Animal Farm example essay topic

Animal Farm and The Russian Revolution Minor characters and events of the novel Animal Farm symbolize things that are related to the history of Russia. Animal Farm is a story on Stalinism and the Russian Revolution. The characters in Animal Farm all have a part in the Soviet Union meaning the Russian Revolution. The similarities of Mr. Jones and Czar Nicholas II, the leader previous to Stalin tie into each other. There was a strike wave go on in Petrograd. Over 300,000 people went through economic crisis.

Factories had a lack of fuel and there were power cuts. The railways were collapsing and there was no meat, and a shortage of flour. Hunger spread through the country. The bourgeois liberals of the "Progressive Bloc" pleaded with Tsar Nicholas for reform trying to frighten him with revolution. That revolution broke into the February Revolution.

Farmer Jones came home drunk one night and didn't feed the animals making it worse than it already was as they were already starving. The animals got the image of the revolution from Old Major in their heads and attacked. They succeeded and won the battle against Mr. Jones as they drove him off the farm. The animals were now free to do what ever they wanted and needed to pick a leader. Out of all of the animals the pigs were considered to be the most brilliant.

The two pigs that stood out the most were Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon is not a good speaker, but he can assert himself. Snowball is a better speaker because he has a lot of ideas. These two pigs did not get along, much like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. The Russian leaders fought for power and Stalin achieved sole power and Trotsky was exiled.

Trotsky escaped Stalin's dilemmas. Stalin hated his opponent so much that he caused his name to be written simply "Judas Trotsky". Stalin stole many of Trotsky's ideas and methods. Eventually Trotsky was expelled from Russia. In the same manner, Snowball and Napoleon always argued over ideas. Napoleon was already power hungry and had a plan to get rid of Snowball after the rebellion.

In the middle of this all, Snowball was planning out to build a windmill for power to energize the farm. Napoleon then directed the dogs he raised since they were puppies on Snowball and chased him off the farm. Napoleon eliminated his only enemy and was free to control the farm. The animals began destroying all cruel objects around the farm, and they started to plan what the project would be.

Napoleon brought up the windmill option again, after he refused it when Snowball was around. Stalin decides to carry out a program of intensive socialist construction. He pushes financial growth at this point to eliminate competitors within the party. Stalin recognizes Bukharin and some other party members as the 'right-wing diversity' and used the party organization to remove them from powerful positions. Yet Stalin also revealed that his policy of building 'socialism in one country' was similar to which Trotsky had originally supported earlier. In other words, Napoleon refused the windmill idea and wanted no part of, and then when Snowball was gone he was all for building it, making it the main project on the farm.

Stalin's model of a planned economy supplies no center for communism. Trotsky worked out the First Five-Year Plan for intensive economic growth. Stalin began to apply this plan. Napoleon had stolen Snowball's plan. The Sunday morning meetings were unnecessary Napoleon thought, so he wanted to get rid of those. He figured out that all questions relating to the work of the farm would be settled by a special committee of the pigs.

This is related to Stalin's policy because he had made a Command Economy, where the government made all economic decisions. Old Benjamin, is an elderly donkey who over the years has not changed. He does not get too excited, or too disappointed about anything that has gone on. He symbolizes the older generation, the opponent of any new rebellion.

He's so skeptical that he no longer needs look at his leader for help, or guidance. Muriel is also a knowledgeable goat, his purpose on the farm is to read the commandments for Clover. Muriel represents the minority or working class people who are educated enough to decide things for themselves. They find serious and deceitful problems with their leaders. Unfortunately, Muriel is not forceful enough to take on Napoleon and his dogs. As Stalin gained more power, it was very important for him to eliminate any who might challenge him, and also to keep his bodyguards around him to prevent any harm coming to him.

Also that he assigned a secret police to eliminate people who were against him. This special army was known as the KGB or the Committee of State Security. Napoleon needed his personal army also. The dogs were raised since puppies by Napoleon and they stayed by his side. When Napoleon asked anyone if they needed to confess any crimes they had committed, and they were executed immediately. Pinchfield a neighboring farm from Animal Farm, symbolizes Germany.

Stalin made a Non-Aggressive Pact with Hitler, to keep Germany from attacking Russia during World War II. Germany attacked Russia and therefore broke the pact. The deceit and betrayal show how certain politicians can become leaders of a movement and then betray the people they " re supposed to be leading and protecting. Napoleon had made a deal to sell a pile of lumber to Fredrick of Pinchfield had trusted him, but in turn Fredrick had given him fake bank notes and then plotted to attack the farm. He, like Hitler ignored the deal, cheated Napoleon and then attacked. Other animals on the farm include Squealer.

He's one of the pigs who rule Animal Farm in the beginning. Squealer is like the Goebbels, the propaganda minister in Hitler's Third Reich. He's a great influence, and can make sense out of everything. Every dictator needs a Squealer, a master at influencing the public making them believe things, even though they are not true. Boxer is the ordinary working man, the laborer of the farm. He's the factory worker.

He goes to work, puts in a hard day and comes home having earned his daily bread. People like him are the true victims of the Stalins of the world. They won't question what's wrong and believe their leaders. Proletariat's were the easiest to convince and were most attached to Stalin. In this case the system would benefit them the most. This is an other example of Boxer and Clover.

In many cultures there are millions of boxers. The leaders see them as disposable. When they get older and don't work as well, they get rid of them. This is the same when Napoleon sends Boxer to the slaughtering place because he is getting old and can hardly work anymore. Jesse is hardly talked about in the book Animal Farm even though we look at her as the savior of the other animals. She had her pups taken away, she tries to defend the other animals when they are subjected to violence, and she leads a flight of animals from the farm through the walls.

The dogs that were Napoleon's bodyguard were called the secret police. They represent the KGB which are arch defenders of Napoleon and the pigs. Mollie represents the middle class workers who would get paid more. The middle class workers were unsatisfied that they were getting paid less and they wanted their sugar.

Mollie liked to be the animal that got the attention. She liked to be fed sugar by humans that dressed her in ribbons. At the end of the novel, the pigs almost crave humans. The author describes how animals represent people who use those weaker than them. The pigs had became untruthful of their own. Napoleon states that the farm is now going to be called Manor Farm.

In comparison, Manor Farm is the cruel nation and Animal farm is the Socialist or in other words Communist nation. So by Napoleon changing the name of the farm he is stating that totalitarianism reigns. Animal Farm ends with the animals being broken by the pigs. This ending is not a happy one but a true one. The idea of Socialism, or Animalism, is good as perfect. Human nature will not allow the leaders always to be fair.

Orwell showed us the intertwining of the history of Stalin from Russia with the idea of speaking and thinking as animals. In closing we have to be sure that things like this do not occur again. According to Orwell, "little Stalins are always there, lurking under the surface or on the edge of world politics. We need to stand up for our rights, and for humanity". (George Orwell).