Animal Farm is a satirical allegory which reflects on the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the bureaucratization of the Russian government. The inspiration of the book originally came from George Orwell’s thought of analyzing Karl Marx’s theory from animals’ point of view. Additionally, there are parallels between the Russian Revolution and the Rebellion at Manor Farm; The plot follows the timeline of Soviet history. Each character is an allusion to historical figures: Napoleon, as an allusion to Joseph Stalin, is the pig who becomes the leader of the farm and takes full control over other animals. Snowball, as Napoleon’s greatest rival, is identified as Leon Trotsky. Other animals are described as the “working class” who are loyal to their leader.
The first external conflict between humans
and animals (Battle of the Cowshed) is contrasted with the Russian Civil War,
when the old government wanted to retake power back but failed to do so.
However, Snowball wins support over Napoleon because of his impressive
speeches, just like how Trotsky was more popular than Stalin. Later on,
Napoleon gets rid of him by tricking animals that Snowball steals the
construction plan of the windmill. Napoleon’s behavior is equivalent to
Stalin’s practice, since Trotsky came up with the idea and Stalin actually
implemented it. Stalin promised his Five-Year plans would improve the living
condition, but the plan failed. In the book, the windmill is a symbol of
industrialization and modernization. Other parallels that reflect on Stalinism
include the influence of propaganda, which is used as a means to deliver false
impressions to deceive the animals. Squealer is a brilliant speaker, becoming
the one who spreads communist propaganda. He represents Vyacheslav Molotov,
Stalin’s trustworthy follower. Moreover, due to the fact that the USSR was
still an ally of the U.S. in 1944, Orwell was forced to change the ending of
Animal Farm, where the communist pigs met with the capitalist men. Obviously
Orwell is strongly affected by the historical events during the process of
writing.
Animal Farm is biased against tyranny,
political propaganda and vices. Totalitarianism and dictatorship were
originally developed from people’s desire for a utopian world. Even today
readers think the same way as Orwell does; believing “a true perfect society”
never existed. Not only does it mirror the Russian revolution but also human
nature, which is why Animal Farm can still be relevant in present day.
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