Animal Farm: “All Animals are Equal, but Some are More Equal Than Others”
Those in a position of power are also in a position to manipulate. Throughout history, many idealistic political philosophies have suffered upheaval because of leaders who misuse their power. However, the most powerful thing at one’s disposal is language. One of the world’s most persuasive leaders, Joseph Stalin, often used his words and his control of the media to manipulate his followers and defeat contenders to his political position. Napoleon, the self-appointed leader in George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory to this powerful man. Stalin and Napoleon are very similar in character and each of their reigns as a dictator show how the abuse of language plays instrument to the abuse of power.
Stalin maintained total control over the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953. He was a powerful dictator who held all of his constituents under the control of his personal motives. When he first rose to power, he was viewed as a hero to save them from the political turmoil that the Romanov dynasty had created. He improved the agricultural output and promoted Communism, which in its purist, Marxist form would create cooperation and equality nationwide. However, Stalin began to contort the original Communist principles and it soon became clear that he was a tyrannical dictator.
In the early days of his political influence, after Czar Nicholas Romanov II and the monarchy were overthrown, Stalin worked in the lowly position of General Secretary of the Communist Party (www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml). After Lenin’s death, Stalin claimed to be the political heir. He worked with Leon Trotsky who was the real successor. He imposed collectivization on farmers to improve Russia’s agricultural output (www.cnn.com/specials/cold.war/kbank/profiles/stalin/). Soon after Stalin’s assumption of power, he outmaneuvered all obstacles at any cost to gain total control over the Soviet Union.
As he gained more influence, Stalin became increasingly tyrannical. He began to denounce his political partner, Trotsky, calling him a “deviationist” and eventually exiled and murdered him. Stalin had a force of KBG “secret police” who reported any infidelity to Stalin. Those suspected of disloyalty were arrested, tortured and killed. Over 1.2 million people in the Communist Party were suspected of association with Germany and Hitler. Stalin had all of them arrested and 600,000 were tortured and murdered. In addition to this, his strict collectivization policy forced 25 million people to become farmers and 14.5 million of them were killed when they did not meet quota. It is estimated that due to Stalin’s cruel and unyielding policies, the Soviet Union’s agricultural productivity was reduced by twenty-five percent (www.cnn.com/specials/cold.war/kbank/profiles/stalin/). He also ordered the Berlin Wall to be constructed in order to keep outside political ideas from reaching his country. The project isolated the Soviet Union. When his constituents realized the full extent of Stalin’s autocracy, Stalin tightened his grip on mass media and information in order to keep the people from speaking out or rebelling.
The Berlin Wall was built in order to prevent Hitler’s anti-communist message from reaching the Soviet Union. Stalin, as a dictator, had control over all mass media and banned all books and newspapers that did not promote communism. Underground newspapers began to circulate calling for upheaval of Stalin’s rule. These works known as “samizdat” were tracked down and destroyed along with those who created or read them (Telesin, Julius). Stalin’s extreme censorship was a way to disguise the fact that his political motives differentiated from Marx’s original vision of Communism. What Marx had wanted to be a system of prosperity and equality, Stalin had turned into a cruel monocracy. Orwell’s character Napoleon in Animal Farm is an allegory and a political satire of Stalin.
The fact that Napoleon is a pig is a great satirical statement in itself. However, there are many comparable events and qualities between Napoleon and Stalin. When Napoleon led the uprising against and defeated Mr. Jones, he, along with his partner Snowball, became celebrated heroes. When human rule was abolished, he instated Old Major’s “Animalism” (comparable to Communism). He promised great prosperity, and the end of whips and overlord cruelty. On the first harvest, all of the animals worked together and the task was completed in a short time and all were rewarded with large food rations. The pigs became the leaders and painted the “Seven Commandments” of Animalism on the wall of the barn:
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend
3. No animals shall wear clothes
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal. (Orwell 24)
The pigs decided that they were the cleverest of all the animals and assumed a position of power. Soon, Napoleon along with Squealer, a very persuasive speaker, began to denounce Snowball, eventually exiling him, and Napoleon became the dictator of Animal Farm.
In the beginning, Napoleon’s rule was welcomed as a much needed change. Napoleon begins to develop ulterior motives and contorts the original rules of Animalism. He becomes a cruel, merciless dictator like Stalin. When a new litter of puppies are born, Napoleon claims them and raises them to be his guard dogs. These six dogs function as secret police, informing Napoleon of infidelity and murdering suspected animals. When Napoleon blamed the stolen food that he had kept for himself on Snowball, four pigs protested. They said that Snowball had been a hero and helped them win the battle against Mr. Jones. Napoleon became outraged and his force of dogs murdered the ones that spoke out against Napoleon. Only the more intelligent animals realized Napoleon’s cruelty. The lesser animals like the sheep were persuaded otherwise by Squealer’s speeches. Since only the pigs were literate, Napoleon was able to change the Commandments at his whim and he controlled what all of the animals on the farm thought.
Napoleon’s mind control is best exhibited in the windmill project. It was a hard, fruitless project that worked the animals past exhaustion. The windmill was knocked over by a storm but Napoleon ordered it rebuilt. The animals continued to work, however, because Squealer gave rousing patriotic speeches. He continuously started the sheep chanting “Four legs good, two legs bad!” (Orwell), and encouraged Boxer’s personal mantra: “I will work harder” (Orwell). Napoleon often limited food rations and kept the excess for himself. He abolished traditions such as the Sunday meeting that Old Major had originally created. His greatest corruption of Animalism was changing the Seven Commandments. The pigs begin to wear Mr. Jones’s clothes, sleep in his bed, smoke tobacco, drink alcohol and even trade and form camaraderie with men. When confronted about these abominations, Napoleon either claimed that the rule he changed had always been as such, or had the animal executed. Since only pigs were literate, the other animals believed Napoleon’s lies. Eventually, the Seven Commandments became obsolete: “There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran: All animals are equal but some are more equal than others” (Orwell 134).
There is no doubt that Stalin and Napoleon were strong leaders. They gained support early in their careers by promoting idealistic political policies. Soon after they gained influence, they began to manipulate people and corrupt the system to benefit them. Both Animalism and Communism were meant to be idealistic, thriving political systems; Napoleon and Stalin, however, were corrupted by their power. Because they were obsessed with gaining and keeping power, they began to lie and abuse language in order to continue abusing their power. Stalin outmaneuvered all of his opponents, like Trotsky, and rose from General Secretary to dictator. He guiltlessly exiled or murdered those with opposition to his policies. He was able to cover up his murderous cruelty by using language. The media only printed the version of the story that Stalin wanted them to. He instated severe censorship laws so that no one would read about any ideas other than his own. He controlled the people’s minds by controlling the language that they were subjected to.
Likewise, Napoleon was able the other animals by abusing language. He blamed Snowball for all foul play on the farm to disguise dishonest things that he had done. When the crops were trampled and food rations were missing, he condemned Snowball and Squealer gave inspiring speeches to the animals to promote Napoleon’s claim. When the windmill was destroyed by the storm, Napoleon told the others that Snowball had knocked it down during the night. Since the animals were not aware of his corruption, they believed in the ideals of Animalism and consequently, they had no reason not to believe their leader. The only information that was shared around Animal Farm was the deceitful information that Napoleon had made up. Abuse of language was the tool that allowed him to abuse his power.
Stalin and Napoleon twisted words, altered rules, and mislead constituents with speeches and laws. Through the use of words, Stalin and Napoleon were able to manipulate entire communities and become great dictators. Their reign as dictator and aspects of their characters are analogous. They aided in a political revolution, became dictators even though they began in lowly positions, and led in a similar, tyrannical fashion. In Orwell’s Animal Farm, Napoleon is an allegory to Stalin in order to illustrate the power that manipulative words hold and the damage that they can cause. The last lines of Animal Farm show the uncanny comparison between the two: “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 141).
