The Use Of Allegory In George Orwell's Animal Farm

A. An allegory is an extended metaphor. Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is an allegory because it is a metaphor of communism. In the beginning of the story, the animals took over the farm. They were trying to better their lives. There was not supposed to be one animal in charge over all of the animals. All animals were to be considered equal. “They explained that by their studies

of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles

of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These Seven Commandments would now be

inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the

animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after.” One of the commandments was that “All animals are equal.”

Slowly the pigs started taking over little

by little. They started making their decisions all on their own, not giving the other animals a choice. Overtime, they started making small changes to the seven commandments. The pigs began manipulating the other animals. When other animals would question the pig’s decision, the pigs would come up an explanation as to why something was the way it was. For example when Boxer the horse got hurt, the pigs said he was going to the vet, but the van that came to pick him up said "Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler.” Later when the other animals questioned the pigs, they told them “the van had previously been the property of the knacker, and had been bought by the veterinary surgeon, who had not yet painted the old name out.” If the animals questioned the changes in the seven commandments, the pigs would lie and say they have always been like that. The pigs controlled every little thing that happened on the farm. Like the way Stalin controlled everything.
Orwell’s novel is a metaphor for the cruelties and hypocrisies of the soviet communist party. It uses animals on an English farm to tell the history of soviet communism. Orwell used animals in the story to portray Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. In the story Napoleon was considered to be Stalin and Snowball was Trotsky. Trotsky was a popular charismatic leader, which is how Snowball was in the novel. Stalin preferred to consolidate his power behind the scenes; this is how Napoleon was in the story. Stalin organized an alliance against Trotsky. Napoleon did the same in the story with Snowball. Once Napoleon ran Snowball off of the farm, he used him as a tool to become the more popular one of the two. Snowball soon became an enemy to the other farm animals. This is what Stalin did to Trotsky. The story is a metaphor for events that happened during the soviet communism.
B. The rhetorical components of this allegory are how the author informs the reader about communism. Rhetoric is the use of language to inform or persuade people, and that is what Orwell did. Orwell used it in this story to caution people against the encroachment of communism. He used it to inform people about communism.
Orwell informed people about communism without really saying it.

He let people know how bad communism is. In the story when Napoleon became the one in charge, all of the other animals except the pigs and dogs, had no say in anything. Which is how communism is, people do not get a say in how things are. The animals began working for Napoleon, no themselves.

C. The use of allegory as a rhetorical device is different than a non-fictional account or an historical or statistical analysis of the period and the ride of the communist party because, metaphors tend to make people think about the subject a little more. When people read metaphors, they have to think about it longer in order to truly understand the meaning of it. They put more time into it instead of just reading the story and moving on. Reading a metaphor also gives the reader a new perspective of the subject. It may allow the reader to think about the subject in a different way.

Reading this allegory made the communism subject a little more interesting to me. If I would have just read the history of the Soviet Union, I would have understood how bad communism is, but I wouldn’t have put as much thought into. Reading the allegory had made me put more thought into

communism.
D. I think Orwell’s use of allegory rhetorically is successful. An allegory is an extended metaphor and that is what this story is. It is a metaphor of communism. Rhetoric is the art of writing that informs or persuades people in specific situations. Orwell informs the readers about communism in this story. He uses the animals on a farm as if they were humans in a country.
This story informed me about communism. I knew what communism was before reading this story, but I was able to learn a little more about it. I never realized how bad communism could be. When Napoleon took over the farm and started manipulating the other animals, they had no chance. The animals would try questioning something that was happening, but the pigs would have an excuse as to why it was better for the farm. They controlled everything, which is how communism is. People have no say in anything.