The Failure of Starting the Second Revolution in Animal Farm 1

Nadia Chanakan Jindachotsiri 1202

The Failure of Starting the Second Revolution in Animal Farm

According to the introduction part of Animal Farm written by C.M. Woodhouse, since

the novel was first published at the end of worldwide II in 1945, it has been read by millions of

people worldwide. Its author, Eric Blair, whose pen name is George Orwell, explains the true

nature of politics accurately, when he said, All animals are equal, but some animals are more

equal than others. He wrote this fable to help destroy the Soviet myth and make people in

western Europe see the Soviet regime for what it really was. To achieve his goal, he started his

fable when Old Major, the oldest pig in the farm, comes up with the idea of revolution. Then, he

tries to convince other animals that the main goal of the revolution is to make every animal on

the farm equal. Nonetheless, after Old Major died, Snowball and Napoleon start to follow this

idea. They establish the principle of Animalism called The Seven Commandment to create

equality on the farm. Then, Napoleon exploits others in many ways, such as trading with humans

to earn himself money, giving work unfairly to other animals, and so on. At the end, Animal

Farm is completely driven by him alone. It is noticeable that no animals in Animal Farm get up

to revolutionize against a tyrant like Napoleon because he is dominant, all animals on the farm

are indoctrinated, and there is no counter-revolution.

The first reason for the failure of revolution against Napoleon is that he, as the

bourgeoisie of the farm, uses his power to rule the farm and to command his proletariats. This

can be clearly seen after Mr. Jones is driven out from the farm, Snowball and Napoleon have a

duty to control all members of the farm. Therefore, there are two leaders who have the same

authority. Nonetheless, both of them completely have different ideas about how to run the farm,
The Failure of Starting the Second Revolution in Animal Farm 2

which causes a lot of arguments. For instance, when Snowball plans to build the windmill,

Napoleon does not agree with this idea because he does not want to do a lot of work. However,

after the vote, the majority supports Snowballs idea. As a result, Napoleon decides to take over

Snowballs power by using his dogs to drive Snowball out. Napoleons using dogs to remove

Snowball is like killing two birds with one stone because Napoleon can both show off all his

power in the Animal Farm and scare other animals at the same time, which can be seen from

Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn (Orwell, 1996, p.53). Therefore, others

might think that they can also be attacked like Snowball, who used to be one of the leaders, if

they do not follow Napoleons directions. Moreover, if they rebel against Napoleon, they will be

most likely to be killed by Napoleons dogs. Napoleons deed truly reaffirms that those in power

always use whatever means necessary to gain and maintain power on the farm (Inch, 2016). By

doing this, the farm and all proletariats are under Napoleons power.

With his killing one to warn a hundred, Napoleon not only controls other animals by

using his authority but also creates animals mindset of inequality. Actually, the animals are

brainwashed during Old Majors speech claiming that It had come to be accepted that the pigs

who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals (Orwell, 1996, p.47). Since then, they have

both trusted and accepted pigs ideas because they strongly believe that pigs are more intelligent

than any other animal on Animal Farm. Furthermore, the result of brainwashing can be clearly

seen when the windmill is constructed. Napoleon announces that all the farm members need to

do the extra work on weekends as voluntaries. Otherwise, their foods will be reduced. Then,

Boxer, a strong hard-working horse, says I will work harder and Napoleon is always right

(Orwell, 1996, p.61). During the construction process, no animals notice the inequality in the
The Failure of Starting the Second Revolution in Animal Farm 3

work. This reflects that animals do not see the dark side of Napoleon although all of his actions

are against equality, which is the main purpose of the revolution. Besides that, the animals still

believe in Napoleon himself that he is going to do beneficial things for everyone on the Animal

Farm. Since the animals are persuaded to see only the bright sides of the pigs for a long time,

they admire Napoleon, and there is no reason for them to overthrow him. Animals in the labor

class in Animal Farm, which always produce more than they get, have been exploited little by

little by the bourgeoisie for so long that they take exploitation for granted unknowingly (Awan,

2016). Thus, shaping the farm members perspectives can make those members easy to influence

and control.

After Napoleon controls the farm, no one among animals stands out for their position.

The reason that the first revolution is successful is that Old major, a respectful animal, has a

really strong perspective with not only Mr. Jones but also the human being. Old Major thinks

that man is the only creature that consumes without producing (Orwell, 1996, p.7). By doing this,

before his death, he brings up his ideas to convince other animals to think in the same ways. For

instance, he says that only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labor would be our own.

Almost overnight we could become rich and free (Orwell, 1996, p.9). By telling the

disadvantages of working for human and advantages of working for animals themselves,

everyone on the farm takes apart of rebellion. On the other hand, there are a lot of situations that

the pigs should be isolated from the farm. For example, when Boxer has a serious accident. At

that time, Napoleon suggests that Boxer should be given a treatment from a doctor. A few days

later, there is a van with a label written Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler,

Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal (Orwell, 1996, p.122). comes to take Boxer.
The Failure of Starting the Second Revolution in Animal Farm 4

Benjamin, a donkey on the farm, and others are shocked because Boxer is sent to a

slaughterhouse which is not similar to Napoleons suggestion. Then, Napoleon says the van had

previously been the property of the knacker, and had been bought by the veterinary surgeon, who

had not yet painted the old name out (Orwell, 1996, p.125) to them. By doing this, no animals

respond or complain to what he does. These two conditions can clearly show that in the first

situation Old Major expands his idea to others to gain more supporters, but in the second

situation all animals both keep the story and replace it with another idea. For the animals, they

know that Napoleon is lying, but they do not convince one another to rebel. According to

Monica, proletariats always need to leaders to direct them because they never think by

themselves which make them do not have their own position. This goes true when those animals

have the same way of thinking; however, no one is brave enough to speak out his/her stand and

fight with Napoleon. Therefore, the concept of rebellion never occurs in the animals mind.

In conclusion, even though there is inequality when Napoleon is controlling the farm, other

animals have neither a plan nor an idea to revolute because he not only commands power over

the Animal Farm but also brainwashes the farm members. Moreover, the members do not display

their ideas and positions. Therefore, these stop the revolution from Marxist theory.
The Failure of Starting the Second Revolution in Animal Farm 5

References

Inch, J. (2016). Communism and the Betrayal of the Revolution: a Marxist Critique of the Post-
Revolutionary Manipulation of the Proletariat in Animal Farm. Retrieved December 1,
2017, from http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1060112/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Monica, S. Z. (2011). Tyrannical Control Over the Proletariat in George Orwells Animal Farm.
Retrieved December 5, 2017, from http://www.citethisforme.com/citation-generator/apa

Orwell, G. (1996). Animal Farm. New York, NY: New American Library

Raza, S. A. (2016). The Effects of Totalitarianism and Marxism Towards Dystopian Society in
George Orwells Seleected Fictions. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from
http://www.gjmsweb.com/archives/2016/Volume%202/Issue%204,%202016/Ahmad%20
Raza%20paper.pdf