Totalitarianism And Stalinism In Animal Farm, By George Orwell

Animal Farm is a parody of totalitarian governments which criticizes the Soviet Union in World War II. Orwell composed the book to serve as a warning of Stalinism. After the book was written, he had a difficult time getting the book published, because the Soviet Union was already cooperating with the allied forces. The novel depicts its characters as specific historical figures of the Soviet society, which include Major as Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, Snowball as Leon Trotsky, Napoleon as Joseph Stalin, Frederick as Adolf Hitler, Pilkington as the Allies, Boxer as the peasants, Mollie as the elite, and Moses as the church. Animal Farm is a historical novel, set in England, but dealing with the events leading up to and after the Russian Revolution

In the book, the animals generously accept Major 's vision of the perfect socialist society; however, after his death, the pigs distort the wording of Major’s revolutionary ideas for their own benefit and keep the other creatures oblivious to the true situation. The outcome of this causes the other animals to seem unable to oppose the pigs without likewise opposing the beliefs of their rebellion. By the end of the novel, after Squealer 's reconfigurations of the Seven Commandments to legitimize the pigs criminal acts, the primary principle of the farm can be expressed as “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell). This corruption of the word "equal" is among the most compelling aspects of Animal Farm, that demonstrates Orwell 's painful interpretation of government using manipulation of language as a means of control. In conclusion, the book conveys to the audience that the true motives of person or group of people can be covered up with rhetorical and gratifying