Symbolism In George Orwell's Animal Farm

“There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.” (Arthur C. Clarke) Symbolism is the thing that you would give to something that is of the natural nature, such as the flower had a very symbolic meaning. Everything in our world has a different meaning when it comes to the symbolic side of life. Symbolism is also something that countries use to represent themselves, the United States of America for example uses the Bald Eagle to represent it’s fair country, the Eagle is the symbol of freedom here. A majority of all animals have a symbolic meaning, the Eagle being one of many animals to have such a meaning. Animals also have different behaviours when it comes to certain things in life, some are loyal, and others are just downright brutal to the core of their very being and state.

In George Orwell’s famous novel Animal Farm, it follows the tale of animals who want freedom from the tyranny of the human race, they all have different behaviours, virtuous and negativity, are the most common ones in this novel.

Many animals showed many virtuous attributes, but two in particular stood out in the main storyline of the novel, Boxer the Horse, and Snowball the Pig. They were both main characters of the story, but in the end they both end up leaving the farm, which was something that definitely didn’t go unnoticed. Both of them were very strong and well rounded characters

who didn’t deserve the things they got. After the first battle of the rebellion, Boxer is found mourning, “He is dead… I had no intention of doing that. I forgot that I was wearing iron shoes” (43). This brave young horse clearly has some very high standards and he doesn’t really believe that this person he killed exactly deserved to die, to him this was clearly a little mistake that he had made. He fought very bravely and he helped protecting his comrades by being a very virtuous individual, he obviously has the heart of a hero. Snowball, was a very loyal character in the story and he stood for what he strongly believed in, but in the end Napoleon turned against him and ran him off. After the battle, there was a ceremony to celebrate their achievement, “The animals decided unanimously to create a military decoration, “Animal Hero, First Class,” which was conferred there and then on Snowball and Boxer” (44). Both were clearly loyal and virtuous enough to earn these medals of honor from their comrades. They both fought bravely in this battle and they truly deserved such recognition.
The negatively inclined characters, were basically the antagonists of the novel, Napoleon and Squealer, these were the two who both were in the plot for Snowball’s demise. Napoleon and Squealer were both pigs who were hungry for the power of which Old Major had left behind after he died, but they both had to get rid of Snowball before they could do that. When the windmill is discovered in ruins on the ground outside of the barn and the farmhouse, “ Snowball has done this thing! In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year” (70). In this scene, Napoleon is obviously being a very negative and evil individual by blaming this crime against one of his former comrades, so that he can turn the over animals against him so that if he ever comes back, then he can destroy Snowball. When the conspiracy is discovered Squealer is immediately on his case, “Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us!” (79). The small pig was thinking of way to make Snowball seem even more like a bad guy in the story line, which was something that unfortunately turned everyone against the virtuous pig. Both Napoleon and Squealer conquered the farm by enforcing terror and fear upon all of the animals there.
Virtue and negativity were one of the main rulers in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm.

All of the animals did live happily on the farm and nothing more really happened to them. Symbolism is a very important thing that everyone needs to know is something that gets used everyday in this slightly terrifying world. Nothing is necessarily as innocent and beautiful as it seems and this novel proves just that. Not all animals are as cute and cuddly as everyone believes them to

be.