Mohamed Amine Haddaji

UK Novel Class

Pr. Khaoula Zitouni

December 29th, 2017

Animal Farm’s Allegorical and Fable Dimensions

“The political allegory of Animal Farm is present through satirical

representation of certain political leaders in order to criticize political actuality at that

period of time. And critics failed in interpreting the novella by classifying it as a fable.” By

this, Jeffery Mayers argues that Animal Farm is seen as a political allegory par excellence,

rather than a simple beast fable. In light of Mayers’ quote, the following essay purports to

show the allegorical dimension of Animal Farm as well as the fable dimension through a

sound analysis of both characterization and the plot action.

Animal Farm could be read as a political allegory of Bolshevik Russia during the

first half of the 20th century. Characterization, for instance, plays a major role in shaping

Animal Farm’s allegorical dimension. In Chapter 2, Orwell introduces the reader to two

prominent characters among the animals of Manor Farm which are: Napoleon and Snowball.

Both of them are described simultaneously in order to accentuate the difference of their

personalities which is the main reason behind their conflict later on in the coming chapters.

As their names might suggest, Napoleon, the “large” and “fierce looking” boar, alludes to

the idea of despotism and tyranny embodied in the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the

leader who turned Revolutionary France into an Empire making himself an Emperor instead

of ending the monarchy and establishing a republic. He “killed” the spirit of the French

Revolution and in the novel, Napoleon, the boar, will do the same as Bonaparte did and abort
the “Rebellion” by which the animals wish to build a utopian society. Snowball represents a

real threat to his ambition of rising to power. In the novel, the two are always shown in

constant disagreement when it comes to farm policy. He tries by all means to get rid of his

rival and indeed, he succeeds by expelling him from the farm for once and all. Furthermore,

Napoleon leads with an iron fist which abuses his fellows. He begins by raising several

ferocious dogs to aid him enforce the rules and frighten the animals. He exhausts them with

work such as assigning them to build the windmill twice under miserable conditions without

receiving enough or taking a rest. On the other hand, the name of Snowball, the “eloquent”

pig, alludes to the English idiomatic expression “a snowball’s chance in Hell”, which means

the white boar will not last long in the farm and will be expelled as soon as “the snowball

melts”. Snowball possesses all the features of an excellent leader. He is “vivacious”,

“clever”, and a “brilliant talker.” He is intellectually “superior” to the rest of the animals

including Napoleon. He appears to be as a caring patriot when it comes to animals’ interests.

In fact, Snowball divides the different animal species into small committees according to their

intellectual abilities in order to make the task of learning easy for them. Every time he tries

his best to explain to them various difficult concepts by using simple words and sentence

structures. For example, he substitutes the first two commandments into “one maxim namely:

‘Four legs good, two legs bad’” in order to make it easier for his comrades to remember. He,

also, suggests the Windmill Project that would provide electricity for the farm. Since Animal

Farm could be seen as political allegory of Bolshevik Russia, the two characters mentioned

above are representations of political figures in Russian history. The “charismatic” Napoleon

could be interpreted as the representation of the Soviet leader and Dictator Joseph Stalin. He

is not much of a talker; yet, he has “a reputation for getting his own way.” In broad terms,

Napoleon embodies Stalin’s malice and wickedness when it comes to politics. As the plot

develops, the reader soon notices the gradual transformation of Animal Farm into a dystopian
world characterized by Napoleon’s violations of the seven commandments for which the

animals revolt against their former abusive master Mr Jones who represents the careless Tsar

Nicolas II. Just like Napoleon smashes the infant democracy rising in the farm, Stalin

destroyed the spirit of Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 by establishing a totalitarian regime

where he tightened control over his people, press and political life. In his Testament, Lenin

describes Comrade Stalin as “having unlimited authority in his hands and [Lenin] is not sure

whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution.” However,

Snowball represents a parodic version of the Red Army leader Leon Trotsky. The latter cared

about Russians and was loved by them and well-respected by the Communist Party members.

Both Snowball and Trotsky’s skills at wars could be manifested in the victory at the beginning

of the novel when the former leads the animals to fight against the humans in the “Cowshed

Battle”, while the latter, as the leader of the Red Army, won the Russian Civil War against

the Whites, who were in favour for the Tsar, in 1922. Trotsky, like Snowball, was

characterized by his genius, intelligence, and eloquence. This idea is better summarized in

Moisei Uritsky’s saying: “... one feels that however intelligent Lenin may be he begins to fade

beside the genius of Trotsky.”

Just like political allegorization is present in characterization, it is also present at

the level of plot. The novella reflects various events in history of Bolshevik Revolution and its

outcomes in a rather schematic fashion. That is to say, the events in the novel represent the

real historical events that took place before and after the Bolshevik Revolution but without

respecting their chronological order. The rebellion, for example, of the animals against Mr

Jones could be read in terms of the Bolshevik Revolution that occurred in 1917. It ended with

the Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication from the throne. Mr Jones remains alive but expelled from

his farm. Poor and desperate, he makes the pub his new home where he is always drunk,

whereas, in reality, Nicholas II was executed with his family members by firing squad on the
17th of July, 1918. Also, the Battle of Cowshed, which lasts for a day and ends with the

victory of the animals led by Snowball, alludes to the Civil War that took place soon after the

Bolshevik Revolution and lasted for nearly five years and ended with the victory of the

Bolsheviks against the Whites. Later on as the pigs oppress the animals to work and produce

more, the spirit of Animalism, which represents Communism established in USSR, slowly

disappears. The animals become no more equal as Animalism advocates. Those who refuse,

like the three hens and the four pigs, are declared enemies of the state, and they deserve to be

brutally executed. The hens’ rebellion alludes to the suppression of the Kulaks in Ukraine as

well as to the Purges in the whole of USSR in which about 20 million people died by 1936.

The novella ends inconclusively on a cynical note with the scene in which the pigs and men

are playing cards in the farmhouse, while the other animals are peeping through the window

“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.” This meeting of the pigs with men symbolizes the

Teheran Conference of 1945 in which Stalin met the British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill and the US President F.D. Roosevelt. By showing the utter ethical failure of the

revolution and the dichotomy between the principles and practical implications of

Communism, Orwell, however, does not satirizes proletarian revolution or Marxist

philosophy. He rather satirizes the leaders who put these theories into practice in the wrong

way which only serves their own interests.

Even though Animal Farm could be read as a political allegory of Bolshevik

Russia, it could also be seen as a beast fable dedicated for both adult and young readers. The

fable dimension can be traced at both characterization and plot levels. As one knows, fables

are based on bestial characters that embody human features. Orwell extends the concept of

anthropomorphism by having some of his characters become more and more human.

Napoleon, the “malicious” boar, has his own agenda that helps him to seize control over the
farm. At the beginning, Napoleon works hand in hand with his future rival Snowball and the

rest of the animals in order to succeed “the Rebellion” against their abusive and cruel master

Mr Jones and take back the farm for themselves. Later on, the thirst for power and control

guides Napoleon blindly; he becomes much worse than his predecessor Mr Jones. He gets rid

of Snowball to clear the way for him to rise to leadership and not only that, but also he

manipulates the seven commandments with the help of Squealer to serve his own interests.

Moreover, he exhausts the animals by the work and deprives food from them and prevents

them from taking rest. A new dictatorship is established, which is manmade. The reader

learns from him that absolute power leads to absolute evil. Squealer, on the other hand, is seen

for a moment as just like any other pig of the farm. He is portrayed in a caricature way that

pushes the reader to laugh. He is “small” and “fat.” He has “very round cheeks, twinkling

eyes, and nimble movements.” He loves food as he enjoys eating his favourite meal, like

humans, which is “milk and apples.” Yet, this typical porker proves to be a fascinating

creature. For instance, he possesses a magnificent gift for persuasion which only characterizes

human beings. His eloquence, rhetoric skills and malicious strategies of persuasion are

highlighted in a very telling metaphor: “he could turn black into white.” He misuses this gift

by continuously manipulating language as he manages almost effortlessly to transform

anything to its utter opposite to further “brainwash” the animals and make them willingly

accept their miserable conditions. Squealer is Napoleon’s right-hand assistant by which the

latter implements his political agenda. An instance where young readers laugh and enjoy this

kind of event is that during the Cowshed Battle when all animals are supposed to fight against

the humans, Squealer “had unaccountably been absent during the fighting.” And this is a

cowardly act that the reader does not expect from qualified leaders like the pigs to commit.

Just like in characterization, the conventions of the fable could also be traced at

the level of plot. Fables are meant to have a moral and the moral of Animal Farm is that all
revolutions fail in the end. Orwell could have written a long essay expressing such ideas but it

is doubtful that many people would now be reading it. The success of Animal Farm as a beast

fable is manifested in the fact that its events convey a universal message as how a group of

animals’ hopes and dreams are shuttered because of tyranny and oppression. Such actions

should not be tolerated. Furthermore, as the narrative unfolds, the reader discovers that the

novel is based on binarism. The binary sets used such as (Human vs. Animals), (Master vs.

Follower), (Evil vs. Good) and (Dystopia vs. Utopia) would dramatize the upheavals between

these opposite powers in the coming chapters. The animals of Manor Farm rebel against their

oppressive master Mr Jones in an attempt to establish their utopian state; however, their

dream turns into a nightmare, as the farm turns into a dystopian mini-world where Napoleon

is the new dictator. The reader may sympathize with the innocent victims executed by

Napoleon. For example, “the three hens... now came forward and stated that Snowball had

appeared to them in a dream... They, too, were slaughtered.” At the close of novel, the

animals are in the same position they have been in with Mr Jones if not worse. The moral here

is that after a change of government, the poor will still be the oppressed working-class.

Animal Farm teaches the lesson that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Because of its

universality, Animal Farm carries implication for every culture and time. It warns of the

dangers of totalitarianism and tyranny as George Orwell sends a far cry for freedom and

invites the reader to refuse any type of oppression under any circumstance.

To sum up, Animal Farm could be read as both a political allegory of Bolshevik

Russia and a fable. Certain literary components mainly characterization and plot action serve

to enhance this idea. Whether Orwell’s novella is seen as a political allegory or a fable, the

writer succeeded to leave his mark in the British literature history. Through his work he

conveys a powerful cry against tyranny and oppression; and calls for a political system under

which democratic values and individual freedoms are guaranteed and protected.
Works Cited:

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York, NY Knopf Books, 1945.

Trotsky, Leon. “On Lenin’s Testament.” 1932.

‌Uritsky, Moisei. Speech in front of the Bolshevik leaders after the Bolshevik

Revolution in 1917