Political Symbolism in Animal

A detailed Summary of Political Symbolism in Animal


There is much symbolism in George Orwell's political satire Animal Farm. There is a great deal more to this fairy tale than just what can be gleaned from a surface reading. The interactions between the characters reflect the attitudes of the people of Orwell's time. Each character in the book represents a different segment of the population, and the characters' reactions to the events in the book highlight the flaws of the political system depicted so scathingly.

One of the most easily identifiable symbols in Animal Farm are the sheep. Even in common conversation today, we often refer to easily influenced and directed people as sheep. These are the people who lend whole-hearted support to ideologies, without even fully understanding them. The sheep that could not grasp the


underlying principles of animalism, inspired "Snowball to declare the Seven Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely: 'Four legs good, two legs bad."(p 40) After memorizing this phrase, the sheep would gather together and chant in unison, which is very similar to the political rallies sanctioned in many nations. The sheep of humanity can be easily pushed into a way of thinking by the machinations of others.

One other obviously symbolic group of animals is the pig. The pigs are the bureacrats of a society, and the term pig has come to mean someone who is greedy or lazy. Although the pigs are responsible for the totalitarian state in Animal Farm that leads to a supposedly better life for the animals, it seems from the very beginning that "The pigs did

Some common words found in the essay are:
Animal Farm, Seven Commandments, Sugarcandy Mountain, Farm Moses, animal farm, George Orwell's, Manor Farm, political system, fairy tale, ,

Approximate Word count = 528
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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