Animal Farm: Character Analysis
Introduction
“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation’s fables.” these words by William Feather give us an answer as to why Animal Farm has stood the test of time? It is because the morals portrayed by each character is still relevant today. George Orwell has orchestrated the book in a certain way to ensure that it is timeless. The morals, the theme, the characters will forever recur in different people, different political parties throughout history. Like Benjamin, the wise old donkey even knew that “nothing will ever change” (p. ). Orwell developed this outstanding novel when he closely observed how the USSR progressed into the terror it was. I will reveal the prominent morals of Napoleon and Old Major as I take a deeper analysis of Orwell’s famous novel. (50 sec)
Character 1
The first character, Napoleon, has been perfectly created to represent a power-orientated, corrupt leader, none other than Stalin. Throughout the novel you see Napoleon’s cravings for power and control grow greater and greater. Orwell has purposely implemented Napoleon into the fable to effectively communicate how corrupt leadership operates. Napoleon was one of the main controlling leaders of the animal farm revolution. He put down some reasonable rules and everything looked like it was a pleasing and happy life, but there was one problem; no one was in control.
Napoleon realized he had a significant advantage over all of his other comrades; his intelligence. Not long after the revolution, Napoleon was in complete control, and he would do anything to maintain the power he had obtained. He had manipulated some key characters such as Boxer, the cart-horse, to the point he would live by the false lie, “Napoleon is always right.” Through Squealer, the pigs’ misleading liar, that Napoleon used to get the animals to believe whatever was necessary to keep him holding the reins. Even the ironic statement that “ All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Even kill his fellow leader snowball.
The attributes of Napoleon reflect Stalin, as his character was based on Stalin. Just like Napoleon, Stalin was obsessed with his power. He even got Trotsky, a fellow politician in the communist party, banished and then secretly and horrifically assassinated. One of the worst attributes Napoleon was that he ruled in absolute terror. For example, an extract of the book says, “ when they finished their confessions, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess”
Why Napoleon has been a significant contributor to why this fable has endured the tough test of time is because no matter what system: democracy, communism, when left unchecked, there is always the possibility of corrupt leaders. Therefore Napoleon will always be relevant in society. Orwell explicitly communicates the failings of communism and no one will ever be equal as there will always be greedy and corrupt people. As of today, we still have a country like China that is communist but depending on your opinion, it is almost a tragic dictatorship.
Character 2
The first character that has had a major impact on the fables ability to stand the test of time is Old Major. Old Major was a fantastic thinker and clever pig. Old Major represents the courageous people to take a stand against corrupt politicians. More specifically Old Major’s character is based on Karl Marx, the man who invented communism principles.
How has this helped the book last? It is because his ideology fought for freedom from oppression. Old Major, just as Karl Marx did, indicates that there is still corruption and poor ruling throughout the world as he points out the lousy job Mr Jones was performing. As he said, “Remove man from the scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.” Just from this quote, it is relevant for those countries where the rich stay rich and the poor get even poorer. This outrageous injustice is almost every society where people get way too little for the amount of work they commit just for a small meal. This is so prominent in the sweatshops throughout East Asia. Just because of the relevance of this quote, it is a big contributor to why the book has stood the test of time.
Old Major was a key force at standing up against mankind on Manor Farm, as he planted the seed of the rebellion. He would not let this torture happen for much longer so he began with his idea of Animalism. Just like how Karl Marx invented a system where injustice would be abolished. “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing… yet he is lord of all the animals. An implication from Old Major’s speech is that we should not put up with greedy snobs that take what they want because they have put themselves in power; horrific scandals.
Old Major has been a key character to keep this book from its death cause of his relevant will to stand up against corrupt leaders of the world which we still have today.
Conclusion
Is it not clear why this novel has crossed its way through time. It’s because of the relatability of the characters and what they stand against. As the fable will never be irrelevant like benjamin the donkey says that thing never changes. Thank you for taking your time to listen to this report.
