Character Comparison In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Register to read the introduction… Although Animal Farm is quite a short book, there is time for George Orwell to develop characters in a manner that makes them appealing (or appalling) to the readers. His greatest success in this area is Boxer, with his mottoes, "Napoleon is always right" and "I will work harder". On the symbolic level, Boxer represents the Russian workers who trusted Stalin and made enormous sacrifices to ensure the success of the October Revolution. In the book he is one of the most sympathetically drawn characters whose eventual fate, being sent to the knacker's yard, is both shocking and moving. The character of Napoleon is also intriguing for the reader. His early involvement in the rebellion gives him status among the animals but he quickly becomes withdrawn and operates through intermediaries. His gradual corruption, from stealing the milk just after the Battle of the Cowshed, through to his final appearance cheating at cards, forms a compelling background to the animals' struggles. His various sins are documented and underlined by the changes carried out to the Seven Commandments by Squealer until eventually the whole charade is overthrown by the cruelly cynical …show more content…
The opposition of these two pigs over the plans for the windmill allows Orwell to satirise the struggles of Stalin and Trotsky over such things as the five-year plans and the Comintern (the international wing of the Bolshevik movement). It also allows him to demonstrate the way in which history is rewritten within totalitarian states. Snowball's personal bravery in the Battle of the Cowshed is gradually undermined until the animals are convinced that he was acting with Jones against the rebellion. Snowball's attempts to educate the masses with his slogans and chants contrasts sharply with the raw assumption of power taken by Napoleon and his dogs. The other animals, with their limited intelligence, poor memories and inability to read, are easy victims of Napoleon and Squealer who use writing as a means of backing up their power. By using a fable to discuss such ideas Orwell can demonstrate the process without being unduly insulting to ordinary …show more content…
Orwell could have written a long essay expressing such ideas but it is doubtful that many people would now be reading it. The success of Animal Farm is that it tells the sad tale of a group of creatures we care about, and how their hopes and dreams were dashed. Beyond the surface story, however, is the message that for ordinary people revolutions simply change one set of rulers for another. It is a depressing message but people are prepared to listen to it because it is told in a simple and entertaining way like all the best