Themes
Abuse of Power, Language and Ideas
In both the book and the actual event, George Orwell's central idea is about the abuse of power and rights. As one of the pigs who has a large influence over the farm, Napoleon abused his own power and put it into the wrong use. He used his power to command the animals to work for his own benefit, rather than the whole group. Later on, Napoleon twisted the system of power from a communism to a dictatorship, taking away the pig's power. He exiled Snowball using his power of the dogs. In the same case, Stalin, as the general of the Soviet Union, used his power to exile Trotsky from Russia, and spread many hideous rumors about him.
The novel also evolves around the abuse of ideas. First, Napoleon abused the ideas of Snowball, from his idea of spreading the words of a rebellion to the idea of a windmill. Then, through out the story, Napoleon changed Old Major's Seven Commandments to his own liking, and gradually changed Old Major's vision of an "Utopia". If any other animals at the time would have rebelled, it would seem like they went against Old Major's teachings. Napoleon used that as an advantage to make the animals agree with what he is doing, claiming it to be Old Major's ideas.
The abuse of language happened through out the story, at the same time. When Squealer changed the Seven Commandments: "All animals are Equal, but some are more equal than others." The pigs changed the definition of equality, resulting in giving more "equality" to the pigs.
Naive workers and the Abuse of Rights
In the novel, we have the loving and hard working animals like Boxer, who was loyal to Napoleon to the end, but got nothing in return except a trip to knacker's. The novel demonstrates how the workers were treated and still treated today. The naive animals, who worked days and nights, only to be deceived by Squealer and his lies. They believed anything they were told, because they were isolated from the rest of the world. Napoleon used the foolishness of the animals as an advantage, because they depended on the pigs for the well-being of the farm. Same thing happened in Russia during Stalin's rule, the hardworking farmers and workers starved while Stalin and the Bolsheviks feasted.
Abuse of Religion
The character Moses in the story is an annoying crow who claims that there is a Sugar Candy Mountain, and spreads many dreamy and fictitious ideas into the farm. The pigs were strongly against the idea. They persuaded any animals who believed in the idea, fearing that the animals may lack in their work. The pigs controlled the idea of the Sugar Candy mountain in order to maintain their power over the farm. Much like in the real world, when the Catholic Church spreads their ideas and beliefs into Russia. The Soviet Union believed that Catholicism is linked to the West, and it is an attempt made by the West in order to spread their religion into Russia. In Romania in 1949, all Catholic bishops were arrested within the territory, along with priests and congregations. With less influence from the Western world, the act gave more control over Russia to Stalin.
The character Moses in the story is an annoying crow who claims that there is a Sugar Candy Mountain, and spreads many dreamy and fictitious ideas into the farm. The pigs were strongly against the idea. They persuaded any animals who believed in the idea, fearing that the animals may lack in their work. The pigs controlled the idea of the Sugar Candy mountain in order to maintain their power over the farm. Much like in the real world, when the Catholic Church spreads their ideas and beliefs into Russia. The Soviet Union believed that Catholicism is linked to the West, and it is an attempt made by the West in order to spread their religion into Russia. In Romania in 1949, all Catholic bishops were arrested within the territory, along with priests and congregations. With less influence from the Western world, the act gave more control over Russia to Stalin.
Motifs
Continuous Betrayal of Principals
Napoleon and the pigs are constantly betraying the ideals set out in the Seven Commandments and in Old Major's speech. It is a constant theme throughout the book - they alter each of the Seven Commandments until they end up just getting rid of them completely and have the sentence "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" instead, and they take all the profit of the animals' labours for themselves, which completely goes against the ideal Old Major spoke of of achieving a society in which all the animals are treated equally. They even sell Boxer, a loyal hardworking citizen who hopes to retire, to be boiled down into glue. This is a parallel to the Soviet Union, where Stalin and the Bolsheviks undermined the principals they claimed to follow at the beginning of their rule. They claimed to be socialist/capitalist, when they were really communist! And they completely forgot about Marxism and all that, betraying the very people they claimed to be helping!
Continuous Denial of Betrayal
In Animal Farm, not only was Napoleon betraying the ideals he set out in the first place, but he was covering it up. None of the animals knew (besides Napoleon and his pigs, of course). And if they did have a clue, he murdered them, in a public trial, no less! This covering-up is happening constantly; it starts out with the pigs getting all the apples and the milk, but soon Napoleon is changing the Commandments at night, literally rewriting history so that Snowball is a traitor, and turning himself into this glorious hero. And also, the public trials - he has animals come forward and confess to crimes they never committed, and then have their throats torn out by his guard dogs. And Squealer's there all the time to rationalize everything so that Napoleon is the good guy, and that they have a much better life than they ever did when they were under human control. In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin had the same idea. He had his ministry of propaganda rewriting history for him, he had pictures painted of him with adoring children looking on, and he held mock public trials where people he didn't like were forced to confess to crimes they never committed, and then killed (sound familiar?). So overall, in both Animal Farm and in real history in the Soviet Union, there was a continuous denial and covering-up of the betrayal of the principals that the leaders set out to follow at the beginning.
In Animal Farm, not only was Napoleon betraying the ideals he set out in the first place, but he was covering it up. None of the animals knew (besides Napoleon and his pigs, of course). And if they did have a clue, he murdered them, in a public trial, no less! This covering-up is happening constantly; it starts out with the pigs getting all the apples and the milk, but soon Napoleon is changing the Commandments at night, literally rewriting history so that Snowball is a traitor, and turning himself into this glorious hero. And also, the public trials - he has animals come forward and confess to crimes they never committed, and then have their throats torn out by his guard dogs. And Squealer's there all the time to rationalize everything so that Napoleon is the good guy, and that they have a much better life than they ever did when they were under human control. In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin had the same idea. He had his ministry of propaganda rewriting history for him, he had pictures painted of him with adoring children looking on, and he held mock public trials where people he didn't like were forced to confess to crimes they never committed, and then killed (sound familiar?). So overall, in both Animal Farm and in real history in the Soviet Union, there was a continuous denial and covering-up of the betrayal of the principals that the leaders set out to follow at the beginning.
The Tyranny Of Those In Power
Animal Farm starts out with Mr. Jones in power. Mr. Jones is a horrible owner and leader; he spends all his time drinking while there's a shortage of food for the animals on Manor Farm. Then the animals rebel, and they think they're going to make an amazing new society where all animals are equal and treated fairly. Well, turns out they thought wrong. Napoleon and his pigs take over, and they are just as bad as Mr. Jones and the humans were. Not at first of course, but bit by bit, they get worse and worse until the end of the book, where they have a meeting with the humans, and guess what? "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." The book ends with that sentence. Animal Farm shows the corruption of those in power, and the endless cycle of someone coming along and thinking "I could do a better job at leading this country than that person", overthrowing the government, and then ending up just as bad as the previous leader. The theme goes along with real history. In the Soviet Union, the citizens overthrow the tsar, who was doing a really bad job at leading Russia, and then Stalin comes along and takes over, and they get another horrible leader who's just as bad as the one they had before (though, you know, in different ways).
Animal Farm starts out with Mr. Jones in power. Mr. Jones is a horrible owner and leader; he spends all his time drinking while there's a shortage of food for the animals on Manor Farm. Then the animals rebel, and they think they're going to make an amazing new society where all animals are equal and treated fairly. Well, turns out they thought wrong. Napoleon and his pigs take over, and they are just as bad as Mr. Jones and the humans were. Not at first of course, but bit by bit, they get worse and worse until the end of the book, where they have a meeting with the humans, and guess what? "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." The book ends with that sentence. Animal Farm shows the corruption of those in power, and the endless cycle of someone coming along and thinking "I could do a better job at leading this country than that person", overthrowing the government, and then ending up just as bad as the previous leader. The theme goes along with real history. In the Soviet Union, the citizens overthrow the tsar, who was doing a really bad job at leading Russia, and then Stalin comes along and takes over, and they get another horrible leader who's just as bad as the one they had before (though, you know, in different ways).
Symbols
Animal Farm
A pretty well known symbol is the comparison between Animal farm and the Soviet Union during Stalin's rule. In general, Animal Farm represent humanity and the society. In our society, there is the government who makes our decisions that may or may not leads to the well being of the citizens. The pigs in the farm represented the government in Animal Farm, Being the most intelligent animal in the farm, the pigs was the central government, the ones who made the decisions. In the Soviet Union, they had the lower class workers, who works for the benefit of the others without being appreciated. They're represented by the animals in the book, they worked day and night for benefit of the farm and get very little reward in return for their hard work. The dogs represents the police in the real world. They act among the government's command and bring "justice" into our lives. The dogs bought "justice" into the farm by exile Snowball from the farm, slaughtering the "traitors".
The Seven Commandments - Manipulation, Group work, and Equality
The Seven Commandments is very symbolic and represents many things:
Manipulation- Through out the story, Squealer and Napoleon continued to change the commandments for their selfish interests. The law that the animals must live by forever was manipulated by the pigs. The change of the Seven Commandments, led to the manipulation of the animals. As the Seven Commandments changed, the animals began to notice. Squealer acted upon that and told lies to the animals into thinking that the Seven Commandments never changed, and it is only their bad memories. In the end, the commandments were completely changed and it really shows how well the pigs manipulated the animals with no effort. So in this case the Seven Commandments presents manipulation.
Group work- The Seven Commandments were made by Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer in the beginning of the novel after the rebellion against the Jones. The commandments were the result of 3 months of studying Animalism, and fruit of the group work by the pigs before the division between Snowball and Napoleon. It really shows what teamwork can create.
Equality- When the Seven Commandments changed at the very end, "All animals are equal, some are more equal than others". It represents the difference between the working animals and the pigs, and the equality between them.
The Seven Commandments is very symbolic and represents many things:
Manipulation- Through out the story, Squealer and Napoleon continued to change the commandments for their selfish interests. The law that the animals must live by forever was manipulated by the pigs. The change of the Seven Commandments, led to the manipulation of the animals. As the Seven Commandments changed, the animals began to notice. Squealer acted upon that and told lies to the animals into thinking that the Seven Commandments never changed, and it is only their bad memories. In the end, the commandments were completely changed and it really shows how well the pigs manipulated the animals with no effort. So in this case the Seven Commandments presents manipulation.
Group work- The Seven Commandments were made by Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer in the beginning of the novel after the rebellion against the Jones. The commandments were the result of 3 months of studying Animalism, and fruit of the group work by the pigs before the division between Snowball and Napoleon. It really shows what teamwork can create.
Equality- When the Seven Commandments changed at the very end, "All animals are equal, some are more equal than others". It represents the difference between the working animals and the pigs, and the equality between them.
The Windmill
Much like the Seven Commandments, the windmill also symbolizes manipulation. When the idea of a windmill was suggested by Snowball, after the dogs chased him out of the farm. Napoleon manipulated the animals, telling them that it was he who suggested the idea of the windmill in the first place. Later on, the pigs manipulated the animals to do more and more work, giving them less and less food. While the pigs are doing very little work, the animals were being manipulated to build the windmill twice. After the first destruction of the windmill, Napoleon blamed it all on Snowball. He changed the animal's perspective of Snowball and changed their memories of Snowball's bravery. So then the windmill symbolizes manipulation within the farm.
Much like the Seven Commandments, the windmill also symbolizes manipulation. When the idea of a windmill was suggested by Snowball, after the dogs chased him out of the farm. Napoleon manipulated the animals, telling them that it was he who suggested the idea of the windmill in the first place. Later on, the pigs manipulated the animals to do more and more work, giving them less and less food. While the pigs are doing very little work, the animals were being manipulated to build the windmill twice. After the first destruction of the windmill, Napoleon blamed it all on Snowball. He changed the animal's perspective of Snowball and changed their memories of Snowball's bravery. So then the windmill symbolizes manipulation within the farm.