The Boxer In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Throughout the captivating satire, Animal Farm, the reader explores a variety of ideas and opinions surrounding communism, through the characters and their development throughout the story. Of these characters, Boxer, a strong and hard working horse, although not the main focus in this novel, did play an important role on the farm. His good nature ended up threatening the farm’s leader, and drove him to his death.
Although Boxer doesn’t hold the main source of power over all of the farm animals, he is definitely a highlighted and important character. Boxer seems to be a an unofficial leader figure in the eyes of all of the animals, from gaining vast amounts of respect before and during the rebellion. He is the hardest worker on the farm, and stays loyal to whomever is in power throughout the entire story. Such qualities can be seen just after the first time animals slaughtered other animals on Animal Farm. “‘I do not understand it. I would not have believed that such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The solution, as I see it, is to work harder. From now onwards I shall get up a full hour earlier in the mornings’” (Orwell 25). Even at a time when the only thing the animals can feel is despair, Boxer voices his continued loyalty to his leader, Napoleon, the pig behind this sickening act. He even says he’ll do more to improve the farm, and prevent a situation like this from happening again. With Boxer’s growing popularity, the reader finds that the supreme leader, Napoleon, feels threatened by Boxer. The animals obviously treat Napoleon like a king, because the animals

In conclusion, Boxer’s large role on the farm and respect he gained from the other animals ultimately led to an alternative climax of this story. Not only did Napoleon’s growing jealousy and mission to become as human-like as possible lead to such a tragic ending for such a noble steed, but also Boxer’s drive to work himself to the point of an early