Ian Gibson										         
Mrs. O’Keefe
British Literature
8 January 2007

The Juxtaposition of the Soviet Revolution and George Orwell’s Animal Farm

	George Orwell’s classic tale Animal Farm chronicles the overthrow and eventual 
reinstatement of a fascist regime. Written during the 1940s, the growth of communist Russia 
played a large role in current affairs and was an ever present threat. Orwell stated that Animal 
Farm, “was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse 
political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole (Pearce, 1).”  It is the hope of equality and 
the eventual rise of a dominant class that present numerous parallels between Animal Farm and 
the tumultuous rise of the United Soviet Socialist Republic. 
	In the beginning of both the Communist party and the brief history of Manor Farm, a 
revolutionary leader arises to lead the masses into a new era. Old Major clearly represents Karl 
Marx, founder of the Communist Party. The wise old swine declares, “My message to you, 
comrades: Rebellion! (Orwell, 30).” Old Major is clearly inspiring the animals of the farm to 
rebel against their owner, just as Marx preached to the working class in the Manifesto of the 
Communist Party. “The Communists openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the 
forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions,” Marx declared in the closing of the political 
paper. “Let the ruling classes tremble at the Communistic revolution. The proletarians have 
nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, unite! 
(Marx and Engels, 87).” Both the livestock of Animal Farm and the oppressed commoners of 
monarchial Russia are promised freedom and liberty beyond their wildest dreams, eventually 
leading to rebellion against the ruling class.
	In due time, the animals overthrow Jones, the human landowner, and take control of the 
farm. The pigs soon rise to an authoritarian level, just as the militaristic Stalin took control of 
post-revolution Russia. Napoleon, a stubborn yet revered pig, begins to rule the farm with an iron 
fist and enlists the dogs to enforce his rule. “The pigs did not actually work,” noted Orwell, “but 
directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural they should 
assume the leadership (Orwell, 45).” Eventually, all rules of the rebellion set out by the then 
deceased Old Major are broken, just as the original vision of Marx and the Communist Manifesto 
were betrayed by Stalin. “Orwell explained in 1946 that he intended the book: ‘primarily as a 
satire on the Russian revolution.… I meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical 
improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the 
latter have done their job. The turning point of the story was supposed to be when the pigs kept 
the milk and apples for themselves… if the other animals had the sense to put their foot down, it 
would have been all right.’ (Pearce, 3).” Orwell hoped to demonstrate that the main source of 
failure in both the Russian revolution and the insurrection in Animal Farm is the unfortunate rise 
of a controlling group.
	However, the total dictatorship of Napoleon does not come without minor resistance from 
several of the other animals. Snowball, a fellow pig, begins to challenge Napoleon’s rule by 
questioning his decisions and introducing alternate plans. “Snowball and Napoleon… disagreed 
at every point where disagreement was possible…. Each had his own following, and there were 
some violent debates. At the Meetings Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant 
speeches, but Napoleon was better at canvassing support for himself in between times (Orwell, 
63).” Snowball continues to challenge Napoleon’s rule until a climatic event occurs. “Napoleon 
stood up and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball, uttered a high-pitched whimper of a 
kind no one had ever heard him utter before…. Nine enormous dogs… came bounding into the 
barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape 
their snapping jaws. In a moment he was out of the door… and, with a few inches to spare, 
slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more (Orwell, 68).” Napoleons brutal 
banishment of his rival from Animal Farm is startlingly similar to Stalin’s ordeal with Leon 
Trotsky. “Following a power struggle with Joseph Stalin in the 1920s, Trotsky was expelled 
from the Communist Party and deported from the Soviet Union. He was eventually assassinated 
in Mexico by Ramon Mercader, a Soviet agent, with an ice axe (“Leon Trotsky”).” Both of these 
dictators overcame the obstacle of mutiny through exertion of shear military force.
	Unfortunately, the socialist dream of Animal Farm comes to an eventual end with the 
total reinstatement of a fascist government. “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they 
were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures 
outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it 
was impossible to say which was which (Orwell, 139).” The total transformation of the pigs from 
equal comrades to full-blown ruling class signals the demise of the hopeful revolution. Orwell 
leaves the reader with the wish of a better ending for the citizens of Russia. 
	Orwell’s Animal Farm vividly conveys the message of how important a revolution is to 
the oppressed, and how easily it can go awry. His clear testimony attests to the failures in Soviet 
Russia and the negative impact communism has upon the struggling working class. Animal Farm 
parallels the growing dominance of Soviet Russia in many ways in order to reinforce the idea 
that the hope for the future lies with the common people.	
 
 
 
 
Gibson 4