Russian Revoulution
Moving on......
Apparently the story "Animal Farm" is a satire and allegory of the Russian Revolution.
Right. So in this first part I will tell you more about the characters in the story.
Pigs
Old Major: He can be interpreted as Karl Marx, who first describes the ideal society if everybody is equal. He can also be interpreted as Vladimir Lenin, in the sense that Lenin's skull was too put on display.
Napoleon: He is the main tyrant and villain of the story, and can be interpreted as Joseph Stalin. He gradually builds up his power, forming his own secret police from the puppies that he raised by himself. After Snowball is driven of the farm, he uses propaganda(i.e. Squealer) and threats from the other dogs on the farm. Once he has full power, he edits the commandments to his own benefits. Napoleon's name adds to the novella's themes of totalitarian dictators rising from vacuum of power and absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Snowball: Napoleon's rival, he is an allusion to Leon Trotsky. He wins over the trust of most animals, but is driven out by Napoleon, who has a different set of ideals. Snowball works genuinely for the good of the farm and devises plans to help the animals achieve their vision of a communist Utopia. However, Napoleon's dogs chase him away and soon after that, Napoleon spreads rumours to make Snowball sound like like a evil and corrupt pig who tried to hinder the improvement of the farm.
Squealer: A small fat porker, he serves as Napoleon's right hand man and minister of propaganda. Squealer represents all the propaganda Stalin tried to us to justify his misdeeds. Squealer limits debate by complicating it he confuses and disorientates the animals, making the threat that Mr Jones would return to justify the pigs' privileges.
Humans
Mr. Jones represents Nicholas II of Russia, the deposed Czar, who had been facing severe financial difficulties in the days leading up to the 1917 Revolution. The character is also a nod towards Louis XVI. There are several implications that he represents an autocratic but ineffective capitalist, incapable of running the farm and looking after the animals properly. Jones is a very heavy drinker and the animals revolt against him after he drinks so much that he does not feed or take care of them, and his attempt to recapture the farm is foiled in the Battle of the Cowshed (the Russian Civil War).
Mr. Frederick is the tough owner of Pinch field, a well-kept neighbouring farm. He represents Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in general.[8] He buys wood from the animals for forged money and later attacks them, destroying the windmill but being finally beaten in the resulting Battle of the Windmill (World War II), which could be interpreted as either the battle of Moscow or Stalingrad. There are also stories of him mistreating his own animals, such as throwing dogs into a furnace, which may also represent the Nazi Party's treatment of political dissidents.
Mr. Pilkington is the easy-going but crafty owner of Foxwood, a neighbouring farm overgrown with weeds, as described in the book. He represents the western powers, such as the United Kingdom and the United States. The card game at the very end of the novel is a metaphor for the Tehran Conference, where the parties flatter each other, all the while cheating at the game. This last scene is ironic because all the Pigs are civil and kind to the humans, defying all for which they had fought. This happened at the Tehran Conference: the Soviet Union formed an alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom, capitalist countries that the Soviet Union had fought in the early years of the revolution.[8] At the end of the game, both Napoleon and Pilkington draw the Ace of Spades and then begin fighting loudly, symbolising the beginning of tension between the U.S. and Soviet superpowers.
Mr. Whymper is a man hired by Napoleon for public relations of Animal Farm to human society. He is loosely based on Western intellectuals such as George Bernard Shaw and, especially, Lincoln Steffens, who visited the USSR in 1919.
Other
Boxer: He represents the loyal and dedicated people. He works harder than the rest, even getting up earlier than the rest of the animals to do some work. His motto"Napoleon is always right" is also a form of propaganda. However, Napoleon was not able to see that Boxer was a loyal animal and was afraid that Boxer might rebel. Thus, when Boxer was sick, Napoleon sent him to the knackers'.
Mollie: A self centred, vain horse, she enjoyed the things that humans gave her and in the end moved to another farm where the owner fussed over her. She represents the upper-class people, the bourgeoisie and the nobility who fled to the West after the Russian Revolution.
Benjamin: A wise old donkey, he shows little emotion and one of the longest-lived animals. Although he knows about the pigs' wrongdoings, he says nothing to the other animals. He can be interpreted as the cynics in society but on the other hand, he can be a allegory for intellectuals who have the wisdom to stay clear of the purges, but take no action as well, such as pacifists.
Moses the Raven is an old bird that occasionally visits the farm with tales of a place in the sky called Sugarcandy Mountain, where he says animals go when they die, but only if they work hard. He spends time turning the animals' minds to Sugarcandy Mountain and he does no work. He represents religious leaders, specifically the Russian Orthodox Church, and Sugarcandy Mountain is Heaven. Religion is banned in the new régime, and his religious persona is exacerbated by the fact that he is named after a biblical character. He feels unequal in comparison to the other animals, so he leaves after the rebellion, for all animals were supposed to be equal. However, much later in the book he returns to the farm and continues to proclaim the existence of Sugarcandy Mountain. The other animals are confused by the pigs' attitude towards Moses; they denounce his claims as nonsense, but allow him to remain on the farm. The pigs do this to offer the hope of a happy afterlife to the other animals, probably to keep their minds on Sugarcandy Mountain and not on possible uprisings. This is an allegory to Stalin's pact with the Russian Orthodox Church. In the end, Moses is one of few animals to remember the rebellion, along with Clover, Benjamin, and the pigs.
The Sheep represent the mass proletariat, manipulated to support Napoleon in spite of his treachery. They show limited understanding of the situations but support him anyway, and regularly chant "Four legs good, Two legs bad". At the end of the novel, one of the Seven Commandments is changed after the pigs learn to walk on two legs, so they shout "Four legs good, two legs better". They can be relied on by the pigs to shout down any dissent from others.
That's all for today folks:)
Apparently the story "Animal Farm" is a satire and allegory of the Russian Revolution.
Right. So in this first part I will tell you more about the characters in the story.
Pigs
Old Major: He can be interpreted as Karl Marx, who first describes the ideal society if everybody is equal. He can also be interpreted as Vladimir Lenin, in the sense that Lenin's skull was too put on display.
Napoleon: He is the main tyrant and villain of the story, and can be interpreted as Joseph Stalin. He gradually builds up his power, forming his own secret police from the puppies that he raised by himself. After Snowball is driven of the farm, he uses propaganda(i.e. Squealer) and threats from the other dogs on the farm. Once he has full power, he edits the commandments to his own benefits. Napoleon's name adds to the novella's themes of totalitarian dictators rising from vacuum of power and absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Snowball: Napoleon's rival, he is an allusion to Leon Trotsky. He wins over the trust of most animals, but is driven out by Napoleon, who has a different set of ideals. Snowball works genuinely for the good of the farm and devises plans to help the animals achieve their vision of a communist Utopia. However, Napoleon's dogs chase him away and soon after that, Napoleon spreads rumours to make Snowball sound like like a evil and corrupt pig who tried to hinder the improvement of the farm.
Squealer: A small fat porker, he serves as Napoleon's right hand man and minister of propaganda. Squealer represents all the propaganda Stalin tried to us to justify his misdeeds. Squealer limits debate by complicating it he confuses and disorientates the animals, making the threat that Mr Jones would return to justify the pigs' privileges.
Humans
Mr. Jones represents Nicholas II of Russia, the deposed Czar, who had been facing severe financial difficulties in the days leading up to the 1917 Revolution. The character is also a nod towards Louis XVI. There are several implications that he represents an autocratic but ineffective capitalist, incapable of running the farm and looking after the animals properly. Jones is a very heavy drinker and the animals revolt against him after he drinks so much that he does not feed or take care of them, and his attempt to recapture the farm is foiled in the Battle of the Cowshed (the Russian Civil War).
Mr. Frederick is the tough owner of Pinch field, a well-kept neighbouring farm. He represents Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in general.[8] He buys wood from the animals for forged money and later attacks them, destroying the windmill but being finally beaten in the resulting Battle of the Windmill (World War II), which could be interpreted as either the battle of Moscow or Stalingrad. There are also stories of him mistreating his own animals, such as throwing dogs into a furnace, which may also represent the Nazi Party's treatment of political dissidents.
Mr. Pilkington is the easy-going but crafty owner of Foxwood, a neighbouring farm overgrown with weeds, as described in the book. He represents the western powers, such as the United Kingdom and the United States. The card game at the very end of the novel is a metaphor for the Tehran Conference, where the parties flatter each other, all the while cheating at the game. This last scene is ironic because all the Pigs are civil and kind to the humans, defying all for which they had fought. This happened at the Tehran Conference: the Soviet Union formed an alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom, capitalist countries that the Soviet Union had fought in the early years of the revolution.[8] At the end of the game, both Napoleon and Pilkington draw the Ace of Spades and then begin fighting loudly, symbolising the beginning of tension between the U.S. and Soviet superpowers.
Mr. Whymper is a man hired by Napoleon for public relations of Animal Farm to human society. He is loosely based on Western intellectuals such as George Bernard Shaw and, especially, Lincoln Steffens, who visited the USSR in 1919.
Other
Boxer: He represents the loyal and dedicated people. He works harder than the rest, even getting up earlier than the rest of the animals to do some work. His motto"Napoleon is always right" is also a form of propaganda. However, Napoleon was not able to see that Boxer was a loyal animal and was afraid that Boxer might rebel. Thus, when Boxer was sick, Napoleon sent him to the knackers'.
Mollie: A self centred, vain horse, she enjoyed the things that humans gave her and in the end moved to another farm where the owner fussed over her. She represents the upper-class people, the bourgeoisie and the nobility who fled to the West after the Russian Revolution.
Benjamin: A wise old donkey, he shows little emotion and one of the longest-lived animals. Although he knows about the pigs' wrongdoings, he says nothing to the other animals. He can be interpreted as the cynics in society but on the other hand, he can be a allegory for intellectuals who have the wisdom to stay clear of the purges, but take no action as well, such as pacifists.
Moses the Raven is an old bird that occasionally visits the farm with tales of a place in the sky called Sugarcandy Mountain, where he says animals go when they die, but only if they work hard. He spends time turning the animals' minds to Sugarcandy Mountain and he does no work. He represents religious leaders, specifically the Russian Orthodox Church, and Sugarcandy Mountain is Heaven. Religion is banned in the new régime, and his religious persona is exacerbated by the fact that he is named after a biblical character. He feels unequal in comparison to the other animals, so he leaves after the rebellion, for all animals were supposed to be equal. However, much later in the book he returns to the farm and continues to proclaim the existence of Sugarcandy Mountain. The other animals are confused by the pigs' attitude towards Moses; they denounce his claims as nonsense, but allow him to remain on the farm. The pigs do this to offer the hope of a happy afterlife to the other animals, probably to keep their minds on Sugarcandy Mountain and not on possible uprisings. This is an allegory to Stalin's pact with the Russian Orthodox Church. In the end, Moses is one of few animals to remember the rebellion, along with Clover, Benjamin, and the pigs.
The Sheep represent the mass proletariat, manipulated to support Napoleon in spite of his treachery. They show limited understanding of the situations but support him anyway, and regularly chant "Four legs good, Two legs bad". At the end of the novel, one of the Seven Commandments is changed after the pigs learn to walk on two legs, so they shout "Four legs good, two legs better". They can be relied on by the pigs to shout down any dissent from others.
That's all for today folks:)
posted by Xavier the Confused at 10:03 PM
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