How Closely Animalism in Orwells Animal Farm - Essay Example

Research the trajectory of a typical revolution and show how closely Animalism in Orwell’s Animal Farm, conforms to the pattern. Animal Farm by George Orwell was first published in 1945. The plot of the novel resembles with the Russian Revolution of 1917. The term ‘animalism’ has become almost specific to Orwell’s portrayal of communist society through the characters of animals. The novel has concrete and well-defined characters that play along with situations that certainly describe the pattern closely to the 1917 revolution of Russia. The whole concept of animalism is to portray communalism. The Manor Farm in fact represents Russia. The farmer Mr. Jones represents the Russian czar, the pig named Snowball is the protagonist representing the intellectual revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Animalism is used to represent other characters such as Old Major to represent Vladimir Lenin, while Napoleon represents Stalin and dogs act as his police force. The horse named Boxer represents the working class of the Russian society. The plot represents the tragedy of the revolution that ended up in failure. The animalistic utopia revolves around this violent revolution that the animals carry out. What sets this novel apart is intelligence in telling the story of revolution from inception to conclusion through respecting the limitations that humans and animals face. The term animalism is reminiscent of communism. The formation of a complete system/pattern and the following revolution closely represents the real pattern. Squealer, Napoleon and Snowball transform old Major’s ideas into reality. Later squealer and Napoleon start acting like humans as they drink alcohol, sleep in beds and start trading. All of these activities were originally prohibited in the seven Commandments. Squealer modifies the seven Commandments so that such activities can find their ‘legitimate’ place, similar to what happened during the Russian Revolution. A direct reference exists to the Soviet government’s plan of revising history so they can plant those seeds of thoughts that they deem fit. The formation and reference of seven Commandments directly enacts the communist approach. For instance the seven commandments hold that anything that walks on two legs is a foe. On the contrary a creature that walks on four legs or flaps its wings is part of the community. The seven Commandments also prohibit certain traits that separate them from humans. No animal is allowed to wear clothes, sleep in a bed or consume alcohol. Any indulgence in such activities would compromise the distinctive boundaries. The sixth and seventh commandments are there to support the social structure that has been constructed so carefully. The last two commandments tell that no animal will kill any other animal and all animals are equal. The commandment does not say that animals are not allowed to kill other creatures, implying that humans do not have the privilege to be spared from the act of killing. Humans are portrayed as the enemy and the reasons are sufficient enough to make the common animals hate the ‘rulers’; He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is the lord of all animals (p. 2) Orwell constructs a parallel social structure to communalism. For instance when Napoleon and his team start behaving like humans, Napoleon thinks that he should secretly revise the Commandments so they can stay clear of scrutiny. They don’t just change the Commandments they add some words creating sufficient doubt in the original content. The original commandment prohibits any animal to sleep in bed but Napoleon adds that animals can sleep in bed if they have sheets; “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets," (p. 27) Similarly prohibition on drinking alcohol was modified to drinking excess alcohol; “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.” (p. 42) The sixth commandment was also modified so that killing became legal as long as there was a cause behind it. The commandment about animals being equal was also modified so that some animals became more equal than others. And such slogans were also constructed that would declare enemies as good friends. For instance two legged creatures (humans) were not hostile anymore. The pigs start becoming more human. The original Seven Commandments were completely changed by adding just a few phrases. The original commandment was supposed to keep the animals in the farm united but the modifications destroyed the unity. The Marxist language in the novel is difficult but the concepts are straightforward (Rodden 40). Only a handful of people use and abuse the resources that leads to the disadvantage of the many. A direct correlation to Russian turmoil of 1917. There is no mistaking that Orwell writes about the Stalinist Soviet Union. The society shown in the novel is obviously a Marxist-Leninist society (Rodden 40). The Marxist framework is hard to miss and the old Majors speech is an explicit example of that. For instance when a reader reads the novel he feels for the animals. A strong identification exists with these characters and an urge sparks in the heart that animals somehow overcome their master. And when the revolution fails the reader’s hopes are doomed. The Major’s speech is ridden with revolutionary patterns from its beginning. It starts with the communist cliché “comrades” (p. 28). From a communalist perspective this reference should be clear as it represents worker unity (Rodden 41). Despite the differences in the animals Major suggests that they are all united. He does not address dogs or horses differently because he considers all animals as his comrades. The message of unity is mentioned several times during his speech as he reaches out to all of them. Sometimes the phrase seems overused but this is the magic of such a speech that it creates hope in the hearts of animals who had been abused for years. The subject of this speech is the nature of life. Major paints a horrible picture about the arduous labor and awaiting slaughter. This is reminiscent of Marxists portrayal of life. Marx also attracts people by talking about harsh realities. Towards the end he gives hope to the depressed masses. Hope is the essential tool to trigger a revolution; “Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tidings Of the golden future time.” (p. 4) Every word of Major’s speech seems like an absolute truth. It is as if every animal would be nodding his or her head at each word. Once the major establishes the grim reality he starts questioning the concept of the society and the kind of life that the animals are living. He asks if this farm is too poor for decent life (Rodden 41). Later, the rebellion is triggered when humans forget to feed the animals. The animals are already frustrated and angry with the cruel behavior of humans. When humans deal with the rebellion with violence it only pours gasoline over fire. Exactly what happened in Russia when Stalinist forces tried to overcome the revolution through brute force. Animals go insane and drive the humans out of the farm. Their anger then turns towards the tools of torture that the humans had been using on them; branding rods, castration knives and whips. The pattern in the plot is very clear about Russian revolution. The beginning, the middle and the buildup to the climax is exactly what occurred in Russia. Orwell has constructed a parallel; that bears a pattern that closely resembles with the Communist society. References Orwell, George. Animal Farm. 1945. Retrieved http://msxnet.org/orwell/print/animal_farm.pdf Rodden, John. Understanding Animal Farm: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999. Print.   Read More