my thoughts

[rory1234]

i found animal farm an excellent read. i thought that the book was amazing and although the events in the book representing commuinsm in russia werent in chronological order it was still great. When the moses was driven out of the farm it showed the communist outlook on religion(which is it must be abolished, it says this in the communist manifesto)this book conveys the mesage that even though on paper an ideology might seem great, ideologies dont work its not an ideal world. I think the way to go is not to force people to be communist, socialist, anarchis etc. I think the solution is say if you like socialism to practice socialism individually eg. share with other people, lookt at others as equals etc. i have som queries about the book go ahead and post if you know the answer. Does the windmill represent anything significant in communist russsia and also what do the wild animals represent. The way i saw it was that major represented marx, napoleon=stalin, snowball= a russian idealist, the farm animals the working class andthe humans the burgeousie. I've haerd others say that the pigs and dogs represented the bugeousie and the other farm animals(the stupider ones) the proleteriat(working class) this doesnt make sense...

[josiehell]

I do agree with most of what you said as far as napolean=stalin, snowball=and idealist. for me i thought of old major as lenin, as he had his ideas of a socialist society, a utopia, which stalin had the same views and dreamed of this utopian society, but when he came to power, he took from what he learned from lenin and distorted his beliefs. lenin's ideas were good and his view of this future workers paradise was accepted by all as true and good, but stalin perverted those ideas to fit his own agenda. example, old major, assuming he was lenin, taught the other animals about this future revolution that would come, and laid down the basics for this free society of animals where all were equal and would live in harmony ruling themselves, so they had their 'revoltion' (as in 1917 in the soviet union) and all was to be free in this 'utopia'. But stalin (napolean) used his double speak and propaghanda (telling the others that this new enemy (snowball) was a traitor simply (because the two could not see eye to eye) but leading the others to believe he was some kind of terrorist (the windmill, conspiring with the other farms to overthrow animal farm, etc.). he enforced censorship, he accused and forced false confessions from all sorts, women, men inside his own communist party who he percieved as threats, and would put on 'show' trials which basically took innocent people, tortured and cohersed into false confessions, and were executed, arrested, or exiled. this reminds me in the book, napolean, with the help of his right hand pig Squeeler, forcing confessions from some of the animals that they were conspiring with snowball for this and that and being executed on the spot. another constant in the book was shortage of food, the windmill, the importance of grain and agriculture were all main issues in the soviet regime under stalin. it describes conditions in russia during those times to a t. after the revolution of 1917, there were not stop issues concerning the economy, agriculture, etc. under stalin, he preferred build up the economy than deal with the issues of famine, which were drastic at that time. just as napolean asserted his attention to humans for money and building alliances with these humans for his own gains at the expense of the starving animals (just as stalin ignored the famine in his country and put all his efforts in building up the economy and financing military matters and industry. if you see the resemblance between that and the book, maybe it's just me. i don't know how much you read about russian history, but you'll see that everything; the windmill, battle of the cowshed etc. actually symbolise other events in soviet russia at the time (1917-40's, 50's). for all i know you could be some kind of russian historian and may know alot about these things that i don't, but i would like to recommend a book. it's simply called russia and the russians which is written in chronological order from literally the beginning, about the 6th century all the way to the present day. but if you read from 1917 onward, you will see how almost exact animal farm is to that period of time and events in the soviet union and the sybolisms of almost everything that took place in his story. anyway, this is just my input if it helps at all. it's nice that other people have an interest in this and i'd love to hear any ideas you may have about the events in animal farm. thanks for your time. oh and p.s.
the last part you wrote about the pigs and dogs representing the borgeousie also wouldn't make since, i believe they represent the communist party under stalin (napolean) just as in the soviet union. all the pigs telling the animals that this and that was for their own good, convincing them that their leader was forced to look out for their best interest to make them believe they were better off, that it was his responsibilty to result to nasty measures for the benifit of all man, lies, lies, lies, just as the soviet government did the same. please read the book. thanks again, Jody

[xboteb13]

Actually, I saw Snowball as Trotsky and the dogs as the Russian KGB. Snowball represents Trotsky because Trotsky was run out of Russia, much like Snowball was run out of Animal Farm. The dogs are always protecting Napoleon (who I agree is Stalin) much like the KGB was always around Stalin and protecting him. The dogs, like the KGB, were trained to kill. Squealer was a lot like the Russian newspaper "Pravda," which was full of propaganda. I say this because I am Russian, and I really enjoyed reading this book and relating to the events in Russian history.

Here are some other representations I saw while reading it. I think the windmill represented the rise and fall of Animal Farm. As the windmill rose and fell, so did the spirit of Animal Farm. Mr. Jones was Czar Nikolai II, since he was lazy and didn't do anything and only watched the others work much like Nikolai II. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, they revolt, much like the October Revolution of 1917. Jones' last effort to try to remove the animals from power was like when the western capitalist governments sent soldiers to Russia to try and put the Bolsheviks out of power. I saw Boxer's motto, "Napoleon is always right," as very, very similar to the motto, "Mussolini is always right," during Benito Mussolini's rule over Italy. When the hens destroyed the eggs instead of giving them to Napoleon, is was a lot like when the Ukranian peasents burned their crops in refusal of giving them over to Stalin during his Collectivization Period. Mr. Frederick, I think, represented Germany and Adolf Hitler, since after making the pact, Frederick attacked Animal Farm, much like Germany invading Russia after making the pact. In my eyes, Mr. Pilkington represented England and the rest of Britain.

[Tendo]

@rory1234
The building of the windmill represents Stalin`s 5 year plan.
This plan aimed to establish complete State control of industry, agriculture and the cultural life of the nation ( Russia ).

[rabid reader]

I wrote a comparison essay on Animal Farm and 1984. It was about how Orwell felt anger toward the Stalin and his betrayal of Socailism. As you read the novels you will see the Goldstein and Big Brother, the Napoleon and the Snowball.

It was my thesis that Orwell felt that Russia lost its fight for communism when Trotsky was banished. Weather you felt Goldstein was real or not, he still was a pure socailist by the ideas he repersented. Orwell depicts both BB and Napoleon as capitalists. The people they were no different then those they replaced.

It's funny Animal Farm seemed to have been the "recent" events of Communist Russia for Orwell at the time. While 1984 was his guess of what the world would turn into now that WINSTON Churchill excepted Stalin as a hero and equal.

Just my summation of what i took out of both novels. I am (at least I feel) a socailist, so I like to think everyone else is to, thus my reading and opinion is obiviously bais.

[The_Black_Hand]

Here is quick guide (I had to do an essay on this for class):
Millie = Bourgeousie
This is mainly because she was reluctantly to go to Animalism because she already had many luxuries, and also because later in the story she runs away with another human, as the middle class escaped to other countries.
Boxer=Proletariat
Sort of obvious, but mainly his lack of education, and his willingness to follow. He was also the backbone of the soceity.
Pigs=Vanguard of the Proletariat
This is mainly because the vanguard was self-appointed, and their main job was to make the decisions for the majority, and to convince them to follow. To understand more about the Vanguard of the Proletariat, read some Marx.
Moses=Religion
This is because of Sugarcandy Mountain, which is the equivalent of heaven, which was equated to religions telling the workers of capitalism not to care about the "surplus value" (again, see Marx) and life on Earth, so work hard, to get to the afterlife.
Old Major=Karl Marx/Lenin
During the story, Old Major is hailed as a hero. In history, so was Marx and Lenin. Though today, Lenin is not equated as a "good guy", he was also quite revered by George Orwell, the author. He is also Lenin because Lenin slightly changed Marx ideas, and formed his own, which is called "Leninism". It is like Marxism, with a little pork, which are the ideas Old Major represented.
Benjamin=Intelligensia(sp?)
This is Benjamin's representation because Benjamin understood very well what was going on. Like the intellectual community, he understood all the events, yet did nothing. He neither supported nor fought them by doing his load of work, no more, no less.
9 Dogs=NKVD/Russian Secret Police
This was Stalin's card that helped him trump Snowball/Trotsky. Appointed by Lenin to the position where he led the secret police, he controlled all their power, unchecked. Here's a story:
"One day, Stalin was at home. Every morning he smokes tobacco in his pipe. But during breakfast, he checked his breast pocket, and his pipe was missing! Immediately he phoned the secret police and said "Someone has stolen my pipe!" So later, Stalin feels something poking into his but while he was sitting. He checks his back pocket and finds the pipe. He once again phones the Secret Police and says "i have found my pipe" then the commander responds "But sir, we have arrested ten, and nine have already confessed!"
The moral of this story?
The Secret Police struck fear into the hearts of the people, like when Napoleon released the dogs on the many confessors of trivial crimes.
Napoleon=Stalin
I've already sort of explained, its pretty straightforward.
Snowball=Trotsky
This is because they both had good intentions, like the windmill, and maybe would have succeeded, but were ousted by someone with more power.
Windmill=5-Year-Plan
This is so because the 5 year plan was to industrialize Russia in just 5 years. The results on the people were disasterous, yet the lower class, like Boxer kept on working because they "will work harder" and "Napoleon/Stalin is always right."
Thats all for now.