Daniel Silva
11/2/10
Molly Simons
Is being power hungry and hurting people for power ever good? Animal Farm, by
George Orwell written in, 1946, is about a farm being taken over by animals who are
mistreated and overworked. Its also about how things don’t work out the way they
wanted because their leader Napoleon starts wanting more and more power without
caring who he hurts in the process. Animal Farm tells the story of the Russian
Revolution, which started in October 1917 because citizens of the Russia were also being
mistreated and working to much for little pay, and how Stalin got power hungry and
started killing a lot of people. Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution
because both Napoleon and Stalin became dictators, the animals and the Russians wanted
equality, and conditions in Animal Farm and in Russia got worse for the people and
better for the ones in charge as time went on.
One way Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian revolution is because
Napoleon and Stalin both became dictators. The author states that when Snowball (The
smart pig and enemy of Napoleon a rather grumpy mean pig) was giving a speech about
his plans to build a windmill Napoleon stood up and gave a high pitched whimper and,’’
at this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass
studded collars came bounding into the barn, they dashed straight for snowball who only
sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws,’’(52,53). This means
Napoleon called dogs to attack snowball but he ran away just in time to save himself
from being eaten by dogs. This proves that since snowball was gone and only Napoleon
stayed, he would become the leader and nobody would be there to say no to his plans.
Similarly, in the Russian revolution Stalin got rid of Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky after
he got rid of Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev by.’’ employing the same skills as he had
used before against Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev, he got rid of all his other rivals and
established a fascist dictatorship in Russia,’’(2004). This shows Stalin got rid of his rivals
to gain power as a dictator. This proves that Stalin became dictator because their was
nobody else to claim the positio. It is clear that both Napoleon and Stalin became
dictators because Stalin got rid of his enemies and became dictator and Napoleon got rid
of snowball and was the only one left to be leader.
Another way Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution is because
the Russian people and the animals both wanted equality. The author states that when
Major (the prize middle white boar) is done telling the farm the strange dream he had the
night before, he finished off by saying,” and above all, no animal must ever tyrannies
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’’(11). This shows that no animal must
ever go against his or her own kind even if one is stronger than another or smarter. This
proves that all the animals in animal farm wanted equality because they agreed with what
major said at the end the meeting and made a rule of it when they took over the farm.
Additionally, this trait is seen in an interview, where they ask Fedorova what the most
important part of the communist party program was and she said, “ unity of the people,
unity f the action, that’s what attracts me and has always inspired me’’(200). In other
words she is saying that the reason she joined the communist party program was because
she wanted to be equal to everyone else. This proves that people in Russia wanted
equality because they joined the communist party program just to get that feeling of
equality to others. It is clear both animal farm and Russian people waned equality
because they worked together without complaining about the job, and just being happy
they were doing something for the benefit of themselves.
One way animal farm is an allegory to the Russia revolution is because conditions
on animal farm and in Russia got worse for the people and better for the ones in charge as
time went on. The author states that when snowball was giving a speech about his plans
napoleon stood up an gave a high pitched whimper and, “at this there was a terrible
baying sound outside and nine enormous dos wearing brass studded collars came
bounding into the barn, they dashed straight for snowball who only sprang from his feet
just in time to escape their snapping jaws’’(52,53). This means napoleon called dogs to
attack snowball because he wanted everyone to listen to him only, and not snowball. this
proves that things got worse in animal farm because they already started breaking the rule
of “all animals are equal’’ by napoleon trying to get rid of snowball ad being the leader
by himself. Additionally, this trait is seen in the Russian revolution after the tsar was over
thrown on February 28,1917, “soon after the provisional government was in power many
of the problems that helped them overthrow the tsar still existed’’(Russian revolution
timeline reading). This proves Russia got worse for the people because they still had to
suffer the same problems and it got better for the ones in charge because they kept
gaining power. It is clear that animal farm Russia got worse for the people and better for
the ones in charge because in animal farm, animals started trying to kill each other and
Russia people were suffering the same conflicts while the ones in charge gained power
over them.
In final consideration animal farm is another way of telling the Russian revolution
because napoleon and Stalin both because dictators, secondly the animals and the Russian
both wanted equality, and finally conditions in animal farm and in Russia got worse for
the people and better for the ones in charge as time went on. Orwell’s allegory could still
apply to today’s society because the people now days are still fighting for equality, for
example Latinos and African Americans still search for equality in this country. Political
forces still affect people lives because sometimes the people in charge start wanting more
and more power and the people end up suffering the consequences.