In Old Major’s speech the humans described take the place of capitalists in Marxist ideas and the farm animals are the proletariat. Orwell described Major’s proposed society is based on equality as “All animals are equal” (chapter one) There is soon no equality on the farm; the roles are based on intelligence. The bright people arise while the working class are manipulated and exploited. The pigs were recognised as “being the cleverest of the animals” (chapter two) and soon played the role of leaders, much like the people who organised the Russian revolution, while Boxer is described as being “not at first rate intelligence but universally respected for his steadiness of character” (chapter one). His lack of intelligence and loyalty towards the pigs means that he is vulnerable to their mistreatment. Boxer’s philosophy is that “Napoleon is always right…I will work harder” (chapter six) regardless of tyranny, Boxer is exploited even more by pigs than Mr. Jones, the overthrown owner of the farm.
The exclusion of the pigs from the farm labour marks the beginning of the dictatorship, “with their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume leadership,” (chapter three) The animals are the proletariat and are soon taken advantage of, like on the first day of the harvest when Snowball milked the cows and Napoleon took all the milk. This is where we see the first indication of a non-equalitarian society and early stage of a totalitarian system. Squealer tells the animals: “It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back!” (Chapter three)Squealer frightens and panics the animals into obedience with the pretentious warning of the reinstatement of Mr. Jones. Squealer manipulates and exploits the other animals into accepting that the pigs should be the sole beneficiaries of these indulgences.
We soon see the social divisions the animals are easy targets to influence and therefore help the pigs gain their leadership effortlessly. Squealer creates propaganda similar to that spread via the communist party newspaper, Pravda. Propaganda is valuable in any totalitarian society. Squealer, Napoleon’s messenger, was the exponent of propaganda because he “brainwashed” the animals by making them believe what the pigs were doing was the right thing. He also changed the Seven Commandments to fit the way of life that the pigs later took on, as they became more corrupt. The rule “No animals shall sleep in a bed” (chapter one) was changed to “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets” (chapter 6) this also known as revisionism; revisionism is the re-examination of historical facts. It is done by rewriting new information or reinterpretation and manipulation of existing information. Revisionism was used in the Soviet Union to ignore/ hide unpleasant events they were adapted to portray Stalin's government positively. In Russia, the Bolsheviks carried out propaganda on the people by passing out leaflets and putting stories in the papers that where not true but would make them feel good about their situation.
Religion was abolished at the start of the Russian revolution by the communists; this is similar to that in the book when the animals were persuaded by the pigs that Sugarcandy Mountain did not exist. Moses represented the Church, where the belief is Christianity and eternal life and the pigs demonstrated an ideology of communism and utopia, an ideal world. The animals “hated Moses because he told tales and did not work” (chapter two), yet some of them believe the tales about Sugarcandy Mountain. The proletariat were the first to be attracted to the promise of a heavenly after-life. The pigs found him threatening to their dictatorship and convinced the animals that his teachings were false. In a totalitarian society you can not have two ideologies and the dictator abolishes any other beliefs ideas other than their own.
The hens rebel against the order from Napoleon of giving their eggs to Mr Whimper for money. In chapter seven it reads, they “…must surrender their eggs…When the hens heard this, they raised a terrible outcry…they protested that to take the eggs away now was murder.” (Chapter six) For the first time since the removal of Jones there was something resembling a rebellion. The hens’ punishment until they lay their eggs was no ration. Sadly the chickens are killed by starvation and the survivors carried out Napoleons orders. This signifies the suppression of the key workers and that the proletariat worked till they died.
The power struggle between Napoleon and Snowball reaches its climax; the two pigs represent two different methods of the leadership, Snowball (Trotsky) the more intellectual, creative, and idealistic, of the two and Napoleon (Stalin), more economical and totalitarian minded. Stalin became excessively brutal he forced people to confess to things they had not committed and executed thousands of people and sent many people to labour camps in Siberia. To keep the animals in order Napoleon uses fear, he forces the animals to confess to crimes they did not commit and executes them on the spot by the nine ruthless dogs. Through his purges and show trials Napoleon eliminated the hens, which rebelled and four of the young pigs this illustrated he was the absolute power. Like Stalin the show trials solidified Napoleons political base and eliminated anyone that questioned his decisions.
Squealer’s persuasive abilities are used exclusively to calm the animals after each of Napoleon’s distressing declarations. Squealer functions as the persuasive spokesperson of the increasingly tyrannical government that Napoleon quickly puts in place. The proletariat are often confused but they absorb everything they are told and therefore are perfect subjects for manipulation. “The animals would still assemble on Sunday morning to salute the flag, and sing “Beasts of England” and receive their orders for the week; but there would be no more debates.”(Chapter five) The democratic meetings are abolished and are replaced with Napoleon issuing his orders surrounded by his dogs. There are no discussions only orders meaning no democracy.
Napoleon becomes a harsh dictator of a totalitarian government; he changed the Seven Commandments the final time to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This revised version defeats the whole purpose of the word “equal” as it is not possible to be “more equal.” In the end it becomes a way to maintain a dictatorship instead of continuation of Old Major’s principle of peace and harmony. Napoleon had become what Old Major had spoken strongly against. Under Stalin’s , the proletariat ended up worse off than serving for the Tsars.
Boxer works so hard that this is what sends him to his death. The pigs knew that the windmill would never have been completed without the strength and hard work form boxer. When he collapsed the pigs knew that he was finished and his working days were over. The pigs never intended to let boxer retire and spend his days grazing in the field. But instead they wanted to sell him to the glue factory and turn him into glue. They wanted to earn a profit out of him. Boxer’s tragic end is made with many ironies; his passion to work hard and indisputable loyalty to Napoleon were his own entire undoing. The money they get for Boxers death is spent on alcohol for the pigs. This provides an insight to the lives of the proletariat during the Russian revolution, they worked to their deaths and the promises of a better future that they clung to, never materialized.
The end of the book shows how the leaders of the Russian Revolution turned out to be just as bad, if not worse than the Tsars, ‘The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which.’ (Chapter ten)George Orwell used Boxer and the other less intelligent animals to show that all their hard work, like the proletariat in the Russian Revolution, was for nothing and that, in the end, it would always go back to the way it was at the beginning.
In conclusion the story very effectively builds up to the last message: communism in Russia cannot work and Stalin’s system of government was just as bad for the Russian people if not worse than the reign of the Tsars. A totalitarian system is a society in which all aspects of life are controlled it is very rigid. The rights and individuals are not protected, there is only one political party/leader and no varying views or beliefs are tolerated. The animals in animal farm lived in this society just like the proletariat during the Russian revolution. The privileged elite enjoyed a decadent life based on the blood of the workers.
