Context Of George Orwell's Animal Farm And The Russian Revolution

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The Russian Revolution and related major historical events is the context of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, originally published in 1945. An allegorical novella and a work of political satire that is more critical of totalitarianism regimes than it is of ideologies such as communism, it has a plot which is a figurative representation of real life events of the Russian Revolution. As these events unfold, the Tsarist autocracy of the Russian Empire is overthrown and leads to a transfer of power: the rise of the Soviet Union established by the Bolsheviks. This essay outlines how in Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution of 1917, both the February and October Revolution, the concept of “power” changes as it is wielded by different figures or characters - Tsar Nicholas II, Marx/Lenin, and Stalin, and how power is exerted over the masses in different ways, by means such as force and…show more content…
To begin with, the owner of Manor Farm, Mr. Jones, has direct control over his farm animals at the start of the novel, similar to how the Russian autocracy had absolute political power before the revolution took place. Tsar Nicholas II was an incompetent ruler - in Animal Farm he is portrayed as careless and a drunkard, who does not remember to “shut the pop-holes when he locked the hen-houses for the night (1.1 (page number))” - the last Tsar of the Russian Empire inherited his power and status from his father because he was a Romanov. Also believed to have been ordained by God, he had the capacity to appoint ministers and reject duma proposals, and could command the military however he wished. Also in Chapter 1 of Animal Farm, Old Major the boar has power among the animals, which he uses to call a rebellion against Jones and tyrant man: “The life of an animal is misery and slavery. (pg number)”. Old Major, who is well respected, calls for the animals to unite and they
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