FREE ESSAY ON GEORGE ORWELL`S ANIMAL FARM

GEORGE ORWELL`S ANIMAL FARM

Characters, items, and events found in George Orwells book, Animal Farm, can be compared
to similar characters, items, and events found in Marxism and the 1917 Russian
Revolution. This comparison will be shown by using the symbolism that is in the book with
similarities found in the Russian Revolution. Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged
to Farmer Jones. The fact that Old Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical
change and revolution are, themselves, boring in the eyes of the proletariat (represented
by the other barnyard animals), who are more prone to worrying about work and survival in
their everyday life. 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 were to lead to
the communist revolution. Animal Farm is a criticism of Karl Marx, as well as a novel
perpetuating his convictions of democratic Socialism. (Zwerdling, 20). Lenin became
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. Like
the animals in the farm yard, the people is Russia thought there would be no oppression
in a new society because the working class people (or animals) would own all the riches
and hold all the power. (Golubeva and Gellerstein 168). Another character represented in
the book is Farmer Jones. He represents the symbol of the Czar Nicholas in Russia who
treated his people like 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 and
who came home one night, left the gate open and the animals rebelled. 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 mad with the way he wielded his authority and
preached all the time, and the people suffered and finally demanded reform by rebelling.
The Czar said "The law will henceforward be respected and obeyed not only by the nation
but also the authority that rules it - and that the law would stand above the changing
views of the individual instruments of the supreme power." (Pares 420). 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 charged the dogs on Snowball, another animal. 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. For almost 50 years the world thought that the
Nazis had done the killing in Russia, when in fact it was Stalin. (Imse 2). The last
characters that are symbolic of each other are the animal 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. He
was at one time considered the second most powerful man in Russia. (Trotsky" Comptons
290). Besides characters there are many items that can be compared as symbols in the book
and in Russia. The whip that Napoleon used in the farmyard to wield power can be compared
to the power that Stalin used on the Russians. Napoleon carried a whip in his trotter.
Stalin used his power to starve the Russian people and to have Lenin arrested. Stalin's
main goal was to maximize his personal power. ("Stalin," Britannia 576). Stalin "whipped"
his people into shape by collectivizing agriculture, by police terror, and by destroying
remnants of individual prosperity. He also led the Soviet Union into the nuclear age
(Clarkson 442). Propaganda is another item that was used in the Russian revolution. It
can be compared to Squealer in Animal Farm. Squealer brainwashed (a form of propaganda)
the barnyard animals into believing that they did not like apples and milk, while he and
Napoleon were stealing the food for themselves. In Russia, the Bolsheviks carried out
propaganda on the people by passing out leaflets and putting stories in the newspapers
that were not true. They told workers, soldiers, and peasants to not trust their own
hands and to take away land from the landowners. (Golubeva and Gellerstein 80). Another
item that is similar in both Animal Farm and Russia are the dogs and the secret police.
Napoleon trained his dogs when they were puppies to guard him and to obey his every
command. They chased Snowball away. Stalin trained his secret police to do his bidding
whenever he issued an order. Stalin had his secret police kill between 60,000 to 70,000
people. These police were called the Checka and the graves filled with bodies stacked
upon each other with bullets in each skull were found many years later. (Imse, C2).
Another symbolism that exists in the book and in Russia is a similarity to events that
took place. The windmill that is present in Animal Farm can be compared with the growth
of industry in Russia or the Industrial Revolution. Snowball first introduced the
windmill concept to the farm but Napoleon disagreed with him and had the dogs chase him
away. Napoleon then presented the windmill as a good idea and the animals were presented
with hope that things would get better on the farm. When it blew down, Napoleon blamed it
on Snowball. Napoleon thought that if he could keep the barnyard animals busy all the
time replacing the windmill that they would not realize how bad their living conditions
were, and he could blame the destruction all the time on Snowball. The windmill is the
only thing that was holding the animals together as a unit. In Russia the growth of
factory and industry was very depressing but depended on the obligatory labor of serfs.
Russia hoped that by keeping the serfs working all the time and promising them a better
world that they would not realize how bad their living conditions were. The
Industrialists were pressing their own constitutional demands. (Clarkson 352). None of
the social classes were fighting each other because there were no classes left. What
Russia got working was to make the people think that the prospect of loss of potential
improvements in conditions of life of the here and now, could only be attained by
stimulating labor to unprecedented efforts. The last event that was similar in the book
and in Russia was the animal rebellion on the farm and the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Farmer Jones was drunk a lot and would forget to feed the animals on the farm. The
withholding of this food is what finally forced the animals on the farm to rebel against
Farmer Jones. In Russia, there were many food shortages which caused the people to
demonstrate and then the Russian soldiers refused to suppress them and the leaders
demanded that Nicholas transfer his power to parliamentary government because everything
was getting out of control. Soviet workers and soldiers formed a special committee and
established a government. The same day the emperor abdicated. ("Russian Revolution,"
Grolier npa). This actually backfired in Russia and the war continued and the people
still starved. Many lessons can be learned by reading Animal Farm that can help countries
and governments around the world from making mistakes in wielding their power against
their people. If a population is suppressed and not allowed to accumulate things for
themselves then an overthrow of the government that is suppressing them will be the
result. 
Bibliography
WORKS CITEDClarkson, Jesse. A History of Russia. New York: Random House, 1969.Golubeva,
T. and L. Gellerstein. Early Russia - The Russie. Moscos, Press Agency Publishing House,
1976.Imse, Ann. Mass Grave Seen as Evidence of Massecure by Stalins Police. "Hunstsville
Times, 13, August. 1990.Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Signet 50th Anniversary Edition,
Harcourt Brace & Company, 1996. Pares, Sir Bernard. The Fall of the Russian Monarchy. New
York: A division of Random House, 1939."Russian Revolution of 1917." Grolier Electronic
Publishing, Inc. 1992 ed."Stalin, Joseph." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1917 ed.Zwerdling,
Alex. Orwell and The Left. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1974.