George Orwell (1903-1950), a novelist and political journalist, wrote Animal Farm towards the end of WW II but he was unable to publish it u

Animal Farm is based on events during and after the Russian Revolution in 1917, in which the Russian people overthrew the absolute power of the tsar and attempted to rid themselves of the horrible social system which kept most of the population in poverty. There were many different revolutionary groups, most following the writings of Karl Marx (1818-1883), the author of the Communist Manifesto. As soon as the tsar was overthrown, civil war broke out among the revolutionaries. The Bolsheviks, lead by Lenin (1870-1924) and Trotsky (1879-1940) eventually took power. Upon Lenin's death, a power struggle took place between Trotksy and Stalin. Much like Snowball, Trotsky was a brilliant intellectual but had very little knowledge in politics. Stalin won and his opponent was driven into exile, later to be murdered in Mexico by one of Stalin's hired assassins. In an attempt to continue Lenin's legacy, Stalin continued to modernize Russia's agriculture and industry. Anyone who stood in his way was disposed of. By 1929 Stalin had complete control of the government and was backed by the Russian secret police, the KGB. Stalin turned against his colleagues who had helped him defeat the followers of Trotsky, and they were expelled from the party with accusations of imaginary crimes for which they were later executed.11

The events in Animal Farm play out much as those during the Russian Revolution; certain characters play the roles of key persons. As the story begins Major (Karl Marx), the prize white boar, foretells a time of animal utopia. His visions are made into seven positive commandments for all animals to follow (The Communist Manifesto.) When the animals are not fed, they revolt, and the farm becomes theirs (The whole Russian Revolution), taking it from Mr. Jones (Czar Nicholas.) They call their dream of equality and freedom, their new future Animalism (Communism.) All is well for a time until two pigs, Napoleon (Stalin) and Snowball (Trotsky), struggle for control over the farm. Napoleon raises a whole litter of puppies, unknown to the others, and teaches them to do his bidding ( The Cheka, The Secret Police.) Eventually, the seven commandments set forth in the beginning have been changed so much that now only one commandment exists. It reads “All Animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”(118). The pigs became whom they rebelled against, their worst most hated enemy, the human. Old Major's dream and the hard work of the animals on the farm had all been lost in the greed of the pigs, much like Lenin's dreams for Russia were ruined. As Napoleon is entertaining his guest, Mr. Pilkington at a dinner, they forge an alliance together against the laboring classes of both the animals and humans. The name of the farm is changed back to Manor Farm, Napoleon clai

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