"The goal of socialism is communism"- Vladimir Lenin
VLADIMIR LENIN (1870-1924)History
One of the leading revolutionary thinkers in the Russian Revolution who orchestrated the Bolshevik take over of power in 1917, Lenin was the establisher of the first communist government in the world. ("Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924)," n.d.). Born in 1870 into a well educated family, Lenin’s original name was Vladimir Ulyanov. As a child, he wanted for nothing but his views of the world soon changed when his brother Alexander was executed for plotting to kill the tsar. This event turned Lenin into a revolutionary “with a desire to rid Russia of the system responsible for Alexander’s execution” (Vladimir Lenin, n.d.). After being arrested and exiled to Siberia, Lenin spent most of his time in Europe where he emerged as a distinguished figure and later became the leader of the Bolshevik seizure of power. Lenin devoted his life trying to bring down the Russian government, believing that the wealthy and the profit makers abused the poor, thus they should be helped. He believed in equality for everyone, a government that represented the people and not the current system that kept people in misery. He realized that although there were millions in poverty, their illiteracy made them incapable of organizing themselves, therefore he formed a group with a bunch of intellectuals to help them break the chain (Vladimir Lenin, n.d.). Within a few months after the Tsar’s abdication, the rest of the government was overthrown by the Communist Party, led by Lenin. Connection to Novel Like Lenin, Old Major the boar who plays a significant role in Animal Farm is the leader of the animal revolutionary movement. Major believes in a perfect communist society in which all animals live in harmony and not under the exploitation of humans. In his influential speech towards the animals in the barn in chapter one, he states that “Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.” (Animal Farm, p.7). This is exactly the ideology that Lenin worked towards achieving - perfect unity and equality amongst all. However, both Lenin and Major die before witnessing the reformation and results of revolution. Major’s speech establishes the 'Struggle against dictatorship for an equal society’ theory and clearly states that under no circumstances should an animal associate with men, and should always treat all animals as equals. By emphasizing how "regarded"(p.2) Major is by describing how the animals wasted an hour of sleep just to hear him talk, we see that Orwell totally agreed on Major's viewpoint. The word "regard" also gives a positive connotation, further proving that Orwell was not against revolutions. Using Major’s ideas, the pigs distort them for their own benefit. At the end of the novel, the pigs are seen walking on hind legs, fraternizing with farmers, and the animals are appalled that they can “no longer distinguish between the humans and the pigs” (Hamilton, 2011). The contrast of the excitement towards revolution at the beginning of the novel and the drastic tone at the end of the novel shows the approval Orwell has towards starting a revolution and his disapproval of the way a dictator gains power. We can hereby see that his representation of the character Major is very successful. |
Additional Links
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/vladmir_lenin.htm http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?query=&prodId=SUIC&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&source=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&action=2&catId=&activity&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2165000608&userGroupName=rchk&jsid=463ef0bb9e03b559bfc97bb93f8243fc |