Political Satire in Animal Farm :: Animal Farm

Political Satire in Animal Farm    George Orwell, author of the highly acclaimed Animal Farm, wrote this fable in hopes of informing not only children, but also the population as a whole, of his views on the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism in that nation. The fable, a literary composition conveying a moral truth, clearly guides the readers through the steps and outcome of the Russian Revolution. But instead of the battle being fought and won in the streets of Russia, Orwell chooses to portray the happenings of the Russian Revolution on a farm based during the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. The animals, unhappy with their day-to-day living conditions, rise and revolt against the tyrant Jones, the cruel and drunkard owner of the Jones' farm.    In Animal Farm, the barn was a place for the meetings that took place, and alternatively served as a shelter for all of the animals, except for the pigs. The schoolhouse was a place for the pigs, and rarely other animals, to learn to read and write and therefore grow in social power over the other less-intelligent animals that spent their days working in order to bring in enough food to keep the revolution alive. The farmhouse was where the Jones family resided, before the revolution that forced them astray. According to the commandments set forth after the revolution, no animal was to use the farmhouse for their own personal gain, however, the pigs were able to distort this rule so that they were able to live in luxury in this house meant for the humans. Building the windmill proved to be an important icon and struggle for the animals of Animal Farm, as it was destroyed twice and never quite brought the gleefulness and comfortable life that the animals were led to envision before-hand and during the construction by the sinister pig Napoleon. Each character of Animal Farm represented an important character or type-of people in the Russian Revolution, a direct comparison between Animal Farm, and a strong political movement that shocked the world.    Comrade Napoleon, as he insisted the other animals called him, represents Joseph Stalin, a cruel leader during and after the revolution, who exiled other political leaders and forced mass-executions upon the people, just as Napoleon does in Orwell's fable. Snowball, the opposing pig and leader of