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ANIMAL FARM: THE PIGS
They lead the Rebellion from the start and progressively take on the same power and characteristics as the human masters they helped overthrow. They represent corrupted human leaders, in particular, the Bolsheviks, who led the overthrow of the capitalist Russian government, only to become new masters in their turn.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: OLD MAJOR
Old Major is the wise old pig whose stirring speech to the animals helps set the Rebellion in motion--though he dies before it actually begins. His role compares with that of Karl Marx, whose ideas set the Communist Revolution in motion.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: NAPOLEON AND SNOWBALL
Napoleon and Snowball struggle for leadership of the Farm after Major\'s death. Snowball is an energetic, brilliant leader. He\'s the one who successfully organizes the defense of the Farm (like Trotsky with the Red Army). He\'s an eloquent speaker with original--although not necessarily beneficial--ideas (the windmill). Napoleon is a \"large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way.\" And so he does. Instead of debating with Snowball, he sets his dogs on him and continues to increase his personal power and privileges from that time on. What counts for him is power, not ideas. Note his name: think of the other Napoleon (Bonaparte) who took over the French Revolution and turned it into a personal Empire. Napoleon\'s character also suggests that of Stalin and other dictators as well.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: SQUEALER
Squealer is short, fat, twinkle-eyed and nimble, \"a brilliant talker.\" He has a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail that is somehow very persuasive. They say he can turn black into white! That\'s just what he does, again and again: every time the pigs take more wealth and power, Squealer persuades the animals that this is absolutely necessary for the well-being of all. When things are scarce, he proves that production has increased--with figures. He is also the one who makes all the changes in the Seven Commandments. In human terms he is the propaganda apparatus that spreads the \"big lie\" and makes people believe in it.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: BOXER AND CLOVER
Boxer and Clover represent the long-suffering workers and peasants of the world. Orwell presents them as being big, strong, patient, and decent--but not too bright. Boxer believes in the Rebellion and in its Leader. His two favorite sayings are \"Napoleon is always right\" and \"I will work harder.\" His huge size and strength and his untiring labor save the Farm again and again. He finally collapses from age and overwork, and is sold for glue. Clover the mare is a motherly, protective figure. She survives to experience, dimly and wordlessly, all the sadness of the failed Revolution.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: MOLLIE
Mollie, the frivolous, luxury-loving mare, contrasts with Clover. She deserts Animal Farm for sugar and ribbons at a human inn. Orwell may have been thinking of certain Russian nobles who left after the Revolution, or of a general human type.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: THE DOGS
The dogs represent the means used by a totalitarian state to terrorize its own people. Think of them as Napoleon\'s secret police.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: THE SHEEP
The stupid sheep keep bleating away any slogan the pigs teach them. You can guess who they are.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: MURIEL
Muriel the goat reads better than Clover and often reads things (such as Commandments) out loud to her.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: BENJAMIN
Gloomy Benjamin, the donkey, may remind you of Eeyore in Winnie-the-Pooh, except that unlike Eeyore he never complains about his own personal problems. He is a skeptic and a pessimist--we\'d almost say a cynic, if it weren\'t for his loyal devotion to Boxer. Like his friend, he doesn\'t talk much and patiently does his work, although--unlike Boxer--no more than is required. He\'s also unlike Boxer in that he does not believe in the Revolution, nor in anything else, except that life is hard. Whatever political question he is asked, he replies only that \"Donkeys live a long time\" and \"None of you has ever seen a dead donkey.\" He survives.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: THE PIGEONS
The pigeons spread the word of Rebellion beyond the farm, as many Communists spread the doctrine of the revolution beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: MOSES
Moses the Raven, who does no work, but tells comforting tales of the wonderful Sugarcandy Mountain where you go when you die, is a satire of organized religion. (Marx called religion, in a famous phrase, \"the opiate of the people.\") In terms of Russia, Moses represents the Orthodox Church. Watch what happens to him in the story.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: FARMER JONES
In the narrowest sense the drunken, negligent Farmer Jones represents the Czar. He also stands for any government that declines through its own corruption and mismanagement.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: PILKINGTON
Pilkington, who likes hunting and fishing more than farming, represents Orwell\'s view of the decadent British gentleman in particular--and of the Allied nations in general, especially Britain and France.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: FREDERICK
The cruel Frederick represents Germany.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: WHYMPER
Whymper is a commercial go-between for animals and humans--just as certain capitalists have always transacted business with Communist nations.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: SETTING
As its title implies, Animal Farm is set on a farm. But Orwell uses the farm to represent a universe in miniature. It sometimes seems idyllic, peaceful, fresh, spring-like. Usually moments when it is perceived in this way contrast ironically with the real situation of the animals. The setting suggests an attitude: \"this could be utopia, but...\" It does not really interest Orwell in itself. Sometimes he sketches a wintry, bleak, cold decor, a perfect backdrop for hard times. Here you could think of the setting as a metaphor--a way of representing hard times.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: THEME
Animal Farm concerns one of the central political experiences of our time: revolution.
On those relatively rare occasions when men and women have decided to change radically the system of government they were born under, there has been revolution. It has been on the rise in the last three hundred years of human history. If we want to understand the world we live in, we must try to understand the phenomenon of revolution--the how, the why, the what-happens-then. One way of doing so is to see how an imaginative writer deals with it. You can think of this as an important benefit of reading Animal Farm.
Animal Farm is also about another crucial political phenomenon of our time, one which is perhaps unique to the 20th century: the rise of the totalitarian state. Even though he\'s less concerned with totalitarianism in Animal Farm than in his novel 1984, Orwell does give us an imaginative analysis of totalitarian dictatorship in Animal Farm. So another thing we can get from this book is a feel for how a modern dictatorship works.
^^^^^^^^^^ANIMAL FARM: STYLE
The story of Animal Farm is told in a simple, straightforward style. The sentences are often short and spare, with a simple subject-verb-object structure: \"Old Major cleared his throat and began to sing.\" \"It was a bitter winter.\"
The story follows a single line of action, calmly told, with no digressions. Orwell\'s style, said one critic, has \"relentless simplicity\" and \"pathetic doggedness\" of the animals themselves. There is a kind of tension in Animal Farm between the sad story the author has to tell and the lucid, almost light way he tells it.
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