Animal Farm... connections

Animal Farm started out with Manor Farm, a peaceful working farm owned and run by Mr. Jones. The main animals on the farm are: Old Major, Napoleon, Snowball, Squealer (the pigs,) Boxer and Clover (work horses,) Mollie (a silly mare,) Muriel (a goat,) Benjamin (a donkey,) Moses (a sneaky raven.) The animals revolted against Mr. Jones because of the persuasive words of Old Major. Old Major died, and the pigs took it upon their responsibility to take control. Snowball and Napoleon in particular stepped up as leaders. However, they disagreed on everything. Napoleon kept sneaking around, keeping secrets, and seemed to be up to no good. Up to this point, the animals were fairly considered equal, besides being under command of the pigs. There was talk going around about building a windmill. Snowball initiated the idea, while Napoleon strongly opposed it. When the animals were going to vote with Snowball in favor of building the windmill, Napoleon called out puppies he had raised in secret to attack Snowball. Fearing his life, he ran away, barely escaping. Later on, Napoleon decides to build the windmill, and claims that the plans were all of his, and were stolen by Snowball. Boxer, who is slaving away on the windmill (waking up early, working during the night) recieves no compensation or rewards for his devout loyalty. Although the pigs do not usually do any physical labor, the pigs received special treatment. They slept in the farmhouse on beds, sat on raised platforms during meeting, and slept in, to name a few. Although many of these privileges were against the original commandments, Squealer was able to convince all the animals that it was all in their heads. Along with Squealer's persuasive speeches, the vicious growling dogs helped the animals decision to keep quiet.

The story ties into history in several aspects. First, the farm was like communism. Everybody started out relatively equal, but soon, the elite leaders received subtle advantages. For example, the animals started out having the right to vote. Later on, Napoleon and his committee of piggies make all the decisions. Although in communism, everything is supposed to be equal, only the leaders make important decisions. The vicious dogs are like the Cheka. They were a secret group that kept the pigs and the communist leaders in power. Napoleon, like Stalin, is trying to purge anybody who might come to power. Napoleon got rid of Snowball like Stalin got rid of Trotsky. Animal Farm is also similar to fascism. In fascism, the government completely controls civilians' lives. In Animal Farm, the pigs assign each animal jobs and a strict schedule every week. Animal Farm is also like the situation in France before the French Revolution. The nationalistic revolters took pride in their revolutionary actions, and The Marseillaise was their "pump up" song. The animals sing Beasts of England to get themselves excited about the Animal Farm, and encourage them to be nationalistic.

Orwell's motivation was to get his beliefs about the government out without using actual names. Had he used real names, he would have been strictly reprimanded. Orwell is venting about the situation, and to us it's obvious he is telling the story of the government.