Symbolism in Animal Farm Essay Example

In the novel Animal farm, by George Orwell, the animals hold a final meeting after the dispute, much like the The Tehran Conference was called in order to plan out what was going to happen after the war. However, just how deep was the symbolism in this novel.

The entire novel is an allegory, Orwell uses anthropomorphism pigs in order to satirise or mock human political systems, Stalin’s communist Russia. For starters, every successful revolution results in a power vacuum that can cause more political turmoil as revolutionaries compete for power. Secondly, the novel is “a political fable based on the events of Russia’s Bolshevik revolution and the betrayal of the cause by Joseph Stalin”. Furthermore, much like Stalin, the pigs betrayed the other animals and manipulated them.

Firstly, Every successful revolution results in a power vacuum that can cause more political turmoil as revolutionaries compete for power. Throughout the novel, the seven commandments the animals decide to live by changed.  It went from “all animals are equal” to “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. The main message in those quotes is how revolutions founded on equality can actually fall back into similar power dynamics, hence why the pigs become like humans towards the end.

To add, the novel is “a political fable based on the events of Russia’s Bolshevik revolution and the betrayal of the cause by Joseph Stalin”. Similarly, the story revolves around a group of farm animals who overthrow and chase away their exploitative human rulers in order to establish their own egalitarian civilization. The revolution is finally betrayed by pigs, the intellectual and power-hungry leaders of the animals. The pigs establish a dictatorship that is even harsher and more brutal than their former human overlords, determining that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (adding to the animals' seventh commandment, "All creatures are equal").

In addition, much like Stalin, the pigs betrayed the other animals and manipulated them. In the novel, the animals had meetings where they discussed important matters about their day to day lives and plans moving forward. However, the pigs were secretly plotting their own way to take over the other animals. Much like Stalin played Roosevelt and Churchill off against each other to push through his own agenda.

In conclusion, Orwell employs anthropomorphic pigs to satirise or parody human political systems, including Stalin's communist Russia. Therefore, this novel is à great way to teach adolescents some history and just how much the wrong leader and following blindly can have severe consequences.