Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Russian Revolution and animal farm
Animal farm critiques communism
Russian Revolution and animal farm
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Russian Revolution and animal farm
Animalism is Communism
Animal Farm is a book that definitely uses a great amount of symbolism and the animals alone make up a large quantity of these representations. This essay will cover four animals that each had an important role in Animal Farm. It will also explain what many believe the author intended to represent the as from the time before, during, and after the era of Russian Communism. The aforementioned essay shall explain the symbolism using four characters from the book: Snowball the pig, Napoleon the pig, Squealer the pig, and Boxer the horse.
To Start, Snowball the pig was an important character who was an equal and fair leader with only the intensions of Old Major, a respected member of the farm. Snowball is modeled on Leon Trotsky and he represents intelligence and an organizational ability rather than brute force. It is Snowball who writes the Seven Commandments on the barnyard wall and has the idea of building the windmill. And like Trotsky, Snowball is exiled after the revolution and is falsely made out to be the chief villain of Animal Farm. One goal of both Leon Trotsky and snow ball was to make an improvement of what they had taken in their
…show more content…
The propaganda in Animal Farm was spread mainly by Squealer the pig. He, throughout the book, was known for rewriting history and reading the animals encouraging, but false, statistics in order to protect the reputation of Napoleon who promised Squealer priority over other animal. “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?” (34-35) he's supposed to be Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's Prime Minister in the 1930s, who issued a lot of the death warrants during the Great Purge and basically sucked up to Stalin wherever
His novel as a fairy story is a satire, tragic book written to relate with the
In Orwell's Animal Farm, the animals revolt against the cruel human leaders and set up a better method of farm management where all animals are equal. As time passes, the new leaders become greedy and corrupt, and the other animals realize conditions are just as miserable as before. There is a major connection between Animal Farm and Russian communism. The pigs are one of the most significant of these connections, representing the communist rulers of Russia, like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Their traits, personalities, and actions are similar to the actual men in power. In the novel Animal Farm, the pigs represent the communist leaders of Russia in the early 1900s.
George Orwell's novel Animal Farm is subtitled "a Fairy Story", a label that may make the book seem innocent and appropriate for children and classroom settings. However, the title is misleading. Animal Farm is a work of Communist propaganda. It outlines and even encourages the overthrow of the government, and explains how to set up and maintain a communist state. It portrays government as corrupt and the public as stupid and easily manipulated. Orwell himself wavered between being a socialist and an anarchist.
Karl Marx’s perfect society described in his Communist Manifesto is in direct conflict with the implementation of Soviet Communism, which was scathingly criticized by George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. Karl Marx believed that in order to form a just and equal society, the working class, called the proletariat, would have to overthrow those who owned the means of production, who were known as the bourgeoisie. This was to be known as the Proletariat Revolution where the oppressed laborers in capitalist societies, such as England, would unite under a common cause to overthrow the oppressive bourgeoisie, and establish a communist society. This would be a society where all were equal, each performing to his ability, and each receiving according to his needs. A dictatorship would be necessary at first to get the ball rolling, but would eventually voluntarily give up power, as it would no longer be needed. However, this was never destined to be. The rise of the Soviet Union was a testament to this, brilliantly depicted and condemned by George Orwell.
The characters and events that George Orwell put in his novel Animal Farm, can be linked to the similar events and people associated with the Russian Revolution. People like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky can be compared and represented by the 2 pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, in Orwell’s Animal Farm. By writing this novel, Orwell attempted to expose the truth behind the totalitarian-type government in Russia at that time. However, he did this in a discreet way by using animals to symbolize the different people that played a role in the Revolution.
George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is a great example of allegory and political satire. The novel was written to criticize totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalin's corrupt rule in Russia. In the first chapter Orwell gives his reasons for writing the story and what he hopes it will accomplish. It also gives reference to the farm and how it relates to the conflicts of the Russian revolution. The characters, settings, and the plot were written to describe the social upheaval during that period of time and also to prove that the good nature of true communism can be turned into something atrocious by an idea as simple as greed. This essay will cover the comparisons between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution. It will also explain why this novel is a satire and allegory to the Revolution that took place in Russia so long ago.
First of all, Napoleon is a huge Berkshire boar and he clearly is the most powerful of all the animals. He was able to take complete leadership of the farm because he secretly trained the dogs to attack Snowball. George Orwell writes, “ ‘Never mind the milk, comrades!’ cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. ‘That will be attended to, the harvest is more important’ (817). Napoleon is quite demanding none of the animal’s even question his authority because they know that he has more control than any other animal. Throughout the novel Orwell has many quotes that describe Napoleon as a leader, “ ‘long live Comrade Napoleon’ ” (846). All the animals on the farm (no matter what Napoleon did to them) would treat him as a powerful leader and whatever he said they would do. Often Orwell stirs up controversy about the rebellion, “ ‘forward in the name of the rebellion. ‘Long live Animal farm!’ ‘Long live Comrade Napoleon!’ ‘Napoleon is always right.’ Those were his very last words, comrades’ ” (849). Squealer’s letting everyone know that no matter what happens to Animal Farm, just remember that Napoleon was an outstanding leader most of the time. Napoleon was an outstanding leader and contributor to Animal Farm without his power the farm would have collapsed earlier.
Snowball the mirror image of Leon Trotsky, in all except appearance is the most promising leader of Animal Farm. Like Trotsky, Snowball is a kind ruler who is best interested in the prosperity and happiness of his ?comrades?. Snowball brought literacy and equality to Animal Farm through his teachings, and the writing of the Seven Commandments. Another way in which Snowball is similar to Trotsky is his role in the Battle of the Cowshed, where he organized the farms defenses and was the key to victory. Much like when Leon Trotsky organized the Red Army. Both Snowball and Trotsky were excellent public speakers and could win a crowds favor easily. ?Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same ...
Because Animal Farm is an allegory, all characters are important. One of these characters is Snowball. Snowball’s intellect and passion are significant characteristics that make him stand out from the other animals. He also directly connects to Leon Trotsky, a Soviet Politician who opposed Joseph Stalin. Snowball’s actions, traits, and relation to Trotsky show how even those who are thoughtful can be corrupted by power.
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satire of the Russian Revolution that took place during the late 1930s. Orwell uses vibrant characters such as Snowball, Old Major, and Napoleon to represent some of Russia’s horrific past. While Old Major represents the idea of revolution and Snowball represents the idea of industrialism, Napoleon represents the totalitarian dictatorship in Russia. Animal Farm is a good example of what happened to Russia during this time period. While Animal Farm could represent any dictatorship, it more specifically represents the totalitarianism brought on by Joseph Stalin through communism.
...ale Animal Farm proves to be a symbolic and understanding book. In its pages we can see the contrast between a supposedly communistic state where everyone is equal and the same, and how in the end it only leads to a total dictatorial establishment of totalitarianism, where everything is controlled by an elite group. Though Animal Farm was established with the idea of every animal being equal, in the end, the voice of the scheming pigs was the only one heard. Secondly, the book powerfully symbolizes key figures that have appeared in history. It shows how Karl Marx affected the Communism movement in the character Old Major, and also displays the kind of government that lights the fuse for a revolution in the tempered Farmer Jones. Though dark and menacing, Animal Farm paints a very brutal yet truthful view of the dangers when a society moves to the ideas of communism.
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...
Orwell’s Animal Farm demonstrates at least two major objections to the communist form of government. The first of these objections is that the communist ideology would simply not be able to function. Such a system which revolves around maintaining complete equality of the people would allow no one person to be in charge. However, without some sort of leader to set goals and direct the work toward those goals, very little could ever be accomplished. Such a system would also not work because, in order to accomplish the daily tasks of a community, or indeed a country, there are specific roles which must be fulfilled, and while each of these roles may hold importance within the society, not every role is equal, nor is every man’s (or animal’s)
Snowball is a “vivacious pig… quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character” (Orwell, 13). Snowball is a brilliant speaker who “won over the majority by his brilliant speeches” (43). Snowball is lively and friendly, and truly believes that all animals are equal. He believes in Animalism, where all animals shared equal labor and the fruits of their labor. He believes in the seven commandments and later creates committees for animals to learn in. Snowball has the idea of building a windmill that “so much labour would be saved that the animals would only need to work three days a week” (46). Snowball is the visionary of Old Major’s beliefs, and striving to make the farm a better place for the animals. Snowball acknowledges that power can be a corrupting influence, b...
George Orwell’s figurative novel, Animal Farm is a fairy-tale where he uses powerful language to give life to the animals of the Manor Farm. By the use of these animals, Orwell also displays a representation of the Russian Revolution. Great emphasis is placed upon these animals to characterize them as human beings. This is to show that Animal Farm is really an exemplar for the Russian society in the twentieth century. Orwell’s criticism of Animal farm has little to do with the Marxist ideology that goes along with the Rebellion but rather the corruption of that ideology displayed by later leaders.