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Allegory
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Rich and Free:
At the beginning of the novel, the venerable pig Old Major speaks to the gathered animals and encourages them to break the chains of human oppression. This speech advocates for the overthrow of the human farmers by the animals. In doing so, it alludes in several places to German philosopher and economist Karl Marx's call for the proletariat to revolt against the bourgeoisie to achieve a classless society:
"Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And above all, pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious."
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Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Hoof and Horn:
As Snowball describes the newly-minted flag of the Animalist movement, Orwell makes an allusion to the flag of its historical parallel, the 20th-century Communist movement:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The flag was green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown.
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Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Snowball's Gone:
After Snowball “deserts” Animal Farm, Squealer and the pigs use him as a scapegoat for all of the farm’s political ills. Orwell makes an allusion to the story of former founding Soviet Union thinker Leon Trotsky as Squealer tries to persuade the animals to listen to Napoleon’s orders:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? Suppose you had decided to follow Snowball, with his moonshine of windmills--Snowball, who, as we now know, was no better than a criminal?”
“He fought bravely at the Battle of the Cowshed,” said somebody.
“Bravery is not enough,” said Squealer. “Loyalty and obedience are more important.”
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Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—The Whip:
Describing Napoleon’s final, triumphant two-legged return to the farmyard, Orwell satirizes the way dictators often reproduce the cruelties of the systems that came before them. This depiction of Napoleon also calls attention to the allusion Orwell makes with the pig’s name:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And finally there was a tremendous baying of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black cockerel, and out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side, and with his dogs gambolling round him. He carried a whip in his trotter.
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