In his novel ‘Animal Farm’ George Orwell tries to portraythe aspect of malicious people in society who tend to use propaganda in order to seize power to exploit the vulnerable in the community. The story is therefore a political fable regarding revolution and power in Russia. The revolution is caused more harm than good such that leaders who pursued the revolutionary move ended up becoming as corrupt and also incompetent as the government they overthrew. The animals used in the fable are a representation of the political figures in the Russian revolution that the writer disliked. Therefore, this paper will show how Orwell has presented political figures in the Russian revolution such as Czar Nicholas II, Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, and Vyacheslav Molotov. The farm is seen to symbolize Russia while the surrounding farms are a representation of the European powers who witnessed the Russian revolution.
At the start of the story, Mr. Jones, who is the farmer, has been used to express political power when he pampers himself as the animals on the farm starve. Mr. Jones represents Czar Nicholas II who was considered to be incompetent and ineffective. He was quite a cruel leader as he used dictatorship in leading the people. Through rebelling against the farmer, the animals win, proving that when people come together, they can bring change and point out lousy leadership (Bloom, n p). The animals think that they have conquered the political power itself when they win against Mr. Jones, but in the real sense, they have just overcome one of the numerous forms taken by political power.
Squealer has been used as a representation of Vyacheslav Molotov and is an essential character in the novel. Just like Squealer is seen to be Napoleons right hand man, Vyacheslav Molotov was also known to be Stalin’s right hand man. He is therefore used by Napoleon who has greed for power to brainwash the animals through propaganda which can be seen to turn black into white. He has been portrayed as a manipulative and lying character as his persuasion makes the memories of the animals become less reliable and they tend to believe in lies. Both Napoleon and Squealer have been seen to abuse the power of language as they continually manipulate the animals in the farm. Molotov was loyal to Stalin which is depicted in the novel as Squealer is very loyal to Napoleon.
The pigs have the main focus in most of the story as their power has been seen to develop more in chapters two through seven. The pigs are a representation of the key members of the Bolshevik leadership. Being a socialist, Orwell believes that the like of Stalin who was a power seeker was responsible for corrupting the Russian revolution. Napoleon has been used to depict Joseph Stalin who was a Soviet dictator. Leon Trotsky on the hand has been depicted as Snowball who was Napoleons first partner and who had a good way of realizing socialism. The pigs have been used to embody political power such that they claim more resources available on the farm for themselves. The pigs are also seen to be more violent through the story, such that Napoleon introduces dog police force and order executions. The pigs are seen to preach equality but do opposing actions which is therefore a misuse of the word. They also declare the power of deciding what the truth is. In the long run, the animals come to a realization that their lives have become miserable compared to the time before the rebellion. In the long run, both Napoleon and Mr. Jones are toppled which is a representation of Nicholas II and Stalin.
Through the Animal Farm story, Orwell has brought to life the historic political figures in the Russian revolution through the various animals such that they bring out the totalitarian government and system that present during the time. Using the animals, he has shown how the revolution started based on principles such as equality and justice but ends up becoming even worse. He expresses his hate for the leaders and ways of leadership through the animals. This novel has therefore focused on the quest for power during the revolution and has also observed the psychological foundation of the revolution.
Work Cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Infobase Publishing, 2009.
Orwell, George. Animal farm. Oxford University Press, 2021.
Snyder, C. R. “Hope and the other strengths: Lessons from Animal Farm.” (2004): 624-627.
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