Similarities Between Animal Farm And The Russian Revolution

“I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.” --George Orwell; this quote is a great representation of Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution because the leaders in both scenarios did not care for their people. Animal Farm itself is a representation of the Russian Revolution. The book tells about the weak leadership and poor living conditions that occurred in real life. It also has characters that portray historical figures; such as Vladimir Lenin compared to the book character Squealer. Animal farm is an allegory that effectively represents the people, events, and an overview of the Russian Revolution.
Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution have very similar events. In both cases the citizens were starving. For example, in Animal Farm Farmer Jones sometimes forgot to feed his animals, there was also a very large food shortage throughout the farm. This is the same as the Russian Revolution in which the entire country was in a famine so the majority of the people starved. Another way that they are similar is how the citizens were
treated. In the book, the hens were shunned and allowed zero food for not doing what they were told to do. In the same way that during the Russian Revolution, at first, if anyone disagreed with the Czar then they were executed. In Animal Farm there was a very weak leadership. For instance, Napoleon lived in luxury while the other animals lived in horrible condition. It is the same in real life, the Czar lived in luxury whilst his people starved and lived in bad conditions. Another way that Animal Farm is similar to the Russian Revolution is how realistic the comparison is from the book characters to the real people.
For example the character Squealer is a lot like Vladimir Lenin in that they were both trying to eliminate all rebel parties. Lenin led the Bolsheviks into dictatorship and eliminated the rebel parties. In the same way that Squealer had helped Napoleon to lead the farm into dictatorship and eliminated the rebel party that the animals had originally created. In like manner they both motivated people to do things. Lenin pushed people into starting a revolution with his great speeches, in the same way that Squealer persuaded the other animals to believe anything he told them which eventually tricked the animals into leading themselves into dictatorship. Finally they both used false propaganda to make people be in their
favor.
Lastly, one more way that they are similar is the comparison of Czar Nicholas II to Farmer Jones. In Animal Farm, Farmer Jones would go out and get drunk while his animals were worked to the bone. He would also whip and beat them to work harder. Likewise, Czar Nicholas II didn’t pay attention to his peoples’ needs. The leaders of the Russian Revolution and Animal Farm lived in absolute luxury, with mass amounts of food for themselves. Another way that the Czar is similar to Farm Jones is that they both reacted with violence. The Czar would execute mass amount of people when they didn’t agree with him. Similarly, as mentioned earlier, Farmer Jones would beat his animals to force them to doing what he wanted.
With all these details, it is clear that Animal Farm is a great allegory to the Russian Revolution. The three main points being the weak leadership in both scenarios, the great comparison of book characters to historical figures, and the two situations as a whole. Knowing how the Russian Revolution, hopefully we can avoid all of these problems in the future.