Character Analysis
Characters as Allegorical Constructs
Every character in Animal Farm serves a double function: they are believable animals AND allegorical figures representing real people or groups. In the OCR exam, you must analyse both layers. Use “Orwell presents [character] as…” to signal AO2 awareness.
Napoleon
Napoleon represents Stalin. He says little, works behind the scenes, trains the dogs secretly and seizes power through violence. Key quotation: Napoleon “had a reputation for getting his own way.” Orwell makes Napoleon less charismatic than Snowball deliberately — Stalin was not a great orator but a ruthless political operator. Napoleon’s power comes from fear and manipulation, not inspiration.
Napoleon works as a character because his behaviour (cunning, patient, ruthless) is convincingly pig-like. He works as an allegory because his rise to power precisely mirrors Stalin’s: eliminating a charismatic rival (Trotsky/Snowball), using secret police (NKVD/dogs), rewriting history, and building a cult of personality.
Snowball
Snowball represents Trotsky — the intellectual, the planner, the genuine revolutionary. His windmill idea and education programmes show sincere commitment to improving the animals’ lives. After his expulsion, he becomes a scapegoat — everything that goes wrong is blamed on him, exactly as Trotsky was demonised after exile.
Squealer
Squealer represents Soviet propaganda (particularly Pravda). He is described as being able to “turn black into white” — Orwell’s shorthand for the power of propaganda to make lies seem true. His techniques: emotional manipulation, statistics that contradict lived experience, the “Jones would come back” threat and the gradual rewriting of the commandments. Squealer shows that linguistic power is as effective as physical force.
Boxer (the cart-horse) represents the loyal, exploited working class. His mottos — “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right” — show selfless dedication corrupted into blind obedience. His death (sold to the knacker) is the novella’s most powerful moment. Benjamin (the donkey) represents cynical intellectuals who see the truth but refuse to act. He knows the revolution is failing but says nothing until it is too late. Orwell critiques both blind loyalty (Boxer) and apathetic cynicism (Benjamin) as enabling tyranny.
Boxer = blind loyalty (the working class who believe and obey). Benjamin = cynical inaction (intellectuals who see the truth but do nothing). Orwell shows that both responses enable tyranny: Boxer’s trust is exploited; Benjamin’s silence is complicity. Only a combination of awareness AND action could challenge the pigs — but no character achieves both.
Mollie and the Sheep
Mollie (the vain horse who misses her ribbons and sugar) represents the bourgeoisie who fled Russia after the revolution, preferring comfort to equality. She disappears early, choosing human luxury over animal freedom. The sheep represent the masses who mindlessly repeat slogans (“Four legs good, two legs bad”) without understanding. They are easily re-programmed to chant “Four legs good, two legs better” — Orwell’s darkest comment on how propaganda exploits the uneducated.
The dogs represent the NKVD/secret police. Trained from puppyhood by Napoleon, they are instruments of pure terror. Moses the raven represents organised religion (the Russian Orthodox Church). He tells the animals about “Sugarcandy Mountain” — a paradise after death. Napoleon tolerates Moses because religion keeps the workers docile, promising reward in the afterlife rather than justice in the present. This parallels Marx’s view of religion as “the opium of the people.”
Every character serves Orwell’s argument about how power operates. The genius of the allegory is that it works on both levels simultaneously: you can read it as a story about animals, or as a story about the Russian Revolution, and both readings enrich the other.
Napoleon = Stalin. Snowball = Trotsky. Old Major = Marx/Lenin. Squealer = Pravda/propaganda. Boxer = exploited working class. Benjamin = cynical intellectuals. Mollie = the bourgeoisie. The sheep = mindless masses. The dogs = NKVD/secret police. Moses = organised religion. Mr Jones = Tsar Nicholas II.