Character Analysis of Boxer in Animal Farm Essay

Character sketch on Boxer

George Orwell has written many fables, one of which is Animal farm, a story of drama, action and emotion. It was purposely written pertaining to the Russian revolution. The story is somewhat ironic as the animals rebel against the rule of humans led by the pigs. One of the animals who is like a pivot or a turning point in the story is Boxer, the horse, whose strength, steadfastness and optimism inspires the animals to work harder in whatever they may be doing.

However, he was a blind follower of anything the pigs or ironically, His leaders said and did anything and everything to make sure everything was going fine, for example, he flung a small straw hat of his into a burning flame. But in all this, he did not realize, that he was being exploited the whole time and he had to sacrifice his life for almost nothing. He did not realize that Napoleon was only exaggerating of the cruelty shown by Mr. Jones but Boxer took in a positive manner and regarded it as an inspiration.

It was not that he was very intelligent that it was ironic that he did not understand that the pigs were exploiting him. In fact, he could not read beyond the first four letters of the alphabet and evn if he did, he would forget the first four.

However, it was not so that there was nothing in him by which the animals could respect him. Even George Orwell has quoted him as the most important character in animal farm. His hard work, determination, steadiness, innocence and his optimism are nothing but a source of inspiration for the other animals. His strength was incomparable with the other animals. In fact, is common quote was I will work harder.

His physique too was the same as his character. He had a long white stripe down his nose, which only made him look silly. However his body frame was more similar beast than to a horse and he could pull heavy loads with ease. His strong, sturdy legs made it possible for him to sustain the heavy loads like while building the windmill for the farm. Only his sheer courage could give him the power and force to sustain such constant hard work. He was not all that ignorant when it came to farm work. He knew every single inch of the farm and he knew properly as to how to use most of the equipment on the farm.

Apart from his supporters and successors, he had some very close friends too, like Clover, another horse and Benjamin, the donkey. George Orwell has mentioned in his text that Benjamin and Boxer used to take long walks together along the perimeter of the farm.

To sum up, I feel that Boxer is a strong and a steady horse, who is not intelligent but a blind follower, who is a role model for all the other animals for his strength, courage, compassion, optimism, steadfastness, and friendship.