Michael Erlich

Mr. Petro / Hopkins

Animal Farm Essay

In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, animals are used to describe the leaders of
the Russian Revolution: Napoleon being Joseph Stalin, and Snowball being Leon Trotsky. The
theme of this book is that power corrupts leaders. Orwells political purpose in writing Animal
Farm is to criticize the Communist Revolution in Russia and to expose the horrors of
totalitarianism. Orwell does this by showing the pigs having much better living conditions in the
farm, the pigs oppressing the other animals, and the pigs closely resembling humans.
As the leaders of Animal Farm, the pigs live a life of luxury. They get to sleep on beds,
work as they please, and make up jobs for the other animals. They use their leadership roles and
exaggerate their work to justify their better living conditions:
It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the
farm, should have a quiet place to work in. It was also more suited to the dignity
of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of
"Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty. Nevertheless, some of the animals
were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the
kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the
beds. (Orwell)

This quote shows the luxuries the pigs enjoyed comparable to totalitarian leaders. To gain this
luxury they used deceit and manipulation towards the other animals.

The pigs oppressed the animals in cruel ways. The animals were under constant threat of
having harsh consequences for disobeying the pigs strict rules. They also did not have any

control over their own lives; the pigs held total authority over the society. They often changed
the rules at will without considering the animals well beings and feeling towards the rules:
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)

This quote shows the vicious threats that Napoleon put upon the animals. Although the animals
probably could have held a successful revolution, they did not rebel because Napoleon
brainwashed them into thinking every decision he made was the right one. Another ruthless thing
Napoleon did was get his friend Snowball killed by the dogs. All of the animals on the farm liked
Snowball and respected him, because when foxwood came, he protected the animals while
Napoleon did not. Napoleon felt he had to get rid of Snowball because he might have gotten in
the way of his plans. If Snowball was the leader instead Napoleon, Animal Farm might have
been a place the animals could be happy and free.

Napoleon and the pigs came up with a saying stating four legs good, two legs bad.
They would make the animals say this and believe this all throughout the story. Towards the end
of the book when Napoleon started to talk to Frederick and Mr. Pilkington he began to resemble
men. Him and the other pigs started walking on their hind legs saying two legs good, four legs
bad. Napoleon sent boxer to a factory to get killed when he told all of the animals he was going
to the hospital. The money he earned he spent on whiskey for him and his fellow pigs. By the
end of the book it was nearly impossible to distinguish the pigs from the men:
Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now,
what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig
to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was
impossible to say which was which. (Orwell)

This quote shows how Orwell satirized totalitarian dictators by comparing them to pigs. Also by
having the pigs most resemble humans at their worst, he ridicules human tendency to be
corrupted by greed and power.
In the book Animal Farm Orwell was able to express his political views on totalitarianism
through a fictional novel. He used animals to represent the leaders and the oppressed people of
the Russian Revolution. Joseph Stalin was the grunt worker of The Soviet Union under Lenin
and Trotsky until Lenin died. Then he took over using oppressive tactics and over ran Trotsky
just like Napoleon did to Snowball. This is the political purpose of Animal Farm.