Napoleon the Pig and Stalin: One and the Same

Summary: Animal Farm is an allegorical novel because it includes symbols

depicting events of the Russian Revolution. The beginning of the Animal
Rebellion mirrors the start of the Russian Revolution, the pigs' use of
propaganda is similar to the use of manipulation by Stalin and Pravda to
influence the Russian people, and Mollie the cart horse and the pigs
represent the bourgeoisie before and after the Russian Revolution.

Animal Farm is an allegorical novel because it depicts many events that

happened during the Russian Revolution through symbolism. This is proven
by discussing how the beginning of the Animal Rebellion mirrors the
starting of the Russian Revolution, the pigs' use of propaganda based on the
use of manipulation by Stalin and Pravda to influence the Russian people,
and Mollie the cart horse and the pigs represent the bourgeoisie before and
after the Revolution.

The events that lead up to the Animal Rebellion in Animal Farm is based on
how the idea for the Russian Revolution first came to light.

In Animal Farm, the first evidence of the Animal Rebellion begins with a
meeting of the animals surrounding a dream that the wise pig Old Major
had. His dream centers on a time when animals will be able to one day
overthrow the human race and live under their own rule, without the
suffering and hard work they had to endure for the longest time. He
eventually explains that the essence of the this forthcoming rebellion is to
abolish anything and everything human made and related articles from their
day-to-day lives, such as ribbons, chains, and whips. He also teaches the
animals a song that his mother used to sing to him, in which he forgot about,
until he heard it in his dream.

German philosopher Karl Mark, while under membership of the

international workers' group, the Communist League, developed an ideal
plan that blatantly told of a time when hard-working citizens across Europe
would come together and start a revolution, in which utopia would soon
ensue. Marx was sure that this dream of his would lead to economic equality
between everyone, but, alas, working conditions throughout Western Europe
and America had gone through a do-over and were now respectable to the
workers' well-being and health. So it seemed like Marx's plan was of no use,
until a Russian Communist party that consisted of Leon Trotsky, Joseph
Stalin, and Nikolai Lenin. Their country was full of overworked and
undermined slaves who had to work for the ungrateful wealthy bourgeoisie,
and, after re-working and re-wording Marx's idea of Communism, they
brought the idea of the workers' revolution to Russia.

Old Major serves as the role of both Marx and Lenin. He speaks of the key
essentials of the later renowned Animalism, and he passes on a song to the
other animals that helps to depict his idea of animals overpowering human
kind. Therefore, the teachings of how Animalism will come to be are based
on how Communism was formed.

The influence over the animals by the pigs are based on the techniques that
the Soviet government used to control and manipulate what the Russian
people knew, saw, or heard.

In Animal Farm, Napoleon, through Squealer, uses the animals' naivete to

his advantage at many times, from distorting the image of Snowball to using
the animals' susceptible minds to build up on his own personal gain.

In Russia, after Trotsky was forced out of the country, every trace of him
was removed (picture, newspaper articles, documents) by Stalin, whom
didn't want any evidence of Trotsky left in Russian history. Also, Stalin's
newspaper, Pravda, was also used to edit and control what kind of
information the workers received.

The pigs on Animal Farm represent the Soviet government, with Napoleon
resembling Stalin, and Squealer as his news agency Pravda, because both
forms of sovereign use manipulative means to get what they want out of
their civilians, either it be for their own personal gain, or w hat they wanted
and didn't want the workers to know. Therefore, the pigs' rule and use of
propaganda resemble the way Russia was ruled.

The bourgeoisie in Animal Farm is seen through earlier on in the book by

Mollie, the pompous white mare, and later on by the pigs.

Mollie is Mr. Jones's favorite horse, and he shows it by spending an

excessive amount of time grooming her, and showers her with luxuries that
many of the other animals don't get, such as lumps of sugars and colourful
ribbons that plait her mane. She enjoys living the way she does, with
humans ogling her and spending a lot of time on her looks, and has a very
narcissistic attitude, no matter what the situation. After the Animal
Rebellion, however, she finds that the new living arrangements made on the
farm isn't to her liking, and she leaves to be pampered by another human
after conducting many secret rendezvous'. The bourgeoisie is later
represented again later on in the book when the pigs use propaganda to make
their lives easier and more luxurious for themselves, which include living in
the farmhouse, sleeping in comfortable bed, and keeping the milk, apples,
and barley just for themselves, while the rest of the animals still have to live
life in the barn, on an almost scarce menu. The Russian bourgeoisie lived a
pampered lifestyle while poor, undermined slaves overworked for beneficial
purposes that could only serve the wealthy. They never took light on how
the workers' lives could be made easier and more enjoyable, and instead
spent time wrapped up in themselves, until the onset of the Russian
Revolution. Then everything changed for them. The Czar government was
no longer looking out for their best interests, and the new Communist
government was telling of a plan where every citizen would be treated
equally, and there would be no more classes. This plan caused a lot of
controversy with the former bourgeoisie. The next onset of classes came to
light when the Soviet government began to use propaganda to bring luxury
into their lives, and equality between citizens began to diminish, as
government was starting to go back to the way it used to be with Czar. The
bourgeoisie began again, and the utopia that had been set out for never even
began. Mollie and the pigs both represent the bourgeoisie at different periods
in Russia. Mollie is symbolic for the wealthy upper classes before the onset
of the Russian Revolution, and the pigs as the government went corrupt after
the Revolution. Both get better treatment then their peers, and they live
luxuriously. Therefore, both Mollie and the pigs represent the bourgeoisie.
Animal Farm is a novel based on the events that were brought on by the
Russian Revolution. This is proven by looking at such supporting evidence
that includes how the early development of the Animal Rebellion was based
on how the idea for how the Russian Revolution first began, how the pigs'
use of manipulation over the other animals symbolized the Soviet
government's use of propaganda, and how the bourgeoisie was represented
by Mollie the cart horse and, later on, by the pigs.