Symbolism in Animal Farm
By: Ashurena, Austin, and Saino
Symbolism- Key events
· Symbolizes Russian Revolution
http://www.britannica.com/event/Russian-Revolution-of-1917
https://markmcgivern.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/animal-farm-1954/
· Return of Mr. Jones
· “Red October”
· Battle of Tsarists forces against the Bolsheviks (Reds vs. Whites)
Symbolism- Places
http://www.poetsandprinces.com/?cat=229
- Symbolizes the failure of Stalin's 5 year plan
- Stalin's 5 year plan was to improve development in Russia
- Windmill promised to make life easier and better, but was a complete failure
http://www.themeister.co.uk/hindley/billy_gibson.htm
- Animals Revolt
- Battle of Cowshed
- Destruction of the Windmill
- Selling the Wood
- Battle of the Windmill
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-pact.htm
- Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Non-Aggression Pact, which guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other.
- By signing this pact, Germany had protected itself from having to fight a two-front war
· Battle of Stalingrad
· German invasion of Russia during WWII: Despite signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Hitler had always planned to invade the Soviet Union as part of his plan to gain “living room” for the German people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad
http://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad
https://openclipart.org/tags/russia
http://www.manorfarmpubswindon.co.uk/
- Resembles Russia
- Revolts took place
- Russia changes name, Manor farm changes name.
- Plans to overthrow current government.
http://www.foxwoodhanoverians.com/
- Represents England
- "...a large, neglected, old-fashioned farm, much overgrown by woodland, with all its pastures worn out and its hedges in a disgraceful condiotion. Its owner, Mr. Pilkington, was an easy-going gentleman"(54).
- Symbolizes the condition England was in due to WW2
1. Manor Farm
2. Foxwood
3. Pinchfield
4. Sugar Candy Mountain
Pinchfield
- Represents Germany
- "The other farm, which was called Pinchfield was smaller and better kept, Its owner was Mr. Frederick, a tough, shrewd man"(55).
- Referring to Hitler
- Germany was protected by the Nazi regime and therefore better kept.
http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/research-projects/football-and-politics-in-europe-1930s-1950s/hitler-and-nazi-philosophy/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_map_of_Germany.svg
Sugar Candy Mountain
- Refers to Heaven
- "Claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugar Candy mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds"
- Basic beliefs of what heaven is and how one gets there.
http://weknowyourdreamz.com/heaven.html
Symbolism- Animals
http://rocketshape.com/squeler-animal-farm.html
- Represents Russian media that spreads Stalin's version of the truth
- Like Napoleon, Squealer spreads a twisted version of the truth to the animals to get them to be on his side and do what he wants
- "Many of us dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health" (52)
Squealer
http://animaliaz-life.com/pig.html
- fly out each day to spread Animalism
- Represent the communist international.
Boxer
- Represents the working class that helped Czar establish the Soviet Union
- Portrayed as a dedicated worker, personal motto is "I will work harder"
- Seen as the pig's most faithful follower
- Clover is the exact same, but seen as the female counterpart
- Napoleon calls for the hens to "surrender their eggs" due to the shortage of food
- Refers to Stalin's attempt to collectivize the peasant farmers in Russia (his way to overcome the food crisis)
- Hens attempted to resist just like the farmers of Ukraine
- Both eventually starved into submission and in the book, 9 hens died and 4-9 million Ukrainians were starved to death
- "Their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor. Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens' rations to be stopped" (87)
- Also, some hens smashed their own eggs to protest and the farmers slaughtered their own livestock to protest
- After this, Napoleon got people to falsely confess to crimes they didn't commit and had slaughtered a lot of animals
- This represents the Great Purge when Stalin got people to falsely confess to crimes they didn't commit and executed who he thought was his enemies
http://hero.wikia.com/wiki/Boxer_(Animal_Farm)
Russian revolution
http://www.come-home-to-health.com/hen.php
Napolean
- Represents Joseph Stalin, 2nd leader of the Soviet union
- Father of Communism
- Joseph turned his society into an industrial and military superpower
- Napoleon turned the animals on the farm as workers for his benefit and the dogs became his military
- Became leader when Lenin (Old Major) died and took over
- "The pigs did no work, but directed and supervised the others" (45)
https://licsergioromo.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/animal-farms-symbolism/
- Represents Stalin's military force
- Were always surrounding Napoleon to protect him and enforce rules
- A representation of Russia's middle class
- Were not exactly unfaithful to the Bolsheviks (led the Russian Revolution) but weren't about to give up their luxuries even if it was for their good in the long run
- This represents how Mollie wasn't entirely unfaithful to the animals, but when it came to working she always had an excuse
- Also, when asked to give up her luxuries (ribbons and sugar canes), she left
- This represents when the Bolsheviks asked the middle class to give up their luxuries which ended up in some fleeing to the West
- "Three days later Mollie disappeared. For some weeks nothing was known of her whereabouts, then the pigeons reported that they had seen her on the other side of Willingdon" (62)
Mollie
- Riots break out due to the scarcity of food
- Czarist rule ends as Nicholas the second is forced into abdication
- Steps closer to communism
http://list25.com/25-most-dangerous-dog-breeds/
http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWtsar.htm
- February revolution lasted from March 8 - 12
- October revolution lasted from November 7 - 8
- Referred to as Red October
- Bolshevik party led by Vladimir Lenin
- Took over government buildings
- Overthrew the provincial government
- Gave power to the local soviets
- Bolshevik had a lot of soviet supporters
- Stalin elected the general secretary of the party's central committee.
- Cruel and brutal dictators of all time
- 20 MILLION DEATHS!
http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-stalin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution
https://mollysanimalfarm.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/im-mollie/
- Father of the idea of Animalism
- Represents Karl Marx and in some ways, symbolizes communist leaders like Vladimir Lenin
- Old Major's dream represents Karl Marx idea for communism
- His skull was displayed in the same way Lenin's remains were displayed in public
Snowball
- Represents Leo Trotsky
- As Stalin rose to power, he became his biggest enemy and was expelled
- Napoleon ended up expelling Snowball just like Trotsky (body and mind)
- His role was altered and announced as a traitor
- Used as a scapegoat to Napoleon's advantage so the animals can work even harder
- "I do not understand it. I would not have believed such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The solution, as I see it, is to work harder" (94)
http://linoit.com/users/zalena/canvases/Sec%202.1:1%20Old%20Major
http://oaresuntunporc.ro/blog/de-la-blogger-la-blowjober-si-eventualinapoi-2/
http://www.history.com/topics/russian-revolution