Essay Ch. 7-8 In the novel,” Animal Farm” by George Orwell, the character Napoleon gains power through cruel and unjustified violent attacks. These cruel and brutish tactics damaged the will of the animals forcing them to have an undying loyalty to an unjust dictator. The constant violent actions have repressed the spirit of the animals of animal farm. The true meaning of animalism has perished along with the animals that oppose Napoleon’s rule.
Napoleon also leads the other animals to believe that they will have pastures to retire and graze on when they reach retirement age. Boxer, a workhorse, was seen to work him self almost to death while believing he was days away from retirement. What napoleon really did was have him killed when he could not work any more. Lies like these are a big reason napoleons actions and beliefs are any thing but correct. Napoleons actions as a leader are proven to be incorrect when you look at his selfishness.
This meant that Napoleon was above all the other animals on the farm, Napoleon was a leader; therefore, the animals had to follow what he said. All animals were not ‘equal’ and this is the moment that Clover realises it. Commandment 6 was broken when the traitors were slaughtered for ‘protesting when Napoleon abolished the Sunday meetings’. The traitors represent the mass execution of the people who disagrees with Stalin’s ideas during the 1930’s. Stalin’s ideas were not the same as communism and Orwell is able to portray this when he specifically states that ‘Napoleon’ abolished the meetings, later in the scene, Orwell again wrote that Napoleon ‘demanded’ other animals to ‘confess’.
The general themes of oppression, suffering, and injustice have broad applications for those that watch the film. In the beginning of the movie, the oldest, wisest, pig on the farm, Old Major, is giving a speech to the animals encouraging them that they must overthrow the farmer, Mr. Jones, who rules the farm as a monarch. He s a cruel, alcoholic owner that is irresponsible to his animals (lets them starve), sometimes beats them, and yet sometimes is kind. In his speech, Old Major reveals his feelings about Mr. Jones implying that he is man that consumes but does not produce or give back to those that occupy the farm. A monarchy is political system in which supreme authority is given to an individual ruler who functions as the decision maker for all in the society.
His historic counterpart was Lenin. They are similar because they were both the ‘father of the revolution’. Also Lenin died before he had a chance ruling and his body was displayed in the Kremlin, Old major died the night after he told of the coming revolution in animal farm and his skull was displayed in the old field as a sign of respect for him. Farmer Jones was the leader of the farm and seemed an evil tyrant over the animals, this is the same as Tsar Nicholas who was the leader before the Russian revolution in 1917 but at the time of the revolution he was chased and executed. Farmer Jones was chased out of animal farm twice and although he wasn’t executed after the second time, he did not come back afterwards.
In this case, Napoleon’s guard dogs represent Stalin's secret police. Stalin/Napoleon viewed Trotsky/Snowball as a threat, he was scared that Trotsky/Snowball might try to steal his power away from him. His greed for power caused him to order death/imprisonment upon anyone who he suspected to be against him. However, this is not the only event that corresponded between the novel and Russian history. Another example of the parallel between “Animal Farm” and the Russian Revolution is when the animals start to rebuild the windmill.
In Animal Farm, the windmill also comes to symbolize the pigs' totalitarian triumph: the other animals work to build the windmill thinking it will benefit everyone, and even after it benefits only the pigs the animals continue to believe that it benefits all the animals. The second code and convention I can identify is stereotypes. Orwell represents Joseph Stalin through an image of the pig Napoleon. Through the existing stereotypes of this animal in popular culture, he intends to portray the greed, laziness and viciousness of this evil ruler of the Soviet Union. Pigs are stereotyped as “dirty”, as their pig sties are usually covered in mud and
Old Majors Speech George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm describes a cruel dictator named Old Major, who runs his farm in a cruel and useless manor. The respected boar Old Major makes a speech in a threatening tone in attempt to argue that all the misery is because of man, if we get rid of man we will finally be free. He argues that man takes all the fruit of his labor and we live as slaves not knowing when we will be brutally slaughtered. If they got rid of man they could be free and start their lives again. Firstly the animals live in fear, fear of man and the things man are going to make them do every day and when their time will be up.
Propaganda plays a really important part in the Russian Revolution, and as a result propaganda was also one of the main themes in Animal Farm. In the Novel, George Orwell portrayed the manipulation of speech through a character named Squealer, a pig who acted as a spokesperson for Napoleon. One example of Squealer’s use of propaganda to gain the animals’ support can be seen in his speech denouncing snowball part in the rebellion after he was banished from the farm. Using the animal’s stupidity to his advantage, Squealer played with the minds of all the animals, describing a twisted version of the events of the Battle of the Cowshed, one of the battles that were fought during the rebellion. In Squealer’s version of Snowball’s part of the battle, Snowball was planning to “leave the field to the enemy” (p54).
These books share the same notion in that a new government can easily appear to be better than the former one, when in reality it will be most likely worse. In both stories, the former government is seen as dictatorship and tyrant and must be taken down no matter what the cost. Mr. Jones of Animal Farm delegates many persistent tasks to the animals of his farm including pulling carts, sowing, laying eggs, but keeps the profit to himself. Naturally, the animals do not like being bossed around and therefore become very angry and designate Jones as an enemy to their welfare. The only thing on the animals’ minds is to overthrow the terrible leader of the farm, not thinking of what they would do with power in their own hands.