George Orwell's Allegory: Animal Farm And The Russian Revolution

Words: 827
Pages: 4

Chaitanya Tatipigari
Mr. Van Velzer
Honors English 9
August 11th, 2015
Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution
George Orwell’s book Animal Farm is a direct allegory to the Russian Revolution. An allegory is a story or poem that is meant to represent another event. Manor farm represents Russia, and Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon represent the main characters in the Russian Revolution. Most of the characters and events also resemble those in the Russian Revolution as well.
Mr. Jones represents Tsar Nicholas II, the last Russian ruler. When he was ruling, the Russian people were living in poverty. This was like the animals under Jones who led lives of hunger. Also in 1905, he led a massacre called the Bloody Sunday Massacre. This was when unarmed protestors demanding social reforms were killed. The lives of many Russians worsened during his reign. When Russia entered WW1, they lost a lot of lives. The desperate and outraged people began a revolt that led to the end of the Tsarist control. Eventually, Nicholas left the throne to prevent a civil war. Even so, the civil war did come out in the form of the Bolshevik Revolution, when Nicholas, like Jones, was removed from the throne.
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Both Stalin and Napoleon were unconcerned about debates and ideas. Stalin used power for his own sake and by 1927 had taken over the Communist Party by brutal means. Napoleon’s dogs reflect Stalin’s KGB, the secret police that he used to execute all people opposing his plans. Napoleon gains control over Animal Farm while pretending to improve Animal’s lives. Stalin used a lot of propaganda (represented by Squealer in the novel) to show that he is working for the betterment of the Nation. Napoleon’s plan to build the windmill is parallel to those of Stalin’s Five Year Plan-a plan to bring back the nations agriculture and industry. Thanks to animals like Boxer, Napoleon, like Stalin, became a violent