Allegorical Comparison: Napoleon And Joseph Stalin

Allegorical Comparison: Napoleon and Joseph Stalin In the novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell, there are many connections that can be made between the animals and the people that were involved with the Russian Revolution. One main connection that can be made is between Napoleon, the dictating pig, and Joseph Stalin. To begin, Napoleon started off the book as a partner to another pig, Snowball. On page 11, the text states, “Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale.” (Orwell 11) They were the two most important pigs in the farm, but one was not considered greater than the other. Similarly, Joseph Stalin began his road to leadership as a partner to Leon Trotsky. As time went on, Stalin gained enough power to drive Trotsky out. Identically, once Napoleon had gained a high reputation among

Another instance where a comparison between Stalin and Napoleon can be seen is when Napoleon begins to bend the Seven Commandments in favor of himself. He changed the amount of work the animals needed to do and added onto the rules in order to make exception for himself. In the text, it says, “ Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.” (Orwell 42) This quote relates to Stalin when he combined many farms to create one large one and forced the workers into labor. On Biography.com, it said that many starved to death from the forced labour which Stalin had bestowed on them. The rations being reduced in half relates to the many deaths of starvation during the Russian Revolution. In conclusion, Orwell clearly created a connection between Napoleon and Stalin. It can be seen because they are both extremely powerful and had similar pasts, as