Joseph Stalin Symbolism Animal Farm

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Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory of the Russian Revolution between 1917 and 1944. It is a satirical story with the purpose of allowing Orwell to express his reasoning as to why the Russians are corrupt, all in the form of an animal fable. He is able to present his attitude more simplistically by writing Animal Farm as a fable and treating the development of communism as a story that is taking place on a farm with animals that can do unrealistic things. Each individual character of Animal Farm represents an individual figure in Russian history. Through the use of an allegory, Orwell can portray just how abominable corruption was during the Russian revolution. One allegorical parallel of Animal Farm is a representation of Joseph Stalin. …show more content…

He is the source of the new world order of Animalism and gives voice to the philosophy that the animals on the farm will abide by. Old Major is practically identical to Vladimir Lenin. Old Major’s first word to the animals is "Comrade," representing a direct link to Lenin's ideas of Communism that guided Russia for so long. As Lenin was viewed by the Russians, Old Major is viewed as the source of all change. The animals take him in with a wealth of support. Similar to Lenin, he articulates a vision of unity in a way which the majority has power. Similar to Russian times, Old Major calls out a specific enemy: “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. Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it, and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin.”(8) Old Major represents Lenin through the corruption that they both articulated. They both shared a vision that predicated equality. Old Major's animalism is the allegorical representation of Lenin's Communism. With this representation of Vladimir Lenin, we can truly see that the nature of corruption is deeply rooted in people wanting to do harm. It stems