunity, but also the opportunity to reject whatever opportunities they like. The pigs’ intelligence and education allow them to bring the other animals into submission through the use of propaganda and revisionism. At the book’s end, we witness Napoleon’s preparations to educate a new generation of pigs and indoctrinate them into the code of oppression. Propaganda and Duplicity Working as a propagandist during World War II, Orwell experienced firsthand both the immense power and the dishonesty of propaganda. Many types of governments make use of propaganda, not only totalitarian ones. Consider, for instance, the arguments that led many United States citizens to go along with the idea of invading Iraq after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Propaganda serves the positive task of uniting the people, sometimes at the cost of misleading them. Orwell takes a firm stance on the harmfulness of propaganda in Animal Farm while acknowledging its value for rallying a mistreated and disillusioned populace. In Chapter IX, Orwell demonstrates the positive value of propaganda. By this point, the animals are so downtrodden that they are desperate for something in which to believe. (Note the irony, though: it is Napoleon who has robbed them of their belief in the original version of Animalism.) The falsely optimistic statistics, the songs, and especially the Spontaneous Demonstrations give the animals something to live for. This chapter is an exception in terms of portraying propaganda in a positive light. For the majority of Animal Farm, Orwell skewers propaganda and exposes its nature as deception. Squealer represents a totalitarian government’s propaganda machine. Eloquent to a fault, he can make the animals believe almost anything. This fact is especially clear in Squealer’s interactions with Clover and Muriel . Each time Clover suspects that the Seven Commandments have been changed, Squealer manages to convince her that she is wrong.

After the executions, Napoleon abolishes the singing of “Beasts of England” in favor of a new anthem, the lyrics of which contain a promise never to harm Animal Farm. In this propagandist maneuver, Napoleon replaces the revolutionary spirit of “Beasts of England” with the exact opposite, a promise not to rebel. In addition to being a source of manipulation, propaganda is an agent of fear and terror. Orwell demonstrates this quite clearly with Napoleon’s vilification of Snowball and his assurances that Snowball could attack the animals at any minute. He uses similar fear tactics regarding Frederick and Pilkington. The most egregious example of propaganda in the novel is the maxim that replaces the Seven Commandments: “All animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than others.” The idea of “more equal” is mathematically improbable and a nonsensical manipulation of language, but by this time, the animals are too brainwashed to notice. Violence and Terror as Means of Control In Animal Farm, Orwell criticizes the ways that dictators use violence and terror to frighten their populaces into submission. Violence is one of the yokes from which the animals wish to free themselves when they prepare for the Rebellion.

Not only does Jones overwork the animals and steal the products of their labor, but he can whip or slaughter them at his discretion. Once the pigs gain control of the animals, they, like Jones, discover how useful violence and terror can be. They use this knowledge to their full advantage. The foremost example of violence and terror in the novel is the pattern of public executions. The executions can be said to represent both the Red Terror and the Great Purge, but they stand more broadly for the abuse of power. For example, they are also similar to the Taliban’s public executions in Kabul’s soccer stadium in modern Afghanistan. Capital punishment for criminals is a hotly debated issue. Killing suspected criminals, as Napoleon does, is quite another issue. The executions perhaps best symbolize the Moscow Trials, which were show trials that Stalin arranged to instill fear in the Soviet people. To witnesses at the time, the accused traitors’ confessions seemed to be given freely. In fact, they were coerced. Napoleon likely coerces confessions from many of the animals that he executes. Orwell’s use of the allegory genre serves him well in the execution scene.

Execution with weapons is a violent and horrifying act, but many people have become desensitized to it. Orwell’s allegorical executioners, the dogs that kill cruelly, portray the bloody and inescapably animalistic side of execution. Terror comes also in threats and propaganda. Each time the animals dare to question an aspect of Napoleon’s regime, Squealer threatens them with Jones’s return. This is doubly threatening to the animals because it would mean another battle that, if lost, would result in a return to their former lifestyle of submission. Jones’s return is such a serious threat that it quashes the animals’ curiosity without fail. The other major example of fear tactics in the novel is the threat of Snowball and his collaborators. Napoleon is able to vilify Snowball in the latter’s absence and to make the animals believe that his return, like Jones’s, is imminent. Snowball is a worse threat than Jones, because Jones is at least safely out of Animal Farm. Snowball is “proved” to be not only lurking along Animal Farm’s borders but infiltrating the farm. Napoleon’s public investigation of Snowball’s whereabouts cements the animals’ fear of Snowball’s influence.

In modern language, Snowball is pegged as the terrorist responsible for the infringements on the rights and liberties instigated by the pigs. Exploitation and the Need for Human Rights Exploitation is the issue around which the animals unite. Initially, the animals do not realize Jones is exploiting them. For this reason, Old Major ’s speech is a revelation of momentous proportions. Major explains to the animals that they are enslaved and exploited and that Man is to blame. He teaches them not only what exploitation means, but also the fact that it is not inevitable. Orwell suggests that exploitation is, in fact, bound to happen when one class of society has an advantage over another. The opposite of exploitation, according to Major, is the state of being “rich and free.” Major’s ideas about animal rights symbolize the importance—and scarcity—of human rights in an oppressive regime. Gaining freedom does not necessarily lead people also to become rich, but it is better to be poor and free than poor and exploited. All the animals on Animal Farm are exploited under Napoleon’s control, save the pigs. Even the dogs, which work closely with the pigs, are exploited.

The dogs face perhaps even a worse form of exploitation than the other animals, because they are made into agents of intimidation and death. Whereas Napoleon exploits the other animals’ physical strength and their ignorance, he exploits the dogs’ viciousness and turns them into villains against their parents’ wishes. Boxer’s life is a particularly sad example of exploitation because he exploits himself, believing wholeheartedly in Napoleon’s goodness. In the end, Napoleon turns the tables and exploits Boxer, having him slaughtered for profit. By the end of the novel, we see clearly how the animals participate in their own exploitation. They are beginning to build a schoolhouse for the thirty-one young pigs Napoleon has fathered (perhaps an oblique reference to the “Thirty Tyrants” of ancient Greece). That schoolhouse will never benefit the animals that build it; rather, it will be used to educate the pigs and indoctrinate them into the cycle of exploiting others. Throughout the novel, Orwell shows us how the lack of human rights results in total helplessness. However, though it underscores the need for human rights, the novel does not suggest how to achieve them.

After all, once the animals expel Jones and gain rights for themselves, the pigs take those rights away and the cycle of exploitation continues with new players. Apathy and Acceptance In the beginning of Animal Farm, the idea of freedom rouses the animals as if from a long slumber. Immediately following Major’s death, the animals begin preparing themselves for the Rebellion; just the idea of revolution is enough to motivate them, since they do not expect it to happen in their lifetimes. By the book’s end, the animals have become as apathetic as Benjamin always was. Despite the many hardships and injustices they face, the animals’ pride as well as Napoleon’s propaganda keep them invested in the “greater good” and the illusion of freedom. If Benjamin is the harbinger of apathy, Boxer is its antithesis. Strong not only in body but also in spirit, Boxer will make any sacrifice for the benefit of Animal Farm. With Boxer’s eventual betrayal by the leaders he served so unconditionally, Orwell lays bare another type of apathy—theirs. Far from truly considering Boxer a loyal comrade, the pigs treat him as apathetically as they would a mere object.

Symbolically, they even make a profit by having him turned into literal objects—glue and bone meal. Boxer’s enthusiasm does not give him an advantage, but the other animals’ eventual apathy gives them a defense mechanism against the painful reality of their lives. It is no coincidence that Animal Farm’s most apathetic and cynical animal, Benjamin, is one of those that survives the longest. Benjamin’s emotional detachment from situations, whether they are good or bad, keeps him from being disappointed. In his apathy and cynicism, Benjamin represents the stereotypical “gloomy” Russian and also the perennially pessimistic Orwell himself. Animal Farm by George Orwell Knowledge Base > Literature > English Animal Farm by George Orwell Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then on into the Stalin era in the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism. Student at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Rehab Science/Pre-Occupational Therapy.

Curated Facts George Orwell’s (1946) Animal Farm was a symbolic tale in which the an- imals overthrew the cruel owner of a farm and began to run it them- selves according to very positive, egalitarian principles. So that the new governing rules could be viewed daily, the animals wrote the seven commandments on the side of the barn. The last and most important of these commandments read, “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL.” At the end of this yarn of good gone bad, the pigs have taken over and given them- selves more rights and privileges than the other animals. Accordingly, the other animals awaken one morning only to find that their normally comforting commandments now have been abridged to read, “ALL AN - IMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.” Using this Animal Farm analogy, I see Nansook Park, Christopher Peterson, and Martin E. P.

Seligman (this issue) as conclud - ing, on the basis of their data, that “ALL STRENGTHS ARE EQUAL.” My view of their data, taken together with the previous results on hope, is that “ALL STRENGTHS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME STRENGTHS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.” × Amazon Results Through ‘Animal Farm’, Orwell uses characters representative of the players in the Russian Revolution to retell the revolution in a sugar coated metaphor. Early on in the novel, Major(Karl Marx), introduces to the animals the ideas of communism, later to be called Animalism by the dictating pigs, as well as a Revolution, which he labelled ‘Rebellion’. Using simplistic language, Orwell simplifies and clarifies human behaviour. This simplistic approach allows people to stand back and mostly ignore the characters, to focus more on the issues that are involved. ‘Animal Farm’ is presented to readers as a world so unlike our own, to show that it is exactly like our own. Article: Animal Farm - Themes :: ... In the story, Napoleon gains power saying he will do what best for the animals but he soon begins to do what is beneficial for himself.

An example of his better life would be, It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of "Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty.(page 79) Also the quote, "And the news soon leaked out that every pig was now receiving a ration of a pint of beer daily, with half a gallon for Napoleon himself, which was always served to him in the Crown Derby soup tureen. (page 117) Power can be a good thing at times but people cant handle power and do things or the good of every one. Article: Animal Farm Theme Essay In his self-proclaimed "fairy-story," Orwell uses his allegorical farm to symbolize the communist system. Though the original intention of overthrowing Mr. Jones (who represents the Czars), is not inherently evil in itself, Napoleon's subsequent adoption of nearly all of Mr. Jones' principles and harsh mistreatment of the animals proves to the reader that indeed communism is not equality, but just another form of inequality. The pigs and dogs take most of the power for themselves, thinking that they are the best administrators of government.

Eventually the power corrupts them, and they turn on their fellow animals, eliminating competitors through propaganda and bloodshed. This is of course a reference to Stalin, who murdered many of his own people in order to maintain his dictatorship of Russia. Thanks in part to Animal Farm, much of the Western world finally realized the danger of communism. Soon a Cold War began between the world's greatest superpowers- the Soviet Union and the United States. In the end, America would prove that capitalism and democracy could outlive a system of government-mandated equality. Article: Animal Farm: Theme Analys... The novel can also be taken as a more general attack on the search of power and the way in which corrupt figures gain and manipulate power for their own purposes. Animal farm is a satire on political power. Lord Acton observed that: ‘power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ As the pigs gain power, it accordingly becomes harder and harder for them to resist the temptations of enjoying an easier life for themselves, especially as the other animals are presented as being too naive to prevent themselves from being manipulated. Napoleon is driven by power and slowly descends into tyranny. He is driven by power and throughout the novel all he does is plan how to take it.

Article: Power Corrupts Animal Farm shows how the minority in power uses vague language, propaganda, and misinformation to control the thoughts and beliefs of the majority in the lower classes. The pigs, especially Squealer, become extremely sophisticated and effective in their attempts to rewrite the rules of Animal Farm and Animalism. They even revise the farm’s entire history in order to mislead the other animals into believing exactly what they say. By the end of the novel, the animals on the farm believe Snowball fought against them at the Battle of the Cowshed even though they saw him fight with them. They believe life on the farm has improved even though they have less food than ever, and that Napoleon has their best interests at heart even though he kills those who disagree with him. As the only literate animals on the farm, the pigs maintain a monopoly on information that they use to build and hold their power. Article: Animal Farm: Themes 33 Knowledge Cards A theme that is evident in this book is that language is extremely powerful. The use of propoganda has the power to persuade entire countries and even regions of the world of one idea. This idea can cause major hostility, war, and conflict.

This book makes it very apparent that being very intellectually spoken can get you almost anything you want. Reply Animal Farm depicts a revolution in progress. Old Major gives the animals a new perspective on their situation under Mr. Jones, which leads them to envision a better future free of human exploitation. The revolution in Animal Farm, like all popular revolutions, arises out of a hope for a better future. At the time of the revolution, even the pigs are excited by and committed to the idea of universal animal equality. Article: Animal Farm: Themes Initially in the novel, the animals are excited about a revolution, thinking this would be best for them. They were misled, bringing them to become less free than originally. This represents the misdirection of the Soviet government. Reply Exploitation is the issue around which the animals unite. Initially, the animals do not realize Jones is exploiting them. For this reason, Old Major’s speech is a revelation of momentous proportions. Major explains to the animals that they are enslaved and exploited and that Man is to blame. He teaches them not only what exploitation means, but also the fact that it is not inevitable. Orwell suggests that exploitation is, in fact, bound to happen when one class of society has an advantage over another.

The opposite of exploitation, according to Major, is the state of being “rich and free.” Major’s ideas about animal rights symbolize the importance—and scarcity—of human rights in an oppressive regime. Gaining freedom does not necessarily lead people also to become rich, but it is better to be poor and free than poor and exploited. Article: Animal Farm Themes Animal Farm is a satire of totalitarian governments in their many guises. But Orwell composed the book for a more specific purpose: to serve as a cautionary tale about Stalinism. It was for this reason that he faced such difficulty in getting the book published; by the time Animal Farm was ready to meet its readers, the Allies were cooperating with the Soviet Union. The allegorical characters of the novel represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. These include Karl Marx (Major), Vladimir Lenin (Major), Leon Trotsky (Snowball), Joseph Stalin (Napoleon), Adolf Hitler (Frederick), the Allies (Pilkington), the peasants (Boxer), the elite (Mollie), and the church (Moses). The resemblance of some of the novel’s events to events in Soviet history is indubitable.

For example, Snowball’s and Napoleon’s power struggle is a direct allegory of Trotsky’s and Stalin’s. Frederick’s trade agreement with Napoleon, and his subsequent breaking of the agreement, represents the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact that preceded World War II. The following Battle of the Windmill represents World War II itself. Article: Animal Farm Themes The symbolism in this book is outstanding. Orwell turns a simple concept: a farm into a recreation of one of the most major government upsets in history. Reply Animal Farm begins with a very drunk Mr. Jones (owner of Manor Farm) doing a really crumby job of, you know, his job. The neglected animals listen to a wise old pig, old Major, who encourages them all to rebel and run the farm themselves. Above all, he says, everyone should be equal. Then he dies. Everyone is excited except for Benjamin, a cynical donkey whose main job in life is to be, well, cynical.The animals do rebel, and the pigs, being the smartest animals, naturally take the leadership role (so much for that equality business). There is some immediate conflict between two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball.

Napoleon wants to sit around and be in charge of everything, while Snowball wants to teach the other animals (Imagine!) and build a windmill. Napoleon uses nine ferocious and enormous dogs (which he stole when they were young) to become the All Powerful Dominant Boss Leader Chief Pig. He doesn’t call it that, but it’s in the back of his mind somewhere. So Snowball is out of the picture, which is convenient for blaming everything on him.The pigs exploit the other animals shamelessly, breaking all the rules that they had established after the Rebellion. Things fall apart: life on the farm gets worse and worse, the animals forget old Major’s original dream, and the pigs make some poor management decisions when dealing with the neighboring farms. The culminating miserable moment comes when the pigs send Boxer, a hardworking and loyal horse who is ready for retirement, to his death. Article: Animal Farm Summary Animal Farm: Character Profiles | Novelguide Animal Farm: Character Profiles Total Votes: 7355 Mr. Jones Mr. Jones is Orwell's chief (or at least most obvious) villain in Animal Farm. Of course Napoleon is also the major villain, however much more indirectly.

Orwell says that at one time Jones was actually a decent master to his animals. At this time the farm was thriving. But in recent years the farm had fallen on harder times (symbol of the world-wide Great Depression of the 30's) and the opportunity was seen to revolt. The world-wide depression began in the United States when the stock market crashed in October of 1929. The depression spread throughout the world because American exports were so dependent on Europe. The U.S. was also a major contributor to the world market economy. Germany along with the rest of Europe was especially hit hard. The parallels between crop failure of the farm and the depression in the 1930's are clear. Only the leaders and the die-hard followers ate their fill during this time period. Mr. Jones symbolizes (in addition to the evils of capitalism) Czar Nicholas II, the leader before Stalin (Napoleon). Jones represents the old government, the last of the Czars. Orwell suggests that Jones (Czar Nicholas II) was losing his "edge." In fact, he and his men had taken up the habit of drinking.

Old Major reveals his feelings about Jones and his administration when he says, "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough , he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving and the rest he keeps for himself." So Jones and the old government are successfully uprooted by the animals. Little do they know, history will repeat itself with Napoleon and the pigs. Old Major Old Major is the first major character described by Orwell in Animal Farm. This "purebred" of pigs is the kind, grand fatherly philosopher of change— an obvious metaphor for Karl Marx. Old Major proposes a solution to the animals' desperate plight under the Jones "administration" when he inspires a rebellion of sorts among the animals. Of course the actual time of the revolt is unsaid. It could be the next day or several generations down the road. But old Major's philosophy is only an ideal.

After his death, three days after the barn-yard speech, the socialism he professes is drastically altered when Napoleon and the other pigs begin to dominate. It's interesting that Orwell does not mention Napoleon or Snowball anytime during the great speech of old Major. This shows how distant and out-of-touch they really were; the ideals old Major proclaimed seemed to not even have been considered when they were establishing their new government after the successful revolt. It almost seemed as though the pigs fed off old Major's inspiration and then used it to benefit themselves (a interesting twist of capitalism) instead of following through on the old Major's honest proposal. This could be Orwell's attempt to dig Stalin, who many consider to be someone who totally ignored Marx's political and social theory. Using old Major's seeming naivety, Orwell concludes that no society is perfect, no pure socialist civilization can exist, and there is no way to escape the evil grasp of capitalism. (More on this in the Napoleon section.) Unfortunately when Napoleon and Squealer take over, old Major becomes more and more a distant fragment of the past in the minds of the farm animals. Moses Moses is perhaps Orwell's most intriguing character in Animal Farm.

This raven, first described as the "especial pet" of Mr. Jones, is the only animal who doesn't work. He's also the only character who doesn't listen to Old Major's speech of rebellion. Orwell narrates, "The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones's especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which al animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work but some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place." Moses represents Orwell's view of the Church.

To Orwell, the Church is just used as a tool by dictatorships to keep the working class of people hopeful and productive. Orwell uses Moses to criticize Marx's belief that the Church will just go away after the rebellion. Jones first used Moses to keep the animals working, and he was successful in many ways before the rebellion. The pigs had a real hard time getting rid of Moses, since the lies about Heaven they thought would only lead the animals away from the equality of socialism. But as the pigs led by Napoleon become more and more like Mr. Jones, Moses finds his place again. After being away for several years, he suddenly returns and picks up right where he left off. The pigs don't mind this time because the animals have already realized that the "equality" of the revolt is a farce. So Napoleon feeds Moses with beer, and the full-circle is complete. Orwell seems to offer a very cynical and harsh view of the Church. This proves that Animal Farm is not simply an anti-communist work meant to lead people into capitalism and Christianity. Really Orwell found loop-holes and much hypocrisy in both systems. It's interesting that recently in Russia the government has begun to allow religion again.

It almost seems that like the pigs, the Kremlin officials of today are trying to keep their people motivated, not in the ideology of communism, but in the "old-fashioned" hope of an after-life. Snowball Orwell describes Snowball as a pig very similar to Napoleon— at least in the early stages. Both pigs wanted a leadership position in the "new" economic and political system (which is actually contradictory to the whole supposed system of equality). But as time goes on, both eventually realize that one of them will have to step down. Orwell says that the two were always arguing. "Snowball and Napoleon were by far the most active in the debates. But it was noticed that these two were never in agreement: whatever suggestion either of them made, the other could be counted to oppose it." Later, Orwell makes the case stronger. "These two disagreed at every point disagreement was possible." Soon the differences, like whether or not to build a windmill, become too great to deal with, so Napoleon decides that Snowball must be eliminated. It might seem that this was a spontaneous reaction, but a careful look tells otherwise. Napoleon was setting the stage for his own domination long before he really began "dishing it out" to Snowball.

For example, he took the puppies away from their mothers in efforts to establish a private police force. These dogs would later be used to eliminate Snowball, his arch-rival. Snowball represents Trotsky, the arch-rival of Stalin in Russia. The parallels between Trotsky and Snowball are uncanny. Trotsky too, was exiled, not from the farm, but to Mexico, where he spoke out against Stalin. Stalin was very weary of Trotsky, and feared that Trotsky supporters might try to assassinate him. The dictator of Russia tried hard to kill Trotsky, for the fear of losing leadership was very great in the crazy man's mind. Trotsky also believed in Communism, but he thought he could run Russia better than Stalin. Trotsky was murdered in Mexico by the Russian internal police, the NKVD-the pre-organization of the KGB. Trotsky was found with a pick axe in his head at his villa in Mexico. Napoleon Napoleon is Orwell's chief villain in Animal Farm. The name Napoleon is very coincidental since Napoleon, the dictator of France, was thought by many to be the Anti-Christ. Napoleon, the pig, is really the central character on the farm.

Obviously a metaphor for Stalin, Comrade Napoleon represents the human frailties of any revolution. Orwell believed that although socialism is good as an ideal, it can never be successfully adopted due to uncontrollable sins of human nature. For example, although Napoleon seems as first to be a good leader, he is eventually overcome by greed and soon becomes power-hungry. Of course Stalin did too in Russia, leaving the original equality of socialism behind, giving himself all the power and living in luxury while the common peasant suffered. Thus, while his national and international status blossomed, the welfare of Russia remained unchanged. Orwell explains, "Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer--except, of course for the pigs and the dogs."The true side of Napoleon becomes evident after he slaughters so many animals for plotting against him. He even hires a pig to sample his food for him to make certain that no one is trying to poison him. Stalin, too, was a cruel dictator in Russia. After suspecting many people in his empire to be supporters of Trotsky (Orwell's Snowball), Stalin systematically murders many.By the end of the book, Napoleon doesn't even pretend to lead a socialist state.

After renaming it a Republic and instituting his own version of the commandments and the Beasts of England, Comrade Napoleon, he quickly becomes more or less a dictator who of course has never even been elected by the animals. xBoxer The name Boxer is cleverly used by Orwell as a metaphor for the Boxer Rebellion in China in the early twentieth century. It was this rebellion which signaled the beginning of communism in red China. This communism, much like the distorted Stalin view of socialism, is still present today in the oppressive social government in China. Boxer and Clover are used by Orwell to represent the proletariat, or unskilled labor class in Russian society. This lower class is naturally drawn to Stalin (Napoleon) because it seems as though they will benefit most from his new system. Since Boxer and the other low animals are not accustomed to the "good life," they can't really compare Napoleon's government to the life they had before under the czars (Jones). Also, since usually the lowest class has the lowest intelligence, it is not difficult to persuade them into thinking they are getting a good deal.The proletariat is also quite good at convincing each other that communism is a good idea.

Orwell supports this contention when he narrates, "Their most faithful disciples were the two carthorses, Boxer and Clover. Those two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments."Later, the importance of the proletariat is shown when Boxer suddenly falls and there is suddenly a drastic decrease in work productivity. But still he is taken for granted by the pigs, who send him away in a glue truck. Truly Boxer is the biggest poster-child for gullibility. Squealer Squealer is an intriguing character in Orwell's Animal Farm. He's first described as a manipulator and persuader. Orwell narrates, "He could turn black into white." Many critics correlate Squealer with the Pravda, the Russian newspaper of the 1930's. Propaganda was a key to many publications, and since their was no television or radio, the newspaper was the primary source of media information. So the monopoly of the Pravda was seized by Stalin and his new Bolshevik regime.

In Animal Farm, Squealer, like the newspaper, is the link between Napoleon and other animals. When Squealer masks an evil intention of the pigs, the intentions of the communists can be carried out with little resistance and without political disarray. Squealer is also thought by some to represent Goebbels, who was the minister of propaganda for Germany. This would seem inconsistent with Orwell's satire, however, which was suppose to metaphor characters in Russia. Mollie Mollie is one of Orwell's minor characters, but she represents something very important. Mollie is the animal who is most opposed to the new government under Napoleon. She doesn't care much about the politics of the whole situation; she just wants to tie her hair with ribbons and eat sugar, things her social status won't allow. Many animals consider her a trader when she is seen being petted by a human from a neighboring farm. Soon Mollie is confronted by the "dedicated" animals, and she quietly leaves the farm. Mollie characterizes the typical middle-class skilled worker who suffers from this new communism concept.

No longer will she get her sugar (nice salary) because she is now just as low as the other animals, like Boxer and Clover. Orwell uses Mollie to characterize the people after any rebellion who aren't too receptive to new leaders and new economics. There are always those resistant to change. This continues to dispel the believe Orwell hated that basically all animals act the same. The naivety of Marxism is criticized— socialism is not perfect and it doesn't work for everyone. Benjamin Old Benjamin, an elderly donkey, is one of Orwell's most elusive and intriguing characters on Animal Farm. He is described as rather unchanged since the rebellion. He still does his work the same way, never becoming too exited or too disappointed about anything that has passed. Benjamin explains, "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey." Although there is no clear metaphoric relationship between Benjamin and Orwell's critique of communism, it makes sense that during any rebellion there or those who never totally embrace the revolution— those so cynical they no longer look to their leaders for help. Benjamin symbolizes the older generation, the critics of any new rebellion.

Really this old donkey is the only animal who seems as though he couldn't care less about Napoleon and Animal Farm.It's almost as if he can see into the future, knowing that the revolt is only a temporary change, and will flop in the end.Benjamin is the only animal who doesn't seem to have expected anything positive from the revolution. He almost seems on a whole different maturity lever compared to the other animals. He is not sucked in by Napoleon's propaganda like the others. The only time he seems to care about the others at all is when Boxer is carried off in the glue truck. It's almost as if the old donkey finally comes out of his shell, his perfectly fitted demeanor, when he tries to warn the others of Boxer's fate. And the animals do try to rescue Boxer, but it's too late. Benjamin seems to be finally confronting Napoleon and revealing his knowledge of the pigs' hypocrisy, although before he had been completely independent. After the animals have forgotten Jones and their past lives, Benjamin still remembers everything.

Orwell states, "Only old Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know that things never had been, nor ever could be much better or much worse— hunger, hardship, and disappointment being, so he said, the unalterable law of life." Muriel Muriel is a knowledgeable goat who reads the commandments for Clover. Muriel represents the minority of working class people who are educated enough to decide things for themselves and find critical and hypocritical problems with their leaders. Unfortunately for the other animals, Muriel is not charismatic or inspired enough to take action and oppose Napoleon and his pigs. Pigs Orwell uses the pigs to surround and support Napoleon. They symbolize the communist party loyalists and the friends of Stalin. The pigs, unlike other animals, live in luxury and enjoy the benefits of the society they help control. The inequality and true hypocrisy of communism is expressed here by Orwell, who criticized Marx's oversimplified view of a socialist, "utopian" society. Obviously George Orwell doesn't believe such a society can exist.

Toward the end of the book, Orwell emphasizes, "Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer— except, of course, the pigs and the dogs." Dogs Orwell uses the dogs in his book, Animal Farm, to represent the KGB or perhaps more accurately, the bodyguards of Stalin. The dogs are the arch-defenders of Napoleon and the pigs, and although they don't speak, they are definitely a force the other animals have to contend with. Orwell almost speaks of the dogs as mindless robots, so dedicated to Napoleon that they can't really speak for themselves. This contention is supported as Orwell describes Napoleon's early and suspicious removal of six puppies from their mother. The reader is left in the dark for a while, but later is enlightened when Orwell describes the chase of Snowball. Napoleon uses his "secret dogs" for the first time here; before Snowball has a chance to stand up and give a counter-argument to Napoleon's disapproval of the windmill, the dogs viciously attack the pig, forcing him to flee, never to return again. Orwell narrates, "Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn.

In a moment the dogs came bounding back. At first no one had been able to imagine where these creatures came from, but the problem was soon solved: they were the puppies whom Napoleon had taken away from their mothers and reared privately. Though not yet full-grown, they were huge dogs, and as fierce-looking as wolves. They kept close to Napoleon. It was noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to do to Mr. Jones." The use of the dogs begins the evil use of force which helps Napoleon maintain power. Later, the dogs do even more dastardly things when they are instructed to kill the animals labeled "disloyal." Stalin, too, had his own special force of "helpers." Really there are followers loyal to any politician or government leader, but Stalin in particular needed a special police force to eliminate his opponents. This is how Trotsky was killed. Animals The sheep and other animals are very similar to Boxer and Clover. Both the horses and sheep represent in many ways the proletariat, or working class of unskilled laborers. These animals depend on their backs, not their brains, to do work.

Thus, they fall into the bottom of society and are the focal point of politicians' brainwashing. The animals are stubborn and easily swayed. Orwell points out repeatedly that if it wasn't for the bleating of the sheep, "Two legs bad, four legs good," which was strategically inspired by the pigs, Napoleon wouldn't have the power and control that he eventually came to enjoy and then abuse. Frederick The theme of the gun and flag rituals performed by the animals at the urging of Napoleon is strengthened through Orwell's description of Mr. Frederick, the neighbor of Animal Farm. Frederick, through the course of the book, becomes an enemy and then a friend and then an enemy again to Napoleon, who makes many secret deals and treaties with him. One of the major problems the two farms have is the issue of the timber. Napoleon sells the wood to Frederick for bank notes, only to find that they are worthless. During the world wide depression, countries were forced by necessity to trade with other countries. One country would have a product or natural resource another country would not; therefore to survive, the country would trade. Many times the trades were unfair and fraudulent. This created many international problems.

So you can see the parallels are clear. Pilkington Orwell uses Pilkington, another neighbor of Animal Farm, as a metaphor for the Allies of World War II (excluding, of course Russia). Like the Soviet Union before World War II, Animal Farm wasn't sure who their allies would be. But after losing the relationship with Frederick (Germany), Napoleon (Stalin) decides to befriend Pilkington, and ally with him. Napoleon and the other pigs even go as far as to invite him over for dinner at the end of the book. Here Mr. Pilkington and his men congratulate Napoleon on the efficiency of Animal Farm. Orwell narrates, "Mr. Pilkington once again congratulated the pigs on the low rations, the long working hours, and the general absence of pampering which he had observed on Animal Farm." Russia's allies, after the war, also admired it's efficiency. But soon the cold war would begin between the United States and Russia. This is unbelievably also referred to in the book (published in 1946) when Orwell writes, "An uproar of voices was coming from the farmhouse...a violent quarrel was in progress.

There were shouting, banging on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials." Amazingly Orwell seemed to sense the start of American-Russian tension for years to come. Rats Orwell's rats (and the other wild animals, like rabbits, for that matter) represent the opposition to the Bolsheviks. They too, had to be included in the rebellion, although for the longest time they sided with the another party. The rats and rabbits symbolize other political parties. Although the communist party took off with Lenin, there were still others around. These are the wild animals. Pigeons The pigeons symbolize Soviet propaganda, not to Russia, but to other countries, like Germany, England, France, and even the United States. Russia had created an iron curtain even before WWII. The Communist government raved about its achievements and its advanced technology, but it never allowed experts or scientists from outside the country to check on its validity. Orwell mentions the fact that the other farmers became suspicious and worried when their animals began to sing Beasts of England. Many Western governments have gone through a similar problem with their people in this century. There was a huge "Red Scare" in the United States in the 20's.

In the 1950's in the United States, Joseph McCarthy was a legislative member of the government from Wisconsin. He accused hundreds of people of supporting the Communist regime, from famous actors in Hollywood to middle-class common people. The fear of communism became a phobia in America and anyone speaking out against the government was a suspect. Animal Farm: George Orwell: Trade Paperback: 9780451526342: Powell's Books Average customer rating 4.9 (14 comments) ` matthejna , April 01, 2014 George Orwell’s Animal Farm remains a prominent and powerful allegory about Soviet Communism. In Orwell’s Animal Farm the story opens on a farm run by the farmer Mr. Jones. One night an older pig(pigs are the wisest of the animals) tells the group about a dream he had about a utopia run by animals and centered upon equality. However, Old Major dies soon after he speaks about his dream and his vision is never realized in his lifetime. After his death, all the animals rejoice at the prospect of Old Major’s dream and eventually drive Mr. Jones from the Farm.

Led by pigs such as Napolean, Snowball, and Squealer, the animals form a government based on equality and form the principles in the Seven Commandments of Animal Farm. As time goes on, Napolean grows more and more power hungry and eventually drives out Snowball from the farm. With the help of Squealer, Napolean is able to convince the rest of the farm of Snowball’s “evil” nature and maintain rigorous work hours for the rest of the animals. In the end, Napolean and the rest of the pigs begin walking on two feet like the humans they once loathed. In the final scene play cards with the humans they once fought so valiantly against. The true cleverness of the novel comes from the correlation with true historical events in Russia. In the late 1910s, Russia overthrew the final Tsar Nicholas II and became a communist nation. The revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin who truly believed in the original principles of Karl Marx communism. Soon after the revolution concluded however, Lenin died and Joseph Stalin and Trotsky fought for political control over the nation. Stalin’s brutal and ruthless principles eventually resulted in becoming the leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin betrayed communist doctrine ruled with an iron fist.

Stalin’s totalitarian rule continued for decades as he drove millions of his own people to starvation because of the outrageous work requirements and low rations. After researching the historical background of the Soviet communism, the allegory of Animal Farm becomes much clearer. Animal Farm is known for it’s incredibly clever allegory of the Russian Revolution. Animal Farm ultimately explains the true dystopian nature of the nation. The first symbolic character is Old Major as Karl Marx. Old Major is described by Orwell (...so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he had to say”(25). His principles were noble, his character was strong, and he was respected by all of the animals on the farm. Old Major had the benefit of not placing this policies into existence however. While his dream is grand and perfect, it’s a highly romanticized ideal. Creating equality is a difficult task since the animals cannot contribute to the farm equally. Even with difficult problems inevitably arising, life for the animals is at first happy, largely because of another pig named Snowball. Snowball is representative of the Russian politician Leon Trotsky. Like Trotsky, Snowball tried to stay true to the original views of the philosophy of his predecessor.

Snowball is described by Orwell as “...vivacious pig...quicker in speech and more inventive”(35). He is the leader of the revolution and creates a moral and pleasant society, despite the pigs taking more than their share of their food. However, Trotsky’s rival, Joseph Stalin was eventually able to retain control of the Soviet Union, and is represented by Napolean. Napolean according to Orwell is “a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar”. He is a far more rugged and ruthless pig who eventually takes complete control over the farm. However, without knowing who the character symbolizes at the start, the reader does not experience the story with pre-conceived notions. The allegory point of view allows for the novel to be a reflection of an entire culture rather than a single individual. The perspective is from 3rd person subjective. From this point of view the trials and struggles are seen in the horses, donkeys and, goats. The pigs deceit is shown in a manner emphasizing the slow accumulation of power before turning on the original Seven Commandments all together. The pigs also constantly utilize fear to gain legitimacy from the rest of the animals.

By allowing fear to influence their lives, the common animals gave up their equality to ensure their safety, instead of having faith in themselves. By keeping too much faith in the pigs to keep them safe, the pigs ultimately abuse this power for their benefit. Much like McCarthyism swept the nation during the 1950s, a deep fear of Mr Jones or Snowball returning kept the animals obliging to the will of the pigs. However when the responsibility of reporting the news becomes an opportunity for propaganda, the pigs quickly take advantage. In this regard the major theme could be considered the importance of empowerment and freedom of expression. Even Boxer who is rather gullible begins to deny facts spouted by Squealer. If some of the animals were confident rather than panic-stricken, the pigs would have to be more dignified in their principles. Instead the culture declines into starvation and misery while the pigs show no consideration for anyone else. The overall value of the story is rested upon strength of the allegory. The story on it’s own is a strong representation of the easy corruption of power. Without knowledge of Joseph Stalin, and Leon Trotsky, the cautionary tale remains powerful and effective.

The struggle between Snowball and Napolean is a legitimate dispute and can be applied to politics outside of Soviet Russia. While the story on it’s own is far more bizarre and abstract, it still captures the theme of the power corrupting a strong ethical society. The allegory allows the reader to truly grasp the perspective of the Russian people during this time as their society deteriorates. rocky-o , March 03, 2012 (view all comments by rocky-o) "...some are more equal than others..."...that is a line from George Orwell's brilliant social commentary, "Animal Farm"... The basic story involves the animals on a farm who want to run the farmer out of town, so that they can run the farm, equally, and fairly... but, as time moves on, all is not right in the animal kingdom, and, like humans, they begin to show their true colors... with an exceptional thread to our own behvior, such as his equally brilliant "1984", once again Mr. Orwell proves to be a keen storyteller with one eye on his pages, and one eye on the world...

` Tmackyt , March 09, 2011 This is Why I Read Animal farm is Georges Orwell’s interpretation of the Soviet Union pre and during Stalin. Instead of wring a history book with his thoughts of communism he tells the same story with animals and ties it all up with a message. The best part is he is simplifying the whole story not to dumb it down but to make it more understandable. The premise is that animals rebel against their farmer and make the first farm run and operated by animals. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is pure genius. I have never experienced a better way of communicating a complex idea and translating it better than George Orwell did in Animal Farm. This book is a joy to read I can honestly say that I have never been so hooked on a book more than Animal Farm. The only problems I had with the book came from me. The biggest problem I had with this book was that there are so many loose ends. Through many situations I didn’t know if someone was actually a bad guy or as an example if Napoleon was just lying. I still feel like I got the gist of it but I’m still unsure. Most of that comes from me not knowing the history.

I don’t know the context of the book, but that was minimal compared to how much I loved the book. Plus through all that I still got the message. As much as the book confused me (which was minimal) I still understood more than 90% of it. The way he described it I feel pretty informed about what happened. I can’t get over the way George decided to write the book. It’s just so smart the way he used animals to represent certain characteristics. It just blows me away how smart the whole thing is. I really want to give him credit for the story but it’s not really his. The way he interpreted it and made it relevant to a farm is just great. The best part to me is I can see all this playing out in the real world. This is the first book I feel I’m going to re-read. NTN , March 05, 2011 (view all comments by NTN) I read this book last year in my english 2 class. This is a great book if you guys like to watch any movie that goes with the book because this is one of them. In this book the animals are a little bit crazy.

This book is not too long for those of you like to read short books. The way that he wrote the book was very easy to read. I would suggest people to read this book and watch the movie. The animals in this book each of them has a different personality and they act like humans ` Charlie.Crea , May 04, 2010 The novel Animal Farm is a political satire written by George Orwell in 1945, exposing the political corruption of the USSR, and other communistic nations of that time. The purpose of the book is to warn the general population about the dangers of utopias, communism, and totalitarian governments. Personally, I enjoyed reading this book, as it helped open my eyes to extreme levels of government control and poor living conditions that I, as a white male in America, have never experienced firsthand. This book was written right at the end of World War II, at the beginning of the Cold War. During that time, the USSR was experiencing political debates and rebellions (primarily between Stalin and Trotsky), and radical government control over the citizens. Orwell chooses to represent all of the ruling class as literal pigs in his book.

There are a number of main points throughout the book which all tie together in the end. The first is a speech that the animal’s current leader, Old Major, gives to the animals. Old Major talks about a dream he had, stimulating the animals imaginations of a farm ruled by animals, and not people. It was at this point that the song “Beasts of England” is originally sung. After the Old Major dies, the next big plot development is the rebellion. After forgetting to feed the animals for an extended period of time (due to a long night of drinking and a brutal hangover the next morning), Mr. Jones is finally driven out of his farm by the animals. Not too long after however, Mr. Jones and the neighboring farmers come back, fighting to regain control of the farm. Later calling the skirmish the Battle of the Cowshed, the animals are able to thwart the human’s efforts. As time goes by, the two main leaders of the animal utopia, Snowball and Napoleon, continue to butt heads on major decisions. Snowball, being a much more liberal leader in his politics, wants to construct a windmill for power.

Napoleon however, being a stubborn conservative-ideological leader, gets sick of Snowball’s suggestions and finally banishes Snowball from Animal Farm. It is not long after Snowball’s expulsion that Napoleon holds the first interactions with humans since the rebellion, contracting with a guy by the name of Mr. Whymper for supplies. This connection with humans breaks one of the original commandments, yet Napoleon is never tried nor found guilty. Under Napoleon’s leadership, the animals proceeded to build the windmill after all. Partially through completion, a storm comes and tears down what is already constructed. This pushes the animals to make the windmill even thicker and stronger, ever giving into the political rulings of Napoleon. Soon after the windmill is completed, Mr. Jones and his men decide to attack the farm once again. This action can be compared to a military move, taking an enemy out just after they invent a new major weapon or technological advancement. After a large explosion, there is nothing left of the windmill. Working harder than ever to accomplish what Napoleon ordered, the animals continue to gather stone to rebuild. Boxer, the workhorse of the farm, finally wears himself out, blowing a lung.

As he is taken away to the hospital, some of the animals realized that he is really being taken to be killed. This exposes the corrupt government of totalitarianisms, addressing the issue of Euthanasia. Under the same leadership, Napoleon and the other leaders (pigs) learn to talk on two legs, carrying whips and ordering the animals around. Within days the pigs are meeting with the local farmers to address treaties, revealing that rulers of any sort, pigs or humans, can all be corrupt. I believe the main purpose of this book is to warn the readers, preferably all readers and not just the elite and well-educated, about the dangers of utopias, communism, and totalitarians. After comparing the book’s fairy tale characters to historical figures of the time, I feel that the book does a really good job of revealing these political issues, without making it too overly confusing for the average reader. It is able to take a serious topic, push deep opinions into the discussion, and come out understandable. Some of the ideas that are suggested by the book are to be wary of over controlling governments, and governments promising equality, yet providing an elitist ruling. There are a number of points in the book that stand out as very convincing to me.

One of the biggest is the commandments. The pigs, the ones who instituted the commandments, break them and cover it up by painting a small little amendment to each one. The commandments were even ditched all together at the end of the novel, being replaced by one: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (133). I noticed that Orwell uses an interesting word choice for his dialogue. Old Major starts the trend of calling the fellow animals Comrade (which at the time often referenced the soviets). Orwell also depicts all the different elements of a national struggle within the plot, including war, poverty, rebellion, famine, foreign affairs, economics, and more. All the characters represent direct metaphors of the time period. For example, Napoleon represents Stalin; Snowball represents Trotsky; and Boxer represents any underpaid, maltreated, working-class Soviet. This is all portrayed through a fairly objective and informative tone. The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell is a great political satire exposing the tyrannical and corrupt government of the USSR and other Communist countries during the Cold War. It is a quick read, and well worth digging into if you have a fascination of politics and human corruption.

` leesha2010 , May 03, 2010 George Orwell writes Animal Farm to convey the Russian Revolution in simpler terms. The story takes place on a farm taken over by animals that ran off their owner, Mr. Jones. The leaders of this revolution were two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon and the other pigs start to crave more power and causes them to manipulate the other animals. This leads to corruption and soon enough Napoleon slowly becomes what they drove out, a human! Orwell did not decide to write this book on a whim; his political views helped develop Animal Farm. In his essay, “Why I Write”, Orwell states “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it. It seems to me nonsense, in a period like our own, to think that one can avoid writing of such subjects”. Orwell did not avoid the subject and wrote his views of totalitarianism during the Russian Revolution and incorporated it into Animal Farm. He believed Stalin was leaning towards totalitarianism rather than socialism in the U.S.S.R. One main idea Animal Farm conveys is the effects of exploitation.

On the farm, the pigs manipulate the other animals into working harder and getting smaller rations. A pig named Squealer becomes the speaker for Napoleon and convinces the others that Napoleon is helping the common good and blames Snowball (the other pig who led the rebellion) for any misfortunes the farm experiences. For example, Squealer says, “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal…but sometimes you might make the wrong decisions…Suppose you had decided to follow Snowball…who, as we now know, was no better than a criminal” (59-60). The reader can notice how Squealer makes Snowball a pariah and anyone associated to him. It also sounds ridiculous when Squealer says “you might make the wrong decisions”. There will always be the chance of an unfortunate event but this is Squealers reasoning for Napoleon to make decisions for the other animals. The misuse of power leads to an aristocracy where the very few (the pigs) rule the rest of the farm. Overall, Animal Farm is very effective with conveying Orwell’s political thoughts of the Russian Revolution. By the author simplifying the Revolution and having animals as characters, the ideas become universal.

The ideas of the Revolution are no longer moot because the outcome of the story is now possible anywhere and just Russia in the 1900s. This idea is similar to fairytales. Morals are brought to simple terms and stay relevant no matter the time period. Orwell does an excellent job in making his story a living document and still has relevancy in the 21st century. The greatest lesson learned from this story is the possible outcome of sitting back and doing nothing not only in politics, but in all aspects of life. The animals in the story let pigs take control even though they disagree and they do not try to fix the problems. For example, in the beginning the animals created seven commandments to abide by. The last commandment said, “All animals are created equal” (33). Slowly, the pigs started to manipulate the commandments. By the end of the story there was only one commandment left that read “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (123). The animals let time pass and were no longer equal to the pigs. By letting the pigs get away with their actions, the pigs gained total control over the farm.

The importance of standing up for your beliefs is a lesson anyone can understand. If one takes no action, they will not experience any success. Animal Farm is meant for anyone to read. The word choice is simplistic enough for middle school students to read and enjoy the story for its plot. If one looks deeper into the story, high school students to senior citizens can experience the thrill of seeking out the historical background and the parallels between the characters and real people during the Russian Revolution. Animal Farm by George Orwell is a favorite and highly recommend for anyone to read.

Question: What kind of animals are Old Major (an allegory of Marx and Lenin) and Napoleon (an allegory of Stalin), in George Orwell's classic 1945 novella Animal Farm?
Answer: Pig