It is easy to pinpoint the main characters in the satire. Old Major is Karl Marx, the father of Communism. Snowball, one of the leaders, who is powerful and idealistic epitomizes Leon Trotsky whose success was seen by Napoleon (Joseph Stalin) as a threat to his own rise to power and was subsequently expelled and murdered. Squealer, the talkative pig, whose job it is to persuade the animals that everything that they are doing is for their own good represents either the power of propaganda, the “Pravda” newspaper, which was Stalin’s link to the Russian population, or Goebbels, the German minister for propaganda, although this does not fit in with the satire, which is supposed to “mirror” Communist Russia, not Nazi Germany. The three horses Boxer, Clover and Mollie represent the mass of the Russian population, in which Boxer represents those that are poor and so the Communist ideology appeals to them. Mollie epitomizes the higher-class workers who suffered under the Communist regime, as they did not get the higher wages, but the same as everyone else. Clover epitomizes the middle-class workers who did not mind the change, as it did not affect them too much. The sheep on the farm represent the “Yes-Men”, people blindly following their master. The raven that occasionally visits the farm symbolizes the Christian Church, which was expelled from Russia during Stalin’s rule, but was invited back near the end of his rule. Lastly of the animals, Benjamin, the donkey, represents the Intellectual Jews that knew what was going on, but could not tell the others.
There are only three human characters in “Animal Farm” and these are Farmer Jones, Frederick and Pilkington. Farmer Jones symbolises Czar Nicholas II, a tyrant who eventually drove his people to revolution in 1918. Frederick represents Germany, with whom Russia (Animal Farm) eventually made a trade treaty. Pilkington epitomises Great Britain, who also becomes an ally of Russia because she is afraid of her and does not want to miss out in anything, especially profits form trade.
There are many things that the animals do that runs with history, these include the windmill being built and destroyed over and over again. Also, a range of rule-making and breaking occurs throughout the story. The easiest to see are the “Seven Commandments” which are made and susequently broken. The original seven commandments are:
- “Whatever goes upon four legs is a friend.”
- “No animals shall wear clothes.”
- “No animal shall sleep in a bed.”
- “No animal shall drink alcohol.”
- “No animal shall kill another animal.”
- “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.”
- “All animals are equal.”
Of which all are broken and remade to suit the tyrannical pigs:
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“Four legs good, two legs better.”
- The pigs can wear clothes.
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“No animal shall sleep in a bed, with sheets.”
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“No animal shall drink alcohol, to excess.”
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“No animal shall kill another animal, without cause.”
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“Four legs good, two legs better.”
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“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
The rules are manipulated so much that they suit the pigs only and so the other animals cannot use them, but some rules are just plain silly, for example, number seven in they are at the same level, not higher, not lower.
The windmill epitomises many things in the story. Firstly, when it is built for the first time it reresents Stalin trying to rebuild Russia’s industry, but takes a large blow when there is a small civil-war. This is represented by the first destruction of the windmill. The second completion of the windmill symbolizes Sputnik I reaching space but this is overshadowed by the USA’s Apollo 11 moon landing and this is represented by the windmill’s destruction. The third completion repersents Russia armaments production, which is still ongoing.
After reading “Animal Farm” and analysing it, two questions are left in my mind. Firstly, where does Vladimir Lenin come into the story? Lenin was the leader of Russia between Czar Nicholas II and Stalin (Jones and Napoleon) and isn’t mentioned at all in the story as a character. Secondly, what happens after the meeting between the pigs and the men? Do the animals revolt (again)? Or do they live under Napoleon and his predecessors until the farm goes bankrupt? Personally, I think a fitting ending would be that the animals revolt and overthrow Napoleon, the pigs and the dogs. They then destroy the windmill (for the third time) and elect a leader. This would certainly fit in with history as the destruction of the windmill would symbolize the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, and the election would symbolize Capitalism coming back into the country.
The novel “Animal Farm” by George Orwell tells us the story of a farm’s change to Communism, through animals. It loosely tells the story of the fall of the Czar’s rule and the rise of Communism in Russia. In this Critical Evaluation, I have tried to analyse the major themes in the book, compare how the story runs with history and also added my own thoughts as to how the story could or should have ended.
