Essay: Animal Farm is an interesting and humorous way to visualize Soviet history

Taking place on an English farm known as Manor Farm, the story begins at night, when Mr. Jones makes his way to bed. As the animals gather together, an elderly boar, Old Major, shares his strange dream, in which humankind cease to exist. He brings forth the idea of Rebellion, stating that animals will one day overthrow the human race, and lays out the foundation of what is later known as ‘Principles of Animalism’. He passes soon after, and though the date of the Rebellion was never given, animals begin to prepare, the pigs leading. The Rebellion occurs in June, the animals angered from being unfed and breaking the feed bin for food. This captures the attention of Mr. Jones and his men, who brings out their whips, only to be “butted and kicked from all sides” by the animals, ultimately driven out of the farm, along with Mrs. Jones. Animals take charge of the farm, stripping themselves of their ribbons, and renaming the farm as Animal Farm. It is then revealed that the pigs had spent three months teaching themselves to be literate, as well as reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments, which was to be inscribed on the wall and followed by all animals. Two of the pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, ‘lead’ the other animals, all working hard to harvest except the pigs, “[who] did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others.” The animals continued to work, but were now happy, for they were working for themselves, and all were equal. However, the pigs are constantly praised at, hinting that they thought themselves better than the rest. Snowball and Napoleon constantly opposed each other’s opinions, Snowball organizing Committees for animals, whereas Napoleon believed “the education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who were already grown up.” It was soon clear that the pigs were in charge, the only point agreed on by both Snowball and Napoleon. The news of the farm soon spread throughout the countryside, and as Jones and his men try to take back the farm, they are once again driven out by the animals. Soon after, Snowball is driven out by Napoleon’s guard dogs, made to be seen as the villain by the rest of the pigs, with the claim that Snowball’s inventive ideas were “stolen from among Napoleon’s papers,” and after a short period, Napoleon begins to reverse all that the animals have worked for, reverting back to life when Mr. Jones was in charge, if not worse.
In Animal Farm, George Orwell portrayed Soviet Communism with the use of his characters. Many of them are counterparts to important figures in Russian history, most notably the character Napoleon, who can be compared to the communist leader, Joseph Stalin. His two-year-plan for the building of the windmill, resembles Stalin’s Five-Year-Plan, where he planned for industrial production to increase by about 20 percent. Like Stalin’s KBG, who were loyal, and used fear and terror to ensure Stalin stayed in power, Napoleon had young dogs, who guarded him and intimidated anyone who may oppose Napoleon, such as Snowball, whom “nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars” drove out of the farm, or animals who ‘supported’ Snowball were slaughtered after their ‘confessions’ until “a pile of corpses [were lying] before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood.” Squealer is Napoleon’s propaganda tool, changing and manipulating the Commandments, the most notable change near the end of the book, when “four legs good, two legs bad” is replaced to be “four legs good, two legs better” as the pigs learn to walk on their hind legs. As well, Squealer persuades the other animals to follow Napoleon, the same way Stalin’s propaganda methods had. Old Major, who initially introduced Animalism, is both former Soviet leader, Lenin, as well as Karl Max. Karl Marx laid out the foundation of communism, just as Old Major taught the principles of Animalism to others, and though he died before it could be played out, he began the Rebellion, just as Lenin led the Russian Revolution of 1917. Animalism in itself is similar to communism, as communism is an ideology built on collectivist principles, and each member of society works for the common benefit, and receives according to his or her needs, and initially under Napoleon’s rule, animals received rations based on how much effort they put into the work that needed to be done. Mr. Jones could be thought of as the novel counterpart of Czar Nicholas II, who was overthrown the Bolsheviks, as Mr. Jones was forced out by his animals. Neither were thought of as kind, and in both cases, they were unable to rule effectively, the czar overwhelmed by pressures of war with food shortages and strikes common Russia, and Mr. Jones spent his time “drinking more than was good,” his men “idle and dishonest,” and the farm itself “full of weeds, […] hedges neglected, and the animals underfed.” Snowball is like Leon Trotsky, both being ‘the other leader’ in their revolutions, wanting to improve life for all, but chased out by the secret police. The Rebellion is based on the Russian Revolution, the Russian Revolution originally supposed to ‘fix’ the problems under the czar’s rule. Comparatively, the Rebellion was brought forth to “get rid of Man, [so] the produce of [their] labour would be [their] own.” However, both ended in situations worse than it began in. Under Stalin, the Ukrainian Famine and the Great Purge occurred, resulting in the death of over 7 million and 20 million respectively and under Napoleon, animals were executed for being in a supposed alliance with Snowball, and Boxer, a carthorse, was sent away in a van that read “Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer” upon discovery that he was injured and unable to continue work.
Overall, Animal Farm was an interesting and humorous way to visualize Soviet history, but felt too unrealistic to picture in some cases, such as when Snowball “took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM,” constantly giving a reminder of the saying ‘when pigs fly’, as it is highly unlikely that pigs would teach themselves to be literate, or learn how to fly.