The character of Snowball, a wise pig who takes up the rebellion on the Jones Farm, is perhaps one of the most intriguing characters in George Orwell’s classic novel, Animal Farm. He is depicted as the most intelligent animal on the farm, inspiring the others upon the death of Old Major, a character who represents a mixture of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. This article circles around the mystery of which the character of Snowball represents, and his importance on the farm.
First, it’s important to understand that Snowball does not simply represent a single person. He represents a multitude of characters, two primarily: Trotsky and Lenin. Lenin is clearly depicted because Lenin is responsible for initiating the revolution, which Snowball clearly does. But, the fact that Old Major’s skull is dug up and placed on a stick forces the ability to be personified by both characters. Trotsky on the other hand is a definite present in Snowball. Trotsky comes up with the Five Year Plan, which is represented as the Windmill in Animal Farm. It is also Trotsky who is chased out of the country by Stalin. In the book Snowball is chased off the farm by Napoleon.
Another excellent correlation between Snowball and Trotsky is the fact that Trotsky was an excellent military leader for the Red Army during the revolution, which is depicted very well in Animal Farm. This battle in Animal Farm is The Battle of Cowshed, a vicious battle that fought the resistance of Mr. Jones and his group of men; the humans (capitalists) lost the battle but inflicted several injuries to the animals.
Snowball throughout the entire novel, until his banishment, has the mind of the other animals (Russian peoples) in his heart. Every move that Snowball makes is to better the other Animals, unlike Napoleon who begins to corrupt the system of government. Snowball also appears to be rather genuine in his beliefs, never waving from them. He would spent days planning The Windmill even when Napoleon viewed it as a waste of time. In the end, Napoleon steals his idea of a Windmill.
Snowball’s banishment brings about a period of totalitarianism for the animals on the farm. The dogs (Cheka, a prior version of the KGB) are the pig’s secret police are responsible for chasing Snowball out of the farm on Napoleon’s orders. After this took place Snowball is blamed for a lot of the mistakes and failures of the farm. This backs up the idea that Trotsky is more of the character in Snowball because Lenin is highly viewed in the minds of the Russians; to disgrace Lenin would be a great flaw on Stalin (Napoleon)’s part.
Snowball is the reason for a brief success of the animals. His banishment echoes the failures of communism and brings about the corruption of the government. It is interesting to remember that Trotsky never wanted to corrupt the government the way Stalin did, but the corruption of communism, is arguably inevitable.
