Sei sulla pagina 1di 6

Duangjarin Sirijongkolthong

English 12
December 6,2017

The Analysis of Connection Between Animal Farm and Russian Revolution

Animal Farm, published in 1945, was one of the most well-known political novels by George

Orwell. In this book, he depicts his thought of political satire based on Russian Revolution which

he represents Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin as Napoleon and Soviet politician Leon Trotsky.

Also, he describes the story since the beginning of the rebellion which Old Major, Karl Marx,

provokes other animals to fight for their right and freedom. After that, Orwell describes the

processes which the animals use to accomplish their initial goals such as creating the

commandments and building the windmill. Unfortunately, even putting afford and toils, the

animals are not successful because they are exploited by the pigs, and from this, the author

shows the consequences of the power and greed--tragedy--which are the same as in the history.

Therefore, it can be seen that Animal Farm parallels the Russian Revolution by illustrating the

goals, relationships, and behaviors of the characters.

George Orwell, born on 25 June 1903, spent his early life in India with his father, mother,

and older sister. He was said that he was a sick child and he was not able to write in the early

ages. However, he composed his first poem when he was four-year-old and started publishing the

poem seven years later. He said that he had a routine that he usually spent his time thinking the

stories and talking to character in his mind, and his career as a writer was inspired by his

loneliness and undervalued. After leaving India, because of his financial struggles, he wrote the

book Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) to describe his situation and poor living
The Analysis of Connection Between Animal Farm and Russian Revolution 2

conditions which was the first time he used the pen-name George Orwell. Through his life, he

wrote many books, essays, and journals, such as A Hanging and The Lion and the

Unicorn:Socialism and the English Genius. Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four are the most

famous work of Orwell which reflected his thought of anti Soviet Union in the former and

warning about Nazism and Stalinism in the latter (2017).

In Animal Farm, Orwell illustrates the beginning of the Russian Revolution through the

goal of Old Major. Before the beginning of rebellion, the animals have a small meeting in one

night, and this meeting gives an opportunity for Old Major to give an eloquent speech which he

talks about animal rights, equality, freedom, and tyranny of human beings that the animal

received from farm owner Mr. Jones and starts singing a song call Beasts of England as to be

the symbol of rebellion. He writes, Almost overnight we could become rich and free... but I

know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done (9).

In the history, Old Major represents Karl Marx who started the idea of capitalism with

philosopher Friedrich Engels. At first, Marx and Engels realized the power of people in ruling

classes, who used power unfairly, in economics that was hard to control. Combined with the

concept of classical economists, they questioned about the necessity of feudalism which leads

them to create the idea of capitalism. Thus, in 1859 to 1860, the idea of capitalism influenced

citizens who follow the idea of building constitution and emancipation ,and it can be seen that

people were starting to call for their freedom and rights; these made Marx considered that the

Russian Revolution was definitely started (Wittfogel, 1960). Marx said, If the Russian

revolution becomes the signal for a proletarian revolution in the West, so that each complements

the other, the present Russian common ownership of land may serve as the starting point for a
The Analysis of Connection Between Animal Farm and Russian Revolution 3

communist revolution (n.d.). Therefore, it can be seen that Orwell distinctly describes the initial

goals of Russian Revolution from Karl Marx through the words from Old Major.

Orwell illustrates the adverse relationship between Napoleon and Snowball who are

considered as Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. In the book, Snowball and napoleon are pigs.

There are intelligent and powerful, but they usually have conflict with each other because they

have different opinions such as building the windmill;however, Napoleon uses force to get rid of

Snowball. For example, describing the relationship, Orwell depicts that it was noticed that

these two were never in agreement (22). Although Napoleon gets rid of the other pig

successfully, he does not stop and continues to spread the false propaganda about Snowball to

make the animals fear and hate him. Orwell writes, Do you know the enemy who has come in

the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL! Snowball has done this thing! (70).

Similar to Russian Revolution, one writer says when discussing the exile of Leon Trotsky by

Joseph Stalin that these men had conflict before the first world war. When Trotsky had an idea,

Stalin always opposed to it such as a cosmopolitan cafe intellectual and orthodox Leninist

Bolshevism (Jones, 2009). Also, even though Lenin died in 1924, Stalin became the leader of

USSR and Trotsky still continued to call for the revolution. To stop Trotsky, Stalin spread the

propaganda against Trostsky which made him had to resign from the war commissariat and was

exiled from the communist party in 1927. Thus, it can be indicated that because of Stalins power

and tactics, he was able to successfully control the government without many political rivals.
The Analysis of Connection Between Animal Farm and Russian Revolution 4

In the book, Stalins leadership is represented as Napoleon who is the leader of the

Animal Farm. Napoleon is a pig that control of the whole farm after Snowball is exiled, he

operates by commanding animals to do the work. Also, he and other pigs take privilege and

power over other animals--such as living in the house, drinking alcohol, and waking up late--by

fixing the seven commandments. Moreover, other animals cannot protest and question about his

power because he usually intimidates them by telling that the farm owner will come back and

using the dogs to bark at other animals. For instance, In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in

public, the narrator states, but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each

door by fiercelooking dogs. (75). Connected to the historical figure, NKVD was a secret

police organization which was not under the controlled of any parties and laws except of Stalin.

According to a 2016 Human Rights Group Publishes Names of Those Responsible for Stalin's

Purges stated, The database covers the period dubbed the Great Terror, when, under the

leadership of Josef Stalin, up to a million peasants, Communist party, government, and Red

Army officials disappeared and were killed on suspicion of disloyalty to party ideas. The state

security department within the NKVD structures was tasked with fighting against "enemies of

state," and took up a leadership role in the repressions. From this, it can refer the Stalin used his

power cruelly and unfairly to get rid of myriad people who opposed him and limited the citizens

freedom to express their thoughts freely.


The Analysis of Connection Between Animal Farm and Russian Revolution 5

George Orwell depicts the characters ambitions, connections, and manners which relate

to Russian Revolution through Animal Farm. The history of his political literary reputation in

writing books is one of the most remarkable ideas and styles because of his clarity and unique of

his writing styles. Not only that Animal Farm is published to reflect the political situation in the

war time, but it also teaches people to understand and realize the nature of human beings.
The Analysis of Connection Between Animal Farm and Russian Revolution 6

References

Human Rights Group Publishes Names of Those Responsible for Stalin's Purges. Transitions

Online [serial online]. December 5, 2016;:1. Available from: Academic Search Complete,

Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 5, 2017.

Jones N. Stalin's Nemesis The Exile and Murder of Leon Trotsky. History Today [serial online].

August 2009;59(8):64. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

Accessed December 5, 2017.

Wittfogel, K. (1960). The Marxist View of Russian Society and Revolution. World Politics,

12(4), 487-508. doi:10.2307/2009334

Potrebbero piacerti anche