Kristy Chiang
Professor Frances McCue
Honors 205A – Second Inquiry paper
11/12/14
Animal Farm: Fictional Connection to Reality
In works of fiction, whether they’re novels, films, or TV shows, sometimes there
is the incorporation of historical events that spark interest from the audience. Since the
works aren’t completely made-up, the audience is able relate to the content. In the novel
Animal Farm, published in England in 1945, certain characters possess certain positions
of authority and the events that happen closely resemble what happened prior to the
Russian Revolution and into the Stalin era. In other words, Animal Farm is an allegory
where the characters and events are consistent with the people and events during the
Russian Revolution. It is also a fable since a story is being told and the characters
themselves are less important than what they actually represent and characterize.
Throughout the novel, there are obvious parallels to historical figures during the
Russian Revolution and Stalin era. For example, certain characters portray important
individuals. Old Major represents Marxism and parallels with Vladimir Lenin, Napoleon
represents the new revolutionary order and parallels with Joseph Stalin, Snowball
represents the spreading and defending of revolution, Squealer represents the spread of
propaganda and parallels with the newspaper Pravda (official newspaper of Soviet
Union) (Passantino). Moses, the raven, represents the organization of religion and
parallels with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Pilkington and Foxwood
Farm parallel with Churchill and England. Frederick and Pinchfield Farm represent
competition with Animal Farm and parallel with the Fuhrer and Nazi Germany. Other
animals (who aren’t pigs or dogs) represent the working class of Russian society. Mollie,
the horse, parallels with the middle class of Russian society (Passantino).
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Kristy Chiang
Professor Frances McCue
Honors 205A – Second Inquiry paper
11/12/14
Orwell makes a point by retelling a story about the Russian Revolution using
animals living in a farm. The characters stated in the previous paragraph each represent a
certain role or individual during the actual revolution. The fictional characters are
actually representative of aspects of reality in a historical context. It is interesting to see
how Orwell chose to assign important roles to the pigs during the story. However, it is
easy to see that pigs possess a lackadaisical personality and once they achieve a certain
role, they don’t tend to waver. In Animal Farm, the pigs have an authoritative position
above all the other animals and they expect things to be done for them and not for them to
do themselves. It is very easy to see the resemblance between characters in the novel and
actual individuals who had high positions in society during the Russian Revolution.
Besides the obvious resemblance between characters in the novel and actual
individuals during the Russian Revolution, there are also connections between the
fictional events and actual historical events. The Battle of the Cowshed parallels the
British invasion of Russia which was for the purpose of removing Lenin and the
government. When Napoleon takes over the farm, this parallels with Stalin becoming the
Soviet dictator in 1926. Building the windmill parallels with Stalin’s 5-year plan
(Passantino). The battle of the windmill parallels with the German invasion of Russia
during World War II (Passantino). The horn and the hoof on the flag parallels with the
Soviet flag with the hammer and the sickle. The confessions of animals to the crimes at
the farm parallel with Stalin’s purges from 1936 to 1938 (Passantino). And lastly, the
final scene connects with the Tehran conference in 1943 involving Roosevelt, Churchill,
and Stalin.
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Kristy Chiang
Professor Frances McCue
Honors 205A – Second Inquiry paper
11/12/14
The historical events that were closely related to the events in the novel indicate
Orwell’s motive while writing this novel. His focus was to destroy totalitarianism. Each
chapter has a specific purpose and message that Orwell wants to reach to the readers and
his audience. Orwell’s writing style also compliments his purpose in writing. He uses
satire, a type of writing that ridicules ideas or people, which works as he molds a
personality into each character that resembles some important figure from the past during
the Russian Revolution. There is no doubt that Orwell was against the idea of
totalitarianism because this novel he wrote was in response to what had happened during
the revolution.
Aside from the parallelism of fictional characters to actual historical figures and
fictional events to actual events that occurred in the past, Orwell wrote Animal Farm with
a purpose. In the book titled Ideas, Insights, and Arguments: A Non-Fiction Collection
edited by Michael Marland, there is a section within by George Orwell titled Why I Write.
Orwell talks about why he chose to be writer and what writing does to him. To him,
writing gives him the ability to escape from reality and “a power of facing unpleasant
facts” (Marland). Orwell discusses that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried
to combine political purpose with artistic purpose (Marland). The political purpose
would be to recreate the Russian Revolution with fictional representation. Also, there
was the purpose of explaining that any revolution would create changes to authority
(Animal). The artistic purpose would be to make it a work of satire. Orwell’s moral of
the story was that “revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are
alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job”
(Animal). This is seen throughout the novel in that once an animal has done their job and
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Kristy Chiang
Professor Frances McCue
Honors 205A – Second Inquiry paper
11/12/14
has satisfied specific requests done by the animals that have authority (i.e. the pigs) they
are disregarded.
Orwell’s effort to depict the Russian Revolution was successful in the making of
Animal Farm because he included the limitations of humans versus animals (Fonseka).
He also represents each animal as is. For example, the donkeys stay next to each other
silently and pigeons flutter their wings which clearly shows a realistic image of animal
behavior. The combination of satire and humor also shines through the novel which
makes it unique compared to other works of fiction that depict history. Orwell includes
realism which allows his audience to specifically relate to what he has to say in the novel.
Overall, Orwell’s intention is merely to educate his audience. The unique blend of
intellectual delight and political insight proves that Orwell has successfully created a
great piece of work. His language is accessible, relatable, and clear.
Each chapter of the novel represents a specific story to tell the audience. Chapter
1 begins with the concept of revolution and the ground rules are set in the farm. Chapter
2 catalyzes the revolution as Old Major dies and certain animals are hesitant with the
truth. The role of a persuader comes into play as Squealer is introduced. Chapter 3
carries the audience away from tradition and moves us to a new vision. However,
Napoleon and Snowball begin a controversy as they fight for the higher position. In
Chapter 10, the final chapter of the novel, there is the sense of bureaucracy where
Squealer begins to introduce different types of work for the animals to do. The pigs
slowly assimilate to human actions and behavior: standing on two legs, wearing clothes,
visits with human counterparts, drinking beer. There is the realization that revolution has
occurred and nothing can be done at this point.
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Kristy Chiang
Professor Frances McCue
Honors 205A – Second Inquiry paper
11/12/14
Animal Farm, a fiction novel by George Orwell that was published in 1945,
includes historical context that is directly related to certain events and characters depicted
in the novel itself. It is easy to recognize and identify which characters parallel with
which important figure and which event concurs with which actual event that occurred
during the Russian Revolution. Orwell’s writing style allows readers to follow his way
of thinking throughout the novel. He assigns the pigs to authoritative roles and all the
other animals (except the dogs) to low class roles. The role-play seen in the novel is
relative to actual roles in the 20th century Stalin era. Sometimes works of literature
include historical context that is either closely related to the overall story or very thin in
relativity. In this case, with Orwell’s Animal Farm, the audience is able to easily detect
what the purpose and meaning of the novel really is and why Orwell chose to write in
such a fashion in a means to express his ideas and thoughts through historical connection.
Word Count: 1439
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Kristy Chiang
Professor Frances McCue
Honors 205A – Second Inquiry paper
11/12/14
Works Cited:
"'Animal Farm': What Orwell Really Meant by George Orwell." ‘Animal Farm’: What
Orwell Really Meant by George Orwell. NYREV, 11 July 2013. Web. 11 Nov.
2014.
Fonseka, Gamini. ""HOW SWNISH...! YET..." – A CRTICAL ANALYSIS OF
GEORGE ORWELL'S ANIMAL FARM." Academia.edu. Academia, 1999. Web.
11 Nov. 2014.
Marland, Michael. Ideas, Insights and Arguments: A Non-fiction Collection.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.
Passantino-Mitchell,C. The Novel as Allegory: Historical Parallels in
Animal Farm. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF.
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