Allegory And Symbolism In George Orwell's Animal Farm

On the surface, a film depicting barnyard animals overthrowing their owner seems to be the plot of a fairy tale. One would never expect, in reality, for there to be underlying motifs in this plot to encompass crucial implications about the structure and function of society. Animal Farm, which is a depiction of a tyrant overthrown by civilians as exemplified through farm animals, illustrates this duality. Throughout the film, key themes are addressed through the use of allegory and symbolism. The first theme to be seen is hegemony, “the influence or control over another country, a group of people, etc.” (“Hegemony”). Another theme focuses on the Marxist theory, which is the eventual revolution of the blue-collar workers over the one percent or bourgeoisie. The following ideas elaborate on these themes in Animal Farm. …show more content…
Soon after this, Old Major dies from old age and the animals initiate a revolution against the farmer, Mr. Jones, based in Old Major’s philosophy of Animalism. Throughout the film, Jones returns to take back the farm, but is defeated, Snowball, a pig, is exiled and used as a scapegoat, and a windmill is built. After the windmill is built, it is destroyed by Jones’ men. Then, Boxer, a horse, offers to rebuild it but collapses of exhaustion and is sent to a glue-boiler. Squealer, one of the pigs, convinces the animals that he dies peacefully in a hospital. Years pass in the film, and the farm is expanded. The pigs start to walk on their hind legs and act like humans. The film ends with the pigs drinking with Pilkington, a neighboring farm owner, and playing cards. The animals look from the pigs back to the men and cannot distinguish which is