This section explores the key characters in Animal Farm by George Orwell. Animal Farm is a political allegory that explores the dynamics of power and corruption. Orwell uses the characters to symbolise key figures and ideas from the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Each character embodies both an individual or a group from the historical context and an idea about human nature or political ideology.
Napoleon
Role in the story: Leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion, based on Joseph Stalin.
Traits: Cunning, manipulative, and authoritarian. Unlike Snowball, Napoleon focuses on consolidating power rather than ideology or leadership for the common good.
Actions:
Uses fear, manipulation, and propaganda to control the other animals.
Exiles Snowball by using his guard dogs.
Revises the farm's commandments to justify his actions (e.g., drinking alcohol, engaging with humans).
Becomes indistinguishable from the humans by the novella’s conclusion, symbolising how revolutionary leaders can become as corrupt as the regimes they overthrow.
Symbolism: Represents Stalin's leadership in Soviet Russia, the rise of totalitarianism, and the corrupting influence of power.
Snowball
Role in the story: An intelligent and idealistic pig who is an early leader of the farm and challenges Napoleon for power. Represents Leon Trotsky.
Traits: Visionary, articulate, and a strong believer in the principles of Animalism (Orwell's allegory of communism).
Actions:
Organises committees and attempts to educate the other animals, believing in the importance of literacy and collective effort.
Designs the windmill project to improve the farm’s efficiency and provide a better future for all.
Is driven out by Napoleon’s guard dogs, making him a scapegoat for any future problems on the farm.
Symbolism: Represents Trotsky and the idea of genuine revolutionary socialism that is eventually overtaken by a more ruthless, self-serving leadership.
Squealer
Role in the story: Napoleon’s chief propagandist.
Traits: Persuasive, deceitful, and skilled in manipulation. He is adept at twisting language to serve the pigs' agenda.
Actions:
Justifies Napoleon’s decisions to the other animals, often using complicated jargon or half-truths.
Reinterprets the Seven Commandments as the pigs begin to break them (e.g., "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others").
Uses fear, often claiming that if the pigs are not in charge, Mr Jones (the human farmer) will return, instilling paranoia in the animals.
Symbolism: Represents propaganda and the manipulation of language to control public opinion. Orwell likely drew from Soviet figures like Molotov, who served as Stalin’s propagandist.
Old Major
Role in the story: An elderly boar whose vision of a rebellion against human oppressors inspires the creation of Animal Farm.
Traits: Wise, idealistic, and charismatic. Old Major’s ideas provide the ideological foundation for the Rebellion.
Actions:
Delivers a powerful speech outlining the principles of Animalism (mirroring Marxist ideology) and criticises human oppression.
Inspires the Rebellion through his belief that animals must rise up and overthrow their human masters for a better future.
Dies before the Rebellion, leaving his ideas to be interpreted (and distorted) by Napoleon and Snowball.
Symbolism: Represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. His ideas are rooted in a utopian vision of equality, but he dies before seeing the practical outcomes of his theories, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation.
Boxer
Role in the story: A hardworking, loyal, and strong cart-horse who embodies the working class.
Traits: Industrious, dedicated, and physically strong, but intellectually naive. Boxer believes that hard work and loyalty will solve the farm’s problems.
Actions:
Adopts the personal mottos “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right,” showcasing his blind loyalty to the leadership.
Works tirelessly on projects like the windmill, but is ultimately betrayed by the pigs, who sell him to the glue factory once he becomes too weak to work.
Symbolism: Represents the proletariat (working class), who are exploited for their labour by the ruling class and ultimately discarded when they are no longer useful.
Clover
Role in the story: A caring and maternal mare, often depicted as loyal but troubled by the direction the farm takes.
Traits: Nurturing, empathetic, and observant. Clover is less naive than Boxer but feels powerless to stop the exploitation.
Actions:
She grows increasingly concerned with the pigs’ behaviour, particularly when the commandments begin to change.
Questions the leadership but remains passive, unsure of how to challenge the pigs.
Symbolism: Represents the silent majority, or perhaps the female proletariat, who notice the corruption and betrayal of revolutionary ideals but are not empowered to act.
Benjamin
Role in the story: A cynical and pessimistic donkey.
Traits: Intelligent, literate, and sceptical of the Rebellion from the start. Benjamin is one of the few animals who can read and recognise the pigs’ manipulation.
Actions:
Maintains a detached and cynical attitude, often repeating that “donkeys live a long time,” suggesting that he has seen many political regimes and revolutions, all of which ultimately fail the common people.
Only reacts emotionally when Boxer is taken to the glue factory, showing his deep, albeit repressed, care for his friend.
Symbolism: Represents intellectuals or sceptics who recognise the corruption of revolutionary movements but choose not to act, either due to fear, apathy, or a sense of futility.
Mr Jones
Role in the story: The original owner of the farm, an incompetent and cruel farmer.
Traits: Drunk, negligent, and oppressive. Mr Jones represents the initial human oppressors that the animals rise up against.
Actions:
His mismanagement of the farm leads to a rebellion when the animals, starving and mistreated, decide to overthrow him.
Attempts to retake the farm but is defeated by the animals during the Battle of the Cowshed.
Symbolism: Represents Tsar Nicholas II, the overthrown monarch of Russia. He also symbolises the old regime or capitalist oppression in general.
Moses
Role in the story: A tame raven who spreads stories about a mystical place called "Sugarcandy Mountain".
Traits: Opportunistic and manipulative. Moses offers the animals an illusory vision of happiness in the afterlife.
Actions:
Preaches about Sugarcandy Mountain, a utopian paradise where animals go after death. This distracts the animals from their suffering under Napoleon's regime.
Reappears later in the story, offering the pigs a useful tool for pacifying the disillusioned animals.
Symbolism: Represents organised religion (the Russian Orthodox Church) or the concept of religion in general. His tales of Sugarcandy Mountain are used by the ruling class to placate the masses and divert attention from their exploitation.
To Summarise:
Orwell's characters in Animal Farm serve as both allegorical figures and complex individuals. They illustrate the transformation of revolutionary ideals into totalitarian oppression, a cycle of exploitation that continues regardless of who is in power. Through these characters, Orwell critiques the nature of political systems, human behaviour, and the corrupting influence of power.
Click on the links below for further character analysis.
