Old Major = Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin
Karl Marx: The creator of Marxism, a set of political and economic theories about the development of the world. First of all Karl Marx wrote a book called the Communist Manifesto, where he defines all of these theories. The most important one, the one that connects most to Old Major inside the story, is the fact that he defined every conflict in history has a foundation traced towards conflict between classes in a society. He thought of the workers, and laborers who did the work, but received so little of the benefits (sounding familiar?). He described a possible overthrow of the government with the power of the workers.
-"The proletarians [common workers] have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of the world, Unite!" (At the end of the Communist Manifesto)
Vladimir Lenin: Was a great practitioner of Marxism, following its ideas, and also developing his own ideas, called Leninism. He was one of the founding fathers of communism, and the first leader of Russia after the revolution. However, like Old Major, Lenin instituted a revolution, established a government, and promptly died.
Karl Marx: The creator of Marxism, a set of political and economic theories about the development of the world. First of all Karl Marx wrote a book called the Communist Manifesto, where he defines all of these theories. The most important one, the one that connects most to Old Major inside the story, is the fact that he defined every conflict in history has a foundation traced towards conflict between classes in a society. He thought of the workers, and laborers who did the work, but received so little of the benefits (sounding familiar?). He described a possible overthrow of the government with the power of the workers.
-"The proletarians [common workers] have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of the world, Unite!" (At the end of the Communist Manifesto)
Vladimir Lenin: Was a great practitioner of Marxism, following its ideas, and also developing his own ideas, called Leninism. He was one of the founding fathers of communism, and the first leader of Russia after the revolution. However, like Old Major, Lenin instituted a revolution, established a government, and promptly died.
Snowball = Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky: After the Russian Revolution, Trotsky served as the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs. Trotsky led the Red Army of communists to victory over the White Army of anti-communists just like how Snowball leads the animals to victory against Mr. Jones & the humans in the Battle of Cowshed. Trotsky wanted to spread the Communist Revolution to the rest of the world just like how Snowball wanted to spread animalism to all the other farms. Trotsky was an advocate of the five-year plans for industrial development in Russia which was opposed to by Stalin. Stalin later used these five-year plans after exiling him just like Napoleon using the windmill idea from Snowball. Trotsky criticized the structure of Stalin’s communist party and was exiled from Russia to Turkey in October of 1927. He ended up moving to Mexico and Stalin sent Ramón Mercader to assassinate him. After he was exiled, his supporters surrender to Stalin and were forced to “admit their mistakes” just like how everyone started listening to Napoleon after Snowball left. His ideas were the basis of Trotskyism which is a school of Marxist ideas that opposes Stalinism.
Leon Trotsky: After the Russian Revolution, Trotsky served as the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs. Trotsky led the Red Army of communists to victory over the White Army of anti-communists just like how Snowball leads the animals to victory against Mr. Jones & the humans in the Battle of Cowshed. Trotsky wanted to spread the Communist Revolution to the rest of the world just like how Snowball wanted to spread animalism to all the other farms. Trotsky was an advocate of the five-year plans for industrial development in Russia which was opposed to by Stalin. Stalin later used these five-year plans after exiling him just like Napoleon using the windmill idea from Snowball. Trotsky criticized the structure of Stalin’s communist party and was exiled from Russia to Turkey in October of 1927. He ended up moving to Mexico and Stalin sent Ramón Mercader to assassinate him. After he was exiled, his supporters surrender to Stalin and were forced to “admit their mistakes” just like how everyone started listening to Napoleon after Snowball left. His ideas were the basis of Trotskyism which is a school of Marxist ideas that opposes Stalinism.
Napoleon = Josef Stalin, Napoleon Bonaparte
Joseph Stalin: Just like Napoleon and Snowball, Stalin acted as a leader along with Trotsky after the Russian revolution. Stalin was in office from 1922 until he died in 1953. Napoleon wasn’t as clever as Snowball and instead used brute force to take over the animal farm. In the same way, Stalin wasn’t as well-educated but had a secret police force called the NKVD to suppress resistance and sanction political murders and assassinations. When Stalin started to feel some resistance from Trotsky, he exiled him off of Russia and then proceeded to send an NKVD agent to assassinate him similar to how Napoleon used his dogs to protect him and drive Snowball off the farm. During the Great Purge, Stalin sent people to prison camps and killed everyone who disagreed with him. Napoleon also killed all the animals who confessed to being in league with Snowball. After Napoleon took control and started building a building a windmill, the economy of animal farm got worse and they didn’t have much food. When Stalin started a 5-year plan for industrial development, the agricultural production of Russia was disrupted, and caused famine. He also made the laborers of Russia work until they were too tired and useless like how Boxer worked until he was useless and then was sent of to a glue factory. Both of them had complete control of the farm/country and were selfish & hungry for more power.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Other than having the same name, they are similar because they both overthrew their governments but then proceeded to rebuild a government that looked almost identical to the one they just overthrew. The animal farm Napoleon ended up basically turning into a human.
Joseph Stalin: Just like Napoleon and Snowball, Stalin acted as a leader along with Trotsky after the Russian revolution. Stalin was in office from 1922 until he died in 1953. Napoleon wasn’t as clever as Snowball and instead used brute force to take over the animal farm. In the same way, Stalin wasn’t as well-educated but had a secret police force called the NKVD to suppress resistance and sanction political murders and assassinations. When Stalin started to feel some resistance from Trotsky, he exiled him off of Russia and then proceeded to send an NKVD agent to assassinate him similar to how Napoleon used his dogs to protect him and drive Snowball off the farm. During the Great Purge, Stalin sent people to prison camps and killed everyone who disagreed with him. Napoleon also killed all the animals who confessed to being in league with Snowball. After Napoleon took control and started building a building a windmill, the economy of animal farm got worse and they didn’t have much food. When Stalin started a 5-year plan for industrial development, the agricultural production of Russia was disrupted, and caused famine. He also made the laborers of Russia work until they were too tired and useless like how Boxer worked until he was useless and then was sent of to a glue factory. Both of them had complete control of the farm/country and were selfish & hungry for more power.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Other than having the same name, they are similar because they both overthrew their governments but then proceeded to rebuild a government that looked almost identical to the one they just overthrew. The animal farm Napoleon ended up basically turning into a human.
Squealer = Vyacheslav Molotov, Propaganda
Vyacheslav Molotov was the mentor and prime minister of Stalin during the 1930’s. He firmly believed in all of Stalin views just like Squealer and Napoleon. Stalin frequently required Molotov to sign death warrants for people that disagreed with him during the Great Purge and Molotov always did what Stalin told him. He personally approved 372 execution lists which was the most by any Soviet official, even more than Stalin.
Propaganda = Under Stalin, the Soviet Party altered what people heard about in media and changed the language and images used to make everything seem under control and perfect even when it really wasn’t. Squealer altered the seven commandments to make it seem like the pigs weren’t doing anything wrong and lied to the animals.
Vyacheslav Molotov was the mentor and prime minister of Stalin during the 1930’s. He firmly believed in all of Stalin views just like Squealer and Napoleon. Stalin frequently required Molotov to sign death warrants for people that disagreed with him during the Great Purge and Molotov always did what Stalin told him. He personally approved 372 execution lists which was the most by any Soviet official, even more than Stalin.
Propaganda = Under Stalin, the Soviet Party altered what people heard about in media and changed the language and images used to make everything seem under control and perfect even when it really wasn’t. Squealer altered the seven commandments to make it seem like the pigs weren’t doing anything wrong and lied to the animals.
Moses = The Russian Orthodox Church
Moses would often go around the farm and tell the animals about Sugarcandy mountain which was a really great place you would go after you died just like how the Russian Orthodox Church preached about how behaving good lets you go to Heaven. Moses was run out of the farm with Jones while the church was persecuted and forced underground after the communists took over Moses returned to the farm after the Battle of the Windmill and was allowed to stay and have a gill of beer per day. The Russian Orthodox Church was brought back to keep people happy and give them hope and although the government didn’t agree with the Church and almost all Stalinists are atheists, they acknowledged it and allowed it to exist after their war with Germany.
Moses would often go around the farm and tell the animals about Sugarcandy mountain which was a really great place you would go after you died just like how the Russian Orthodox Church preached about how behaving good lets you go to Heaven. Moses was run out of the farm with Jones while the church was persecuted and forced underground after the communists took over Moses returned to the farm after the Battle of the Windmill and was allowed to stay and have a gill of beer per day. The Russian Orthodox Church was brought back to keep people happy and give them hope and although the government didn’t agree with the Church and almost all Stalinists are atheists, they acknowledged it and allowed it to exist after their war with Germany.
Boxer & Clover= Russian laborers and workers
Russian laborers worked very hard for Stalin and believed in him. Many of them stayed loyal to Stalin and didn’t notice the dictatorship that was happening and were being taken advantage of by the government. The working class had enough strength to overthrow the government but were uneducated. Boxer worked hard for Napoleon and thought that everything he said was right. When Boxer started to become weak and useless, he was sent off to a Glue Factory to be killed. Stalin betrayed his hard working people by ignoring their needs and eventually killed them after they started to become weak and useless. Boxer’s name was also a metaphor to the Boxer Rebellion in China during the 20th century which marked the beginning of communism in China.
Clover represented the strong women in Russia who took care of their kids, looked out for everyone and made sure no one got in trouble or was hurt.
Russian laborers worked very hard for Stalin and believed in him. Many of them stayed loyal to Stalin and didn’t notice the dictatorship that was happening and were being taken advantage of by the government. The working class had enough strength to overthrow the government but were uneducated. Boxer worked hard for Napoleon and thought that everything he said was right. When Boxer started to become weak and useless, he was sent off to a Glue Factory to be killed. Stalin betrayed his hard working people by ignoring their needs and eventually killed them after they started to become weak and useless. Boxer’s name was also a metaphor to the Boxer Rebellion in China during the 20th century which marked the beginning of communism in China.
Clover represented the strong women in Russia who took care of their kids, looked out for everyone and made sure no one got in trouble or was hurt.
Mollie = The bourgeois/Middle Class
Mollie enjoyed wearing ribbons and eating sugar lumps but was expected to work just like everyone else after the rebellion. She ended up hiding her ribbons & sugar in her stall but wanted to have more comfort so she left to another farm. This is an allegory to the middle class because they had luxuries such as fine food & clothing but were stripped of their wealth, land and titles because everyone was supposed to be equal under communism. This caused them to sink down to a lower class. They were supportive of Trotsky and Stalin at the beginning but started to want their wealth back and fled to neighboring countries to regain their luxuries from before.
Mollie enjoyed wearing ribbons and eating sugar lumps but was expected to work just like everyone else after the rebellion. She ended up hiding her ribbons & sugar in her stall but wanted to have more comfort so she left to another farm. This is an allegory to the middle class because they had luxuries such as fine food & clothing but were stripped of their wealth, land and titles because everyone was supposed to be equal under communism. This caused them to sink down to a lower class. They were supportive of Trotsky and Stalin at the beginning but started to want their wealth back and fled to neighboring countries to regain their luxuries from before.
Benjamin = Intellectuals
Benjamin represents the intellectuals and older population of Russia who thought that communism wouldn’t change anything. They were the only people to really comprehend what was happening but didn’t criticize Stalin enough to get killed. Most of the older people had more experience and had gone through so many attempts at change that they started to lose hope and weren’t sure if the Russian Revolution would work. Benjamin doesn’t seem to really care about what is happening on the farm and doesn’t show much or any enthusiasm. Because he wasn’t really affected at all by the changes in the farm, Benjamin can also symbolize the Jewish community of Russia who were not affected at all by Stalin.
Benjamin represents the intellectuals and older population of Russia who thought that communism wouldn’t change anything. They were the only people to really comprehend what was happening but didn’t criticize Stalin enough to get killed. Most of the older people had more experience and had gone through so many attempts at change that they started to lose hope and weren’t sure if the Russian Revolution would work. Benjamin doesn’t seem to really care about what is happening on the farm and doesn’t show much or any enthusiasm. Because he wasn’t really affected at all by the changes in the farm, Benjamin can also symbolize the Jewish community of Russia who were not affected at all by Stalin.
Mr. Jones = Tsar Nicholas II
Jones was unkind to the animals and neglected their needs by not feeding them. Tsar Nicholas II didn’t care much for his people, sent them into wars and often starved them due to a lack of food. The people of Russia decided to hold meetings and start a revolution just like how Old Major held a meeting with all the barn animals. Jones got kicked off the farm and tried to gain it back afterwards but was unsuccessful which is an allegory to Nicholas being driven out of power in Russia and later on executed. He tried to hold back protesters but wasn’t able to.
Jones was unkind to the animals and neglected their needs by not feeding them. Tsar Nicholas II didn’t care much for his people, sent them into wars and often starved them due to a lack of food. The people of Russia decided to hold meetings and start a revolution just like how Old Major held a meeting with all the barn animals. Jones got kicked off the farm and tried to gain it back afterwards but was unsuccessful which is an allegory to Nicholas being driven out of power in Russia and later on executed. He tried to hold back protesters but wasn’t able to.
Mr. Frederick = Hitler
In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Hitler ruled over Nazi Germany and had a brief non-aggression pact with Russia. When countries were desperate for resources, enemies were often trading partners and unfair trades were conducted. Mr. Frederick was also an untrustworthy neighbor to the Animal farm and when they made a timber trade, he used forged notes to pay for them. Hitler had a Euthanasia program set up to kill mentally and physically disabled workers, starved people in concentration camps, treated citizens harshly and forced them to serve in his army and killed people through crematories and furnace ovens. All of these events are represented by Frederick’s treatment of animals such as flogging an old horse to death, starving cows, throwing a dog into a furnace and making chickens fight with razor blades.
In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Hitler ruled over Nazi Germany and had a brief non-aggression pact with Russia. When countries were desperate for resources, enemies were often trading partners and unfair trades were conducted. Mr. Frederick was also an untrustworthy neighbor to the Animal farm and when they made a timber trade, he used forged notes to pay for them. Hitler had a Euthanasia program set up to kill mentally and physically disabled workers, starved people in concentration camps, treated citizens harshly and forced them to serve in his army and killed people through crematories and furnace ovens. All of these events are represented by Frederick’s treatment of animals such as flogging an old horse to death, starving cows, throwing a dog into a furnace and making chickens fight with razor blades.
Mr. Pilkington = U.S. & U.K.
In the 1930’s western countries feared communism spreading to their lands just like Pilkington fearing the spread of Animalism to his farm. He and Frederick always fought and didn’t like each other very much similar to how Germany was fighting with the U.S. and U.K. Napoleon agrees to sell timber to Mr. Frederick and not Pilkington which is an allegory to Stalin backing out of the anti-German pact with Britain and France, instead signing a non-aggression pact with Germany. After Hitler broke the non-aggression pact with Russia, they wanted to form an alliance with the west against Germany and held a meeting between the three countries. The dinner between the pigs and Mr. Pilkington represents this meeting, the Tehran Conference.
In the 1930’s western countries feared communism spreading to their lands just like Pilkington fearing the spread of Animalism to his farm. He and Frederick always fought and didn’t like each other very much similar to how Germany was fighting with the U.S. and U.K. Napoleon agrees to sell timber to Mr. Frederick and not Pilkington which is an allegory to Stalin backing out of the anti-German pact with Britain and France, instead signing a non-aggression pact with Germany. After Hitler broke the non-aggression pact with Russia, they wanted to form an alliance with the west against Germany and held a meeting between the three countries. The dinner between the pigs and Mr. Pilkington represents this meeting, the Tehran Conference.