Joseph Stalin = Napoleon
Similarity Between Joseph Stalin and Napoleon
He was a leader with Trotsky after the Russian Revolution
He was not well educated comparing to Trotsky He made a five year plan for the industrial development He made his loyal worker until they can no longer work He had his own secret police He use his secret police to get rid of his opponents He controls the country with absolute power |
He was a leader with Snowball after the overthrown of Mr.Jones
He was not as clever as Snowball He made a three year plan for the construction of the windmill He made Boxer work until he died He had dogs to protect him He use the dogs to get rid of his opponents He controls the farm with absolute power |
Basic Biography of Joseph Stalin:
- Joseph Stalin was born on December 18th, 1879 in Gori, Georgia
- He was born as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, but later he adopted the name ‘Stalin’, which has a meaning of steel in Russian
- Although Stalin was not a good speaker like Vladimir Lenin or as knowledgable as Leon Trotsky, he participated in all the operation of the revolution.
- In February, 1917, the Russian Revolution started
- In October, the revolution was complete
- In 1922, Stalin was appointed to the office of general secretary of the Communist Party. This gave Stalin a chance to control the appointments of all party members, allowing him to consolidate his power in the party.
- After the death of the leader Lenin in 1924, Stalin destroyed the old party and took over the leadership. Many of the members were exiled to Europe and places around the world, including Leon Trotsky who was presumed as Lenin successor. He even started a reign of terror, executing people who were against him.
- In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin introduced a ideology called collectivism to Russia, he believes that it will speed up food production. This essentially turn the peasants back into slave, millions died from forced labour and starvation.
- Stalin died on March 5th, 1953
Stalin in Animal Farm.
Joseph Stalin was know as one of the most powerful dictator in history, with his 29 years control of the Soviet Union, more than 23 millions people around the world were killed. In the novel Animal Farm, a character called Napoleon was used to represent Stalin. The narrator of the book referred Napoleon as a ‘large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar’, being the only berkshire on the farm and he does not talk much but he has a reputation for getting his own way [1]. Just like Napoleon, Stalin was not a good speaker as Vladimir Lenin or as knowledgable as Leon Trotsky, but he still had his own way to get to the top of the Communist Party[4]. Similarly, Napoleon was one of the two leader of Animal Farm after the death of Old Major. Napoleon never actually contributes into the revolution, the overthrown of Jones, establishing rules to help the animals were all done by Snowball and all the other pig in the farm. He did not even has any interest on the power that animal farm hold but instead his own power over it.
The similarity between Napoleon and Stalin could be clearly seen as Napoleon abandon Old Major’s idea of animalism (or socialism) into dictatorship and as the act of Napoleon shows more and more characteristic of a human being. Napoleon took nine puppies away from their parents and trained them into his personal guards, other than personal guards, the dogs also worked as the executioner of the farm. Napoleon used the dogs to get rid of his opponent Snowball and killed all the other pigs who were always against him, allowing him to control the farm with absolute power. Similarly, Stalin had a secret police force that protect him and act as his executioner. In 1924, Stalin destroyed the old communist party and took over the leadership. Many of the original members were exiled to Europe and places around the world, including Leon Trotsky who was presumed as the next leader[4][5]. He then started a reign of terror called the Great Purges, executing more than 500,000 people who were against him [7], allowing him to control the country with absolute power. We are also see the similarity between Napoleon and Stalin through the way they treated their worker. In the novel, Napoleon made the animals work harder and longer but having less rest and food comparing to before when they were in Jone’s time, he persuaded them by saying that it is all for their own good, it is an act to stop Jones from returning, many animals died because of starvation and over working. Just like Napoleon, between the late 1920s and the early 1930s, Stalin introduced a ideology called collectivism to Russia to speed up food production for the rich[6]. This essentially turn the peasants back into slave, millions died from forced labour and starvation in that time[4][5].
The similarity between Napoleon and Stalin could be clearly seen as Napoleon abandon Old Major’s idea of animalism (or socialism) into dictatorship and as the act of Napoleon shows more and more characteristic of a human being. Napoleon took nine puppies away from their parents and trained them into his personal guards, other than personal guards, the dogs also worked as the executioner of the farm. Napoleon used the dogs to get rid of his opponent Snowball and killed all the other pigs who were always against him, allowing him to control the farm with absolute power. Similarly, Stalin had a secret police force that protect him and act as his executioner. In 1924, Stalin destroyed the old communist party and took over the leadership. Many of the original members were exiled to Europe and places around the world, including Leon Trotsky who was presumed as the next leader[4][5]. He then started a reign of terror called the Great Purges, executing more than 500,000 people who were against him [7], allowing him to control the country with absolute power. We are also see the similarity between Napoleon and Stalin through the way they treated their worker. In the novel, Napoleon made the animals work harder and longer but having less rest and food comparing to before when they were in Jone’s time, he persuaded them by saying that it is all for their own good, it is an act to stop Jones from returning, many animals died because of starvation and over working. Just like Napoleon, between the late 1920s and the early 1930s, Stalin introduced a ideology called collectivism to Russia to speed up food production for the rich[6]. This essentially turn the peasants back into slave, millions died from forced labour and starvation in that time[4][5].
Why did Orwell represent Stalin through the character Napoleon?
Orwell described Napoleon as a ‘large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar’ [1] in the beginning of the book, this was the first hint that Orwell gave to the readers. Fierce-looking was a hidden symbol of Napoleon’s personality or characteristic. According to dictionary.com, Fierce can also mean: Barbarous, Bloodthirsty, Extremely bad, Violent ; all of these words can sum up together and tell us what kind of a person or a pig Napoleon is. Other than investigating from how Napoleon was described, we can also find hidden hints on Napoleon’s characteristic through what kind of animal he is. Out of so many kind of animal, why did Orwell chose a pig or a boar for the character Napoleon? Our common label toward a pig are usually lazy, dirty, greedy and it is true, pig is a symbol of sloth and greediness in ancient Christian, it is also consider as unclean to the Jewish, Moslums, Islamic culture. To some other culture such as the Chinese, pig is actually labelled as highly intelligent animal, and if we go more specific, boar is labelled as an animal with leadership and lust [11].
How successful do you think it is?
I am really impressed on how successfully Orwell planted the hidden hints of Napoleon in the beginning of the novel. We would not notice about these hints when we first read the book, but as we read the novel second or third times, we will realize that Orwell had already planted this hints to tell us what kind of a character Napoleon will be in the beginning of the story.
I think Orwell did a good job on portraying Joseph Stalin onto the character Napoleon. Throughout the novel, many similarity between these two can be easily seen, such as their cruelness, how he consider his power as the most important things, exiling or killing opponents using the special force they have to secure their power. Anyone with a basic understanding of the Russian Revolution would able to spot the similarity between Stalin and Napoleon with no doubt.
I think Orwell did a good job on portraying Joseph Stalin onto the character Napoleon. Throughout the novel, many similarity between these two can be easily seen, such as their cruelness, how he consider his power as the most important things, exiling or killing opponents using the special force they have to secure their power. Anyone with a basic understanding of the Russian Revolution would able to spot the similarity between Stalin and Napoleon with no doubt.