The book Animal Farm counteracts fantasy with the true events of the Russian Revolution and the leadership of Joseph Stalin. One firm example of this is the depiction of this realism in the cart horse Boxer from the Animal Farm and that of the working class of the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution. The similarities between the two are almost spot on with history. One example of this similarity is the way both were the powerhouse of their nation. Boxer was the most persistent worker on the Animal Farm and always put in extra work whenever he could. He hauled heavy stone from the rock quarry in order to create the windmill for the good of the Animal Farm. In the knick of hardship, he continued for the hope that things would grow better with the completion of the windmill.
The working class were very similar in the way they did things. The working class of the Soviet Union felt eager for change after the Russian Revolution and worked seemingly endless hours under the advisement of Stalin. Most worked extra hours of laborious work for the hope of better lives. Each working tirelessly on the infrastructure and making vast improvements to the country.
Both Boxer and the working class were not well educated. Boxer in the story was not given a solid education by the pigs. He had a very limited reading vocabulary and only knew the first four
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One of these ways was his labor in the farm. Once again, he did all the extra work and was the backbone of the farm. Once he became injured in the second construction of the windmill, the pigs took full advantage. Instead of sending him to a veterinary clinic, they sold his body to a neighboring glue company and used their profit to buy a case of alcohol. In the speech Old Major gave in the beginning of the book, he said that under animalism no animals would be butchered and ironically specifically said that Boxer would not be made into
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novel based on the lives of a society of animals living on the Manor Farm. Although the title of the book suggests the book is merely about animals, the story is a much more in depth analysis of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The animals are used as puppets to illustrate how the communist class system operated and how Russian citizens responded to this. And also how propaganda was used by early Russian leaders such as Stalin, and the effort this type of leadership had on the behavior of the people of Russia.
For example, people started to rebel against the government for better working conditions and better pay so they would not starve anymore and would be treated equally. Meanwhile, in Animal farm, Boxer’s character never changed for the reason that he never rebelled against Napoleon and would just let things since he never questioned Napoleon’s power. On the other hand, there are still many similarities between Boxer and the working class despite the rebellion in the Russian Revolution. Some of these similarities are that Boxer and the working class both were dedicated to their work and would work very diligently which caused some people including Boxer to work themselves to death. Not only were they both diligently workers
One of the main characters of Animal Farm is the heartless and merciless leader Napoleon. Napoleon is a leader that prefers to have things his way and not cooperate with others, in other words really obnoxious. For example “He declared himself against the windmill from the start. One day, however, he arrived unexpectedly to examine the plan. He walked heavily round the sled, looked closely at every detail of the plans and snuffed at them once or twice, then stood for a little while contemplating them out of the corner of his eye; then suddenly lifted his leg, urinated over the plans and walked out without uttering a word.”(Page 33, chapter5) Thus, this proves that Napoleon is an obnoxious pig because just because he was against Snowball’s windmill idea he urinated all over his work so he could get his way.
In the beginning of the story Old Major gives a speech to the animals on the farm, and in this speech he mentions how cruel the humans are. During his speech Old Major uses Boxer the horse as an example when he says “You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.” (Orwell 11). He then proceeds to tell the animals that once they revolt the cruelty will end, and at first it does, but soon the pigs begin to act more like humans. The pigs act so much like the humans that at the end of the book it is said that the other animals can’t even tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.
Boxer is being a conformist by listening what the pigs told to do without question. One good example is when he and the other animals are
When the Clover and Muriel notice that the commandments of Animal Farm have been changing, Squealer assures the animals that no such action has been done and warns them that Mr. Jones may come back if the pigs did not get enough of their “necessities” for work. These “necessities” for work are merely just an excuse the pigs harness to deceive the other animals, who are not as intelligent, so that the pigs themselves can indulge the human creations that is originally created by animal effort. This endless greed and self-benefitting mindset is one of the reasons why Animal Farm fails to become the utopia, not only Old Major wants, but the utopia that all the animals fought for. In addition, after the Fredericks dynamite the windmill, Boxer, who receives major wounds, is sold to the Glue Boiler only to allow the pigs to “acquire the money to buy themselves another case of whisky” (Orwell 126). Boxer, one of Animal Farm’s most loyal workers is sold to the Horse slaughterer so that the pigs could self-indulge in a case of whisky. This government could not become any more corrupt as to not give their most hardworking subordinate a proper retirement or even an honorable burial. Overall, it is the manifestation of greed and selfishness that drives Animal Farm to corruption and
At the beginning of the story, the Old Major calls a meeting in the barn and speaks about Rebellion and Animalism. Shortly after that the Old Major died’s and then the rebellion starts to take place. Mr. Jones is like a bad guy to the Animals. Napoleon to is also another major villain. But after Jones is gone, all of his tools are burned, and now its time for the animals to take a look around the farmhouse. The name Manor Farm is changed to Animal Farm and the Seven Commandments are established. They then start to begin the hay harvest. During the hay harvest Boxer says, “I will work harder” as his personal motto. The harvest turned out to be a success. At this point the pigs are now beginning to abuse their power. Pretty soon the pigeons are sent to spread the word of the rebellion to other animals. And Mr. Jones tries to recapture the farm in the Battle of the Cowshed.
As soon as Old Major had died Napoleon took his place as the leader of
There is a substantial amount of conflicts that occur in this satirical story. Often these conflicts are between the pigs and the rest of the animals. Only a minute portion of the animals didn’t really have some sort of conflict with Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, or the rest of the dominating pigs. Overall, Snowball was a better leader than Napoleon, yet the animals reacted differently to Napoleon than to Snowball.
Animal Farm was a metaphor for the Russian Revolution. The animals on the farm overthrew the farmer who treated them unfairly, and they began their own government. As time went on the pigs made themselves rulers, the main pig in charge being Napoleon. Napoleon started to make the other farm animals do all the work while he relaxed and ordered others around. He trained the dogs to punish those who did not follow the rules of the farm, the main punishment being death. All the animals were under strict guidelines and had lost their freedom on their way to finding it again. This relates to Russian government almost identically. When Lenin, a communist leader, died, he put Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky against each other for power. S...
Pigs walking on two feet, horses and sheep talking. This is how George Orwell satirizes human nature in his classic novel Animal Farm. Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The title of the book is also the setting for the action in the novel. The animals in the story decide to have a revolution and take control of the farm from the humans. Soon the story shows us how certain groups move from the original ideals of the revolution to a situation where there is domination by one group and submission by all the others. The major idea in this story is the political corruption of what was once a pure political ideal. Orwell uses satire to ridicule human traits in his characters such as Napoleon and Squealer. There are several different characters in the novel utilizing animals as symbols of people in real life during the Russian Revolution. Napoleon is the leader of the pigs that ultimately come to dominate the farm. The characteristics that we associate with pigs , lazy, greedy, and pushy are meant to symbolize the characteristics that the leaders of the Russian Revolution exhibited. Napoleon is admired by all of the animals because he is their leader. All of the animals believe that their leader wants to fulfill all of their needs. They also are convinced that Napoleon’s decisions are made the best interest of the animals. Napoleon’s piglike qualities are shown throughout the story. He exhibited greediness when he sold the dying horse, Boxer to a slaughterhouse for money so that he and the other pigs could purchase whiskey. Orwell ridicules human nature through Napoleon in the sense that he is trying to show how the greedy and power hungry eventually end in corruption.
Although he agreed with many of the Marxist principles, he disagreed with the Communist method of addressing these problems. This idea is conveyed in Animal Farm. The animals’ original action of overthrowing their tyrannical overlords and working for themselves is not an inherently evil course to take. However, as the pigs start to take more power for themselves, problems start to arise (Guidorizzi 72). Animal Farm is an allegory; most of the events and animals described in the book represent some historical event or person. The pigs in the book represent communist leaders. Old Major, the boar, represents Marx and Lenin as the one who lays the foundation of their philosophy. Mr. Jones, the farmer, represents the Czar who is abruptly overthrown in a fit of fury from the people. The pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, the two of whom are constantly disagreeing on how the farm should be run, represent Stalin and Trotsky. The dogs represent the various agencies used to force compliance with Soviet rule, while Squealer represents communist propaganda. The original reason that the animals revolt is because the humans take without producing anything; they leech off the labor of the animals. Kicking the humans out of the farm allows the animals to feel better about their work because now they know that all of their labor is for their own benefit. However, the pigs soon started abusing this work ethic for their own gain
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a political satire of a totalitarian society ruled by a mighty dictatorship, in all probability a fable for the events surrounding the Russian Revolution of 1917. The animals of “Manor Farm” overthrow their human master after a long history 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 humans. Little by little, the pigs become dominant, gaining more power and advantage over the other animals, so much so that they become as corrupt and power-hungry as their predecessors, the humans.
“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write because there is some lie I want to expose and some fact I want to draw attention to…”
Animal Farm is set on the Mannor Farm, during the chaotic time of an animal revolution.