Totalitarianism Animal Farm

ANIMAL FARM

¬- George Orwell -

George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published in August 1945. This novel was the author’s satirical take on equality and governing leaders in which farm animals live free from their human master and his tyranny. In fact, Orwell wrote Animal Farm as an allegory where his goal was to depict the Russian Revolution as one that resulted in a more totalitarian and corrupt government than the one it overthrew. One of the ways he illustrates this was through anthropomorphism. Orwell utilised metaphorical characters that were reflections of significant persons in the Russian Revolution to express the kind of people those of the Russian Revolution were. Through these metaphorical characters, George Orwell had impacted the

Squealer, Napoleon’s obedient assistant, had acted as the mouth of promulgating what was being taught and believed in the farm. “He was a brilliant talker (pg. 9)”. Likewise, the dogs were Napoleon’s military force who had the job to safeguard their leader attentively. The dogs had been extremely loyal to Napoleon that “it was noted that they wagged their tails to [Napoleon] in the same way as the other dogs used to do to Mr Jones (pg. 72)”. This hints at the kind of power Napoleon had over the dogs. What’s so significant about these characters is how they mirror the roles and qualities of eloquent historical figures of the Russian Revolution. In fact, Squealer is a perfect match to Vyacheslav Moltov. Moltov was a Soviet politician who became Stalin’s protégé and the head of the Communist Propaganda. He was single-handedly chosen by Stalin to be the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs in which he negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Nazi Germany. With this, Vyacheslav Moltov’s role in the life of Stalin is akin to the role of Squealer in Napoleon’s life. Additionally, Napoleon’s army, the intimidating and complaint dogs, are those that had exhibited the KLB Police Force. The KLB Police Force had worked to guard and protect the safety and well-being of the capitalists in the Russian Revolution. Likewise, the dogs had done the same

As an instrument of Orwell’s aim, Boxer epitomised the working class of the Russian Revolution. Dedicated, hardworking and selfless, “Boxer refused to take even a day of work (pg. 74)”. Even in trying times, Boxer persevered and applied himself while being fully aware of the consequences. Yet despite all of this, Boxer also possessed naivety and innocence, which results in blind trust in Napoleon. For example, Boxer had chanted continuously that “Napoleon is always right” (pg. 37) throughout the novel. This evinces his concocted faith and credulity. In addition to this, the working class of the Russian Revolution were convinced of the good that came from following and obeying Joseph Stalin. Like Boxer, the working class had strong faith in their leader, Joseph Stalin, and had heeded his commandments. Furthermore, www.wsws.org had stated that “the Stalin faction were blinded by many things”, some of which being his promises of better food quality, working conditions and an honest leader. All of these promises were not fulfilled by Stalin. The working class of the Russian Revolution were eventually left with lack of food, executions of millions and unequal treatment. Even though the working class had entrusted everything into Joseph Stalin, their lives and well-being, Stalin had betrayed his people. This is significantly indistinguishable to Napoleon’s actions in Animal