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Use Of Allegory In George Orwell's Animal Farm

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Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is most commonly understood as a allegory. An allegory is a text that can be interpreted for a deeper meaning. In most cases, the characters and events in the text represent real life characters and events to portray a deeper meaning. One popular interpretation of Animal farm is that it is an allegory for the characters, ideas, and events of the Russian revolution. In 1917, the oppressive rule of Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in the Russian Revolution lead by Vladimir Lenin. Lenin did not live to see the effects of his revolution, leaving a power vacuum that was filled by Joseph Stalin who gained control through power and brutality. Stalin’s rule was extremely harsh, and he remained in power with help to his …show more content…

Many believe that Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin (“Critical Essays The Russian Revolution”). Stalin was most known as taking control of Russia after the revolution and being a dictator over the Soviet Union. He also used his KGB agents to take out political rivals and spread fear throughout Russia and implemented Stalinism, which gave almost absolute power to the government and primarily himself (“Stalinism: Political Doctrine”). This Parallels to the actions of Napoleon and his pigs. Taking into account that Napoleon represents Stalin, and the fact that Stalin is considered a corrupt dictator, it is clear that Orwell was trying to create a character who represents a harsh tyrant only caring about protecting his …show more content…

As seen in Animal Farm and Russia, rebelling against those in power does not solve the problem. Some societies have fallen into a pattern of one tyrant after another. Maybe the reality is, that no matter what you do, humans will always become corrupt when given absolute power. However, there are societies who are not controlled by dictators and have never been. This is because they do not give one person or group of people absolute power. For example, the United States has a president, but the government has a series of checks and balances so no one part gets more power. Historically, powerful and long lasting countries survive because they do not rely on one leader and share the power within their country. One man or woman cannot be trusted with absolute power, rather, a successful government should be a power sharing one with checks and balances as not to promote power

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