The Russian Revolution and Animal Farm
The comparison of characters, items, and events compared between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution is shown greatly through Orwell's unique use of symbolism and contrast. Orwell expressed his concern that Socialism had taken a harsh fall under the control of Russia's dominating government of communism; this is what inspired him to write Animal Farm. The term Animalism is introduced to readers for the very first time in this novel and is used to describe the movement in which the animals are working toward. Because the animals are poorly fed and over worked, a demand for revolution from the animals begins when their lifestyle is rapidly transformed into a means of slavery. Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is constantly drunk and regularly forgets to take proper care of the animals. The withholding of food is what finally forced the animals on the farm to rebel. In Russia, there were many food shortages which caused many civilians to demonstrate rebellion. When soldiers were ordered to suppress them, things got out of control. Soviet workers and soldiers formed a special group and established a government. It is clearly shown in Animal Farm that if a population is suppressed and not allowed to accumulate things for themselves then an overthrow of the government that is suppressing them will be the result. This "Animalist" movement is lead by Old Major. Old Major is an old prize pig on the farm that bluntly mentions the idea of revolution to all the animals. Old Major's role compares to Marx whose ideas were to lead to the communist revolution as well as a criticism of his convictions of democratic Socialism. Like Old Major, Marx gave speeches to the poor working class. The working class in Russia, as compared with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, were a laboring class of people that received low wages for their work. Like the animals in the farmyard, the common people of Russia thought there would be no oppression in a new society because the working class people would own all the riches and hold all the power. In Marx's "Communist Manifesto", Marx calls attention to change. The animals, at first, resisted the dictatorship of the humans and wished to govern themselves where all
animals would be equal. Like in Russia, the common people were tired of the rich getting richer while the poor got poorer. Animalism supported the notion that no animal was owned by another. There would be no animals better off than others and no animal would live in despair. Communism flaunted the same policy. Since the people owned the government and the government owned everything, everyone had equal possessions. In Animal Farm, the animals owned the farm thinking that they were free from all human beings. The need for leadership in this situation was so strong that the ...
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animals would be equal. Like in Russia, the common people were tired of the rich getting richer while the poor got poorer. Animalism supported the notion that no animal was owned by another. There would be no animals better off than others and no animal would live in despair. Communism flaunted the same policy. Since the people owned the government and the government owned everything, everyone had equal possessions. In Animal Farm, the animals owned the farm thinking that they were free from all human beings. The need for leadership in this situation was so strong that the idea of total equality would be spoiled by the selfish. After driving out the humans, the pigs take charge of everything that happens on the farm. Snowball and Napoleon become the spokesmen for the animals. Snowball was a very compelling speaker that was idealistic about the revolution and felt that he could make improvements to the living conditions of all the animals. Napoleon was driven by selfish ambition and was more to the point when he spoke. He can be compared as a character representing Stalin in Russia. Both were very mean looking, didn't talk very much but always got what they wanted through force. His opponents, who always became his victims, underestimated him, as well he had one of the most ruthless, regimes in history. In was not until very many years later that the world found out about the many deaths that Stalin created in Russia during the Revolution. Trotsky was an instructional sort of person and wanted to improve the lives of the people and was compared to Snowball. He was very enthusiastic and was a leader who organized the defense of the farm. He gave speeches and instructions, but his efforts seemed worthless. All the other animals liked him, but he was outsmarted by Napoleon. Trotsky and Stalin's relationship was very much like Snowball's and Napoleons. Trotsky organized the Red Army and gave speeches and everyone in Russia thought he would win power over Stalin. However, after Lenin's death Trotsky lost all his power to Stalin and was driven out of the communist party. ("Trotsky", Encarta).
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There are also several other characters in Animal Farm that represent groups of people. Mollie, a beautiful mare, shows that she is supportive of those who will grant her wishes. She shows up late to Old Major's meeting flaunting the ribbons in her mane for attention; she does not care about the revolution. After the revolution, she was never around when there was work to be done. Eventually it is discovered that she has many rendezvous with a man that pays attention to her. She eventually leaves the farm to work as a carriage horse. By doing this, she is granted the individuality and freedom she wanted. Mollie represents the people of Russia that were vain. These people were apathetic to the revolution in Russia and were only worried about themselves. These people eventually fled to other more prosperous countries to fulfill their selfish needs. In contrast to the vain people, there were loyal, more gullible people that were fooled into thinking that Stalin was good just because he was "Communist." Even after Stalin revealed himself to be a ruthless tyrant, these people continued to support his regime. Boxer, a loyal, hardworking horse, exerted himself to the fullest under Napoleon's rule. He woke earlier than all the animals to do extra work and if anything were to go wrong, he would say to himself: "I must work harder." Later in the book he assumes another motto to explain the tyranny of Napoleon with: "Napoleon is always right." This foolishness eventually runs Boxer out of strength and he collapses. The conniving Napoleon offers to help by arranging a visit to a veterinarian and it is then that Boxer's friend, Benjamin, a wise donkey, discovers that Boxer is not sent to a doctor but to a butcher. Benjamin represents the people that remained skeptical of the revolution. Those who were skeptical did not believe that revolution would improve the conditions of the country and maybe not even change them. They knew that power struggle was contradictory to what communism stood for. He knows that Napoleon is bad and realized all along that the revolution would lead them right back to where they started.
Besides characters there are many items that can be compared as symbols in the book and in Russia. The whip that Napoleon used in the farmyard to exert power can be compared to the power that Stalin used on the Russians. Stalin used his power to starve the Russian people and to have Lenin arrested. Stalin's main goal was to maximize his personal power. Stalin "whipped" his people into shape by collectivizing agriculture, by police terror, and by destroying remnants of individual prosperity. Propaganda is another item that was used in the Russian revolution. It can be compared to Squealer in Animal Farm. Squealer brainwashed (a form of propaganda) the barnyard animals into believing that they did not like apples and milk, while he and Napoleon were stealing the food for themselves. In Russia, the Bolsheviks carried out propaganda on the people by passing out leaflets and putting stories in the newspapers that were not true. They told workers, soldiers, and peasants to not trust their own hands and to take away land from the landowners. Another item that is similar in both Animal Farm and Russia are the dogs and the secret police. Napoleon trained his dogs when they were puppies to guard him and to obey his every command. In Animal Farm, they chased Snowball away. Another symbolism that exists in the book and in Russia is a similarity to events that took place. The windmill that is present in Animal Farm can be compared with the growth of industry in Russia or the Industrial Revolution. Snowball first introduced the windmill concept to the farm but Napoleon disagreed with him and had the dogs chase him away. Napoleon then presented the windmill as a good idea and the animals were presented with hope that things would get better on the farm. When it blew down, Napoleon blamed it on Snowball. Napoleon thought that if he could keep the barnyard animals busy with replacing the windmill they would not realize how bad their living conditions were, and he could blame the destruction on Snowball. The windmill is the only thing that was holding the animals together as a unit. In Russia the growth of factory and industry was very depressing but depended on the
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mandatory labor of serfs. Russia hoped that by keeping the serfs working and promising them a better world, they would not realize how bad their living conditions were. None of the social classes were fighting each other because there were no classes left. Russia made her people think that the vision of loss of potential improvements in the condition of their present day lives could only be achieved by their pointless efforts of strenuous labor. Throughout the book Orwell sides with the animals but against the pigs. The pigs distort the view of revolution to meet their selfish needs just as the communist leaders did with Marxism. By using characters people could sympathize with, Orwell brought the evils of tyranny to the attention of the world. It is ironic that the downfall of the windmill the animals tried to construct several times throughout the book can represent the downfall of the Soviet government. Orwell died long before this took place. After this happened, the communists changed the country's name to the Soviet Union, but after its collapse more recently, the country is back to Russia. In the book, the farm was titled Manor Farm and changed to Animal Farm. In the end, Napoleon converts it back to "The Manor Farm." Even after the revolution and all the changes made, the animals reverted back to the same way of life as before it all started.
At the end of this novel, it is clearly seen that Animal Farm is much worse a place for the common animal then it had been previous to the revolution. The food is scarce, the leadership is harsh, and the workload is exhausting. The conditions of normal everyday life on the farm had changed for the worse. The pigs, the leaders of Manor farm, celebrate their victory in winning a position in the higher places of life while the other animals still work hard, eat little, and follow the relentless rules of their new life. However, if a population is suppressed and not allowed to speak for themselves, an overthrow of government is the result. This is how history recorded the Russian Revolution and Animal Farm brilliantly demonstrated the political aspects of the revolution through symbolism and contrast of characters, items, and events.
