Animal Farm (1340 words)
Animal FarmTwo Legs: Bad, Four Legs: Just as Bad
Many great works have been inspired by events in history. George Orwell’s Animal Farm provides an unusual outlook on the Russian Revolution and its leaders by using animals to represent their human counterparts. Orwell attacks communist society and points out weaknesses in its government officials. He calls for a close examination of the treatment of Russian citizens and questions whether they have any rights at all. Orwell was careful in his designation of animals in Animal Farm, especially in regards to the power reserved for the pigs. Animal Farm uses the perfect combination of animal symbolism to relate the occurrences on Manor Farm to actual historical events of the Russian Revolution through the use of such characters as Napoleon, Snowball, Squealer, and Boxer.
Napoleon is undoubtedly the most devout and corrupt character in the novel. His domineering and brutal methods of ruling the farm draw strange but clear comparison to his human counterpart Joseph Stalin. Napoleon is described as ?a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way? (Orwell 25). He
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dominates the political scene on Manor Farm, controls the education of the youth, and is a brilliant strategist when it comes to rallying support for his cause. Napoleon, throughout the novel, fails to present an idea that is original, but tends to take credit for the ideas of others (Meyers 108). Like Stalin, Napoleon is not a good speaker and is certainly not as clever as his political opponent. However, he makes good use of his resident ?smooth-talker,? Squealer, to insure that his subjects see the purpose of his twisted commands, while those who oppose him are merely torn apart by dogs that Napoleon reared to protect him and distribute justice as he sees fit in much the same way that Stalin used the KGB. Napoleon relies on flashy displays of power like the firing of the shotgun and fancy titles such as ?Terror of Mankind,? ?Protector of the Sheepfold,? and ?Fountain of Happiness? to feed his hunger for power and invoke the other animal’s support at the deepest emotional level (Smyer 86). Yet throughout his brutal reign as sole leader of the farm, Napoleon maintains a harsh regiment of work that tax the bodies of every animal under his command. Only Napoleon and the other pigs enjoy the fruits of their labor while the others are left to exist with minimal food
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and only their pride to sustain them through their slave-like lives. Communism is not as corrosive to Napoleon as much as the ambitious accumulation of power (Hammond 162). Nonetheless, this leader’s Stalin-like qualities make for a harsh life for those around him and provide the farm with poverty and inequality.
Unlike Napoleon, Snowball exhibits a desire to help his fellow animals, making him Napoleon’s greatest opponent and only obstacle. Snowball is also modeled after a Russian leader. His description of being ?a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive? (Orwell 25) makes him the perfect representation of Leon Trotsky. ?Snowball embodies an expanding, dynamic view of reality; his social fabric will be permeable to the dynamic energies of an ever-changing technology? (Smyer 85). His good intentions are evident to all of the animals, and his means of assuring a better life consists of a more humane work schedule and even a retirement plan for elderly animals. Laws are also established which are conducive to the overall ideas and fundamentals of Animalism?summed up by ?Four legs Good, Two legs Bad? (Orwell 40).
Orwell’s view of Snowball’s role in this society is
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best summed up by the following:
Snowball also busied himself with organizing the other animals into what he called Animal Committees?. He formed the Egg production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails Committee for the cows, the Wild Comrades Re-education Committee?and various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing. (Orwell 39)
Snowball is a scholar of many areas and even studies military strategy which helps him lead the animals to victory at the Battle of Cowshed where Farmer Jones attempts to regain his farm (Meyers 109). Snowball’s
