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Brendan Maletski
Mrs. Boggio
AP Literature
21 September 2015
Historical Criticism of Animal Farm
Animal Farm was written by George Orwell in 1943 to warn people of the horrors
of Soviet communism (Meyers). The book is an allegory for the history of Soviet Russia,
containing key figures and events ranging from the first revolution till around world war
two. All characters play a role in the fairy tale rendition of the rise of the communist
state, such as the pigs being Bolsheviks or the original windmill representing Stalins
failed five year plan (Meyers). In fact, the first major character, Old Major, is actually
based off two people.
The Old Major, over his life, creates a philosophy that becomes basis of
Animalism one night, proceeding to address the farm of his new ideas and to call for
rebellion against the humans entirely, especially farmer Jones. Old Major is mirroring
Marx, the co-founder of communism, as well as Lenin who incited the Russian
revolution against the Tsar Nicholas II (Firchow). The Tsar himself is represented by
Jones, making Russia Manor Farm. The Old Majors words inspire the many farm
animals to overthrow the farmer, with each of the animals representing the common
people of Russia. Boxer and Clover are the hard working, patriotic people of Russia; the
sheep are the blind, unquestioning followers of Stalins propaganda; the pigs are (as
stated before) the Bolsheviks since they are intelligent enough to read and plan. Thus

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when Jones is disposed of like the Tsar in 1917, the pigs have the necessary abilities to
control the newly named Animal Farm by themselves entirely, coming full circle with
their real life counter parts.
From the pigs come two candidates for being the leader, Snowball and
Napoleon. Snowball is a passionate intellectual who is quick to plan resembling Trotsky,
whilst Napoleon is a very underhanded betrayer who resembles Stalin (Meyers). After
the Battle of the Cowshed where the humans attempted to re-take the farm from the
animals, which is based off of the Russian civil war between the Bolsheviks and the
anti-Bolsheviks, the future of Animal Farm is debated between Snowball and Napoleon.
These two have diverging ideas for Animal Farm, Snowball wants to create a windmill
which parallels Trotskys desire for industrializing Soviet Russia and Napoleon wants to
focus on producing food like Stalins desire of increasing agriculture (Quinn)(Meyers).
Snowball is soon ran out of Animal Farm by Napoleons assembly of dogs (who are
share similarities to Stalins KGB), which is similar to how Trotsky was kicked out of
Soviet Russia (Firchow). However, like Stalin, Napoleon declares that the windmill was
his plan for Animal Farm all along after derailing Snowballs plan (Quinn).
The windmill that is an enormous effort by the working animals, although it is
destroyed by a storm, resembles Stalins first five year plan that ended similarly. Shortly
after the beginning of constructing a stronger windmill, Napoleon has everyone
assembled in the yard. Once everyone arrives to the meeting, Napoleon has his dogs
take several pigs, the hens who led a strike, a goose and several sheep to the front of
the assembly (Quinn). Thus begins the mock trials where all of the accused confess to
have been influenced by the now heretic Snowball, which results in them being

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slaughtered by Napoleons dogs. This singular event is equal to the trials of a similar
nature committed during the 30s by Stalin (Firchow). After the trials, Napoleon tries to
play two neighboring farm owning humans off of each other for a pile of wood and fails
exactly like how Stalin did when trying to play Great Britain off of Germany (Firchow). It
is then that one of the neighboring farm owners who treat their animals horribly,
Pinchfield, and his men invade Animal Farm. The humans are too heavily armed for the
animals, who procced to hide in the farm buildings. Once the windmill is securely in
Pinchfields hands, he destroys it with dynamite. This outrages the animals, sending
them into a frenzied counter attack. This devastating battle of the windmill is based off of
World War Two, where Pinchfield is Hitler invading Soviet Russia with superior
weaponry while destroying Soviet industry, only to be beaten by the Soviets through a
successful counter attack (Quinn). It is only several years later that humans (i.e. noncommunists) come to Animal Farm with peaceful intentions.
The other human farmers who arrive years after the battle are shown the
successes of the farm as well as the farm name being changed back to Manor Farm by
a now standing Napoleon after years of slowly becoming more human like (Quinn). This
irony of Napoleon slowly becoming the old farmer Jones mirrors Stalin slowly becoming
the iron fisted dictator that wasnt all too different from the Tsar. Later that day, the
human like pigs and farmers enjoy a card game meant to be the Teheran conference
between the Allies of World War Two (Quinn). Also like the Teheran conference, the
peaceful card game turns to angry yelling matches between the pigs and humans.
Animal Farm is a historical allegory of the rise of Soviet Russia. It parallels the
history of Soviet Russia with characters and events similar to real life people and

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events, where it uses a fairy tale like setting to simplify the arc from the miserable Tsar
reign to the iron grip of Stalins dictatorship regime.

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Works Cited
Firchow, Peter Edgerly. "George Orwell's Dystopias: From Animal Farm to Nineteen
Eighty-Four." In Modern Utopian Fictions: From H. G. Wells to Iris Murdoch
(Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2007): pp. 97129.
Quoted as "George Orwell's Dystopias: From Animal Farm to Nineteen EightyFour" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Animal Farm, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical
Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2009. Bloom's Literature.
Facts On File, Inc. Web. 21 Sept. 2015 <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE54&WID=19618&SID=5&iPin=MCIAF009&SingleRecord=True>.
Meyers, Valerie. "Animal Farm: An Allegory of Revolution." George Orwell (Palgrave
Macmillan: 1991): pp. 101113, 149150. Quoted as "Animal Farm: An Allegory
of Revolution" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Animal Farm, New Edition, Bloom's Modern
Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2009. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 21 Sept. 2015
<http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE54&WID=19618&SID=5&iPin=MCIAF003&SingleRecord=True>.
Quinn, Edward. "Animal Farm." Critical Companion to George Orwell: A Literary
Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File,
Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 21 Sept. 2015
<http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE54&WID=19618&SID=5&iPin=CCGO0002&SingleRecord=True>.

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