Pigs And People Essay, Research Paper
The purpose of the Russian Revolution was to fix problems from Czar Nicholas II. The purpose of the Animal Farm Revolution was to make life better for all the animals. However, both revolutions made life worse afterwards.
All of the characters in Animal Farm have counterparts in real life. This book was based on the Russian Revolution, and all the important populace of the revolution are symbolized. Some of the animals represent individuals in the Russian Revolution, and some types of animals represent different types of Russian citizens.
Mr. Jones closely resembles Czar Nicholas II. The animal rebellion on the farm was started because Mr. Jones was a drunk who never took care of his animals. This made his animals very angry. Fed by the words of Old Major the animals decided to rebel like the Russians. Czar Nicholas II was a very weak man who treated his people similar to how Mr. Jones treated his animals. Czar made his working class people very uneasy with the way he used his authority and preached all the time, and the people suffered and finally demanded reform by rebelling.
Old Major closely resembles Karl Marx and V.I Lenin. Old Major resembles Karl Marx because, like the political thinker, Major brought about and created the idea of Communism, or ‘Animalism’, the Animal Farm version of this system of thought. In a way, Major is associated with V.I Lenin of the Russian Revolution, the opportunist who brought and initiated the communist way of life on this land when it needed a new system-of-thought to help it’s troubled economy and the way-of-life it’s people were forced to live out every day.
Snowball closely resembles Leon Trotsky. Snowball believed 100% of Old Major’s ideas. Snowball
wanted all the things Old Major wanted, such as the welfare of the animals. Leon Trotsky believed and wanted
the same things as V.I Lenin, and wanted to continue what Lenin had started.
Napoleon closely resembles Joseph Stalin. Napoleon was selfish and greedy. He did not want to share the power or the decision making with any other individual. At first Napoleon and Snowball shared the decision making and had debates about what course of action they would take. This worked for a while. Then Napoleon grew weary of long debates, and he thought he could make his decision by himself. He then forced Snowball out of the farm and started to spread lies about Snowball to get the entire farm against him. Joseph Stalin did the same thing against Leon Trotsky. Stalin forced Trotsky into hiding in Mexico, where Trotsky was eventually assassinated. Both Stalin and Napoleon ruined any hopes of equal and fair government and instead, set up dictatorships.
Squealer closely resembles the Propaganda Department of V.I Lenin’s government. Squealer did not make the decisions in the government, but acted more like the controlled media as in the Russian government. Squealer’s job was to influence the people by exaggerating and re-writing history and sometimes even telling outright plain lies. The animals would listen to squealer, and Squealer would always listen to Napoleon. The Department would use any lie to convince the people to follow Joseph Stalin, and the Department benefited from the fact that education was controlled.
The dogs closely resemble the Secret Police (KGB). The dogs were Napoleon’s private army that used fear to force the animals to work. The dogs would kill or intimidate any opponent of Napoleon. The dogs were part of Napoleon’s strategy to control the rest of the animals. The Secret Police (KGB) was not really police, but they forced support for Joseph Stalin. KGB used force, and they often killed entire families for disobedience. KGB was extremely loyal to their master.
Mollie closely resembles the vain, and selfish people in Russia and the world. Mollie only cared about
her ribbons, and wasn’t much of a thinker. All Mollie wanted was to eat sugar, and look pretty. Some of the
people in Russia and the world just didn’t care about the Russian Revolution. They only thought about themselves and went to other countries that offered more to them.
I believe Boxer represents all the people in Russia. The poverty stricken, the homeless, who still work
hard in order to make the system of Communism or Animalism work. Boxer is the representation of workers who are pushed around, who are taken for all they are worth, and who are left for dead.
Benjamin the donkey closely resembles the skeptical people in Russia and outside of Russia. Benjamin was a critic who always said “I’ve seen that before” and “It’ll never work.” The skeptical people were not sure that the Russian Revolution would change anything.
Animalism closely resembles Communism. Animalism is a system that says there are no owners. There are no rich and no poor. Workers get a better life and all the animals are equal. Every animal owns the farm. Communism is a system that says there are no owners. There are no rich and no poor. All people are equal, and the governments own everything, but the people own the governments.
The animals of “Manor Farm” overthrow their human master after many years of mistreatment. The animals learn how to read and write. Then the animals change “Manor Farm” to “Animal Farm.” The animals came up with 7 commandments and they are:
1. “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.”
2. “Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.”
3. “No animal shall wear clothes.”
4. “No animal shall sleep in a bed.”
5. “No animal shall drink alcohol.”
6. “No animal shall kill any other animal.”
7. “All animals are equal.”
Then they decide to build a windmill. Led by the pigs, the farm animals continue to do their work, only with more pride, knowing that they are working for themselves, as opposed to working for their human master, Mr. Jones. Slowly over time the pigs gain power and take advantage of the other animals. The pigs gain so much power that they become just as power hungry and corrupt as their human master.
All through the story, Napoleon messes up and breaks some of the commandments, but he changes them
without anyone knowing. He changed commandments 4, 5, 6, and 7 to:
4. “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.”
5. “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.”
6. “No animal shall kill another animal without cause.”
7. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
The pigeons acted as message carriers, spreading propaganda between farms. The pigeons spread Napoleon’s words from farm to farm, or in actual Russian Revolution, country to country.
In the end of George Orwell’s tale, Animal Farm is much worse a place for the common animals than it had been previous to the revolution. The food was scarce, and the leadership was harsh and unruly. The workload was hard, and the conditions of life for the common animals had changed for the worse. The pigs, the leaders of Animal Farm, celebrate their victory and their entrance into high-society. The lowly other animals still left on the farm, look on. George Orwell has created a masterpiece, which is excellent if it is without any prior knowledge to the Russian Revolution. This book does an excellent job of drawing parallels from the situation leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917. I think Orwell is a genius because he has cleverly hidden the satire in such a way that everything fits into the picture like a jigsaw puzzle.
Bibliography
“Animal Farm.” Comparison of characters to Russian Revolution. 1999. http://www.globalserve.net/~glamont/afrmruss.html 6-1-99 8:02pm
Stalin, Joseph. “Stalin, Joseph.” New Standard Encyclopedia 1930ed.
Stalin, Joseph. “History.” The World Book Encyclopedia 1999ed.