The Role Of Allegories In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Animal Farm was written by George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair, a British political writer who, unlike most British citizens, was not a fan of the Soviet Union and its Socialist policies. He also did not consider the Soviet Union a positive representation of the possibilities of socialist societies. One of Orwell's goals in writing Animal Farm was to portray the Russian (or Bolshevik) Revolution of 1917 as one that resulted in a government more oppressive than the last. Thus the book is filled with allegories, and in this paper, three major allegories will be discussed more in-depth; Napoleon; Mr. Jones; and finally Boxer. Napoleon was based on Joseph Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953. He is presumed to be named after the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon, like Stalin, was a cruel and deceptive leader. Much like Stalin, Napoleon used violence in order to maintain his ruling position in Animal Farm. Another trait of Joseph Stalin that can be seen in Napoleon is Napoleon’s willingness to turn against his own allies for his own benefit. In the Novel, Napoleon turned on Snowball, another pig Orwell …show more content…
Napoleon, Mr. Jones, and Boxer. Napoleon represented Stalin of the USSR. Napoleon overthrowing the farmer is similar as to when Stalin overthrew Tsar Nicolas II during the Russian revolution. Farmer Jones represented Tsar Nicholas’s incompetence and poor leadership during his reign as Tsar of Russia. Finally Boxer represented all the poor, impoverished, blue collar low class workers that made up most of Russia during the time who blindly followed Stalin and the Soviet Union hoping for a better Government and life, while instead they were worked harder and harder until they eventually they were worked so hard they died, much like Boxer did. The point of Animal Farm and its Allegories was to warn others of the Soviet party, which was rising to power at the