Snowball In Animal Farm As Parallel To Leon Trotsky
Animal farm encased the idea to bring attention to a form of government in which the state seeks to control every facet of life. For instance, Mr. Jones runs Manor Farm based on the idea that human domination of animals is the natural order of things, while Napoleon and the pigs run Animal Farm with the claim that they are fighting for animals against evil humans. Much of what happens in the novella is symbolically parallel to specific developments in the history of communism in Russia. In reality, Trotsky was expelled from Russia because of his conflict with Stalin causing Stalin to remain in power. Meanwhile, in the novella, Snowball was expelled from the farm leaving Napoleon in charge. Furthermore, several of the animal characters are based on either real participants in the Russian Revolution or unions thereof. In fact, Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin, the Russian leader who followed Lenin and continued the Russian push into communism, while Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, a Soviet politician and theorist who initially worked with Stalin but eventually differed with Stalin in political ideas. However, the rest of the animals are replacing the human capitalist system with their own. Animal Farm written by George Orwell, symbolizes Russia and the Soviet Union under Communist Party rule. But more generally, Animal Farm stands for any human society, whether it be capitalist, socialist, fascist, or communist. It possesses the internal structure of a nation, with a government (the pigs), a police force or army (the dogs), a working class (the other animals), and state holidays as well as rituals.
Every type of totalitarianism, whether communist, fascist, or capitalist, is founded on oppression of the individual and the lower class. Those who hold power in totalitarian regimes care only about one thing: maintaining their power by any means necessary. “Napoleon also uses sheep, who are there to outvote every different opinion, Moses, and Minimus (the official poet) to additionally brainwash the animals. Finally, tyranny becomes extreme when Napoleon starts to evoke fear with the dogs (KGB), who kill everybody who tries to disagree. Via their intelligence, pigs gain power and exploit the less intelligent animals.” (https:schoolworkhelper.netanimal-farm) A language is a powerful tool that can be used to manipulate and control people in order to bring about change. Napoleon and Squealer maximally abuse the power of language to manipulate the animals. The initial, noble ideology of Old Major is being twisted and distorted. With that being said, Napoleon specifically uses language about equality to draw the animals in just to brainwash them into thinking they are all going to be close and family like. In chapter 2, Orwell states, “Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal”(Orwell 21). This quote places equality in opposition to violence. It is as simple as that: the consideration of the animals’ interests involves not murdering them, not abusing them for our purposes. George Orwell continues to emphasize the seven commandments they must follow in order to stay safe against the humans and build an army of sorts. As mentioned in chapter 2, “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him.” (Orwell 21). These are the words of Old Major, a system of thought that is adopted by the animals and coined “Animalism”. In this system of thought, animals are to be totally different from man, whom they consider their oppressor.The pigs use the language the other animals want to hear to use it against them as if they are dictators, the other animals don’t get a say in what happens on the farm.
The two pigs in particular who emerge as leaders: the lively Snowball and the powerful Napoleon. However, a third pig, Squealer, gives eloquent speeches that can convince anyone of anything. These three pigs turn Old Major's ideas into a philosophy called Animalism.“His philosophy is called Animalism, it represents the ideas of socialismcommunism, but this ideology got perverted and misused by Napoleon (Stalin) – an individual greedy for power, without regard for fellow animals. He exiled his partner Snowball (Leon Trotsky) who had a good way of realizing socialism (he builds, educates…)” (https:schoolworkhelper.netanimal-farm). Napoleon gained absolute power step by step. He got control over food and suffocated every idea or debate. The working-class animals got gradually brainwashed with Squealer’s propaganda, which could turn black into white. The history is being rewritten, so the next generations would believe a lie, due to Squealer’s persuasion, the animals’ memories become less and less reliable. In addition, Napoleon would always blame snowball for all of the farm's flaws so the other animals would obey him, which essentially helped him gain power. Orwell states, “Comrades ... Do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!” (Orwell 69-70). The significance of what Napoleon says here is that it exemplifies how the pigs are using false accusations against Snowball to cover up their own faults, as well as finding something to release the dogs on to execute him. Once Snowball was exiled the animals saw the true intentions of Napoleon and his brutal police force. Orwell mentions in chapter 7, “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.' (Orwell 73-74). The surviving animals are in shock and huddle together around Clover, who starts crying thinking about how different this is from what they dreamed of before the Rebellion. The animals sadly start singing 'Beasts of England', but Squealer appears with two dogs and tells them the song has been banned and replaced with a new song about Animal Farm composed by Minimus. The police force was always out to get the animals who disobey Napoleon, they will go to any length to scare them into compliance.
Animalism results in a successful harvest and happy animals. Yet already signs of class difference between the pigs and other animals have arisen based on their intellectual differences.“All of the other animals in Animal Farm Hierarchy symbolize the Common Man means the Lower Class which has to accept whatever going on without a single question, has to obey the orders and rules without any denial and has to follow the Leader and his orders.” (https:www.hierarchystructure.comanimal-farm-hierarchy). Animal Farm Hierarchy distinguishes and showcases the animal in terms of the power. The Leader is at the top of the administration due to his power and his Ministers hold a position lower to the Leader whereas the Hierarchy of Animals that are at the lowest level are just workers for the Leader but this is a satire done by famous but controversial writer George Orwell who used Animal Farm Hierarchy to represent the Class system, the differentiation and discrimination going on in the society. Due to the differences in social class throughout the animals, some animals were working much harder than others to get what they needed to survive. In chapter 4, Orwell states, “All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.” (Orwell 51). Once the animals have taken charge of the farm, they work very hard. The narrator of the novel tells in these lines that the animals are very happy with the work. They are ready to sacrifice their extra hours for the welfare of the community. They are presenting an idyllic workforce that do not bear any grudge and do not wish to sit idle. Old major starts to question the animals about their living conditions, but it is rhetorical and it was to force them to see the reality of the way they live. Orwell wote, “No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of and animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.” (Orwell 7). Old Major is asking his comrades (fellow animals) what they feel about the lives they're living..... and stating what he sees as the true nature of their lives...... their happiness, their purpose, and their condition. He isn't so much asking a question, as he is stating a point. The divide between each social class plays a significant role in their lives on that farm.
Overall, George Orwell brings attention to ills of society in more effective ways. Because of his indirect approach, this fable has a strong tradition in society that censors openly critical works; most writers of fables could often claim that their works were mere fantasies and thus attract audiences that might not have otherwise been reached. Moreover, by setting human problems in the animal kingdom, a writer can achieve the distance necessary to see the absurdity in much of human behavior; they can abstract a human situation into a clearly interpretable tale. By treating the development of communism as a story taking place on a small scale, Orwell is able to portray his subject in simple symbolic terms, presenting the morals of the story with maximum clarity, concision, and force. With all that being said, George Orwell has not only exposed the internal workings of society, he has exposed major social class issues as well. He drew in his audience because of how he introduced the characters and the central idea of the story. Orwell's underlying point is that the stated goals of totalitarianism don't matter because all totalitarian regimes are fundamentally the same. As a society we all need to step up and fix this massive divide, in addition the government has many issues they need to fix. Starting with the education system, there is no diversity in our curriculum, we have to go into the deep dark web to find different perspectives. The divide between each social class needs to be fixed as well, it is clear that not everyone is equal. So in order to step up and destroy these inequalities head on, we need to sign petitions, allow ourselves to be educated, and start to research how to create equal opportunities.
