Animal Farm by George Orwell was an interesting book to me due to it being based off of the Russian Revolution but in the setting of a farm. The animals are trying to overthrow Mr Jones the farm owner but quickly realize that their so-called leader was actually a tyrant. There are many characters who represent key people in the Russian Revolution including Napoleon (a pig) as Joseph Stalin and Snowball (also a pig) as Leon Trotsky. Boxer, the horse, represents the Russian workforce as they were constantly overworked and uncomfortable. After the animals overthrew Mr Jones, they realized they had made a mistake and he wasn't the main evil and that there was an animal among them who wanted power. Animals including horses, chickens, and pigs all follow these new rules out of fear of their new leader. Similar to the Russian revolution, on the farm many animals were killed due to starvation or murder. The irony of this story made it enjoyable and all of the plot twists were also interesting to read. I felt more and more attached to the characters the more I read and I constantly felt worried for them or showed anger to others. Throughout this novel, we realize the most powerful weapon throughout the farm and in the Russian Revolution is fear. Napoleon is constantly using this powerful weapon to take control over the farm. Ever since the previous leader Old Major died, the farm was in need of a new leader. However after Napoleon came to power, the animals of the farm similar to the common people in the Russian Revolution were put in constant fear of death or torture from their leaders. I learned many morals from this book that can be applied to life, one of them being to never let fear control you. Although fear may have controlled almost every animal during this story, If they had chosen not to be fearful, they might have had a chance to see past his ruling and take down Snowball. Similar to the Russian people and Joseph Stalin during the Russian revolution. The amount of literary devices made it good practice for the things we do in class and overall I think it was a pretty interesting read that made learning about the Russian Revolution more enjoyable.
Mason F.
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