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English 12
December 6,2017
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
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
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
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,
Jones N. Stalin's Nemesis The Exile and Murder of Leon Trotsky. History Today [serial online].
Wittfogel, K. (1960). The Marxist View of Russian Society and Revolution. World Politics,