Symbolism in Animal Farm - Essay Example

Symbolism in Animal Farm When George Orwell wrote his famous novel Animal Farm, the world had just undergone major change. It was 1945 and the world had just seen the end of the Second World War. Hitler had been defeated, Churchill had been voted out of office, Mussolini and President Roosevelt had just died. Stalin was the last of the great world leaders that had contributed to the end of the war, causing much of the world to view Russia and Stalin in a favorable light. However, Orwell saw a darker side to this reality, one in which Stalin was not the humanitarian he presented to the outside world. Within his novel, Animal Farm, Orwell attempted to present this alternate view of reality through the characters and events that took place on a fictional farm. Everything associated with this farm is a symbol of something else. In The Literary Symbol by William York Tindall, symbol is defined as “the outward sign of an inward state” where ‘sign’ indicates a material object and ‘inward state’ refers to feelings, thoughts or a combination of the two (1955). However, as Orwell used it, symbol refers to any substitution of character or construction that is intended to imply through strong connections characters and events occurring in the broader political world of the writer. This application of the use of symbol to represent real-life people can be seen in the characters of Napoleon, Old Major and Snowball. In Animal Farm, the main character Napoleon is presented as having the same sort of idealistic dreams and goals for humanity that were expressed by Stalin in his early years. He is seen to have incredible success early in the story as he leads the animals to take over the farm, helps organize them to produce and manage the farm in an efficient way and aids them in protecting the farm from the invading human farmers. Liking the taste of power, he begins changing the laws he himself wrote in order to allow himself and his close companions space to enjoy the extra luxuries they’ve discovered, but it becomes necessary to break increasingly more laws and infringe even more upon the freedoms and rights of his fellow animals in order to keep the peace. He does this with ever-increasing brutality as can be seen in his dealings with the hens in chapter 7. Despite agreeing early in the story that the sale of eggs is a form of murder, when the hens protested the sale, “Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens’ rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death. The dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out. For five days the hens held out … Nine hens had died in the meantime. Their bodies were buried in the orchard, and it was given out that they had died of coccidiosis.” In the end, after he has managed to drive off or kill most of his friends and supporters, Napoleon the pig has changed so much that the other animals, as they look through the window at a dinner party Napoleon is hosting for some of the neighboring human farmers, can no longer tell his face from those of the humans he is associating with. A side by side comparison between Orwell’s character Napoleon and the real-life person of Joseph Stalin illustrates an almost mirror image, fully portraying Orwell’s negative impression of Stalinist Russia. George Lamont (1995) points out that Napoleon and Stalin share a similar weakness for public speaking that is actually a strength for their primary opposition – Snowball for Napoleon and Trotsky for Stalin. They each demonstrated a willingness to do anything for power, proving themselves cruel, brutal and willing to kill to reach their goals. Where Napoleon had dogs, Moses and Squealer to help him control the animals, Stalin had the KGB, the sanctioned state church and his own propaganda machine. While Napoleon sets out to honor the teachings of Old Major, he deviates drastically from the true path to the destruction of the dream. This is similar to the way in which Stalin set out to follow the teachings of Karl Marx regarding socialism, but allowed his own desire for power destroy the Russian dream. In addition, Napoleon is able to take control of the farm immediately following the revolution rather than waiting for the brief and tragic reign of Lenin to end. Old Major, of course, represents the venerated philosopher Karl Marx and his teachings regarding socialism. It is Old Major who incites the revolution to follow even though he dies before it actually happens. He incites the revolution by educating the other animals about the true nature of the world: “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.” (ch. 1). He speaks of the injustices committed upon the animal kingdom by mankind and the importance of throwing off the yolk of man’s influence if they were ever going to be able to enjoy the bounty of their labors as they deserved, creating Animalism in the process of giving this one speech. The basic principles of Animalism become the first laws of the farm following the animal revolution: “No animal must live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal.” (ch. 1). Little growth is seen in this character as he dies three days later peacefully in his sleep; however, a close examination of his speech demonstrates something of an alternative motive of his own in that while he decries the abuses of mankind upon the animals, he also indicates his own life has been long and happy. Like Napoleon’s relationship to Stalin, Old Major’s relationship to Karl Marx is unmistakable. There are several similarities between the founding principles of Animalism and Marxism. Old Major told the animals about his theory that the animals should be the only ones to profit from their own labors, keeping the fruits of that labor for their own survival. Marx proposed the workers of the world should unite to demand better conditions in return for their labors. In both instances, these characters incited those they spoke with to unite and revolt against those in higher positions who controlled the distribution of wealth. Also in both situations, the speaker dies before the revolution begins, having little opportunity to point out where leaders might be deviating dangerously from the original concepts that would lead to the brave new world socialism was promising (Lamont, 1995). “To the extent that Animal Farm alludes to events of the Russian Revolution, the skull of Old Major … parallels the actual preservation of Lenin’s corpse in Red Square first in a simple vault and later, as though hiding the man’s mortal humanity behind a myth of omnipotence or saintliness, in a vast mausoleum” (Smyer, 1988, p. 85). Trotskian tendencies abound in the character of Snowball throughout the novel. Like Trotsky, Snowball is young, smart and idealistic with a good sense for public speaking. True to the ideals of Animalism, Snowball, like Trotsky, truly held to his belief that life could be made better for all of the animals on the farm and worked diligently to bring that dream about. When he was chased from the farm by Napoleon’s dogs, in much the same way that Trotsky was chased from Russia by Lenin’s KGB, he worked to spread the ideas of Animalism as much as he could in the outer world beyond the gates of the Animal Farm (Lamont, 1995) until he disappears from the story altogether, except as a threat and continued scapegoat for conspiracies against the farm. Even without his presence on the farm, Snowball is seen to be the power behind the show trial of four pigs who claimed to have been meeting with Snowball since his expulsion, resulting in their throats being torn out by the dogs as punishment for working against Napoleon. “In a terrible voice, Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess. The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs now came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon’s orders.” They were also killed as a result of their connection to the Snowball/Trotsky movement just as any supporters of Trotsky under Stalin’s rule were hunted down and murdered rather than allow them to incite any kind of rebellion. Through these various characters and the traits he builds in them, Orwell is able to create Russia in miniature, exploring the ways in which Stalin was able to gain and then keep power despite growing evidence that the experiment was not succeeding. Rather than blame socialism, Orwell was struggling to demonstrate how the abuse of power and position, coupled with greed and ruthlessness, forced the destruction and resulting devastation that was experienced. Although only the very general characteristics have been discussed here, there are several other ways in which each of these characters demonstrates positive and negative aspects of each of their real-life counterparts, including how they worked to help or hinder the socialist movement. In addition to the characters, the actions, events, buildings and auxiliary characters provide further insights as to Orwell’s viewpoint regarding the Russian Revolution as it has been outlined within the interplay of these principle characters. Works Cited Lamont, George J. “Animal Farm: Comparison of Characters to Russian Revolution.” Charles’ George Orwell Links. 1995. July 31, 2007 < http://pages.citenet.net/users/charles/links.html> Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Signet Classics, 2004. Smyer, Richard I. Animal Farm: A Student’s Companion to the Novel. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988. Tindall, William York. The Literary Symbol. Bloomington, IN: Columbia University, 1955. Student name Instructor name Course name Date Symbolism in Animal Farm I. Introduction – a. History behind the novel b. Definition of symbolism c. Thesis statement – This application of the use of symbol to represent real-life people can be seen in the characters of Napoleon, Old Major, Snowball and Squealer. II. Napoleon’s development a. Topic sentence – In Animal Farm, the main character Napoleon is presented as having the same sort of idealistic dreams and goals for humanity that were expressed by Stalin in his early years. b. Beginning of corruption c. Example of cruelty and murder d. conversion III. Napoleon as Stalin a. Topic sentence – A side by side comparison between Orwell’s character Napoleon and the real-life person of Joseph Stalin illustrates an almost mirror image, fully portraying Orwell’s negative impression of Stalinist Russia. b. Comparison between Napoleon and Stalin c. Differences between Napoleon and Stalin IV. Old Major’s character a. Topic sentence – Old Major, of course, represents the venerated philosophy Karl Marx and his teachings regarding socialism. b. Birth of the revolution c. Principles of animalism V. Old Major as Marx a. Topic sentence – Like Napoleon’s relationship to Stalin, Old Major’s relationship with Karl Marx is unmistakable. b. Comparison between Old Major and Marx c. Comparison with Lenin VI. Snowball’s character a. Topic sentence – Another important character in the story is Snowball, who provides Animal Farm with its own version of Leon Trotsky. b. Initial character development c. Snowball’s actions vs. Napoleon’s actions VII. Snowball as Trotsky a. Topic sentence – Trotskian tendencies abound in the character of Snowball throughout the novel. b. Comparison with Trotsky c. How others were treated based on their relationship to character VIII. Squealer’s character a. Topic sentence – As has been mentioned, both Stalin and Napoleon were lacking in speaking skills, which they each made up for with the development of their own personal propaganda machines. b. Squealer’s early use of rhetoric c. Squealer’s late use of rhetoric IX. Squealer as Pravda a. Topic sentence – Squealer’s real-life counterpart is the Russian newspaper Pravda, which was used by Stalin to broadcast his message throughout Russia. b. Description of Pravda c. Comparison of Squealer and Pravda X. Conclusion Read More

He ordered the hens’ rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death. The dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out. For five days the hens held out … Nine hens had died in the meantime. Their bodies were buried in the orchard, and it was given out that they had died of coccidiosis.” In the end, after he has managed to drive off or kill most of his friends and supporters, Napoleon the pig has changed so much that the other animals, as they look through the window at a dinner party Napoleon is hosting for some of the neighboring human farmers, can no longer tell his face from those of the humans he is associating with.

A side by side comparison between Orwell’s character Napoleon and the real-life person of Joseph Stalin illustrates an almost mirror image, fully portraying Orwell’s negative impression of Stalinist Russia. George Lamont (1995) points out that Napoleon and Stalin share a similar weakness for public speaking that is actually a strength for their primary opposition – Snowball for Napoleon and Trotsky for Stalin. They each demonstrated a willingness to do anything for power, proving themselves cruel, brutal and willing to kill to reach their goals.

Where Napoleon had dogs, Moses and Squealer to help him control the animals, Stalin had the KGB, the sanctioned state church and his own propaganda machine. While Napoleon sets out to honor the teachings of Old Major, he deviates drastically from the true path to the destruction of the dream. This is similar to the way in which Stalin set out to follow the teachings of Karl Marx regarding socialism, but allowed his own desire for power destroy the Russian dream. In addition, Napoleon is able to take control of the farm immediately following the revolution rather than waiting for the brief and tragic reign of Lenin to end.

Old Major, of course, represents the venerated philosopher Karl Marx and his teachings regarding socialism. It is Old Major who incites the revolution to follow even though he dies before it actually happens. He incites the revolution by educating the other animals about the true nature of the world: “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.

He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.” (ch. 1). He speaks of the injustices committed upon the animal kingdom by mankind and the importance of throwing off the yolk of man’s influence if they were ever going to be able to enjoy the bounty of their labors as they deserved, creating Animalism in the process of giving this one speech. The basic principles of Animalism become the first laws of the farm following the animal revolution: “No animal must live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade.

All the habits of Man are evil. And above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal.” (ch. 1). Little growth is seen in this character as he dies three days later peacefully in his sleep; however, a close examination of his speech demonstrates something of an alternative motive of his own in that while he decries the abuses of mankind upon the animals, he also indicates his own life has been long and happy.

Like Napoleon’s relationship to Stalin, Old Major’s relationship to Karl Marx is unmistakable. There are several similarities between the founding principles of Animalism and Marxism. Old Major told the animals about his theory that the animals should be the only ones to profit from their own labors, keeping the fruits of that labor for their own survival.

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