CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF SNOWBALL IN GEORGE ORWELLS ANIMAL FARM !

Dada Rinrada Chaovalit

Mr. Matthew Bishop
English 1206
8 December 2017

Character Analysis of Snowball in George Orwells Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell was originally published on August 17, 1945. In the Manor farm

(afterward naming Animal Farm), Mr. Jones, the cruel and drunken owner of the farm, treats

animals poorly. Therefore, the pig, Old Major, leads the revolution against the human. Every animal

is excited to start the rebellion. Sadly, Old Major dies; subsequently, Snowball and Napoleon

become the leaders of the farm and command the revolution for a fair communityAnimalism

based on seven commandments. Snowball, the inventive and clever pig, starts to fight for leadership

with Napoleon. The Battle of the Cowshed begins since Mr. Jones wants to recapture the Manor

farm back but the animals conquers. The major roles of Snowball are to write and read the Seven

Commandments to illiterate animals, to establish the strategies during the Battle of the Cowshed,

and to plan to build a windmill. In the novel Animals Farm, Snowball becomes the bourgeoisie of

the farm after the rebellion by the way of his wisdom.

Snowball reads and writes the Seven Commandments to the other animals for a better

understanding of the principles of Animalism. Because of their intelligence, the pigs educate the

other animals about Animalism. Snowball tries to clarify the Seven Commandments of the Old

Major to all of the animals. Orwell states, Snowball was a vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in

speech and more inventive (p.16), Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a

brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out Manor Farm from the top of the gate and

in its place painted Animal Farm (p. 23-24). As a theory or mode of analysis of society and culture,

however, Marxism can enrich our work by providing both a way of seeing the institutional context
CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF SNOWBALL IN GEORGE ORWELLS ANIMAL FARM !2

in which we teach and a way of understanding what we teach: that is, an illumination of the

relationship between Basic Writing and language, literacy, and values (Yelin, n.d.). Therefore,

Snowball is classified as a bourgeoisie as he has abilities to read and write, according to the Marxist

theory about an illumination of the relationship between Basic Writing and language, literacy, and

values. According to Karl Marx, he stated that Value, therefore, does not stalk about with a label

describing what it is. It is value, rather, that converts every product into a social hieroglyphic. Later

on, we try to decipher the hieroglyphic, to get behind the secret of our own social products; for to

stamp an object of utility as a value, is just as much a social product of language (n.d.). Not only

animals understand the meanings of the seven commandments, but they also admire Snowball as

the literate pig in the progress of becoming bourgeoisie of the farm after the Old major died.

In the Battle of the Cowshed, Snowball establishes various useful strategies. As Mr. Jones

attempts to recapture the farm, Snowball turns out to be a brave tactician to drive Jones and his

accomplices away. Orwell narrated that Snowball, who had studied an old book of Julius Ceasars

campaigns which he had found in the farmhouse, was in charge of the defensive operation. He gave

his orders quickly, and in a couple of minutes every animal was at his post (p.40.). According to

Louis Althusser and Etienne Balibar (1932), they emphasized the concept of surplus value that is

related to class exploitation as manifest in the process of material production and permanent

reproduction of the conditions of production. It signifies the development of capitalistic production

and exploitation. All in all, Snowball wants to defeat Mr. Jones to revoke for animals independence

over human and eliminate class struggle between human and animals. Nevertheless, Snowball is

still be the leader of the farm like bourgeoisie. Snowballs strategies show that he knows how to

apply his knowledge to be practical in effective ways.

Snowball proclaims the policy of building windmill which would reduce burdens of animals

so that windmill would give the animals more free time. His plan of building windmill comes from
CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF SNOWBALL IN GEORGE ORWELLS ANIMAL FARM !3

his observation on the location and daily routines of animals in the farm, and the mechanical details

come mostly from three books: One Thousand Useful Things to Do About the House, Every Man

His Own Bricklayer, and Electricity for Beginners. In the long pasture, not far from the farm

buildings, there was a small knoll which was the highest point on the farm. After surveying the

ground, Snowball declared that this was just the place for a windmill, which could be made to

operate a dynamo and supply the farm with electrical power. This would light the stalls and warm

them in winter, and would also run a circular saw, a chaff-cutter, a mangel-slicer, and an electric

milking machine (Orwell, 1945). According to Economics and Philosophical Manuscript 1884,

there are four alienated labor suffocations in capitalism: suffer from products that producers do not

utilize, suffer from a torment productive activity, suffer from humans produce blindly and not in

accordance with their truly human powers and, suffer from the relation of exchange replaces the

satisfaction of mutual need (Milligan, 1932). In capitalism, labours are exploited from the surplus

by means of production. Relating to the role of Snowball, he tries to create the just society among

animals and got rid of class struggle by the way of fantastic machines which would do their works

for them even though windmill seems to be difficult to build at that time because of its process and

time-consuming. Even though the building of windmill is not succeeded in the age of Snowball

because Napoleon drives Snowball away at the voting day, the building of windmill is effective

aftermath since Napoleon also utilizes his idea to solve problems in the farm.

After much analysis, Orwell illustrates Snowball, the erudite pig, as the bourgeoisie of the

Animal Farm. Snowball has the wisdom of literacy in writing and reading seven commandments,

effective strategies in the Battle of the Cowshed, and practical policy of building the windmill

leading to other further benefits to animals in the Animal Farm that affect their praise to Snowball

as the bourgeoisie of the farm. Throughout the essay, animals accept Snowball as the leader
CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF SNOWBALL IN GEORGE ORWELLS ANIMAL FARM !4

gradually. If this trend continues without any obstacle, Snowball will be able to the most influential

animal in the Animal Farm.

References

Milligan, M. (1932). Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Retrieved November 24, 2017,

from https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Economic-Philosophic-

Manuscripts-1844.pdf

Schmidt, L. (1977). A Marxist Theory of Class Struggle. Acta Sociologica (Taylor & Francis Ltd),

20(4), 385-392.

Yelin, L. (n.d.). DECIPHERING THE ACADEMIC HIEROGLYPH: MARXIST LITERARY

THEORY AND THE PRACTICE OF BASIC WRITING. Retrieved November 24, 2017,

from https://wac.colostate.edu/jbw/v2n1/yelin.pdf