LINKING STALIN TO ANIMAL FARM
Joseph StalinStalin was a notable dictator (absolute ruler) of the USSR. He had all of the state power and made all of the state's decisions while no one was able to protest/rebel against him (Britannica School Encyclopedia, n.d.). Stalin did not appreciate people who betrayed him. Those that did were exiled from Russia and either executed or imprisoned as a punishment (Britannica School Encyclopedia, n.d.).
Stalin was influenced to become a political leader because of Karl Marx and his well-known book "The Communist Manifesto", which gives a summary of the idea of communism (History.com, n.d.).
Stalin helped built a rapid industry, which made Russia a significant industrial country (History Learning Site, n.d.). Stalin gained complete control as a dictator after defeating his revolutionary rival, Leo Trotsky, who was later exiled from Russia (News Speak Dictionary, n.d.). The five year plans made by Stalin promised to help improve and expand the industry in Russia (BBC, n.d.). However, his plan kept failing, but he never gave up; instead, he made new five year plans (News Speak Dictionary, n.d.). Most of the workers who worked on this plan were slaves. Many were injured, or even killed, during the construction process (BBC, n.d.). The agriculture in USSR was at a poor standard under the conditions of Stalin. Citizens barely had any food and farmers didn't have much crops to feed the population because the total food growth in the country greatly decreased (History Learning Site, n.d.). Stalin encouraged, and sometimes even forced, his workers to work harder with more effort (The National Archives, n.d.). After Stalin died, the Russian government went through a process known as "Desalinization." This process involved reforming Russia back to its original regime. The prisoners of Stalin were released and dictatorship in Russia was removed (Country Studies, n.d.). Stalin developed relations with Germany and England (Murphy & Morris, 2008). |
How Stalin is represented in Animal Farm (Represented by Napoleon)Napoleon controlled the whole farm and made all of the crucial decisions, such as rebuilding the windmill. Every other animal could only agree with Napoleon's decisions and follow his orders. Although some animals disagreed with Napoleon's ideas and decisions, their opinions were not taken into account.
Some of the animals betrayed the farm and confessed that they had information/support from their enemy (Snowball/Lenin). These traitors were executed or punished by having their food rations reduced. After listening to Old Major's (Karl Marx) speech, Napoleon became determined to become a leader of the farm. His speech acted much like a simplified version of "The Communist Manifesto", which explained Old Major's idea of equality of all four-legged animals and a communist revolution over Manor Farm.
Napoleon made plans towards building a windmill, which is a source of resources for the farm. Napoleon also traded the left-over wood with Mr. Frederick (Leader of Germany) . Napoleon took complete control as dictator over Animal Farm after scaring Snowball (Trotsky), who was first a friend then a rival of the revolution, away from the farm. Snowball had been a leader of the farm along with Napoleon before he became officially exiled from Animal Farm because they cannot seem to agree with each other on farm-related matters. Napoleon did this by attempting to kill Snowball using his trained gruesome dogs that were originally Jessie's and Bluebell's puppies. Snowball managed to escape through a hole, but he never came back to the farm. Napoleon proposed the idea of building a windmill, which was to be used as a source of resources for the farm to help improve the production. However, the windmill was knocked down by the wind (which the animals supposedly believed that it was Snowball who knocked down the windmill), which represents the failure of the first five year plan. Although, Napoleon still wished for the windmill to be built, he continued on with the construction plan, representing the second five year plan. Boxer the horse, who is considered to be part of the working class, gets injured when dragging the windmill materials on a cart, which shows the danger of the construction during the five year plan. As time passed on in the farm, growing food was difficult for the animals, especially during the winter, and the animals did not care much about the crops, which shows how difficult it was for people to acquire food when Stalin was in rule. As a result, the food rations for the animals was greatly decreased and the choices for what food the animals wanted to eat. Meanwhile, Napoleon failed to handle this situation and solve the problem. Napoleon questioned the other animals "Do you want Jones to come back?" as a method of motivating them to work harder. They do not want Jones to come back, so they listened to Napoleon to work harder and for a more longer period of time, especially Boxer the horse. Sometimes, Napoleon forced the animals to work harder or else their food ration would have been reduced as a punishment. At the end of the novel when Napoleon stepped down as leader, the farm was renamed "Animal Farm" and the seven commandments were removed. Dictatorship became forgotten, thus the animals were free from harsh long working-hours labours and strict expectations. Napoleon discussed with Mr. Pilkington (Leader of England) about political matters, such as hatred towards Mr. Frederick (Leader of Germany). Meanwhile, Mr. Frederick traded alcohol for timber, which is a type of necessary good, with Napoleon. |
WHY DID ORWELL REPRESENT STALIN THIS WAY?
- There are many clear similarities between the characteristics of a pig and Stalin, and Orwell knows this, thus he uses Napoleon, a pig, to represent and describe Stalin and his characteristics in a concise, yet detailed, manner. For instance, pigs are very lazy compared to other animals and tend to only eat food given by the farmer(s) and sleep throughout their whole lives. This can be compared to Stalin, who was also lazy, because as a dictator, all he did was give orders to everyone else, thus the lower working class had to do all of the work while Stalin just took the country's resources for his own use (History.com, n.d.). This allows the readers to effectively understand what Stalin was like as a leader because it is easy for them to imagine Stalin as a pig.
- Stalin is represented as an animal and leads wars to dominate the humans because in reality, humans are considered smarter and more "useful" than animals, so they are the upper class in the novel. On the other hand, animals are frequently killed by humans and do the work for the humans, so they are the lower class. Orwell wanted to show that even though the upper class are more well-developed and powerful, the lower class can still be able to take over and dominate the upper class.
- Stalin is represented as an animal and leads wars to dominate the humans because in reality, humans are considered smarter and more "useful" than animals, so they are the upper class in the novel. On the other hand, animals are frequently killed by humans and do the work for the humans, so they are the lower class. Orwell wanted to show that even though the upper class are more well-developed and powerful, the lower class can still be able to take over and dominate the upper class.
WAS ORWELL SUCCESSFUL?
Overall, Orwell has been successful in representing Stalin as Napoleon so that the readers can clearly see the connections between them. Using basic common knowledge of animals, which most, if not all, of the people have a general understanding of, helps make it is easier for the readers to understand the novel and figure out what Orwell is trying to express. Orwell did not complicate the novel by directly describing the characteristics of Stalin to the readers, or else it would be too difficult for the readers to throughly understand the novel well enough, especially for those who have not studied Russian history before.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BBC (n.d.). Joseph stalin (1879-1953). Retrieved March 21, 2013, from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml
Britannica School Encyclopedia (n.d.). Stalin, Joseph. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from:http://school.ebonline.com/comptons/article-9277202?query=joseph%20stalin&ct=
Country Studies (n.d.). The Khrushchev Era. Retrieved April 9, 2013, from: http://countrystudies.us/russia/13.htm
Murphy, D. & Morris, T. (2008). Russia 1855-1964. London: Collins.
News Speak Dictionary (n.d.). Animal Farm. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from:
http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/go-animal_farm.html
History.com (n.d.). Joseph Stalin. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from:
http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-stalin
History Learning Site (n.d.). Life in USSR under stalin. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Stalins%20Russia.htm
The National Archives (n.d.). Joseph stalin and the industrialization of the USSR. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/g4/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml
Britannica School Encyclopedia (n.d.). Stalin, Joseph. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from:http://school.ebonline.com/comptons/article-9277202?query=joseph%20stalin&ct=
Country Studies (n.d.). The Khrushchev Era. Retrieved April 9, 2013, from: http://countrystudies.us/russia/13.htm
Murphy, D. & Morris, T. (2008). Russia 1855-1964. London: Collins.
News Speak Dictionary (n.d.). Animal Farm. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from:
http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/go-animal_farm.html
History.com (n.d.). Joseph Stalin. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from:
http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-stalin
History Learning Site (n.d.). Life in USSR under stalin. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Stalins%20Russia.htm
The National Archives (n.d.). Joseph stalin and the industrialization of the USSR. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/g4/