In the renowned novella ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell, the author seeks to allegorise the satirical novel with the famed Russian Revolution of 1917’s and the dreaded Stalinism. However, is the allegory the horizon of Animal Farm, or is Orwell trying to advance beyond the horizon by delineating a larger theme? Power is one of the predominant keynotes of the novella, which subsequently brings rise to corruption, as stated by the acclaimed proverb ‘Power goes hand in hand with corruption’. Thus, this essay aims to prove and corroborate that while the allegory of Russian Revolution is the backbone of Animal Farm, its paramount theme is ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ and is not limited to any single interpretation. If the novella is perceived through this perspective, it will soon be crystal clear through the course of this essay, that who, by large, are responsible for such a conundrum. Subsequently, this essay will eventually pave the path for a pragmatic and accessible solution.
The Russian revolution of 1917, to be laconic, was a series of social, political, and economic upheavals in the USSR, which gradually lead to the overthrow of the autonomous Tsarist monarchy, only for Communism to occupy the centre stage and subsequently, for Joseph Stalin to emerge later as the chairman of CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and as the most dreaded dictator. Communism, an alteration of socialism, sought to create an 'equal society' through an authoritarian state, which denies basic liberties. On the contrary, socialism is compatible with democracy and liberty and lays stress on the concept of ‘sharing of profit with respect to contribution’ rather than ‘sharing of profit with respect to needs’.
Through its course, the revolution unfolded a concatenation of events, which later came to be known as the February Revolution/Petrograd Revolution and the October Revolution/Bolshevik Revolution. After the Tsar’s (the Russian monarch before revolution) abdication following the Petrograd revolution, Russia’s polity was divided into two sects- the bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks under Kerensky. At first, the Mensheviks formed the Petrograd soviet and suppressed the counterpart, but the coin was bound to flip sides because of Bolsheviks’ radical measures. In the October Revolution, after substantial bombing and shelling of the winter palace, the Bolsheviks gained control [4]. Succeeding the aforementioned, a civil war was witnessed between the red army of Bolsheviks and the white and green ones of anti-Bolsheviks [5] , wherein, the red army inflicted a crushing defeat on the counterparts.
In the wake of Lenin’s demise, the question of power was juggled between Leon Trotsky, Lenin’s right hand man and the leader of Red army, and Joseph Stalin, a chief operator, seen by Lenin as a loyal follower. Stalin’s victory gave way to the dreaded Stalinism- an ideology of centralisation, totalitarianism, and communism, carried out by Stalin himself.
George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), the author who wrote ‘Animal Farm’ by 1944, was a socialist and Stalinism’s most trenchant critic and champion of liberal democracy[2], thus accounting for the fact why he wrote the novella, along with other works like ‘Nineteen Eighty four’[3].
Through Animal Farm, Orwell tries to allegorise the Russian Revolution by getting down to the nitty gritty of each character/circumstance of the same, and consequently penning it down. Each dramatis persona in the novella symbolises a real-life character and each situation alludes one from the actual event. For instance, the prize boar Old Major is an allegory for Lenin, or perhaps Karl Marx. The pigs, symbolising the intelligentsia, feature the apparently positive character Snowball as Trotsky, aggressive Napoleon as Stalin, and sycophant Squealer as the media, which was coerced into praising Stalin and influencing the proletarians(Boxer and other farm animals) through the use of propaganda and statistics. The mass confession and killing represent the purges, and the game of cards at the end of the novel represent the Tehran Conference of Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill.
Power plays a major role throughout the course of the revolution as well as the novel. As mentioned above, succeeding the abdication of the Tsar, the question of “the baton will be passed on to whom” arose, as is the question arisen whenever a former leader takes last breaths. While the proletariat were contemplating about better lifestyle in the future, the intelligentsia commenced forming committees and gaining power. In Animal Farm, after the overthrow of homo sapiens race from the seat of power, on advice of Old major, Snowball and Napoleon sought to acquire power. Eventually, humans passed on the baton to Napoleon, who also gradually merged his power into corruption exemplifying “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”-by John Acton. The citizenry willingly accepts the authority because they are coerced to do the same. The leader uses his authority, backed by logic and terror. To explicate precisely, an unbreakable bond of ideological state apparatus and repressive state apparatus is used- be it in Animal Farm or any other totalitarian regime. For instance, Squealer provided false statistics to gain the populace's trust, backed by the repressive threatening dogs. Leave totalitarian states, in some capitalist democracies also this is omnipresent. These state apparatuses are utilised wherever the leader- a despot or a representative, needs to validate his actions or pass a law.
Corruption…the most salient theme of not only Animal Farm or the Soviet, but also of any place where power has a residence, has been the bone of contention. In Animal Farm, corruption began from day-one, when Napoleon arose to power. With power came corruption, and corruption invented propaganda. The pigs stole the milk in the name of well-being of society, while at the same time backed their hideousness by instilling the fear of dogs and that of humans returning. This delineates the very first instance of corruption. Then came on a series of events- bribery, forgery, murder, changing the commandments, and above all, fooling the populace by propaganda and fake statistics. Same was the case in Russia, and the same is the case everywhere.
As also stated by the BBC staff in their website ‘Bitesize’[1], under the column of themes in Animal Farm, “Orwell explores the idea of power leading to corruption. Many of the characters in the novel are eventually corrupted by the power they have, particularly the pigs, as they manipulate their position of leadership to exploit other animals.”- quoting the former.
Power and Corruption, as we see in Animal Farm, have gradually formed a cycle. “With great power comes great responsibility”, but mostly, that responsibility transforms into misuse of power, and remains a ‘responsibility’ only superficially. The corruption remained the same in Animal Farm, even after when the intelligentsia changed, symbolising that largely everywhere (in all the polities), power brings forth corruption and the cycle repeats itself.
Who gives the authority to the members of ‘power intelligentsia’ to override us? It eventually comes down to us only- the populace/citizens. It is we who are responsible for such a conundrum by permitting the politicians to govern us. So, the easiest solution to this bone of contention of corruption, is to become aware and spread awareness, get involved in the doings of the government, and actively questioning those in power. For a democracy, it is an easy task, but a few radical steps will have to be taken in totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.
All in all, as concluded by all the aforementioned concepts, it boils down to the fact that even when the allegory of Russian Revolution remains a major portion of Animal Farm, the theme cannot, by any means, be limited to that sense. It symbolises the cycle of power and corruption, as also stated by eminent John Dalberg Acton in his quote. Being aware and spreading awareness is an accessible solution to this problem going on for ages. It is strongly advisable to continually question the functioning of the government if required. This keeps a check on the government while at the same time protects us from the excesses of the authorities governing us.
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