Chapter The Communist Allegory of Animal Farm - Study Guide by George Orwell

The Communist Allegory

Whilst acknowledging that it is a limiting interpretation, seeing the animals as representative of characters in the modern history of the Russian nation is the most obvious reading of Animal Farm. The following associations can be made:

Napoleon = Stalin or Lenin (also Napoleon Bonepart)

Snowball = Trotsky

Squealer = Party members who persuade the people of the Party’s concern for them and correct judgement

Moses = Orthodox Church

Boxer and Clover = the proletariat who support the revolution

Benjamin = the proletariat who are untouched by the revolution due to their poverty and entrenched ideas

Pigeons = Soviets who passed the message of Communism beyond the borders of the Union

Old Major = Marx

Mr Jones = Tsar Nicholas

Mr Pilkington = the louche European allies

Frederick = Germany

Whymper = Capitalists who trade with Communist states

Mollie = White Russians

Dogs = KGB or NKVD - Communist Secret Police