How Did The Boxer Affect The Russian Revolution

Boxer is a fictional horse in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, which is a satire of the Russian Revolution. Many characters allude to different groups or important people from this era, and this applies to Boxer as well. Boxer is a representation of the working class because of his qualities, personality, his role in the novel and his motto. Orwell expresses much criticism towards the character of Boxer because he lets Napoleon think for him.

Joseph Stalin, the leader of Russia during the Russian revolution, and Napoleon, head of the Animal Farm, have a more association than any other character in Animal Farm or historical political figure. Napoleon and Stalin share character traits like intelligence, leadership, and devotion. Napoleon had many followers on the Animal Farm just as Stalin had devoted followers that admired him. Napoleon and Stalin, however, did not make everyone happy. The enemy that Stalin had to deal during the Revolution was Leon Trotsky. Trotsky disapproved of what Stalin was doing with Russia and it's citizens. In Animal Farm, Napoleon had to deal with Snowball. Joseph Stalin was a big supporter of communism and Napoleon had similar beliefs but the government was called Animalism. With many similarities, these two figures were not the exact same but the author, George Orwell, created Napoleon in Stalin's image.

Revolution, one of the most significant similarities is characters. One of the many allegories is Old Major and Vladimir Lenin. Vladimir Lenin was born on April 10th, 1870. He was born into a wealthy family and early in his life, his brother was executed for trying to kill Czar Alexander the 3rd in a bombing plot. This event eventually led him to becoming a Marxist. One of the main things that Lenin is known for is being one of the founding fathers of Communism and for being the leader of the Bolshevik Party. The Bolshevik Party was established during the Russian Revolution to overtake the Provisional Government because of their inability to keep up with their commitments to the Russian citizens. When speaking of Old

N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016. Old Major is the animal version of V. I. Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party that seized control in the 1917 Revolution. As old Major outlines the principles of Animalism, a theory holding that all animals are equal and must revolt against their oppressors, Lenin was inspired by Karl Marx's theory of Communism, which urges the "workers of the world" to unite against their economic oppressors. As Animalism imagines a world where all animals share in the prosperity of the farm, Communism argues that a "communal" way of life will allow all people to live lives of economic equality. old Major dies before he can see the final results of the revolution, as Lenin did before witnessing the ways in which his disciples carried on the work of

Old Major is Lenin, the dogs are the KGB, Moses is religion at that time, Mr. Jones is Tsar, Frederick is Hitler, Pilkington is the USA, Napoleon is Stalin, Snowball is Trotsky, Squealer is propaganda, Boxer is the laboring class, and Mollie is the upper class. It is not hard to determine which animals represent what. Orwell makes sure to make it simple for the reader to see who is representing who. Squealer is one of the easiest animals to pick out. Orwell describes Squealer as, “a small fat pig…with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes...and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker and when he was arguing a difficult point…he had a way which was somehow very persuasive” (Orwell 36). Squealer also uses a form of propaganda when speaking about Boxer, deception, because he is deceiving everyone to think good of Napoleon when, in reality, he is really the one that is the enemy here. Snowball is another easy parallel to catch because of the hatred of him by Napoleon. Just like how Trotsky was deported from Russia by the KGB, Snowball was chased off the farm by the dogs. Also, similar to how Trotsky and Stalin differ on opinions about many things, Napoleon and Snowball differed on opinions about the building of the windmill. Overall, the animals are very easy to characterize because of Napoleon’s

Boxer, described as a huge strong horse, is used by Orwell to represent the proletariat or working class of Russia. Orwell may have been a socialist, but he didn’t hesitate to give a less than flattering portrayal of the mighty beast. Amongst Boxers qualities of being brave, loyal, selfless and compassionate, he is largely criticized for his stupidity and gullible attitude. Harsh isn’t it?

In the Novel animal farm by George Orwell he tells a story about a farm that is taken over by animals, an allegory of the Russian revolution. In this essay I will show how Napoleon represents Stalin and what he did during the Russian revolution.

2. Keeping in mind the Russian Revolution, whom do the animals collectively represent? Thinking of the allegory,

They are allegories to people of the Soviet Union though. Such as Napoleon is Joseph Stalin. Napoleon is Stalin in this book, but he could also be Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Un, and other totalitarian leaders. George Orwell intended this to be Soviet Union specific, but it is flexible to today’s totalitarian governments around the world. “Napoleon is always right”. (Page 27: paragraph 1, Animal Farm). Snowball, who was expelled from the farm, and falsely labelled a traitor by Napoleon, closely is supposed to be Trotsky. One of the main creators of the Soviet Union, who after Lenin died was labelled as a traitor and was deported to Mexico by Stalin. Lastly, there was Old Major. It could be argued that he was Lenin, but he did not live to see the revolution like Lenin did. He also created the concept of Animalism, which is an allegory to Communism, which are both totalitarianism. Which means, Old Major would be Karl Marx. Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848 with Frederick Engels. He was one of the creators of Communism, as Old Major created Animalism. “THREE nights later, Old Major died peacefully in his sleep”. (Page 7: paragraph 1, Animal

Boxer the horse represents the working class society and their ignorance to the blatant exploitation of their people. The quote “I will work harder” (25) by Boxer signifies the dedication to modernization of Russia by the proletariats. Pincher and the animal guard represents the secret police implemented by Stalin to enforce laws and ensures he is unopposed comparably Napoleon uses the animal guard to banish and strike fear into those that opposes him. Mollie the materialistic horse epitomizes the bourgeoisie of Russia who had to give up their privileges to create an equal society but were not very willing to do so as most decided to flee to the west before giving up their luxuries, similarly Mollie flees AF so she can be pampered by humans and look pretty in her

The Bolsheviks; a radical political party seized power in Petrograd in November 1917. Albeit controlling a very small part of Russia, the Bolsheviks were a political party that based their reforms on aiding peasants. During the 1900s, Russia was the most populous country with over 115 million citizens. However, 80% of Russia was comprised of peasants who struggled economically. Additionally, because peasants made up such a big part of Russia, the Bolsheviks had to satisfy the peasants for their crucial support.

There are many similarities between the characters in the novel “Animal Farm” and between the people who lead to the Russian Revolution. For example, Joseph Stalin and Napoleon are alike in several ways. After Old Major’s death, Napoleon and Snowball take over the farm and become the leaders. Similarly, Joseph Stalin becomes the leader along with Leon Trotsky after the Russian Revolution (Kim, 2012). In addition, Napoleon is not as smart and intelligent compared to Snowball.

For example, one animal, a white boar named Old Major takes the first stand for the animal human equality and introduces the idea of animalism to the other animals. This is similar to how the democratic socialist Karl Marx and the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin introduced ideas of communism. Actions that the pig and these German leaders displayed both eventually lead to a transformation of their society. Another animal that steps up to take a role of leadership after the death of Old Major is the boar, comrade Napoleon who is representing Stalin, one of the most cruel persons from the Russian Revolution. Napoleon reveals some of Stalin’s actions during his reign in Soviet Russia.

By the turn of the 20th century, China was in Social, Economic and Political turmoil. The Manchu Government was highly unpopular amongst the Chinese people, and was seen as one of the main reasons why China was in such a problematic position. The Boxer Rebellion was a major event in the late days of the Qing Dynasty. Formed by people that practiced boxing, their main aim was to free China from foreign encroachment. Evidence will be given concerning the causes of the Boxer rebellion, which will be analysed and broken up into Long-term, short-term and immediate causes. The Consequences of the rebellion will also be looked at, where the evidence will be split into immediate consequences and long-term consequences.

Orwell uses all of this in Animal Farm. The different characters represent different people in his novel. Major, the old boar, represents Lenin and the Marxist ideals, whereas Napoleon and Snowball are the Stalin and Trotsky of the book. The other groups of non-Communists found their way into Orwell's story by way of Pilkington and Frederick, the human neighbors to Animal Farm, whereas the paranoia that Stalin felt is shown in Napoleon by his use of the adult dogs he had raised from pups (a parallel to Stalin's Secret Police) to kill any rebels after the putting on of animal show trials. This is shown in Animal Farm: