Characters, items, and events found in George Orwells book, Animal Farm, can be
compared to similar characters, items, and events found in Marxism and the 1917 Russian
Revolution. This comparison will be shown by using the symbolism that is in the book
with similarities found in the Russian Revolution.
Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer Jones. The fact that Old
Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical change and revolution are, themselves,
boring in the eyes of the proletariat (represented by the other barnyard animals), who are
more prone to worrying about work and survival in their everyday life. Old Major gave
many speeches to the farm animals about hope and the future. He is the main animal who
got the rebellion started even though he died before it actually began. Old Major’s role
compares to Lenin and Marx whose ideas were to lead to the communist revolution.
Animal Farm is a criticism of Karl Marx, as well as a novel perpetuating his convictions of
democratic Socialism. (Zwerdling, 20). Lenin became leader and teacher of the working
class in Russia, and their determination to struggle against capitalism. Like Old Major,
Lenin and Marx wrote essays and gave speeches to the working class poor. The working
class in Russia, as compared with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, were a laboring
class of people that received low wages for their work. Like the animals in the farm yard,
the people is Russia thought there would be no oppression in a new society because the
working class people (or animals) would own all the riches and hold all the power.
Another character represented in the book is Farmer Jones. He represents the symbol of
the Czar Nicholas in Russia who treated his people like Farmer Jones treated his animals. The
animal rebellion on the farm was started because Farmer Jones was a drunk who never took care
...