The Allegory Behind Animal Farm

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THE ALLEGORY BEHIND ANIMAL FARM Animal Farm is an allegorical novella, written by social critic and author George Orwell. Written in 1945, during the heyday of Josef Stalin’s totalitarian Communist regime, the entire novel is Orwell’s commentary on the flaws of Communism. The book, set in a farm in England, describes the suppression of the animals of the farm under it’s ruthless human owner, Farmer Jones. After an inspiring speech given by one of the older animals, a Pig named Major, the animals spontaneously revolt against Farmer Jones, and drive him out of the farm. The animals take control of the Farm, naming it Animal Farm. Like most of Orwell’s works, The plot is purposely made fable-like, carved out to look like it is anything but what it is. Indeed, how does a farm in England represent Soviet Russia? However, Throughout the book, direct parallels to historical (and at that highlighting the flaws of a political idealogy Orwell opposed vehemently. As soon as it begins, the novel reveals that symbolism has seeped through into the very setting of the story, as it becomes evident that the time, place and situation described are symbolic of something; namely., the Russian revolution of 1917. The novel begins with a rousing speech given by The Major, to inspire the idea of revolution into the other animals. The speech itself seems to more than just a nod towards the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, describing the foundation of Socialism and Communism, and criticizing the suppression of the Animals (Or, as Marx put it, “The Proletariat”). In fact, some lines seem to almost be quoting from The Manifesto, criticizing humans the way it criticizes the Bourgeoisie (“Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of our produce is stolen from us by human Beings”.). The revolution that follows is
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