Animal Farm a a Commentary on Communism Essay

Boxer the horse would always say, I will work harder and Napoleon is always right. In

Animal Farm by George Orwell, the animals of Manor Farm revolt against their owner Mr Jones and create their own form of government. They create their own commandments and follow the principle that every animal is equal, but as time progress, the pigs that are the wisest animals on the farm begin to misuse their power which inevitably creates a unitary system. In Animal Farm, Orwell uses of allegory demonstrates why government systems fail when there is inequality among the social classes because power cannot be contained to one class.

Orwell used the pigs such as Napoleon and Snowball to represent the birth of the communist party. When the story begins, the wisest and oldest pig Old Major talks about a day when all the animals will revolt and will be free. Orwell uses the Old Major to represent the father of communisism, Vladimir Ilych Lenin. After the animals revolt against Mr Jones, the pigs realize that they are the brains of the farm and should be entitled more than the rest of the other animals. As this progress, Napoleon and Snowball become more and more like dictators instead of leaders. Napoleons character symbolizes power and strength, similar to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Opposite to Napoleon, Snowballs character symbolizes intelligence, wisdom, and passionate. He also represents the Soviet leader Leon Trotsky. Power could never be shared by two leaders so Napoleon had Snowball banished, just like Stalin expelled Trotsky from the Soviet Union. Dividing power was like dividing a country and power craving leaders could never give that power up.

Napoleons main flaw was not giving equal proportions to all the working classes. Boxer, Clover, and Benjamin were seen as the leaders of the working class. They did most of the laborious work and never complained about it. When a shortage of food occurred, Napoleon should have cut the pigs ration so it would be equivalent to that of the working class, but his greed consumed him. His greed he required animals to work longer hours for less food and he stated, There will be work on

Sunday afternoons which is voluntary, but any animal who does not attend will have his rations reduced by half. This lead to Boxers injury, because he was becoming old and his feeble body could not take much more of the strenuous work required. Orwell uses Boxers character to symbolize the working class of the Soviet Union, and shows how the working classes of the Soviet Union were poorly treated. Just like the Soviet Union, Napoleons abuse and mistreatment of the working class shows how governments with too much power can fail.

When Napoleon calls for the hens to surrender their eggs they refuse and attempt to revolt. In the book, the hens symbolize the peasant farmers of Russia. The hens try to defy Napoleon at first just like the Ukraines farmers did, but just like Stalin, Napoleon starves them into submission. The hens smash their eggs to protest Napoleons order. The Ukraine farmers would do the same except they slaughtered their own cattle to protest Stalins order. Napoleon executed hens for treason, and Stalin did the same by executing the farmers for slaughtering their cattle. The Hens leader was the Black Minorca pullets. They attempted to halt Napoleons wants. Napoleon took away the one thing the hens loved and because of this he was more human than animal.

Communist governments fail because they become greedy and are drawn to power. Napoleon failed as a leader because he could not share. He became greedy with power and food. This power could be seen when napoleon required his subjects to call him Our leader, Comrade Napoleon. His people loved him at first, but he forced them to work long hours for very little food. When the hens tried to revolt, he starved them and killed their leader. Napoleon considered himself a great ruler, but in reality he lacked the qualities of a great leader. Napoleon system of government was a failure, because of his unequal treatment of the working class and his greed.