Symbols in "Animal Farm"
This novel, written by George Orwell, can also be read as big allegory. Infact, the whole story represents the bolshevik revolution happened in 1917 in Russia.
Historical Introduction
Orwell wrote his book Animal Farm in 1945. This is an allegorical novel, in fact we can say that it is all a gigantic metaphor that serves to mask the criticisms that the author makes of the society of the time.
the period in which he writes the book is very particular because the Second World War has just ended, and two very powerful nations have been created in the world: the USSR, communist and the liberal USA. These two powers fight each other to obtain the total control over the world. Orwell then uses his book to criticize and analyze how communism evolved over time up until the days in which Orwell lived.
Rebellion on the Farm and The Russian Revolution
Orwell wants to analyze how communism evolved. and here too he tells what happened in reality with the metaphor of the farm. in the book the animals make a revolution, in reality the Russian working class makes the revolution. the Russian revolution begins in the best way, in fact we try to achieve what Marx had created it, but unfortunately some elements managed to dominate over others and the revolution turned into a dictatorship. The dictator was stalin who took power in russia and did not honor the principles of marx, through uncontrolled and despotic power stalin managed to establish a dictatorship. in Orwell's book he represents all of this, in fact after the revolt the animals try and initially succeed in creating the state that Old Major had thought of. Subsequently the pigs on the farm began to gain more and more power, in particular one: Napoleon who represents Stalin. through control he too managed to become a dictator.
"Manor Farm"
The Manor Farm—later called Animal Farm—is a small, independent farm somewhere in the English countryside. The name “Manor Farm” tells us that it was once owned by a local aristocrat, the lord of the manor. However, the farm has since come into the hands of Mr. Jones, an unsuccessful, lazy, drunken farmer. Within the novella’s allegory, the Manor Farm represents Russia and also the countries of Europe more generally: places once ruled by aristocrats, now ruled by capitalists, and ripe for a Communist revolution. However, the Englishness of the Manor Farm is also important. Small, independent farms are a treasured part of the British national self-image, emblems of the coziness and tranquility of English political life.
Food and Drink
In Animal Farm, references to food often serve to represent the labor of the working class or the capital of the ruling class. Under the rule of the farmers, food is provided unequally amongst the different species of animals, often depending on how much labor they contribute. After the revolution takes place, Mollie is enticed back to working under human rule with the promise of treats like sugar cubes—a symbol for the trivial comforts that the ruling class provide to the working class to encourage their compliance. After taking over leadership of the farm, the pigs are found eating milk and apples, despite the understanding that no animal should receive special treatment, continuing the theme of unfair and unsustainable consumption of resources by the ruling class. Rather than being treated with respect in his old age, the loyal comrade Boxer is sent to a glue factory, where he will be killed. The money from his sale is spent on whiskey for the pigs, symbolizing how workers in a capitalist or authoritarian system are worked to death to sustain the lifestyles of the rich and powerful. In the final scene of Animal Farm, the pigs can be seen dining with the humans. The decadence of this feast exposes the immense gluttony of the ruling class at the expense of the vast majority of society.
The Barn
The barn at Animal Farm, on whose outside walls the pigs paint the Seven Commandments and, later, their revisions, represents the collective memory of a modern nation. The many scenes in which the ruling-class pigs alter the principles of Animalism and in which the working-class animals puzzle over but accept these changes represent the way an institution in power can revise a community’s concept of history to bolster its control. If the working class believes history to lie on the side of their oppressors, they are less likely to question oppressive practices. Moreover, the oppressors, by revising their nation’s conception of its origins and development, gain control of the nation’s very identity, and the oppressed soon come to depend upon the authorities for their communal sense of self.
The Windmill
The great windmill symbolizes the pigs’ manipulation of the other animals for their own gain. Despite the immediacy of the need for food and warmth, the pigs exploit Boxer and the other common animals by making them undertake backbreaking labor to build the windmill, which will ultimately earn the pigs more money and thus increase their power. The pigs’ declaration that Snowball is responsible for the windmill’s first collapse constitutes psychological manipulation, as it prevents the common animals from doubting the pigs’ abilities and unites them against a supposed enemy. The ultimate conversion of the windmill to commercial use is one more sign of the pigs’ betrayal of their fellow animals. From an allegorical point of view, the windmill represents the enormous modernization projects undertaken in Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution.
Old Major=Karl Marx/Lenin
The character of Old Major is an allusion to both Karl Marx (1818–1883), the German political economist and philosopher who believed the history of the world was class struggle, and Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), who was a leader of the Russian Revolution and a proponent of the economic system of socialism.
Old Major is generally accepted to represent Karl Marx as he is the originator of the ideas behind the reformation on the farm.
Karl Marx is not the only political figure Old Major represents. Russian revolutionary leader and follower of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin is also present in Old Major's actions and speech. Lenin was on the frontline of the Russian Revolution, much like Old Major spearheads the coming rebellion against men.
Napoleon=Stalin
The character of Napoleon is an allusion to Joseph Stalin, who assumed leadership of the Soviet Union in 1924 and became a powerful dictator who ruled until 1953. The name is also an allusion to Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), a military officer who rose to power during the French Revolution and then named himself emperor of France in 1804 and oversaw a new constitution that made him a dictator for life.
Just like Stalin got rid of his enemies by using the KGB(secret police), the pig used his dogs to do the same. Like under Napoleon, Stalin's leadership led to many citizens being executed or starved to death.
Charcacters: Mr Jones=Czar Nicolas II
The character of Mr. Jones is an allusion to Czar Nicolas II (1868–1918), the royal ruler of Russia who oversaw famines and shortages of supplies and who was overthrown by the forces of the Russian Revolution. Mr. Jones could also be an allusion to capitalists in general.
They both them lost their place of power because of a revolution.
Snowball
The character of Snowball is an allusion to Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), who emerged as a leader of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War as well as Joseph Stalin’s rival for power in the new government that formed afterward. Just as Leon Trotsky who fled to Mexico, even Snowball will be forced out of his land. Similiar traits 1)Other leader to immerge after the russian revolution 2)Truly followed Karl Marx(Old Major) 3)Wanted to improve life for all russians(Snowball conceived the windmill) 4)Chased away by KGB(Napoleon's dogs)
Squealer
Squealer represents propaganda throughout the revolution. When the animals are skeptic of the pigs' intentions, Squealer is able to twist things in a positive light so the pigs' actions are justified. During the revolution, propaganda was sent out to ease the minds of laborers. His character may also be allusion to Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), a government leader and a protégé of Joseph Stalin (1878–1953).
"He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white."
The Crow
Moses is the pet raven who tells the animals about the eternal life that awaits them after death on Mount Sugarcandy or Candy Sugar Mountain, a kind of earthly paradise for animals. It represents the Russian Orthodox Church, which according to the Bolshevik vision, in agreement with the tsarist power, provided illusions to the workers to induce them to endure exploitation, in accordance with the vision of Marx, who defined religions as the "opium of the people".
The Sheep and The Dogs
Dogs and sheep are treated as a group and not as individuals. The former represent the political police that represses the opposition, the latter the easily manipulated masses, who are impressed by the regime's slogans. The puppies in Animal Farm represent Stalin's secret police force, a frightening group called the NKVD. They are taken from their families at a young and impressionable age, and then Napoleon trains them to obey him in all matters, indoctrinating them in his code.
Boxer and Clover
Boxer and Clover serve as an allegory for the Russian working-class who helped to oust Tsar Nicholas and establish the Soviet Union, but were eventually betrayed by the government under Joseph Stalin. He is described as "faithful and strong"; and he believes any problem can be solved if he works harder. In multiple conversations Clover is motherly towards Boxer. The three main characteristics of Clover are that she is caring, doubtful, and loyal.
First off a characteristic of Clover is caring.
Frederick=Adolf Hitler
Mr. Frederick is a symbol of Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany during World War II, with the Battle of Windmill as a metaphor for the Battle of Stalingrad.
The destruction of the windmill marks Animal Farm's final, irrevocable turn for the worse. As the windmill earlier symbolized the hopes of Snowball and a future of leisure, its explosion at the hands of Frederick symbolizes the absolute impossibility of Snowball's dreams.