Animal Farm Essay The Russian Revolution was a period of time where the idea of communism was brought

into practice. It seemed like the ideal situation for every single one to be in. There was equality, egalitarianism and what seemed like a scenario where everyone shared everything. While this notion may seem quite noble at a first glance, it is deemed unobtainable due to the greed of human nature. It is this idea that Orwell has taken and transformed into his own satirical tale, which is also an allegory, anthropomorphizing simple farm animals, into a representation of human power and corruption. The character of Old Major represents Carl Marx, the father of communism. Just like Marx, Old Major brings the idea of a revolution into the animals mind. His speech convinces the animals to side with him on the revolution. There is great irony in this speech that Old major presents, saying And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. The instructive tone of the imperatives only heightens the irony becomes apparent at the end of the novella as the pigs do not only resemble man, but rather become man in a way. This shows the first sign of corruption of the communist ideology, as due to the pigs transformation from beginning to end, we see the idea of equality slowly crumble. The pigs are the dictators in the farm. Whilst in the beginning of the novella, they do establish themselves as the brains of the farm; they slowly turn this into an excuse for being the superior beings. During the proposal of the revolution by Old Major, he says And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies. Again there is irony as later on it is the pigs who take the milk for themselves, justifying that it was needed as they were the thinkers and was therefore benefitting the entire farm. The rhetorical question evokes a sense of wrongdoing, which is justified, and again this emphasises the extent of the changing within the pigs. The mystery of the milk, is also a sign of corruption within the communist regime as it implies that the pigs can take and not share. The transformation of the pigs is paralleled by the decay of the seven commandments, which were laid out as the foundations for the animals revolution. The seven commandments were slowly changed each chapter, until the end where the most satirical line is. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. This is a paradox and so further shows the absurdity of the communists ideas. The gradual decay of the commandments show how the revolution may start of well but will inevitably end is disaster. This parallel motion of the pigs transformation and the descent of the commandments conveys the undeniable goal of equality among humans during the Russian Revolution. The windmills downfall is a key event in showing the failure and corruption of the communist ideals. The windmills destruction shows the incompetency of the efficiency at which the animals worked under the communist regime. Only at the very end of the story, once the pigs become man, is the windmill finally finished

and this signifies the dictatorship of man being the only way of getting things done. It also shows the corruption of the communist ideals as in the end, it was only the pigs that seemed to benefit. Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer - except, of course, for the pigs. The repetition of richer shows the value of money and how that was more important to the pigs than the wellbeing of the animals themselves, and the satire of this statement show the flaws of communism. Orwells novella, Animal Farm, is an allegorical text, representing the Russian Revolution. But it is a also a major satire on the failure of communism in the long run and how due to human nature, the leaders will become corrupted and take everything for themselves. This is seen through the transformations of the pigs, from four legs to two, becoming man, something that was forbidden in the very foundations of the animals revolution. The decay of the seven commandments parallels the progress of the pigs, changing gradually until they did not resemble the first seven commandments at all, and this further showed the corruption of communism. Finally, the windmill, that represented all of the animals work, did not get built until after the pigs became like man, depicting the inefficiency of the communist regime. Thus Orwell is stating that equal, egalitarian society that communism promised, would never occur.