1

The Contextual Piece

Debating on Things That Do Not Matter Much (or Do They?)

Characters:

● Snowball: Snowball’s character serves as an allegory of Leon Trotsky. Trotsky rooted his

political beliefs in Lenin-Marxism, an extreme view of authoritarian communism.

Trotsky developed his own school of thought named “Trotskyism” which focuses on

Marxism economics, however, significantly less authoritarian. After critiquing the state

of the Soviet Union and workers’ rights under Stalin’s reign, Trotsky was exiled. George

Orwell, parallels Trotsky’s integrity in Animal Farm. Orwell writes Snowball as a witty

and intelligent pig who educates the farm on ‘Animalism’ (Marxism). Snowball is

criticized by Orwell in the novel by using Napoleon (Stalin) as a scapegoat of the

wrongdoings of the farm (Soviet Union).1 Orwell, a major opponent of the Soviet Union

(and frankly anything totalitarian), is often debated as to whether he is a sympathizer of

Trotskyism or a democratic socialist.

● Napoleon: Napoleon’s character serves as the tyrant ruler of the Soviet Union, Joseph

Stalin. Stalin came to power after the death of Vladmir Lenin. His diabolical power saw

the death of millions in the Soviet Union (and beyond). An example of this would be the

famines through the eastern Soviet Union which Stalin purposely neglected. Stalin rooted

his political beliefs in Lenin-Marxism, however, increased the authoritarian power of the

government, establishing “Stalinism”. It is debated to be one of the most totalitarian

based governments and could be compared to Nazism (authoritarian government rooted

1
“Snowball in Animal Farm.” 2023. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3fcxsg/revision/4
 2

in facism) . Napoleon (Stalin) is written to be viscous, threatening, and hypocritical by

Orwell.2

● Moderator: Our moderator is a textbook definition of a “Gen-Zer”. She is witty and has

a crude sense of humor. She invites Napoleon and Snowball to debate in hopes to expose

not only each other's hypocrisy. Yet, their own through pop culture references (that do not

really matter that much). She bullies her friends that call themselves a ‘Lenin-Marxist’ or

who say that Ronald Reagan was a ‘good guy’. (She hates anything authoritarian because

she doesn't like being told what to do, duh). However, she will be writing Bernie Sanders

in for the next election in full faith. Maybe…she is not really much of a ‘moderate’ that is

needed in this debate. Though, who really is a ‘moderate’??

Setting: Round table in a dark room, Fiji spring water bottles on the mahogany table. It is
intense!!

Note: This is a work of fiction. In good Orwellian fashion, each character is a metaphor for the
respected historical figure. Also, they embody modern tropes to relay that questions/issues in the
past are still prominent today.

2
“Snowball in Animal Farm.” 2023. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3fcxsg/revision/3
 3

Act 1

Moderator: Hey, my people! What is up?! We are here with Napoleon (not Bonaparte) and

Snowball. Thank goodness I don’t eat red meat because this would be really awkward.

Snowball: Seriously? We are people.

Napoleon: Does she not know that we aren’t pigs? It is literally a metaphor.

Moderator: Ok, um, rude. Anywho, this is our series titled “Debates That Don’t Really Matter

That Much” where we bring in two notorious enemies in history and debate on things in essence,

don’t really matter that much (or do they)? Can you introduce yourselves?

Napoleon: No.

Snowball: Well, my name is Snowball. I am allegorically written as Leon Trotsky in Animal

Farm by George Orwell and-

Napoleon: Is a complete traitor.

Moderator: Well, let’s play nice. We are only on page 3.

Napoleon: Well, I just need to let the world know that I was right. I am written as a tyrant ruler

by Orwell, and that is nowhere near the case! I am DEEPLY misunderstood.

Moderator: Okay, this isn’t marriage counseling so let’s relax here.

Napoleon: I’m just confused why you are here and judging ME, one of the most powerful

figures of the 20th century from your standards of the 21st century.3

Moderator: Did you…just quote…PragerU?

Napoleon: I don’t know, check the footnotes.

3
PragerU, dir. 2023. Leo & Layla Meet Christopher Columbus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux54IJ06uHg
 4

Moderator: And…you did. Okay let’s move on. Our first topic today talks about the two

popular new movies that came out on the same day, Oppenheimer & Barbie. What movie do you

believe is better?

Act 2: What movie was better, Oppenheimer or Barbie?

Moderator: Alright comrades (Ew, did I just say that unironically, ick). What is everyone’s

opinion on Barbieheimer ? Which one was better?

Napoleon: Well, as Robert Oppenheimer was a fellow comrade, I have to support Oppenheimer.

Snowball: Obviously, someone didn’t watch the movie.

Napoleon: Why would I pay money to Universal Studios who actively suppressed their workers

and they can barely feed their families?4

Snowball: Are…you…serious right now…?

Napoleon: What is your problem?

Snowball: I mean, a lot. Are we going to forget that kulaks exist? You murdered thousands of

Ukrainians because they kept one too many pieces of hay. 5 Moderator, pull up the page where

Orwell writes this.

Moderator pats her chests to clear her throat.

Moderator: Ahem “The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over

the eggs now came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and

incited them to disobey Napoleon's orders. They, too, were slaughtered. Then a goose came

forward and confessed to having secreted six ears of corn during the last year's harvest and eaten

4
Lindahl, Chris. 2023. “Actors, Writers Strike Shuts Down Major Street Near Universal Studios.” Patch, (August).
https://patch.com/california/hollywood/actors-writers-strike-shuts-down-major-street-near-universal-studios.
5
University of Minnesota. 2023. “Holodomor.”
https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/holodomor#:~:text=The%20wealthy%20and
%20successful%20farmers,an%20integral%20part%20of%20collectivization.
 5

them in the night. Then a sheep confessed to having urinated in the drinking pool-urged to do

this, so she said, by Snowball-and two other sheep confessed to having murdered an old ram, an

especially. Devoted follower of Napoleon, by chasing him round and round a bonfire when he

was suffering from a cough. They were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confessions and

executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was

heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones.” 6

That is more violent than all the Saw movies combined jeez-louisy.

Napoleon: THEY WERE ENEMIES OF THE STATE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

Moderator: You are literally an atheist.7

Snowball: I’m just saying, you killed innocent people because they needed food, FOOD.

Napoleon mocks Snowball

Moderator: So…back on the subject…

Snowball: Well, I think Barbie was a masterpiece. The movie actively shows how women can

function in a society without men and be perfectly fine is truly inspiring. Barbie tells us that

without a patriarchal rule, women have the potential to do anything! Also, in this society, when

men were introduced back into the society, we learned that men and women can live

harmoniously without stepping on the necks of each other. No gender is greater than the other

gender.

Napoleon: Just tell me you're a capitalist already.

Snowball: I’m literally not, I believe through and through that an economy based on equality

works efficiently, I just think totalitarianism has one too many flaws. I mean, you killed innocent

6
41-42. Orwell, George. 1946. Animal Farm. https://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/orwellanimalfarm.pdf
7
Frost, Natasha. 2021. “Why Stalin Tried to Stamp Out Religion in the Soviet Union.” History Channel.
https://www.history.com/news/joseph-stalin-religion-atheism-ussr.
 6

people over food, FOOD! 8 Your political theory nearly mirrors what Hitler is, just different

economic practices. 9

Napoleon: Based on what? You can’t just make that assumption.

Moderator: Is he doubting political science theory? I wish I could be that delusional. I would

save so much money on therapy.

Snowball: Listen, I’m just saying, our state was flawed. I mean, Orwell ended his book with the

haunting quote of “All animals are created equal. But, some animals are more equal than

others.”10 You cannot tell me this wasn’t hypocritical.

Napoleon: If you want to talk about hypocrisy, I think it is funny how you loved the Barbie

movie and preached on women's equality when you actively cheated on your wife with Frida

Kahlo. That is not very ‘equal’. It sounds very Darwinistic to me, you capitalist.11

Snowball: You just made a false equivalence making your argument null. Along with the pot

calling the kettle black, you had many notorious affairs.12

Napoleon: Well, some animals are just more equal.

Moderator: And that is all she wrote! I am hungry and want some Chipotle. We will catch you

next week when we ask Chris Pine and Harry Styles: what is Lana Del Rey’s best album?

Napoleon: Ok, capitalist.

Moderator: Give it a rest for God’s sake. If you want my take, you are all the problem. First,

Mr. Fascism desperately needs to get his haircut because he looks like an 18 year old who just

8
“Trotskyism | Marxist Theory & Revolutionary Politics.” 2023. Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trotskyism.
9
Eldridge, Stephen, and André Munro. 2023. “Political spectrum | Definition, Chart, Examples, & Left Versus
Right.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-spectrum.
10
68. Orwell
11
Gotthardt, Alexxa. 2019. “Inside Frida Kahlo’s Affair with Communist Revolutionary Leon Trotsky.” Artsy.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-frida-kahlos-love-affair-communist-revolutionary-impacted-art.
12
Veliz, Leslie. 2023. “The Truth About The Women Romantically Involved With Stalin.” Grunge.
https://www.grunge.com/598225/the-truth-about-the-women-romantically-involved-with-stalin/.
 7

learned what Marxisim is. I have never met someone so out of touch. It physically pains me

every time you speak. Because of your hypocrisy and the more equal than others jargon, the

government failed. You preach equality until you have to live equally. Now, you have a fan club

of incel boys who are sympathetic towards you. But, you nearly wiped out the Ukrainian

population13. And you, Mr.Mustache, you are just as much at fault. You knew about the

corruption. But, you just ran away. I know Orwell writes you as a scapegoat. However, I see right

through it. You had a chance to end this hypocrisy. But, you fled until your eye was met with an

icepick. Ipso facto, you are all at fault. Ideal governments will always fail because human nature

of greed will always be the breaking point. I mean, you just argued for seven pages about

nothing! As Kourntey Kardashian said “Kim, there are people that are dying!”14. The blood is on

your hands because of your greed. The world will never forgive either of you for your

wrongdoings.

Silence fills across the room. The moderator sips on the lukewarm overpriced water.

Napoleon: Oh, she needs an exorcism!

13
Gavrilyuk, Paul. n.d. “Holodomor | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | College of Liberal Arts.” College of Liberal
Arts. https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/holodomor.
14
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. n.d. ““Kim there's people that are dying” – dispatches from a
distance.” Dispatches From a Distance. https://quaranteens.web.unc.edu/kim-theres-people-that-are-dying/.
 8

References

Eldridge, Stephen, and André Munro. 2023. “Political spectrum | Definition, Chart, Examples, &

Left Versus Right.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-spectrum.

Frost, Natasha. 2021. “Why Stalin Tried to Stamp Out Religion in the Soviet Union.” History

Channel. https://www.history.com/news/joseph-stalin-religion-atheism-ussr.

Gavrilyuk, Paul. n.d. “Holodomor | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | College of Liberal Arts.”

College of Liberal Arts. Accessed November 15, 2023.

https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/holodomor.

Gotthardt, Alexxa. 2019. “Inside Frida Kahlo’s Affair with Communist Revolutionary Leon

Trotsky.” Artsy.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-frida-kahlos-love-affair-communist-revolutio

nary-impacted-art.

Lindahl, Chris. 2023. “Actors, Writers Strike Shuts Down Major Street Near Universal Studios.”

Patch, (August).

https://patch.com/california/hollywood/actors-writers-strike-shuts-down-major-street-nea

r-universal-studios.

“Napoleon in Animal Farm.” 2023. BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3fcxsg/revision/3.

Orwell, George. 1946. Animal Farm.

https://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/orwellanimalfarm.pdf.

PragerU, dir. 2023. Leo & Layla Meet Christopher Columbus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux54IJ06uHg.
 9

“Snowball in Animal Farm.” 2023. BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3fcxsg/revision/4.

Snyder, Timothy. 2011. “Hitler vs. Stalin: Who Killed More? | Timothy Snyder.” The New York

Review of Books.

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/03/10/hitler-vs-stalin-who-killed-more/.

“Trotskyism | Marxist Theory & Revolutionary Politics.” 2023. Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trotskyism.

University of Minnesota. 2023. “Holodomor.”

https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/holodomor#:~:te

xt=The%20wealthy%20and%20successful%20farmers,an%20integral%20part%20of%20

collectivization.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. n.d. ““Kim there's people that are dying” –

dispatches from a distance.” Dispatches From a Distance. Accessed November 15, 2023.

https://quaranteens.web.unc.edu/kim-theres-people-that-are-dying/.

Veliz, Leslie. 2023. “The Truth About The Women Romantically Involved With Stalin.” Grunge.

https://www.grunge.com/598225/the-truth-about-the-women-romantically-involved-with-

stalin/.