Satire and Allegory in Animal Farm
Satire – the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and
criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of
contemporary politics and other topical issues
Allegory – a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a
hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
As satire¸ the novel ridicules:
The vanity of humans  Mollie
Blind followers the sheep
The manner in which persons (pigs) in power separate themselves, withdrawing from work or
making “secret” decisions
The formation of committees creating an illusion of progress or change
The ease with which humans accept simple slogans such as “four legs good, two legs bad” and
awards such as “Animal Hero, First Class”
The revision of the past to conform to the present
Animal Farm is an allegory of the corruption and abuse of power found in all totalitarian regimes,
specifically in Russia. The allegory is neither an exact, nor a chronological representation of people or
events; however, parallels can be drawn between characters and historical figures/events/institutions:
Czar Nicholas II
 Mr. Jones
**Joseph Stalin
 **Napoleon
The Bolsheviks or Reds
 the pigs
The October Revolution
 the Rebellion
The Kremlin
 the farmhouse
Britain
 Mr. Pilkington
Pravda, the newspaper of
 Squealer
Communist propaganda
The loyal workers or proletariat
 Boxer
“L’Internationale”
 Beasts of England
Russian peasants or muzhiks
 wild animals
The Russian Orthodox Church
 Moses, the Raven
Hammer and sickle flag or the
 hoof and horn flag
Soviet Union
Allied invasion of 1918-1919
 the Battle of Cowshed
Karl Marx or Marxist Lenin
 Old Major
Leon Trotsky
 Snowball
The White Russians (opposition to
 Mollie
Bolsheviks or reds)
Germany
 Mr. Frederick
Moscow Purge Trials 1936-1938
 trials of the animals
The Five-Year plans
the Windmill
The cheka or secret police
 the nine dogs
The Politburo (policy-making body  special pig committee presided over by
Napoleon
of the Communist party controlled
by Stalin
Peasant revolts of 1920
 revolt of the hens
**Like Stalin and any other dictator, Napoleon does all of the following
Establishes a personal style of life to which everything in the community must contribute
Makes every aspect of life a matter of state
Keeps the masses engaged in laborious and lengthy projects so they are given constant occasions
to perform heroically
Appears only with due ceremony
Constantly manipulates thought and belief (through Squealer)
Sets up a scapegoat (Snowball) to keep the animals in constant fear of an enemy from which
only Napoleon, the all-powerful leader, can save them
Makes it appear as though everything is going well under his rule
Cannot allow any threat to his power
Must prove his power by making others suffer