Symbolism, Satire, and Other Literary Devices in Animal Farm, a Novel by George Orwell

A lot of literary authors use a number of literary devices in their writings. Some of the most common are devices such as similes, symbolism, satire, and alliteration. Numerous writers attempt to express their personal ideas via their writing in hopes that other people will 1 day read their thoughts and suggestions and contemplate them. For example, in George Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm, Orwell uses a combination of symbolism, satire, and other literary devices. In his book, Orwell makes use of animals to represent prominent figures in the course of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia throughout 1917. To actually recognize the symbolism behind Animal Farm and its characters, you should very first comprehend the timeline of the Bolshevik Revolution. In 1917, Russia was a Tsarist autocracy, meaning there was a king like figure known as a Tsar who ran everything. His name was Emperor Nicholas II. In February of 1917, members of the imperial parliament, the Duma, assumed manage of the nation. There was also an October revolution in which the Bolsheviks lead an armed insurgence to overthrow the Duma. The Bolsheviks started their own federal government, practicing a soviet democracy. The main characters from this time period had been Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Nicholas II, Rasputin, Adolf Hitler, and Alexandra. Nicholas II was the old Tsar who was overthrown. Leon Trotsky was one of the leaders, rivaling other leaders such as Joseph Stalin. Trotsky founded the ideology of Trotskyism, which was opposing Stalinism. He remained in Russia and as an influential leader till he was run out by Stalin. Joseph Stalin became a political leader of Communist Russia for numerous years. Karl Marx is recognized as the father of Marxism, the foundation for the political ideology of Communism. He was also one particular of the primary writers in The Communist Manifesto, exactly where most of the ideology of Communism can be located. Alexandra was the wife of Nicholas II. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany around this time period, and is infamous for his political suggestions and actions. Many renowned and infamous leaders arose about this time period, and Orwell draws light to the actions these leaders. Old Major is one particular of the initial characters we are introduced to. He is an older pig who will soon die. He calls a meeting a single night to speak to all of the animals of the farm. All animals respect him, simply because it is stated that all animals are prepared to lose a handful of hours of sleep to hear him speak. (Orwell, 4) Old Major tells them about his dream in which all animals are freed from their captivity and no longer slaves to their human masters. He tells them that all animals are equal, which becomes the foundation for the ideology that will start amongst the animals, known as Animalism. He talks about a song, which sung of animals becoming totally free. Old Significant then states that a rebellion must occur so that the animals can be freed. Old Significant is normally compared to Karl Marx, the founder of Marxism, which is the base foundation for Communism. Many equivalent concepts are shared amongst Marx as well as Old Significant. Marx believed that all males are equal, just as Old Key did with animals. Old Main is exactly where the entirety of the rebellion began. A single of the primary leaders is the book is a pig named Napoleon. Even though his name resembles that of Napoleon Bonaparte, he is thought to resemble Joseph Stalin in his actions. Napoleon, soon right after the rebellion, started addressing these about him as comrades. A comrade is a individual in which you travel with or fight alongside with. This was also how a lot of addressed Joseph Stalin, as Comrade Stalin. Napoleon also was quite tactful, a skill Stalin was recognized for. Napoleon would study military techniques utilized by others and attempt to implement the profitable ones in his own battles. Each Napoleon and Stalin both saw use in brute force. Napoleon, soon after a litter of puppies are born to Jessie and Bluebell, requires the litter for him to raise. The dogs are then transformed into the equivalent of body guards for Napoleon and other pigs. This is equivalent to the excessive force utilized by Stalin in battle. Stalin was recognized for favoring a sturdy military. The Foreign Language Publishing Property in Moscow published in 1950 a paper about Stalin and the Soviet Armed Forces. In the paper, it states, “Stalin is the creator of the advanced, Soviet military science.” (Nikolai Bulganin, 1) Each Stalin and Napoleon saw the energy of a powerful military, so they put forth the efforts to develop their military. Napoleon had the dogs to guard him, Stalin had his military. They have been to forcefully enforce the laws so that no 1 would rise up against, or in some cases, speak against, the wishes of the leaders. But it was at this moment Napoleon stood up and, casting a peculiar sidelong appear at Snowball, uttered a higher-pitched whimper of a kind no a single had ever heard him utter prior to. At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine huge dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the bar. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his location just in time to escape their snapping jaws. In this scenario, Napoleon utilized his dogs to run out Snowball, who was in opposition to Napoleon. Other sources, such as History.com, states that Joseph Stalin had banished other potential leaders from Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as was the case with Leon Trotsky. In other locations in the book, it is evident that Napoleon abuses this force, such as with the slaughter of the “guilty” animals that supposedly conspired with Snowball. Napoleon is a near mirror image of Stalin and his beliefs. A single of the most influential characters in the book Animal Farm is one more pig named Snowball. Snowball is an influential leader, and had the prospective to do fantastic issues. He helped discovered the thought of Animalism, which was founded on the thought that all animals are equal. He is also extremely sensible, as is seen when he is designing the windmill for the farm. His imagination had now run far beyond chaff-cutters and turnip-slicers. Electrical energy, he said, could operate threshing machines, ploughs, harrows, rollers, and reapers and binders, in addition to supplying every single stall with its personal electric light, hot and cold water, and an electric heater. (Orwell, 52) Snowball’s creativity and intelligence can be shown throughout the plans he has for assisting make each and every animal’s job less difficult. He was in favor of three day function weeks rather of six day operate weeks so that the animals had been not pushed as tough. In the book, Snowball is typically portrayed as siding a lot more with equality amongst all animals instead of specific privileges. About half way via the book, Snowball is run out by Napoleon’s dogs. Snowball is normally compared to Leon Trotsky. As stated in a prior paragraph, Trotsky was run out of the USSR due to the fact his notion of Trotskyism opposed that of Stalinism. He was seen as a prospective threat to Stalin, so Stalin decided to run him out of the nation. Following Snowball is run out of the Animal Farm, absolutely nothing definitive is ever mentioned about exactly where he went. He is used mostly as a scapegoat for Napoleon whenever anything goes wrong. Such was the case with the windmill. “Comrades,” he mentioned quietly, “do you know who is accountable for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the evening and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!” he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder. “Snowball has carried out this factor!” Even even though it was explicitly stated that the time period was November, when the robust winds come up from the south-west, and that there was a strong storm the night before, Napoleon nevertheless blames Snowball for the windmill that was now in ruins. Snowball is utilised as a scapegoat all through the rest of the book so that Napoleon can do what ever he pleases to and have a person else to blame for its consequences. As the book progresses, there are nine dogs that commence playing a considerable role in the book and its representation of the Bolshevik Revolution. These are dogs born by Jessie and Bluebell. When they are young puppies, they are taken away by Napoleon so that he can train them. He tells the other animals that he is focused on the education of the young, so he utilizes that as a reason to train the dogs in private. When the dogs come back, they have been trained as physique guards. On page 53, it was stated that “At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine huge dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the bar.” (Orwell, 53) The puppies were no longer innocent puppies, but massive dogs that have been to act as Napoleons own private military officers. Below Stalin, there was what was referred to as the Red Army. Public Broadcasting Solutions states in their archives of Russian history, it discusses the top officers in the military units. PBS states, in regards to these officers, “While they mainly remained loyal to the Soviets, political officers, named “advisors” were attached to all units. They watched over the reliability of the officers and supplied propaganda.” (PBS) The dogs could be regarded comparable in how they had been taught. These dogs were to give propaganda, in this case worry techniques of what would happen if a person was to oppose Napoleon, to hold all the units, or animals, in line with their jobs. These dogs have been terrifying to the other animals. And Napoleon would use these dogs in any scenario he saw as required. When others spoke to oppose him, he employed the dogs to quietly threaten the security of these animals. Joseph Stalin uses similar techniques for enforcing laws and his own approaches in Russia. He was recognized for employing his military guards as prospective silencers of any individual who created noise against him. The nine dogs in Animal Farm were representative of the military force utilized by Stalin. After the animals have effectively rebelled from the Jones’, the pigs establish an notion known as Animalism. To simplify such an sophisticated thought, they shortened it down to seven commandments. They are as follows:

1. 1. What ever goes upon two legs is an enemy
2. two. What ever goes upon 4 legs, or has wings, is a pal
3. 3. No animal shall wear clothing
4. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed
5. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol
6. six. No animal shall kill any other animal
7. 7. All animals are equal (Orwell, 24-25)

They are referred to in the book as the seven commandments. These are the guidelines to live by according to the leaders, due to the fact if the men and women are to reside by these guidelines, almost everything will function out. It can't go without noticing that in the Bible, there is a set of Ten Commandments that are guidelines that perform in a comparable way. It is attainable that there was a reference made to the Bible. As nicely, there was a raven named Moses in the story. Moses would come to the animals soon after a difficult day’s work and speak to them about Sugarcandy Mountain “where it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges.” As is frequent information, biblically speaking, Moses was the Israelite who led the Jewish individuals out of the command of Pharaoh in Egypt. Moses spoke of a promised land in which was flowing with milk and honey. A related notion could be mentioned about Moses the raven. He spoke of a particular land where it was simple to live. An interpretation of this is primarily based upon a quote from Karl Marx. In Karl Marx book, A Contribution to the Critique of Hengel’s Philosophy of Right, Marx states that, Religious suffering is, at a single and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against genuine suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless circumstances. It is the opium of the folks. (Marx, introduction par. 4) Evaluation of these quotes can reveal that to Marx and Orwell, the idea of religion was nothing at all a lot more than anything that helped keep the folks going. It permitted for them to perform another day, to fight an additional battle. It was the opium in which they strived for. So in this book, religion and Moses had been just wild thoughts that were to assist keep the animals functioning, even even though the end was grim. Animal Farm is a book that is commonly believed to be just a fable, or make a think story. But beneath an in-depth evaluation, a lot much more was hidden beneath the surface. What appeared to be a story about animals freeing themselves from captivity is in fact a satirical book that brings to light political leaders and Communism. It uses pigs as Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. The story is a single of deception, military approach and abuse, and corrupt leadership. Orwell discusses the notion that not all a lot had changed amongst the old regime and the new rule. In the finish, the animals looked from man to pig, from pig to man, then back from man to pig, but they could not see a distinction among them. And because the story was so intricately described and so precise in its allegory, it has been regarded a single of the greatest satirical works of time.