Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a book written by socialist George Orwell in 1946. Satirical in nature, the story characterizes animals taking over a farm, symbolically alluding to the communist takeover of Russia and the betrayal of the people by their leaders, who impose a totalitarian system consolidating and perpetuating the power of those leaders.

Characters

Old Major: A pig, and the leader of the animals before the revolution. He dies of old age before the revolt begins.

Boxer: A very strong horse who is characterized by the phrase: "Napoleon is always right!" His attitude is very simplistic and uncaring, simply determining that, no matter how maniacal, the leadership on the farm is always right.

Mollie: A female horse who is vain and shallow. Her low intelligence is seen in whatever she does, and she is easily led astray by flattery.

Snowball: A pig who struggled with Napoleon for power. Possibly the most intelligent animal on the farm, he envisioned the windmill and much of the governance structure of the farm.

Napoleon: Another pig whose lust for power will stop at nothing. While taking a stand against Snowball's ideas every time they come up, Napoleon rarely presents any of his own.

Squealer: A porker who manages to convince, using lies, everyone on the farm to accept whatever Napoleon declares.

Farmer Jones: The owner of Manor Farm before the animals revolt. A drunkard, but not a bad farmer, Jones was often negligent in caring for the animals.

Farmer Frederick: The owner of the neighboring Pinchfield farm.

Farmer Pilkington: The owner of the neighboring Foxwood farm.

Mr Whymper: The 'face' of Animal Farm to the outside world.

Representations of Characters

Old Major: Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin

Boxer: The proletariat

Mollie: The czarist aristocracy

Snowball: Leon Trotsky

Napoleon: Joseph Stalin

Squealer: Propaganda newspaper Pravda

Farmer Jones: Czar Nicholas II

Farmer Frederick: Adolf Hitler

Farmer Pilkington: Winston Churchill

Mr Whymper: George Bernard Shaw

Online version

The text is now in the Public domain, and may be found at the Orwell library.