Animal Farm Allegory Presentation

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Great Purge

In this presentation, I will validate that Animal Farm by George Orwell is in fact an allegory for the Bolshevik Revolution, and the dynasty of Joesph Stalin.

“...the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones.” Halfway through the novel, Animal Farm takes a dark turn. The hens refuse to give up their eggs, Napoleon starves them, several of the hens die, and the rest just give up. Napoleon calls a general meeting, and the dogs wipe out several pigs "squealing with pain and terror."

*Stalin wanted to stay in power no matter what the cost. He therefore ordered the trials of all those who were opposed to him. These trials are depicted in Animal Farm when at a meeting, Napoleon announces that all those who had secretly helped Snowball, should come forward and confess their guilt. At the end of both these trials, the people/ animals are killed for opposing their leader.

Understanding an Allegory

Marxism/ Communist Manifesto

Writers or speakers typically use allegories as literary devices or as rhetorical devices that convey hidden meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey.

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.”

*Animal Farm opens with the news that old Major, has called a meeting to share a dream that he's had. He explains that men have been taking advantage of them for years, and that it is time for the cruelty of man to end. His message basically meant Rebellion. What Orwell actually gives us through old Major’s speech is a simplified version of the Communist Manifesto, which was written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. The basic idea of the Manifesto was that the capitalist economic system was seriously flawed. The workers never saw the products of their labor because of the capitalists. Marx suggested that if workers could overthrow the capitalists and claim the means of production for themselves, then all the workers of the world could live in peace.

Cult of Personality

"If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak... Instead - she did not know why - they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes."

*Both leaders portrayed the idea of communism in his leadership role. Stalin was one of the most notorious dictators of Russia, and Napoleon was considered the best leader of Animal Farm. His followers believe that anything he did was right, just as Stalin was idolized within the Russian population. Napoleon eliminated his enemies with similar cruelty as Stalin did in the Russian revolution. Furthermore, both leaders also used violence and threats to control their followers who didn't agree with them. Stalin was in charge of the Bolsheviks and Napoleon had the power of the pack of dogs on the farm to assist him.

Work Cited

"Animal Farm." Nature 506.7486 (2014): 5. Web.

Orwell, George. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. New York, NY: Signet Classics, 1996. Print.

"Personality, Cult Of." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008, and KAREN

PETRONE. "Personality, Cult of." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.

"The Purges in the USSR - History Learning Site." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan.

2016.

Closure

Animal Farm is an allegory because George Orwell sets out to express his feelings and thoughts on the situation in Russia by using a farm and the animals to take the place of people.

Animal Farm Allegory Presentation

By Sarah Mihali Orcel