Joseph stalin: Napoleon
In the novel Animal Farm, the character Napoleon is portrayed by autocratic Soviet political leader, Joseph Stalin. Until now, Stalin is one of the most notorious totalitarian leaders of all time.
Joseph Stalin was born in 1879 in Gori, Georgia. His career began as a paid agitator for the Russian Social Democratic party, where he started off with less than great amount of power and only aim to spread negative opinions and viewpoints towards the Czar. Even though Stalin was not as intellectual as Leon Trotsky and not as good of an orator like Lenin, he has a unique talent of high organizational skills when it comes to people. Stalin’s political power and status began to rise when he distributed unauthorized pamphlets to cause civil unrest. Lenin then started to create a revolutionary committee against and eventually overthrew the Czar, enabling the committee to gain power and take control over Soviet Russia. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin began to advocate himself as a leader, while eliminating other obstacles in his way either through execution or other ruthless methods and eventually attained his status of the head leader of Soviet Union. (BBC History, 2013)
Why did Orwell chose to name such character "Napoleon"?
Well, the name “Napoleon” alludes to a parallel of French political leader, Napoleon Bonaparte. Like Stalin, Napoleon Bonaparte led the French Revolution in order to get rid of the monarchy system, but when he gained his status as the head leader, the hunger and greed took over him and secretly returned France back to the monarchy system they got rid of. On the other side, much like Napoleon Bonaparte, the power and status that the character Napoleon held in the novel can be compared to Bonaparte’s coronation as an emperor.
What is Stalin's connection with Animal Farm as Napoleon?
In truth, Stalin was not what people considered as a “great” leader. In fact, he had no interest in his people and what really benefits them, all he cared was his political status and whether or not he could stay in power and control over Soviet Union. Like Stalin, Napoleon was not a good leader in heart. In the novel, after exiling his rival, Snowball out of the farm by sending his secret dog force (like how Stalin sent his secret police force to eliminate Trotsky), Napoleon never attempted to meet up with his fellow animals to discuss about what is beneficial to the society, instead, he “spent all his time in the farmhouse” (pg. 50) privately discussing with Squealer about issues or factors that may affect his status. Napoleon never wanted to make mutual discussions with his fellow animals because instead of listening to other’s opinion he wanted to rule the country as a dictatorship. On the other hand, when Stalin’s political standing began to increase, he manipulated facts so others will think that he is a hero. Through the use of propaganda, Stalin persuaded others about how bad Trotsky was as a leader and are disadvantageous for the revolution. He had others convinced that Trotsky is detrimental to the country therefore he would never come back to Russia and take control over Stalin and his power. In Animal Farm, Napoleon and Squealer also twisted the facts about Snowball (Trotsky), this way the animal was convinced that Napoleon is the true leader while Snowball was not. This could be displayed in page 78, when Napoleon induced that Snowball was sided with the humans and went toe the “Battle of Cowshed”. By using smart propaganda techniques, the animals were easily convinced that Snowball is the villain and Napoleon is the hero. Additionally, both Napoleon and Stalin executed a five year plan (Stalin) and rules on the windmill (Napoleon) that were said to benefit the country/farm itself. Neither of these plans succeeded while instead inflicted harm to the people/animals.
Orwell purposely portrayed Stalin with the character of Napoleon because he wanted to criticize Stalin’s lack of leadership and how bad of a leader he was. This way, it is easier for the readers to receive a better interpretation of the whole process and situation throughout the Russian revolution. Moreover, Orwell smart choice of using pigs to portray the political attributes of Stalin because it can immediately deliver the stereotypically negative image of pigs with Orwell’s pessimistic criticism of Stalin ‘s totalitarian regime. Through the usage of foreshadowing, Orwell effectively delivered a nasty, greedy and wicked image and character of Napoleon to the readers. By acknowledging Napoleon’s ignorance towards the society indirectly throughout the novel, we can interpret how a society could be so quickly and easily manipulated by one individual. This is a very successful representation of Stalin as Orwell is able to match a wide range of political attributes and traits of Stalin to the character “Napoleon” in the novel.
BBC History (2013) Historical Figures: Joseph Stalin. Retrieved in April 10th, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml
Joseph Stalin was born in 1879 in Gori, Georgia. His career began as a paid agitator for the Russian Social Democratic party, where he started off with less than great amount of power and only aim to spread negative opinions and viewpoints towards the Czar. Even though Stalin was not as intellectual as Leon Trotsky and not as good of an orator like Lenin, he has a unique talent of high organizational skills when it comes to people. Stalin’s political power and status began to rise when he distributed unauthorized pamphlets to cause civil unrest. Lenin then started to create a revolutionary committee against and eventually overthrew the Czar, enabling the committee to gain power and take control over Soviet Russia. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin began to advocate himself as a leader, while eliminating other obstacles in his way either through execution or other ruthless methods and eventually attained his status of the head leader of Soviet Union. (BBC History, 2013)
Why did Orwell chose to name such character "Napoleon"?
Well, the name “Napoleon” alludes to a parallel of French political leader, Napoleon Bonaparte. Like Stalin, Napoleon Bonaparte led the French Revolution in order to get rid of the monarchy system, but when he gained his status as the head leader, the hunger and greed took over him and secretly returned France back to the monarchy system they got rid of. On the other side, much like Napoleon Bonaparte, the power and status that the character Napoleon held in the novel can be compared to Bonaparte’s coronation as an emperor.
What is Stalin's connection with Animal Farm as Napoleon?
In truth, Stalin was not what people considered as a “great” leader. In fact, he had no interest in his people and what really benefits them, all he cared was his political status and whether or not he could stay in power and control over Soviet Union. Like Stalin, Napoleon was not a good leader in heart. In the novel, after exiling his rival, Snowball out of the farm by sending his secret dog force (like how Stalin sent his secret police force to eliminate Trotsky), Napoleon never attempted to meet up with his fellow animals to discuss about what is beneficial to the society, instead, he “spent all his time in the farmhouse” (pg. 50) privately discussing with Squealer about issues or factors that may affect his status. Napoleon never wanted to make mutual discussions with his fellow animals because instead of listening to other’s opinion he wanted to rule the country as a dictatorship. On the other hand, when Stalin’s political standing began to increase, he manipulated facts so others will think that he is a hero. Through the use of propaganda, Stalin persuaded others about how bad Trotsky was as a leader and are disadvantageous for the revolution. He had others convinced that Trotsky is detrimental to the country therefore he would never come back to Russia and take control over Stalin and his power. In Animal Farm, Napoleon and Squealer also twisted the facts about Snowball (Trotsky), this way the animal was convinced that Napoleon is the true leader while Snowball was not. This could be displayed in page 78, when Napoleon induced that Snowball was sided with the humans and went toe the “Battle of Cowshed”. By using smart propaganda techniques, the animals were easily convinced that Snowball is the villain and Napoleon is the hero. Additionally, both Napoleon and Stalin executed a five year plan (Stalin) and rules on the windmill (Napoleon) that were said to benefit the country/farm itself. Neither of these plans succeeded while instead inflicted harm to the people/animals.
Orwell purposely portrayed Stalin with the character of Napoleon because he wanted to criticize Stalin’s lack of leadership and how bad of a leader he was. This way, it is easier for the readers to receive a better interpretation of the whole process and situation throughout the Russian revolution. Moreover, Orwell smart choice of using pigs to portray the political attributes of Stalin because it can immediately deliver the stereotypically negative image of pigs with Orwell’s pessimistic criticism of Stalin ‘s totalitarian regime. Through the usage of foreshadowing, Orwell effectively delivered a nasty, greedy and wicked image and character of Napoleon to the readers. By acknowledging Napoleon’s ignorance towards the society indirectly throughout the novel, we can interpret how a society could be so quickly and easily manipulated by one individual. This is a very successful representation of Stalin as Orwell is able to match a wide range of political attributes and traits of Stalin to the character “Napoleon” in the novel.
BBC History (2013) Historical Figures: Joseph Stalin. Retrieved in April 10th, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml