Analysis of the role of Boxer in Animal Farm

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Faye Laver

Animal Farm Coursework

Analysis of the role of Boxer in Animal Farm

Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory of the situation in Russia during the communist years and a satire of the political situation at that time. The story is about political ideals and what can happen to them, as well as what happens to ordinary people when other people have power over them, and what happens to people when they get complete power over others as shown in the behaviour of the pigs. Orwell chose to create a character that would represent the common people of Russia at the time of the Revolution. This character was Boxer, who not only represented the Russian peasant, but also the idealized worker, someone ordinary, decent and totally necessary to the success of any social system. He is the type of person who in a revolution, is inevitably exploited and it is this that comes through in the story.

Boxer’s name suggests a strong but stupid animal, which proved to be true, as he was unable to read or write: “Boxer could not get beyond the letter D” because of his short memory. Orwell points this out to the reader to warn him of the danger of illiteracy in a society. Despite this lack of intelligence, however, Boxer plays a very important role in the success of the farm. Many things would not have been accomplished, such as the building of the windmills or the general farm work, had it not been for Boxer. The pigs depended on him for his seemingly never-ending source of strength: “nothing could have been achieved without Boxer, whose strength seemed equal to that of all the rest of the animals put together”. It is this strength and simplicity of the lower working class that was exploited by Stalin in real life.

The pigs also used him to persuade the other animals to not question their authority or the decisions that they made. Boxer does this subconsciously by the use of his own mottos and as he puts them into action: “Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour, but the other animals found more inspiration in Boxer’s strength and his never-failing cry of ‘I will work harder!’” But by doing this Boxer is unwittingly acting as Napoleon’s tool and is encouraging his dictatorship. The other animals on the farm follow Boxer’s lead because of their respect for him, Orwell highlights this to remind the reader that everyone has a responsibility as a role model for others and that this will affect their behaviour.

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Although it may seem, on the surface, as if Boxer is purely fanatical about work, as he continually repeated his motto “I will work harder”, an underlying reason may be that it enables him to avoid making decisions for himself.  Another motto Boxer frequently used that served the same purpose was: “Napoleon is always right” and the pigs used this to quash opposition to Napoleon’s rule, even after Boxer’s death.

It was this over generalization in Boxer’s mind that would cancel out any disagreements he may have had in his mind and made it dull. These excuses for not ...

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