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Thread: animal farm theme and historical significance

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    animal farm theme and historical significance

    I was once told, very ambiguously, that the story of George Orwell’s Animal Farm was directly based on the relationship between Stalin and Lennon. Can anyone enlighten me and perhaps fill the gaping abysses of ignorance that my lack of historical knowledge has left me with?

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    King of Plastic Spoons imthefoolonthehill's Avatar
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    ive never heard that...
    Told by a fool, signifying nothing.

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    Stalin and Lenin

    Greetings,
    Yes, Lenin and Stalin were major characters built into _Animal Farm_. Moreso, it was about the reality of the Soviet State after Stalin took over. One must remember, though, that Stalin came to reign after the voracious attacks of the "White Russian" army, which was, in fact, financed by U.S. Steel and Goodyear Rubber.
    Stalin's extreme militarism and totalitarian rule followed directly after the White army had been defeated. Orwell was not aware of the U.S. corporate influence in the early days of the Soviet state. Its one of the great hidden facts most have forgotten.
    Peace,
    Ryokan
    Namaste' (Sanskrit - "Honor to the light that is within you."
    Sanskrit - the planet's oldest spoken language)

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    Grand Equal of Heaven
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    To answer you simply, and to look only on the novel as an allegory of the Bolshevik Revolution, Old Major would be the father/leader figure that was Karl Marx and Lenin (so I usually just combine them into the one character, beacause they are both valid figures for the part), Napoleon is Stalin, Snowball is Trotsky. The raven is religion, Russian Orthodox church to be precise, Squealer is propaganda, the dogs are the KGB, Boxer represents the working class, Molly is the naive peasant population...and so on. Each character represents somebody or something in the satire.

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    Sajab, sajab lõpmata...
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    I agree with everything you have said, Munro, but I`d like to improve the list a bit. The sheep had a very important role in the book. The sheep were the youth organizations in the Soviet Union who were always ready to support the government. The cat represents the intelligencia in the SU - they did nothing to support the government but were left alone because the government saw some kind of a threat in them. Mr Jones represents the czar (Nikolai II).

    One correction though - Molly represents the people who went exile in my opinion, meaning who left Russia in fear of the government.
    I have nothing to declare but my own genius (O. Wilde)

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    Cleric of Josh Bongitybongbong's Avatar
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    Okay the pig Napoleon represents Stalin. Snowball represents Lennon. The dogs the secret police. Moses as the Orthodox Church.If you look at a lot of the history in that time of the U.S.S.R. you will notice many things that are similar.Like when Snowball gets chased out relates to when Lennon was shot in Mexico

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    Pièce de Résistance Scheherazade's Avatar
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    Lenin was shot in Mexico???

    Bong> It is LENIN not LENNON. Lennon was a singer.
    ~
    "It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
    ~


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    Old John

    Quote Originally Posted by Scheherazade
    Lenin was shot in Mexico???

    Lennon was a singer.
    A fairly good one, I'd like to add. Perhaps not very popular, but good.
    that's if you happened to be around in the early 60ties, I mean.

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    L'artiste est morte crisaor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scheherazade
    Lenin was shot in Mexico???
    No, the one who was killed in Mexico was Leon Trotski, by order of Stalin.
    Ningún hombre llega a ser lo que es por lo que escribe, sino por lo que lee.
    - Jorge Luis Borges

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    Quote Originally Posted by Munro
    the dogs are the KGB...
    I havent read/heard the word KGB in a long time ...but isnt the KGB suppose to be "invisible" instead of walking around guarding the first man?

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    L'artiste est morte crisaor's Avatar
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    Yes and no. Generally, the fact that everyone knows it's there but not give it much attention is a much more efficient way of disguise than total secrecy, even if it's not around in the same way anymore. The same thing can be applied to the CIA.
    Ningún hombre llega a ser lo que es por lo que escribe, sino por lo que lee.
    - Jorge Luis Borges

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    Well I suppose these kinds of organizations do need to show their existance anyway

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    I always thought the three pigs were Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. And the horse was the Russian people. The horse was promised compensation for his hard work but once he was no longer useful he was sent to the glue factory.

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    Lightbulb

    Actually, here is alist

    Napolean: Stalin
    Snowball: Leon Trotsky
    Old major: Karl marx
    Boxer: Working Class
    Dogs: KGB
    Raven: Russian Orthodox church
    Mr. Jones: Romanov Dynasty, more specifically Tsar Nicolas II [ruled from 1887-1918]
    Muriel [sheep who runs away to other farmer]: Rich upper class
    Lenin: Absolutely no one. Lenin is unimportant in this story
    Squealer: Pravda [Russian Newspaper]
    Frederick [farmer who blows up windmill]: Germany [Operation Barbarossa = Windmill ka Boom]
    Plinkington: USA
    Guy who negotiates trade: Foreign Officials
    Molly: Uneducated Class
    Benjamin: Cynics

    That's all I can mention off the top of my head. there are more, but i don't remember them all.

    Oh, and by the way, KGB was the soviet secret police.



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    cheers
    Gilthas

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    "Old major: Karl marx"

    Well, you could also say that Old Major represents Lenin, however, I honestly do believe he is supposed to represent Karl Marx. Oh, and the "Guy who negotiates trade" is called Mr Whymper.

    Lili

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