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George Orwell’s "Animal Farm": The Rise of Communism

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George Orwell’s "Animal Farm": The Rise of Communism
Orwell effectively conveys the rise of communism in Russia throughout the book Animal Farm by the accurate elucidation of the context in the Soviet Union from 1917-1945. Orwell’s attitude and political view towards Russia is evident in his representation of the farm animals on Communist Party leaders: Napoleon and Snowball, for example, are figurations of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, respectively. He expresses the anthropomorphic characters of farm animals, and major events in Animal Farm such as the Rebellion and the construction of the windmill, reminiscent of the Russian Revolution and the “Five-Year Plans”. Orwell also uses many techniques to describe the crucial points in Animal Farm by metaphoric language and allegorical means which explains many symbolisms and the relationship of each part of the book to the context of Russia in the past century.
In Animal Farm, Orwell effectively conveys the rise of communism in Russia predominantly by the anthropomorphic characters of the pig Napoleon, who is an allusion to Joseph Stalin, and of the pig Snowball, who represents Leon Trotsky, the arch-rival of Stalin in Russia. Comrade Napoleon represents the frailties of any revolution, but Orwell makes an indirect reference to the rise of communism in Russia through the character of Napoleon. Snowball was more popular with the animals, making thorough and convincing speeches in which “every animal cheered and applauded after each time he finished one of his speeches”. On the other hand, Napoleon preferred to remain silent when among all of the other animals, only arguing to Snowball at private meetings. This is a clear reference to Trotsky, a popular and compelling leader who was famous for his impassioned speeches, while Stalin preferred to consolidate his power in the shadows of his people. Snowball evidently wants to make Animal Farm a better place for animals of the future to live in, seeing the possibility of changing the way of life of these animals into a more

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