Animal Farm by Billy

Animal Farm vs. Soviet Russia Allegory means “a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another” (Dictionary.com). The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell has allegorical connections with the Soviet Union because it has similarities and differences between Snowball and Leon Trotsky, Napoleon and Joseph Stalin, Squealer and Vyacheslav Molotov. Orwell writes Animal Farm to have an allegorical connection with the Soviet Union because it has characters that were similar such as Snowball and Trotsky. Snowball is very similar to Trotsky because they both helped start a revolution. Trotsky wanted to improve life in Soviet Russia and Snowball wanted to improve the life of the animals on the Animal Farm. The text says, “…Snowball conjured up pictures of fantastic machines which would do their work for them while they grazed at their ease in the fields or improved their minds with reading and conversation.”(Orwell 49) This shows that Snowball wanted to improve the lives of the animals because he tried to build a windmill to help the animals work, thus making less work and more free time. This is similar to Trotsky because he tried to improve the quality of life for the people of Soviet Russia by helping industrial workers to struggle less. They are similar because the industrial workers are just like the animals in the Animal Farm. They both want to help their people have a better and luxurious life. Furthermore, Napoleon and Joseph Stalin are very similar because both executed people who opposed them. Napoleon is a very harsh dictator just like Joseph Stalin. Napoleon used his “secret police force”, the dogs to execute animals who opposed him. The text says, “Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings…When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out.”(Orwell 83-84) Even though the pigs only opposed the Sunday Meetings, he still executed them, thus making him a very hostile leader. Joseph Stalin is very similar because he also had a secret police force to assassinate anyone he pleases. If someone opposed Stalin, they would be located and killed which made him very controlling. PBS.org says Stalin “…controlled every aspect of life in the USSR” PBS.org. This shows that he is a very harsh dictator and would do anything to keep himself looking good to the public. This leads to the assassinations of people that opposed them.
Lastly, Squealer and Vyacheslav Molotov are similar because they are very great speakers, which made their leaders look better. Since Napoleon is a very bad speaker uses Squealer to talk for him. Squealer’s propaganda and big words fool the animals to follow Napoleon’s orders. The text says, “He had seemed to oppose the windmill, simply as a manoeuvre to get rid of Snowball, who was a dangerous character and a bad influence. Now that Snowball was out of the way, the plan could go forward without his interference. This said Squealer, was something called tactics…The animals were not certain what the word meant, but Squealer spoke so persuasively.” (Orwell 58) This shows that Squealer spoke so sophisticatedly that he confused the animals that Napoleon did the right thing to expel Snowball. Molotov does something similar with Stalin. Molotov worked as a prime minister for Stalin. His job was to make Stalin’s image look good and make his every decision look good. Molotov did this by using force and propaganda on the people, as stated in Wikipedia.org. This would grant him have more followers, thus making him more admired. This shows that Molotov was a very smart speaker because though Stalin made bad decisions, Molotov fooled the public that those decisions were a good thing.
Orwell’s Animal Farm was written to be an allegory of the Soviet Union. He wrote the book because he wanted to show how Soviet Russia was like during Stalin’s rule. Snowball wanted to improve the lives of the animals in the Animal Farm by building a windmill, but Napoleon went against the idea and exiled with the help of his “secret police force” and Squealer’s persuasive speeches. This is almost an exact allegory to the Soviet Union because Trotsky also wanted to improve the lives of his people, but was exiled by Stalin also with his “secret police force” and with the help of Molotov. Trotsky wanted to turn Soviet Russia into a communism, but failed because of Stalin, who exiled him and turned Soviet Russia into a dictatorship, rather than a communism. Snowball also had the same idea, but was also exiled. After he was exiled, Napoleon turned the Animal Farm into a dictatorship.