In this blog post, I will summarize and explain the symbolism, historical background, and interpretations of the main characters in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’.

The Fable Genre and Orwell’s Persuasiveness

A fable is a literary genre that satirizes human society by attributing human traits and roles to animals. To reveal various human characters through analogies based on the animals’ inherent characteristics, persuasiveness is paramount. George Orwell took this a step further by systematically researching actual historical events that occurred in the Soviet Union and directly mapping them onto the events and characters in his work, thereby lending a sense of reality to the allegorical device. As a result, ‘Animal Farm’ possesses both the satire characteristic of allegory and the persuasive power of concrete historical criticism.

Orwell’s Political Goals and the Background of the Work

Orwell was a writer who spent his entire life dreaming of an ideal society where humans could live as humans, and who fought against human domination and oppression. He criticized a wide range of power structures, from Stalinist Soviet Union and Hitler’s Nazi Germany to Franco’s Spain, as well as imperialism and the capitalist system. At the time, there was a tendency among British left-wing intellectuals to blindly praise the Soviet Union, but Orwell believed that to achieve true socialism, one must shatter the Soviet myth and face reality head-on. In the preface to the Ukrainian edition, he stated that destroying the Soviet myth was essential to rebuilding the socialist movement over the past decade, and this perspective is evident throughout ‘Animal Farm’.

Plot Summary: From Revolution to Betrayal

Early in the novel, Major the pig awakens the animals to the injustice of human rule and urges them to build a society where all animals live equally. The animals eventually drive out the farm owner, Jones, and his workers, take over the farm, and rename it “Animal Farm.” The clever Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer establish the “Seven Commandments” to create an ideal animal republic; through Sunday meetings and education, they eradicate illiteracy and ensure the animals run the farm collectively.
The existence of the neighboring farms, “Sliced Field” and “Foxwood,” implies an external threat. Jones attempts to attack Animal Farm with the help of these farms, but the human army is defeated thanks to Snowball’s leadership and the heroic efforts of Boxer and others. Boxer and Snowball are recognized for their contributions and awarded the “Animal Hero” medal, and the fallen sheep is also honored for its service.
However, a power struggle soon erupts from within. Amid the conflict over the construction of the windmill, the power-hungry Napoleon uses the nine dogs to oust Snowball and, by instilling a climate of fear, seizes control of the regime by any means necessary. Discussion and collective decision-making are abolished, and Napoleon alone makes all decisions. Even Snowball’s original plan is exploited by Napoleon, and opponents are branded “reactionaries” and subjected to repression and purges.
The farm’s operations increasingly resemble those of human society. While the pigs live in luxury—increasing their workload and reducing food rations—any animal who complains is accused of being a spy and punished. Napoleon contacts Frederick and Pilkington through a lawyer named Whimper to sell timber, but Frederick betrays him by conducting the transaction with counterfeit money and then launching a treacherous attack. The animals fight back in anger and drive out the invaders, but the farm suffers severe damage in the process.
In the end, the pigs move into the main house where Mr. and Mrs. Jones once lived, drink alcohol, lie in bed, and enjoy the privileges of humans. They establish a school to provide education for the children of the privileged class and do not hesitate to engage in trade with humans. The “Seven Commandments” are corrupted; Boxer is eventually sold to humans and dragged off to the slaughterhouse; and the pigs walk on two legs and behave like humans. The slogan changes from “Four legs good, two legs bad” to “Four legs good, two legs better,” and the phrase “All animals are equal” becomes twisted into “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The revolution ultimately betrays its original dream.

Characters and Specific Historical Correspondences

The characters and events in the novel correspond to specific historical figures and events. The name “Medieval Manor Farm” evokes Russia, where feudal serfdom still persisted, and Old Major alludes to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. The pig dictator Napoleon symbolizes Stalin, while Snowball, Napoleon’s rival, symbolizes Trotsky. Oink-Oink represents the state-controlled media responsible for propaganda and agitation, as well as anonymous agitators; the dogs symbolize the secret police; and the pigs in general represent members of the Soviet Communist Party.
In addition, the farm owner Jones symbolizes Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia; the flock of sheep represents the masses who uncritically follow their leaders; and Moses the crow symbolizes the Russian Orthodox Church. Boxer, the simple and loyal dog, is a satire of the proletariat who voluntarily participated in the revolution, and his demise symbolizes the betrayal by the leadership. Clover represents the educated but powerless middle class; Mollie, the bourgeoisie; and Benjamin, the escapist intellectuals and Orwell’s own skeptical perspective.
The hens’ protests and the “Egg Rebellion” represent the wealthy farmers who opposed the abolition of private property and collectivization; the field mice symbolize peripheral ethnic groups such as the indigenous peoples of the North, Central Asians, and Caucasians; and the cat, who does not participate in farming, symbolizes the people who were passive toward the revolution. Frederick represents Hitler; the “Fields of Pieces” farm represents Nazi Germany; and Filkington and “Foxwood” represent capitalist nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
Lawyer Whimper, hired by Napoleon at Animal Farm, symbolizes Western intellectuals of the 1930s who defended the Soviet Union or did business with it. Furthermore, the card game scene in the novel alludes to the Tehran Conference, while the simultaneous actions of Napoleon and Filkington foreshadow the subsequent Cold War confrontation. The mention in the final scene that the animals can no longer distinguish between pigs and humans is a metaphor suggesting that the Soviet Union’s behavior was no different from that of Western imperialism.

Symbolic Correspondences and Detailed Interpretations of Events

Various events in the novel correspond directly to historical events. Jones’s drunkenness and incompetence symbolize the chaos at the end of the Romanov dynasty, while the scene where Jones wakes from his sleep and fires a gun symbolizes “Bloody Sunday” in 1905. The rebellion led by the animals represents the 1917 Russian Revolution, and the song “British Animals” evokes “The Internationale,” the revolutionary anthem of the time. Animalism represents socialism, the Animal Republic represents Soviet socialism, and the image of a hoof and a horn on the green flag is reminiscent of the hammer and sickle.
The Battle of the Cowshed symbolizes the civil war following the revolution, while the construction of the windmill symbolizes Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and large-scale economic development projects.
The windmills evoke large-scale public works projects such as the Dnieper Dam, while their destruction signifies war and devastation. The hens’ rebellion represents the resistance of wealthy farmers against collectivization, and the alliance between Napoleon and Frederick symbolizes the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact; the subsequent destruction of the windmills and the battle symbolize Germany’s betrayal and invasion.
Although the work depicts the destruction of the windmills as Hitler’s doing, the fact that historical accounts attribute responsibility to Stalin serves as a critique of the Soviet Union’s practice of manipulating facts to rewrite history. The display of Major’s remains to glorify him as a hero is a symbol similar to the embalming and public display of Lenin’s body. Napoleon’s theft of Snowball’s plan is interpreted as a reference to Stalin’s hijacking of Trotsky’s policies.

Publication Process, Reception, and Contemporary Significance

Orwell wrote this novel in about three months and completed it in February 1944, but its publication was delayed for some time due to its overt criticism of the Soviet Union. There was a risk that the manuscript might be destroyed in the London Blitz, and there was opposition from groups concerned that criticizing the Soviet Union—an Allied nation—would strain wartime alliances, as well as from left-wing intellectuals. However, as the Cold War intensified after the war, the United States widely translated and published the work as part of its anti-communist propaganda campaign; interestingly, the first foreign-language edition was published in 1948 in Korea, which was then under U.S. military occupation.Of course, the targets of ‘Animal Farm’ need not be limited to the Soviet Union and Stalin. It is perfectly reasonable to interpret the characters and situations as representing other dictators and regimes; the story holds up just as well if Napoleon is read as Hitler or Snowball as Röhm or another revolutionary. Since the corruption of power, the betrayal of revolution, and the use of propaganda and oppression recur regardless of time or place, it is also possible to interpret the novel in relation to Korea’s various authoritarian regimes. It is precisely this universality that makes ‘Animal Farm’ so meaningful even today.Ultimately, ‘Animal Farm’, through the concise form of a fable, searingly exposes the ideals of revolution, the corruption of power, propaganda and the manipulation of history, as well as the betrayal and powerlessness of the masses. Going beyond a direct response to specific historical events, it is a work that compels us to reflect deeply on how power justifies itself and deceives the public—and who suffers the most as a result.