A Comparison of Animal Farm and the Soviet Union

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Comparing Animal Farm and the Soviet Union The novel Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, parallels and satirizes the events that transpired after the formation of the Soviet Union in a manner that criticizes the corruption and perversion of socialism that operated under communism. This is evinced by similarities between the story of the novel and the history of the Soviet Union, including the character Napoleon being analogous to Joseph Stalin, events within the novel being analogous to historical events, and the comparable formations of society and social classes. The character Napoleon, a pig in the novel, is nearly an exact replica of Joseph Stalin in behavior and motive. The most obvious comparison between the two is likely their personalities, both being power-hungry and extremely sociopathic. This is exemplified by the amoral actions that both utilized in order to gain and hold power, witnessed in the case of Napoleon during his inquisition and execution of certain farm animals, all in order to instill fear in the other animals. This is very similar to the case of Stalin during his execution of innocent people he had labeled as enemies of the state for the purpose of instilling fear in others and promoting obedience to the state. The evil done by Stalin was so great that “measures taken by Stalin to discipline those who opposed his will involved the death by execution or famine of at least 10 million peasants” from 1932 to 1933 alone (Kreis). Later, after gaining power, Napoleon orders that “in future all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself”, better showcasing his totalitarian desires (Orwell 26). Thus Napoleon and Stalin are conveyed as mirror-images of each other, as was certainly the intention of the author. Similar to the author’s analogy between Napoleon and Stalin,
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