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Characters, items, and events found in George Orwells book, Animal
Farm, can be compared to similar characters, items, and events found in
Marxism and the 1917 Russian Revolution. This comparison will be shown
by using the symbolism that is in the book with similarities found in
the Russian Revolution.
Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer Jones. The fact
that Old Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical change and
revolution are, themselves, boring in the eyes of the proletariat
(represented by the other barnyard animals), who are more prone to
worrying about work and survival in their everyday life. Old Major gave
many speeches to the farm animals about hope and the future. He is the
main animal who got the rebellion started even though he died before it
actually began. Old Major's role compares to Lenin and Marx whose ideas
were to lead to the communist revolution. Animal Farm is a criticism of
Karl Marx, as well as a novel perpetuating his convictions of
democratic Socialism. (Zwerdling, 20). Lenin became leader and teacher
of the working class in Russia, and their determination to struggle
against capitalism. Like Old Major, Lenin and Marx wrote essays and
gave speeches to the working class poor. The working class in Russia,
as compared with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, were a laboring
class of people that received low wages for their work. Like the
animals in the farm yard, the people is Russia thought there would be
no oppression in a new society because the working class people (or
animals) would own all the riches and hold all the power. (Golubeva and
Gellerstein 168).
Another character represented in the book is Farmer Jones. He
represents the symbol of the Czar Nicholas in Russia who treated his
people like Farmer Jones treated his animals. The animal rebellion on
the farm was started because Farmer Jones was a drunk who never took
care of the animals and who came home one night, left the gate open and
the animals rebelled. Czar Nicholas was a very weak man who treated his
people similar to how Farmer Jones treated his animals. The Czar made
his working class people very mad with the way he wielded his authority
and preached all the time, and the people suffered and finally demanded
reform by rebelling. The Czar said "The law will henceforward be
respected and obeyed not only by the nation but also the authority that
rules it - and that the law would stand above the changing views of the
individual instruments of the supreme power." (Pares 420).
The animal Napoleon can be compared as a character representing
Stalin in Russia. Both were very mean looking, didn't talk very much
but always got what they wanted through force. In one part of the book
Napoleon charged the dogs on Snowball, another animal. Stalin became
the Soviet Leader after the death of Lenin. He was underestimated by
his opponents who always became his victims, and he had one of the most
ruthless, regimes in history. In was not till very many years later
that the world found out about the many deaths that Stalin created in
Russia during the Revolution. For almost 50 years the world thought
that the Nazis had done the killing in Russia, when in fact it was
Stalin. (Imse 2). The last characters that are symbolic of each other
are the animal Snowball with the Russian leader Trotsky. Snowball was
very enthusiastic and was a leader who organized the defense of the
farm. He gave speeches and instructions but was not very beneficial.
All the other animals liked him, but he was outsmarted by Napoleon.
Trotsky and Stalin's relationship was very much like Snowball's and
Napoleons. Trotsky organized the Red Army and gave speeches and
everyone in Russia thought he would win power over Stalin. After
Lenin's death Trotsky lost all his power to Stalin and was expelled
from the communist party. He was at one time considered the second most
powerful man in Russia. (Trotsky" Comptons 290).
Besides characters there are many items that can be compared as
symbols in the book and in Russia. The whip that Napoleon used in the
farmyard to wield power can be compared to the power that Stalin used
on the Russians. Napoleon carried a whip in his trotter. Stalin used
his power to starve the Russian people and to have Lenin arrested.
Stalin's main goal was to maximize his personal power. ("Stalin,"
Britannia 576). Stalin "whipped" his people into shape by
collectivizing agriculture, by police terror, and by destroying
remnants of individual prosperity. He also led the Soviet Union into
the nuclear age (Clarkson 442).
Propaganda is another item that was used in the Russian revolution.
It can be compared to Squealer in Animal Farm. Squealer brainwashed (a
form of propaganda) the barnyard animals into believing that they did
not like apples and milk, while he and Napoleon were stealing the food
for themselves. In Russia, the Bolsheviks carried out propaganda on the
people by passing out leaflets and putting stories in the newspapers
that were not true. They told workers, soldiers, and peasants to not
trust their own hands and to take away land from the landowners.
(Golubeva and Gellerstein 80). Another item that is similar in both
Animal Farm and Russia are the dogs and the secret police. Napoleon
trained his dogs when they were puppies to guard him and to obey his
every command. They chased Snowball away. Stalin trained his secret
police to do his bidding whenever he issued an order. Stalin had his
secret police kill between 60,000 to 70,000 people. These police were
called the Checka and the graves filled with bodies stacked upon each
other with bullets in each skull were found many years later. (Imse,
C2).
Another symbolism that exists in the book and in Russia is a
similarity to events that took place. The windmill that is present in
Animal Farm can be compared with the growth of industry in Russia or
the Industrial Revolution. Snowball first introduced the windmill
concept to the farm but Napoleon disagreed with him and had the dogs
chase him away. Napoleon then presented the windmill as a good idea and
the animals were presented with hope that things would get better on
the farm. When it blew down, Napoleon blamed it on Snowball. Napoleon
thought that if he could keep the barnyard animals busy all the time
replacing the windmill that they would not realize how bad their living
conditions were, and he could blame the destruction all the time on
Snowball. The windmill is the only thing that was holding the animals
together as a unit. In Russia the growth of factory and industry was
very depressing but depended on the obligatory labor of serfs. Russia
hoped that by keeping the serfs working all the time and promising them
a better world that they would not realize how bad their living
conditions were. The Industrialists were pressing their own
constitutional demands. (Clarkson 352). None of the social classes were
fighting each other because there were no classes left. What Russia got
working was to make the people think that the prospect of loss of
potential improvements in conditions of life of the here and now, could
only be attained by stimulating labor to unprecedented efforts. The
last event that was similar in the book and in Russia was the animal
rebellion on the farm and the Russian Revolution of 1917. Farmer Jones
was drunk a lot and would forget to feed the animals on the farm. The
withholding of this food is what finally forced the animals on the farm
to rebel against Farmer Jones. In Russia, there were many food
shortages which caused the people to demonstrate and then the Russian
soldiers refused to suppress them and the leaders demanded that
Nicholas transfer his power to parliamentary government because
everything was getting out of control. Soviet workers and soldiers
formed a special committee and established a government. The same day
the emperor abdicated. ("Russian Revolution," Grolier npa). This
actually backfired in Russia and the war continued and the people still
starved. Many lessons can be learned by reading Animal Farm that can
help countries and governments around the world from making mistakes in
wielding their power against their people. If a population is
suppressed and not allowed to accumulate things for themselves then an
overthrow of the government that is suppressing them will be the result.
WORKS CITED
Clarkson, Jesse. A History of Russia. New York: Random House, 1969.
Golubeva, T. and L. Gellerstein. Early Russia - The Russie. Moscos, Press Agency Publishing House, 1976.
Imse, Ann. Mass Grave Seen as Evidence of Massecure by Stalins Police. "Hunstsville Times, 13, August. 1990.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Signet 50th Anniversary Edition, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1996.
Pares, Sir Bernard. The Fall of the Russian Monarchy. New York: A division of Random House, 1939.
"Russian Revolution of 1917." Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 1992 ed.
"Stalin, Joseph." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1917 ed.
Zwerdling, Alex. Orwell and The Left. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1974.
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