Animal Farm Boxer Analysis

Ochoa, Cristian
Vazquezbello/AP English Lang. Per. 7
Animal Farm Analysis
19 September 2016
Boxer the Boxer The character of Boxer in the novel Animal Farm is a cart-horse that is always optimistic and always willing to push himself to the limit for the sake of others. “His answer to every problem, every setback, was ‘I will work harder!’---which he had adopted as his personal motto” (Orwell 29). From the beginning of the rebellion, to the first harvest, all the way to his last days, Boxer used all of his incredulous strength for the farm to survive. He was loyal to his ruler even when said ruler was unjust and awoke up to an hour before the rest, to ensure that the task of the day was completed. It was his own motto that describes him the best of all: a workaholic, a loyal companion, a powerhouse, and most of all, a fearless friend. Boxer worked harder and harder even when his years prevented him from doing so and when death was on his doorstep, he was working to his last breath.
The Power Behind It All Boxer the horse presents a character with substantial significance that is easily unseen due to the subtlety of the author. In Animal Farm, George Orwell uses a revolt of animals on a farm to signify his perception of the Russian Revolution with characters having importance to major factors of the historic event. Boxer, the assiduous, non-stop powerhouse represents the constant force behind the revolution, the working middle class. Boxer’s early mornings and incomparable strength start the similarities of the Russian proletariat. They continue on into the arduous tasks and elephantine amount of work that is put into the farm by the group. Orwell however, then takes his political views into hand with the character of Boxer. After the expulsion of Snowball by the tyrannical pig Napoleon, Boxer derives a new saying “Napoleon is always right” (Orwell 56) which depicts how naïve Orwell thinks of the proletariat. This can further be seen when Boxer still believes in Napoleon after having experienced him order the death of many animals. Not only does Orwell express the naivety of the middle class but also how unintelligible they are. This is shown quite explicitly in the novel by Boxer’s inability to learn the alphabet past letter D. All of Orwell’s political views come together with Boxer around the time of his death. He was too gullible to see Napoleon’s tyrannical ways until he was being taken to the knackers just as the author believed the proletariat had been towards Joseph Stalin. Though there were warnings to be heeded, the proletariat and Boxer had blind faith in their ruler and that cost them their lives.
Corruption
One of the most pertinent parts of the novel Animal Farm reads: “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but it already was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 141).
This encounter plays a pivotal role in the novel as it is at this point that the animals realize that power corrupted the pigs and made them just as bad as the humans they fought so hard to get away from. Throughout the novel, the pigs, who rose to power by intellect, started to do things more and more like humans. Beginning with sleeping on the beds, then moving to drinking alcohol, and finally to walking on two legs, the pigs were corrupted by power and turned into humans worse than Mr. Jones. They took advantage of the unintelligible animals on the farm and altered laws to their advantage. The pigs took the power given to them by the animals on the farm and used it for their own benefit. Only proving to an extent the belief that power corrupts all that is
good.
Tongue Tied In the novel Animal Farm, there are many allegories and explicit political views but one of the most important of these is the idea of how censorship affects society. It is a common belief among those in the United States that the freedom of speech is invaluable and a right of man. However, in many other nations, the case is that the people are often kept from expression and cannot speak out. In Animal Farm, censorship of the animals on the farm occurs starting from when Napoleon takes charge. Not only does he abolish the Sunday meetings at which the animals get to state concerns and speak their mind, but he also uses fear to control the freedom of speech the animals utilized before. This can be seen when the author writes “Four young porkers in the front row uttered shrill squeals of disapproval … But suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep menacing growls, and the pigs fell silent…” (Orwell 54). Using the dogs as a mechanism of fear, Napoleon strips the animals of their free speech, allowing for Napoleon to get away with most everything he wants. Another use of censorship in the novel is the altering of the seven commandments for the advantage of the pigs. The pigs take advantage of the inability of most animals to remember, let alone read, to change the commandments written on the wall to give them room for interpretation. After altering the codification, the pigs were able to justify their acts that were at one point unlawful, allowing for the pigs to take an uncanny resemblance to humans without the worry of the animals. As well as changing laws, the pigs took advantage of Squealer’s smooth tongue to keep the animals at bay in time of outrage and keep them thinking that the pigs were acting in the good of the farm. The use of language interpretation in Animal Farm was a tool for political engagement, signifying Orwell’s anger with the ignorance of the proletariat and the importance expression takes in political activity.