A Comparsion of George Orwell´s Animal Farm and Russia

Of the many parallels that Animal Farm holds with the realities of Russia, its leaders, and it’s successive revolution, one of the most important of those similarities are the struggles for unsurpassed power in Napoleon from Animal Farm and Joseph Stalin. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, he convinces readers to accept the failures of the farm and Russia itself. George Orwell portrays Napoleon as Joseph Stalin in Animal Farm in the sense that Napoleon tries to control the animals on the farm at every cost, much like Joseph Stalin did during the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR). The brutal living conditions of Russians during Czar Nicholas II and Stalin’s reign led them to completely lose faith in their leaders and generated multiple revolutionary events.

Based on events in history, the chief cause of the Russian Revolution the Czar’s faults in regulating the country. “Russia was being poorly mismanaged by a Czarist government, and most of the Russian people were still underpaid laborers on land owned by wealthy landlords” (2) Animal Farm Background information (Worksheet). Another aspect of the Czar’s rule that led to the overall unhappiness of citizens was the fact that the Czar took command of the army during WWI while leaving the German Czarina in charge, convincing many soldiers that the war was a conspiracy, and ultimately ending in a loss of support for the Czar’s idea of government. Another major concern of citizens was the violent reactions of the Czar towards strikes and outcries for any kind of change.

The Russian’s were wrong in having hope for a reformed government. Following the careless Czar came Lenin and Stalin, both continuing the reign of terror that the Czar had left behind. Instead of a Czarist gover...

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...n tries to control the animals on the farm at every cost, much like Joseph Stalin did during the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR). As a result of the Russian Revolution, Joseph Stalin was a selfish ruler who does everything that is possible even if his own people are in danger. In Animal Farm, George Orwell uses Napoleon to show that Joseph Stalin was a selfish leader who only cared about himself and the farm. The main cause of the Russian Revolution was, Old Major who was known as Lenin. Lenin wanted to change the way the people were living but he did make any difference, because Czarism and Communism resulted the same conflict at the end. Due to the Russian Revolution, people still suffered and they still had a hard time living. We would all be wise to consider what Orwell is trying to convince readers to accept the failures of the farm and Russia itself.