Who is Joseph Stalin?
Joseph Stalin (December 21, 1879 - March 5, 1953) was the communist dictator of the Soviet Union. After the death of Vladimir Lenin, who was the leader of the Soviet Revolution that removed the Russian czar, Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union. He slowly rose through ranks with the use of deceit and back stabbing. In 1922, he made general secretary of the Communist Party, which allowed him to build a base of support. However, there was a power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin on how Russia should progress. Stalin won through his power of the KGB and exiled Trotsky, becoming the dictator of the Soviet Union. He replaced the New Economic Policy instituted by Lenin with his socialist views.
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Napoleon = Stalin?
As one of the biggest figures in the Russian Revolution, it is inevitable that Stalin has a counterpart in the famous novel Animal Farm, which is a metaphor for the Russian Revolution. George Orwell chooses to portray Stalin through a character called Napoleon. Napoleon is a dim-witted greedy pig who is a leader of the farm after the rebellion and removal of Mr Jones, the human farmer. Just like Stalin, Napoleon is a master at pulling strings behind scenes. He raises the puppies and trains them into hounds that behaves like Stalin's secret police force (the KGB) to assassinate Leo Trotsky, (Snowball), one of Stalin’s chief rivals.
Napoleon's ruthless nature is a key feature in Animal Farm. It first comes when he unleashes the dogs to attack Snowball and chases him out of the farm. The second time is when Napoleon squashes the rebellious hens by cutting off their food sources, causing numbers of starvations in the farm. At the same time, Stalin took control over the media by putting up propaganda. Its purpose was to brainwash everyone and give a better impression of his image. He used his political power to re-write Russian History, giving himself a much larger role in the Revolution of 1917. Like Stalin, Napoleon uses his attack dogs to get rid of the opposition by force, while he is in complete control of the farm. "The dogs promptly tore their throats out" (p.56) Napoleon even knocks off the hens who acts like ringleaders and the four pigs who disagrees with him. Orwell describes the scene:
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 time of Jones. (p.57)
The violence in Orwell's "Fairy Tale" is an allusion to the Great Purge (Shmoop,(n.d.), which was set up by Stalin in 1936-1938. Napoleon's methods reflects Stalin's own quite closely, for instance, some would be disappeared, some would be sent to the Gulag prison camps, and some were forced to confess crimes they had never committed. All of these extreme, cruel and brutal methods were ways for Stalin to consolidate his power, and to sustain his position. For Napoleon, he quiets dissent and manufactures his public image through Squealer and the bleating sheep. He eliminates all chance of open protest as he avoids public meetings and controls his public image very tightly. "In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public, but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near." (p.30) (see propaganda)
While Napoleon is not the most intelligent pig on the farm, his manipulation of Snowball clearly shows that he is cunning. By the end of the novel, Animal Farm is a machine that runs according to his own will.
Napoleon's ruthless nature is a key feature in Animal Farm. It first comes when he unleashes the dogs to attack Snowball and chases him out of the farm. The second time is when Napoleon squashes the rebellious hens by cutting off their food sources, causing numbers of starvations in the farm. At the same time, Stalin took control over the media by putting up propaganda. Its purpose was to brainwash everyone and give a better impression of his image. He used his political power to re-write Russian History, giving himself a much larger role in the Revolution of 1917. Like Stalin, Napoleon uses his attack dogs to get rid of the opposition by force, while he is in complete control of the farm. "The dogs promptly tore their throats out" (p.56) Napoleon even knocks off the hens who acts like ringleaders and the four pigs who disagrees with him. Orwell describes the scene:
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 time of Jones. (p.57)
The violence in Orwell's "Fairy Tale" is an allusion to the Great Purge (Shmoop,(n.d.), which was set up by Stalin in 1936-1938. Napoleon's methods reflects Stalin's own quite closely, for instance, some would be disappeared, some would be sent to the Gulag prison camps, and some were forced to confess crimes they had never committed. All of these extreme, cruel and brutal methods were ways for Stalin to consolidate his power, and to sustain his position. For Napoleon, he quiets dissent and manufactures his public image through Squealer and the bleating sheep. He eliminates all chance of open protest as he avoids public meetings and controls his public image very tightly. "In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public, but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near." (p.30) (see propaganda)
While Napoleon is not the most intelligent pig on the farm, his manipulation of Snowball clearly shows that he is cunning. By the end of the novel, Animal Farm is a machine that runs according to his own will.
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Orwell's effect
The main purpose of Animal Farm is to reflect the events leading up to and during the Stalinist era before World War 2. Animal Farm is based on the Russian Revolution of 1917, which marked the end of the reign of tsars and beginning of communism in Russian. Napoleon and the pigs in the novel are manipulative and immoral, and how human beings oppress others to reach higher places in the world.