Animal Farm
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Date: 05/12/12 Period: 1
Literary Analysis Animal Farm
Symbolism’s in Animal Farm
The characters and events that George Orwell put in his novel, Animal Farm, can be incorporated to the similar events and people affiliated with the Russian Revolution. People like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky can be analyzed and exemplified by the two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, in Orwell’s Animal Farm. By authoring this novel, Orwell aimed to expose the truth behind the totalitarian-type government in Russia at that time. However, he did this in a strategic way by using animals to signify the different people that played a role in the Revolution. The book commenced with Old Major, Mr. Jones’s prized boar, telling all …show more content…
the other barn animals of a dream he had. He tells the animals of a rebellion that will happen, he is not sure when but it will happen. With this in mind, the barn animals realize that they can never truly be free under the human’s control. The animals decide to put the rebellion into effect, and actually take over Manor Farm (also known as Animal Farm). Soon after they take over the farm, the animals create a system called Animalism. Animalism is based on the fact that all animals are equal and that all humans, and things associated with humans, are a threat to them, as they say man is their enemy. However, this all changes when Snowball is driven out by Napoleon. Snowball and Napoleon represent the two struggling leaders in Russia, Trotsky and Stalin. Snowball is an intelligent pig, who dreams of a better life for all the animals and thinks of them as equals. However (like Stalin did to Trotsky), Napoleon banished Snowball and repeatedly filled the other animals’ heads with nonsense about Snowball being a traitor and lies about him being a horrible influence on the animals. Napoleon then takes advantage of his power, and turns the farm into a totalitarian-type government.
He begins changing around the 7 commandments of Animalism, becoming more like a human, and blaming every bad thing on Snowball. With Squealer at his side, Napoleon was able to make anything he said law. Even Boxer, one of the carthorses which symbolized the people under Stalin’s rule, had always trusted Napoleon. Whenever things got tougher and their food rations were decreased Boxer always stood by Napoleon, but mostly because he didn’t know any better. With this change, came some disagreements. Although all of the animals together rebelled against the humans, there were some animals that actually thrived under Mr. Jones’s control. Two animals that liked life better before the Rebellion were Mollie and Moses. Moses was the tame raven that was almost like Mr. Jones’s pet and got pieces of bread from Mr. Jones on the back porch. Moses constantly went around telling the other animals of a fictional utopia called Sugarcandy Mountain. At first the pigs didn’t accept Moses’ teachings, but after returning from a long flight away from the farm the pigs supported his ideas. Another animal that didn’t approve of the rebellion against the humans was Mollie. Mollie was a white mare who is very materialistic. She enjoyed being pampered by the humans, wearing ribbons in her mane, and eating sugar cubes, which were her two weaknesses. Shortly after the rebellion, she ran away to
another farm to be taken care of by humans. She was mentioned only about one more time after her disappearance and was then forgotten. The other animals of Animal Farm represented different types and classes of people in Russia during the revolution. The pigs resembled the powerful Upper class, and the working, useless animals like Boxer, Clover, and Benjamin symbolized the Lower class. The sheep resembled the unintelligent citizens who were oblivious to Stalin’s changes in government from a communist one to a totalitarian one. All of these animals were carefully placed where they were by Orwell on purpose; he wanted to show the world (symbolically of course) Stalin’s effects on Russia, and his own opinion of communism and totalitarianism. Those are the characters and events that George Orwell put in his novel Animal Farm, that can be incorporated to the similar events and people affiliated with the Russian Revolution. This is important because this shows almost all the symbolism George Orwell put into this Novel, Animal Farm. That is why he shows why totalitarian-type government isn’t a good way to run a country or state and why the Russian Revolution shouldn’t be repeated. What if totalitarian-type government was to come back, what would happen?
Cited Material/Bibliography:
SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on Animal Farm. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/ http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Animal-Farm-Symbolism-227344.html Animal Farm by George Orwell
Date: 05/12/12 Period: 1
Literary Analysis Animal Farm
Symbolism’s in Animal Farm
The characters and events that George Orwell put in his novel, Animal Farm, can be incorporated to the similar events and people affiliated with the Russian Revolution. People like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky can be analyzed and exemplified by the two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, in Orwell’s Animal Farm. By authoring this novel, Orwell aimed to expose the truth behind the totalitarian-type government in Russia at that time. However, he did this in a strategic way by using animals to signify the different people that played a role in the Revolution. The book commenced with Old Major, Mr. Jones’s prized boar, telling all …show more content…
the other barn animals of a dream he had. He tells the animals of a rebellion that will happen, he is not sure when but it will happen. With this in mind, the barn animals realize that they can never truly be free under the human’s control. The animals decide to put the rebellion into effect, and actually take over Manor Farm (also known as Animal Farm). Soon after they take over the farm, the animals create a system called Animalism. Animalism is based on the fact that all animals are equal and that all humans, and things associated with humans, are a threat to them, as they say man is their enemy. However, this all changes when Snowball is driven out by Napoleon. Snowball and Napoleon represent the two struggling leaders in Russia, Trotsky and Stalin. Snowball is an intelligent pig, who dreams of a better life for all the animals and thinks of them as equals. However (like Stalin did to Trotsky), Napoleon banished Snowball and repeatedly filled the other animals’ heads with nonsense about Snowball being a traitor and lies about him being a horrible influence on the animals. Napoleon then takes advantage of his power, and turns the farm into a totalitarian-type government.
He begins changing around the 7 commandments of Animalism, becoming more like a human, and blaming every bad thing on Snowball. With Squealer at his side, Napoleon was able to make anything he said law. Even Boxer, one of the carthorses which symbolized the people under Stalin’s rule, had always trusted Napoleon. Whenever things got tougher and their food rations were decreased Boxer always stood by Napoleon, but mostly because he didn’t know any better. With this change, came some disagreements. Although all of the animals together rebelled against the humans, there were some animals that actually thrived under Mr. Jones’s control. Two animals that liked life better before the Rebellion were Mollie and Moses. Moses was the tame raven that was almost like Mr. Jones’s pet and got pieces of bread from Mr. Jones on the back porch. Moses constantly went around telling the other animals of a fictional utopia called Sugarcandy Mountain. At first the pigs didn’t accept Moses’ teachings, but after returning from a long flight away from the farm the pigs supported his ideas. Another animal that didn’t approve of the rebellion against the humans was Mollie. Mollie was a white mare who is very materialistic. She enjoyed being pampered by the humans, wearing ribbons in her mane, and eating sugar cubes, which were her two weaknesses. Shortly after the rebellion, she ran away to
another farm to be taken care of by humans. She was mentioned only about one more time after her disappearance and was then forgotten. The other animals of Animal Farm represented different types and classes of people in Russia during the revolution. The pigs resembled the powerful Upper class, and the working, useless animals like Boxer, Clover, and Benjamin symbolized the Lower class. The sheep resembled the unintelligent citizens who were oblivious to Stalin’s changes in government from a communist one to a totalitarian one. All of these animals were carefully placed where they were by Orwell on purpose; he wanted to show the world (symbolically of course) Stalin’s effects on Russia, and his own opinion of communism and totalitarianism. Those are the characters and events that George Orwell put in his novel Animal Farm, that can be incorporated to the similar events and people affiliated with the Russian Revolution. This is important because this shows almost all the symbolism George Orwell put into this Novel, Animal Farm. That is why he shows why totalitarian-type government isn’t a good way to run a country or state and why the Russian Revolution shouldn’t be repeated. What if totalitarian-type government was to come back, what would happen?
Cited Material/Bibliography:
SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on Animal Farm. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/ http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Animal-Farm-Symbolism-227344.html Animal Farm by George Orwell