Animal Farm Essay

An allegory is symbolic narrative and the novel Animal Farm is nothing but symbolism. This novel represents many historical events that happened in Russia during the Russian Revolution. There are numerous battles in this book that symbolize the Revolution and other attacks that took place in Russia during the 18th century. This novel also represents the control of power and the people who gain it. Most of the animals on this farm symbolize people in Russian history. The novel Animal Farm has many characters that represent important figures in the Russian Revolution. In the beginning of this book Old Major tells the farm about his dream of a rebellion and how he believes that all the animals shall live equally and how someday they will not live by the rules of their farmer. Old Major represents Karl Marx. Karl Marx was the one who spoke of the rebellion and led people to think of ideas to start this historical movement but didn’t carry on the deed of following through with his ideas. Old Major’s speech had lead to many conversations and secret meetings that the animals put together. This is what happened after Karl Marx idea spread. Soon enough everyone was talking about a rebellion or an overthrow of the government. For the animals in the novel the Rebellion came and they went against their farmer in a full protest and chased him and his wife away from the farm. This represented the overthrow of the government for the Russians. After the Rebellion two leaders emerged and helped the animals work and run the farm smoothly. The two were Snowball and Napoleon. These pigs made the commandments and set the rules so that the animals kept themselves and the farm healthy. The two pigs represent two very different people in the Russian Revolution. Snowball represents Leon Trotsky and Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin. These two men try to run Russia for as long as they could with no troubles. The animals are soon encountered with a troublesome battle, The Battle of the Cowshed. The farmers come back and try to take back the farm. The farmers don’t succeed in doing this and sent home disappointed and a man short. This point in the book is symbolizing the Russian Civil War. Soon the animals are being split into classes and one class is starting to rise in power. The pigs are starting to do more and not have to work as hard. The other animals, on the other hand, have to work extra hard to get half the luxuries the pigs have. Boxer, the horse, always works hard and is loyal to the pigs and their decisions. Boxer represents the obedient, hard working people of Russia. Mollie, the pig, hides during battles and can be taken anywhere as long as there are sugar lumps and bows. Mollie represents the selfish vain people of Russia. The pigs are being put on the pedestal and are represented of the Loyalists of the Communist Party. These groups are starting to be more unequal the longer the pigs have control. This happens with the upperclassmen of the Revolution and the lower classmen will soon be unhappy. The next battle occurs over a windmill and is remembered as the Battle of the Windmill to the animals. This battle occurs when Napoleon thinks the windmill is an absurd idea and scares Snowball away using fear to control the farm. He brings out the dogs that are the â€Å"bodyguards† of the farm and are meant to scare the animals into doing what Napoleon wants them to do. The dogs represent KGB, secret police whom Stalin uses to control society. The Battle of the Windmill also represents the Russian Civil War but it also represents Stalin’s rise in power. The power that Napoleon gains makes him horrible and unfair, the animals are not as smart as him so they do not know what is happening behind the scenes. Napoleon starts changing every commandment and starts acting more like a human than anything else. This is amusing because the farm and the animals except the pigs are treated the same or maybe poorer than when Jones the farmer was in charge. Stalin, represented by Napoleon the pig, uses fear to control society and has made Russia worse than it was when the Czar was still ruling. The only thing that had gotten better is the conditions of the Loyalists of the Communist Party. As you can see this whole book is an allegory. The novel Animal Farm represents different historical figures and events from the Russian Revolution. The novel symbolizes how corrupt a person and society can be if given too much power. Animal Farm is a great representation of how Russian government was ran and how certain â€Å"classes† were treated.