Pigs as Leaders in Soviet Union

There are many similarities between Animal Farm and the events that occurred during the time of the Soviet Union. There are themes of corruption and competition throughout both. There are also themes of lies, deceit, and violence throughout both events/stories.

The struggle for leadership between Leon Trotsky and Stalin emerges in the rivalry between the pigs Snowball and Napoleon. In both the historical and fictional cases, the idealistic but less politically powerful figure, Trotsky and Snowball, is expelled from the revolutionary state by the malicious and violent uprising of power, Stalin and Napoleon. The purges and trials with which Stalin eliminated his enemies and solidified his political base are similar to the false confessions and gory executions of animals whom Napoleon distrusts following the collapsing of the windmill in Animal Farm. ¨When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice, Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess¨(Orwell 27). Stalin’s brutal reign and eventual abandonment of the founding principles of the Russian Revolution are represented by the pigs’ turn to a more violent government and the adoption of human behaviors, as they are becoming the very thing they fought against.

The Soviet leaders under Lenin were able to organize the people enough to revolt against the current aristocracy and the Romanovich rulers in Russia at the time, but that did not mean they were able to immediately have an organized, well-running system of leadership. This is illustrated in Animal Farm as the animals are able to take over the farm with relative ease, but for the next couple of years, there is chaos that dominates the entire farm. ¨ The winter was as cold as the last one had been, and food was even shorter. Once again all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs¨(Orwell 33). The fact that Orwell compares the animals on the farm to this specific revolution gives the idea that the power is easier to obtain than to be correctly used. This was the exact situation in Soviet Russia. At the time, food was not available for all of its citizens, so there was a great famine throughout the whole country. Even though many were dying, the leaders acted like nothing was happening, ¨Amid confusion and resistance to collectivization in the countryside, agricultural productivity dropped. This led to devastating food shortages. Millions died during the Great Famine of 1932-1933. For many years the USSR denied the Great Famine, keeping secret the results of a 1937 census that would have revealed the extent of loss¨( History.com 2017). The leaders tried to make it seem as if their country was thriving when in reality, the people were constantly starving and suffering. Although no characters in Animal Farm died of starvation, a large amount of the food they earned was being greedily taken from them.

Another obvious sign of the way leadership and power corrupts is seen in the evolution of the commandments of the farm. Shortly after the rebellion and the expulsion of Mr. Jones, the pigs, Napoleon and Snowball established a set of rules or commandments for the farm to live by. These commandments are very fair to all animals, and they are very well accepted by all the animals at the time of their institution. They state that all animals are equal and they protect the rights of the animals in general. There is nothing in the commandments indicating that one animal is better than another or giving specific power and authority to the pigs or to another species on the farm. However, as the book progresses and the pigs get more authority, the rules are changed. When they were made, the rules followed the ideals of Old Major and the rest of the animals, but slowly started to favor the needs of Napoleon and Squealer. The novel states, ¨'My sight is failing,' she said finally. 'Even when I was young I could not have read what was written there. But it appears to me that that wall looks different. Are the Seven Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?' For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS¨(Orwell 42). The seven simple rules that the animals had to live by had been replaced by the opposite of their old wishes, which was ¨Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad¨. The wishes of Napoleon completely go against the wishes of the majority, just how the leaders of Russia had completely different ideas for what Russia needed than most of its people.

To conclude, Animal Farm and The Soviet Union share many common themes. They both are about corruption, lies, deceit, and competition-fueled violence.