Who is the hero of Animal Farm?

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Who is the hero of Animal Farm?

The novel Animal Farm was written in 1945 by author George Orwell.  George Orwell was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, he was a British writer born in Motihari, India in 1903. Animal Farm is a novel based on the lives of a society of animals living on the Manor Farm.  Although the title of the book suggests the book is merely about animals, the story is a much more in depth analysis of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The animals are used as puppets to illustrate how the communist class system operated, how Russian citizens responded to this, how propaganda was used by early Russian leaders such as Stalin and the effect this type of leadership had on the behaviour of the people of Russia. Mr. Jones’ principles and harsh mistreatment of the animals that Napoleon adopted proves to the reader that communism is not equality, but just another form of inequality.

What qualities make a hero? Are they a large number of good deeds or something to do with one extraordinary event/achievement? Could it be the stereotype-cliché superhero meaning, maybe it’s someone we admire?

Perhaps it’s someone who puts his or her own life on the line to save others- a someone with an aura of invulnerability. Many people would say that you have to be brave, fearless and courageous. Usually, in a book or film the protagonist is the hero. Boxer, Snowball and Clover seem to fit many of these interpretations of a hero.

Boxer

Boxer saves the farm again and again, in war and in work. He even gives his life for the farm. Boxer has the quality of a being superhero because he is the biggest and the strongest. Everyone on the farm admires Boxer and he is the inspiration to many animals, “Boxer was the admiration of everybody.”, “everyone worked according to his capacity”. There are many quotes in the book that relay the point of Boxer being an admiration to everyone; it proves everyone respects him.

There are a few heroic deeds that single him out from the rest of the animals. One of these is during the first harvest after the rebellion when he works continuously, “He had been a hard worker even in Jones’ time, but now he seemed more like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest upon his mighty shoulders.” During the battle of the cowshed, Boxer makes many of the men attacking afraid and retreat; “His very first blow took a stable-lad from Foxwood on the skull and stretched him lifeless in the mud. At the sight, several men dropped their sticks and tried to run”. Another incredible deed was during the making of the windmill, “Nothing could have been achieved without Boxer, whose strength seemed equal to that of all the animals put together. When the boulder began to slip and the animals cried out in despair at finding themselves dragged down the hill, it was always Boxer who strained himself against the rope and brought the boulder to stop.” These deeds make it seem that Boxer is the only driving force in the farm and that without him nothing could be achieved.

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The animals acknowledge Boxer has a hero after the battle of the cowshed when they award him the decoration of being “Animal hero, first class”.

The reader has an emotional connection with Boxer because we feel sad or even angry when he is taken to the knackery. It also proves that Boxer is a major character.

Boxer has a strong mind because he isn’t altered by bad experiences such as the execution of the animals, “I would not have believed that such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The ...

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This essay shows a good understanding of characters but the structure needs work. The strengths and positions of each character should be analysed in a comparative way as the essay progresses, rather than each one taking up a section of the essay. 4 Stars