Animal Farm: The Rise and Fall of Idealism

George Orwell wrote Animal Farm between 1943 and 1944, based on the principles of Animalism. Most of Orwell’s work was shaped by his political and humanitarian views. Besides his well-known ideas, Orwell had a sharp literary mind, using his skills to analyze and incorporate political viewpoints into his works. By sharing these perspectives with readers, he shows the consequences of movements in certain societies.

Animal Farm mainly focuses on the developmental conditions in Russia, especially under Lenin and Stalin’s leadership. Russia warns others not to repeat its mistakes, making the book an allegory where characters, events, objects, and ideas all have deeper meanings. This allegorical approach reveals insights into human behavior and mistakes.

In Animal Farm, many events relate to figures from the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Along with 1984, it is one of Orwell’s most famous works. The novella tells how a group of animals overthrow their farmer. The animals work together and share the results of their labor, striving for equality. However, over time, it becomes clear that their society is not as equal as it seemed initially.

The book is an allegory for Communist Russia, particularly during Stalin’s reign when he became the leader of the Soviet Union while Orwell was writing Animal Farm.

Old Major, a prize-winning boar, gathers the animals at Manor Farm for a meeting in the large barn. He shares a dream where all animals live free of human oppression and control. The animals enthusiastically embrace Major’s vision. However, he dies three nights later, and three young pigs—Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer—turn his dream into the principles of Animalism.

That night, the animals manage to drive Farmer Jones off the farm. They rename the property Animal Farm and dedicate themselves to realizing Major’s dream. Animal Farm thrives in peace and prosperity. Snowball teaches the animals to read, while Napoleon takes a group of young puppies to educate them in Animalism.

When Mr. Jones tries to reclaim the farm, the animals fight him off again in what becomes known as the Battle of the Cowshed. They take weapons left by the peasants as a symbol of their victory. As time passes, Napoleon and Snowball argue over the farm’s future and compete for power and influence.

Snowball proposes building a windmill to generate electricity, but Napoleon strongly opposes it. In a meeting, Snowball gives a passionate speech. Napoleon offers only a short response, then makes a strange sound. Nine attack dogs (Napoleon’s trained puppies) rush into the barn and chase Snowball off the farm. After that, Napoleon takes over as the leader of Animal Farm.

He immediately said there would be no more meetings. From then on, he insisted that only the pigs would make all the decisions. Napoleon quickly shifted his focus to windmills and the animals. After a storm, the animals found the windmill collapsed. Human farmers proudly claim that the animals made the walls too thin. However, Napoleon says Snowball returned to sabotage the windmill.

So, Napoleon organizes a huge cleanup. Unfortunately, many animals are also accused of being part of a grand conspiracy. Snowball (who opposed Napoleon’s leadership) meets an instant death at the jaws of the attack dogs.

Napoleon starts expanding his power, rewriting history to make Snowball out to be a villain and acting more like a human. The original principles of Animalism strictly prohibited this kind of behavior. However, Napoleon’s propagandist, Squealer, justifies every action, convincing the animals that Napoleon is a great leader.

Napoleon says he is doing everything for the good of everyone, even though his actions suggest otherwise. A neighboring farmer, Mr. Frederick, tricks Napoleon into buying bad wood, then attacks the farm and blows up the rebuilt windmill. After the windmill’s destruction, a fierce battle breaks out. The animals defeat the farmers, but Boxer, Animal Farm’s hardest worker, gets seriously injured.

Boxer falls while working on the windmill and feels his time is almost up. In the end, according to Squealer, Boxer dies peacefully after being taken to the hospital. Nevertheless, Napoleon secretly sells Boxer to a glue maker for extra money.

The pigs start becoming more and more like humans. They walk upright, read whips, and wear clothes. As the years pass at Animal Farm, the principles of Animalism are reduced to one simple rule: All animals are equal, but some animals are equal to others. Napoleon, at dinner with human farmer Mr. Pilkington, declares his intention to ally with human farmers against working-class humans and animals.

He changes the name of Animal Farm back to Manor Farm and claims this title is the “true” one.

Animal Farm is an animal fable that tells the story of the rise and development of Soviet communism. It allegorizes the struggle for power between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. The book shows Stalin’s rise to power, with Mr. Jones symbolizing the overthrow of human oppressors by a democratic group of animals. Like Soviet intellectuals, the pigs establish themselves as the ruling class in this new society.

Snowball and Napoleon represent the ruthless politics of power grabs in both historical and fictional cases. Stalin eliminated his enemies to strengthen his political base, and this is mirrored in Animal Farm through the principles of Animalism. Meanwhile, Napoleon represents a revolution that turns pigs into the new government. The pigs’ adopting human traits shows how the real oppressors are just like the old ones and who the real enemy is.

George Orwell believed in socialist ideals but felt the Soviet Union twisted them into something worse. Animal Farm creates irony by showing how the corruption of Animalism contradicts its original principles. It exposes the hypocrisy of tyranny, which begins with a power struggle masked as an ideology of liberation and equality. The breakdown of the Seven Commandments reflects this, just as Squealer, the mediator between Napoleon and Snowball, tries to justify their actions.

The novella sharply criticizes how the Stalinist regime used violence to impose Soviet communism, sidelining logic and ideals. Besides being an allegory for the Russian Revolution and the rise of Communism in Russia, Animal Farm defines political allegory and satire. Orwell manages to tell a story with political weight while also focusing on the broader themes of greed and society.

For example, Napoleon changes history by slightly tweaking one of the commandments: no animal shall sleep in a bed. When the animals cannot read, they have no choice but to follow Napoleon’s orders. Squealer’s lie about what happened to Boxer is another example. Napoleon constantly rewrites history until he convinces the animals that things never happened the way they did. It mirrors how modern media can twist the truth, making it harder to tell fact from fiction.

The allegory in Animal Farm does not just apply to pigs and the history of the Russian Revolution—it also highlights exploitation and oppression, which are key themes in the novella. Humans exploit and oppress the animals, and even after the animals revolt, they are determined to erase any trace of Mr. Jones.

When we connect the story to reality, the relationship between animal exploitation and human labor becomes clear, especially at the end when Mr. Pilkington, the human farmer, thinks about how he could use the lower classes if there were a revolution.

The feud between Snowball and Napoleon shows how a corrupt government creates a situation where power struggles seem inevitable. From Napoleon’s rise to his unquestionable control to Snowball’s hypocrisy, Animal Farm illustrates how the characters’ worst traits reflect the flaws in the principles of Animalism. The motto “All animals are equal” highlights Snowball’s hypocrisy when he acts as though he is above the other animals.

By the end of the story, the pigs are indistinguishable from the human farmers. This shift shows how power has the same effect, whether pigs or humans hold it—ultimately, they are the same. The connection between the characters in Animal Farm, the Stalinists, and the Russian Revolution becomes more layered and complex as the story unfolds.

Napoleon represents Stalin, and Snowball represents Trotsky. With its universal themes, the novella shows the suffering caused by power struggles and decisions. It reflects events around the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Orwell carefully crafted a satirical parallel to the communist influence in Russia. However, is it still relevant? That depends on how the reader interprets the novella.

One key point is how some animals are made to seem superior to others through manipulation and emotional symbolism.

References

  • Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2009). George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Infobase Publishing.
  • Davies, R. W. (2003). The Soviet Economy and the Stalin Era. In The Cambridge History of Russia (Vol. 2, pp. 238-282). Cambridge University Press.
  • Gorky, M. (1991). The Russian Revolution: From the Bolshevik Revolution to Stalin’s Dictatorship. Verso.
  • Kessel, W. J. (2000). The Politics of Totalitarianism: Animal Farm and Its Soviet Analogy. The Russian Review, 59(4), 451-465.
  • Orwell, G. (1945). Animal Farm. Secker & Warburg.
  • Orwell, G. (2003). 1984. Harvill Secker.
  • Schlesinger, A. M. (2003). The Crisis of American Democracy: The History of Totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and Its Lessons. Harvard University Press.
  • Taylor, P. (2001). Soviet Propaganda and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Journal of Political Ideologies, 6(2), 179-193.

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