"Animal Farm" by George Orwell.

Essay by louisechanHigh School, 11th grade June 2003

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Animal Farm

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is based on the Russian Revolution. The utopia ideas are based on the ideas of Karl Marx's Communist Manifest. The characters are in fact based on real participants in the Russian Revolution.

The author has used animals as the main characters of the novel and is set on Mr. Jones's "Manor Farm" where, like on any other farm, the animals are usually raised, used, killed and then eaten. An old pig, known as Old Major, tells the animals on the farm that they are treated cruelly and kept in slavery by man. Old Major then goes on to describe his vision of England where animals are free and live in happiness, cooperation, without the tyranny of men. He tells them that the animals must cooperate together to fight men. Old Major represents the idealistic revolutionary leaders whose ideas are usually the catalyst for such revolutions.

When Old Major dies, Snowball and Napoleon then become the leader of the animals. Snowball is smart, intelligent and passionate while Napoleon, on the other hand, is devious, power consuming and intimidating. Snowball is symbolic of Leon Trotsky. A radical leader known for his phenomenal organizational and conspiratorial skills. Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin, a Soviet dictator. Another pig, Squealer, has a small yet important role in the novel as his persuasive speaking ability is of use to Snowball and Napoleon. These three pigs create a policy and name it "animalism". They explain "animalism" to the other farm animals and soon persuade most of the animals to join in the revolution. The revolution soon takes place and Mr. Jones flees from Manor Farm. Snowball repaints the sign "Manor Farm" to "Animal Farm" and then he and Napoleon introduce the animals to the Seven Commandments, which...