preview

Allusions In Animal Farm

Decent Essays

Although “Animal Farm” is an allegory, a book full of historical figures and historical situations, George Orwell, the author, includes a biblical reference. In “Animal Farm”, there is a raven whose name is clearly a reference to a biblical figure. The raven also happens to be in a similar situation as his biblical counterpart. Orwell implements both a biblical name and a biblical situation, to create a dimensional atmosphere for the reader. In the Bible, there is a man named Moses who has led the Israelites out of Egypt, to the Promised Land. In “Animal Farm”, there is a raven, whose name also happens to be Moses. He speaks “of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain” (Orwell 17). For a land which the Israelites have not seen in …show more content…

Both are enslaved by a supreme leader, Napoleon and the Pharaoh, Ramses, who inflicts pain and fear to any who would oppose. Like the slave system in Egypt, “the lower animals on animal farm did more work and received less food than any animals in the county” (Orwell 137). The opposite of fear, is hope. The opposite of pain, is a voice of comfort. Moses offers hope by telling the animals of Sugarcandy Mountain. The Moses of the Bible does the same; he speaks of a land flowing with milk and honey, the Promised Land. Whoa wait, is honey not also sweet like sugar and candy? Yes, indeed, this makes the raven’s name, assuredly intentional. The biblical Moses and Orwell’s Moses, are both similar and yet so different. The Moses of the Bible follows the archetype of a hero. The biblical Moses seems like a hero because his story has the catalysts to becoming or to even qualify as a hero; he gains help from a mentor figure [God], and has the quest, of getting the Israelites out of slavery, leading them to the Promised Land. In Orwell’s allegory, his Moses has no definite archetype to fit him, and is merely a foil. Orwell intentionally does not give his Moses a certain archetype, because he has the intention of having the readers decide for themselves who is evil and who is not. Moses could have given false hope to the animals of Animal Farm, but this does not disprove the fact that Moses’ actions were similar

Get Access