Which, began the revolution. The farm is overthrown, taken over by animals, and renamed Animal farm. In the story Animal Farm, George Orwell uses allegory, foreshadow, and symbolism to craft a life where all are equal, but some are more equal than others. Allegory was a major concept during the novel. It was used to represent the Russian revolution of 1917.
Animal Farm is a novella written by George Orwell, where a pig dictator, Napoleon, tries to gain power by using different types of propaganda. This novella takes place in an imaginary farm in England that focuses on politics. George Orwell said that he was inspired by the Russian Revolution, but the idea of the awareness of corruption applies to the world. Similarly to Animal Farm, World War II “was arguably the most significant period of the 20th century” (historynet.com) that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The corruption and dictation of the government was what inspired George Orwell to write Animal Farm.
Animal Farm was written in February of 1944. As seen in the writing of George Orwell, the animals revolted against Mr. Jones due to poor living conditions. George Orwell reflects on the Russian Revolution by evaluating the primary leaders, groups of people, and events that were part of the movement through the use of animals as characters. Old Major, the pig who died in the first chapter shares obvious similarities to Karl Marx. Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto, and Old Major came up with a large amount of the ideas for how the animals could separate themselves from
“Beasts of England” is a song that Old Major taught to all of them, and it is extremely important because it is an inspiration to rebel against Man and bonds the animals together. The pigs decide to abolish it because, according to them, the song is no longer necessary. The tyranny that the pigs rule is destroying the culture of Animalism because this song is a major part of the animals’ lives. The reader feels that this dictatorship is destroying the animals’ history and culture even more after “[Benjamin] read[s] out to [Clover] what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment.
The setting of the manor farm is resembled to be Russia and the three pigs are the three main leaders in the Revolution. The last Russian emperor, Tsar Nicholas II is portrayed by Mr. Jones. He wasn’t good at taking care of his people and he was a drunk. Napoleon is Stalin, they both want power and they both have a strength in lying and bending the truth. Leon Trotsky is Snowball, Snowball wants to generate power through the farm to be able to modernize it, Trotsky wanted communism but fights Stalin to keep it in Russia.
CHAPTER 3: PARALLELS BETWEEN RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND ANIMAL FARM THROUGH EVENTS AND CHARACTERS “In the time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Orwell.G 1949 George Orwell’s influential novel Animal Farm ultimately turned out to be a political commentary and presumably an allegory which revolves around Russian Revolution. Basically, parallel means occurring or existing in corresponding manner. There are number of events which directly correspond to Soviet Russia. Just like the people of Russia drove out Tsar Nicholas 2 in the exact same way animals of Manor Farm rebelled against Mr. Jones after enduring a prolonged period of injustice. With the passage of time, the pigs dominate working class of animals, because they are clever than others and then power corrupts them eventually they crave for more and more and become power-hungry their obsession enslaves them and the idea of it resembles them to their enemy which is human.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”(Page 97) In this case, George Orwell is using the phrase “more equal” to show how leaders twist words in order to manipulate the population. Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a classic satire on the Russian Revolution. Satire is a way to use humor, irony, or over exaggeration to expose or criticize people’s ideas, especially in politics. Animal Farm illustrates how leaders become corrupt when they abuse their power, treat the population differently based on their status, and the leaders manipulate and oppress the working class. Over the course of the book, Napoleon and the pigs abused their power.
Even if some events are more comparable to Nazi Germany or General Francisco’s Spain, the main allegory of this book is Animalism representing Communism and Marxism. In which the animals, representing the proletariat, throw over their oppressors (Mr. Jones) much like the bolshevik revolution of October 24th. Despite starting with good intentions, both revolutions end up with a fascist and oppressive political regime. Following this allegory we can observe that the three main leaders of Communist Russia have pig counterparts in the book. Old Major is based on Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, Snowball is based on Leon Trotsky and Napoleon on Josef Stalin.
Old Major tries to teach the animals that without humans ruling, animals could do a better job and by taking over the farm where they live, they could finally be free and not under the communist rule of humans. After Old Major dies, three pigs - Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer - lead the animals into a revolution against the farm owner, Mr. Jones, and succeed. As time progresses and the top three pigs acquire status among all the other animals, a leader emerges. Napoleon begins to show his true colors as a forceful ruler which is similar to the concept of communism. Another way that Orwell uses rhetoric in this story is he details the manipulation that Napoleon uses to gain complete and total control of all of the animals in the farm.
.] Napoleon read out the orders for the week in a gruff soldierly style, and after a single singing of Beasts of England, all the animals dispersed.” (Orwell 52) In this quotation, Napoleon utilizes power to seize control. His partners in crime (the puppies) drive off Snowball. Squealer quickly starts to paint Snowball as an adversary who was working with the people. The text reflects Stalin's energy snatch in Russia, yet in addition, demonstrates that one individual will in the long run get control far from the majority.