Vladimir Ilich Lenin
Vladimir Ilich Lenin was born on April 10, 1870 in Ulianovsk, Russia and died on January 21, 1924 Moscow, Soviet union. He was the creator of the Bolshevik party, Soviet sate and the third international. [1] He was also the leader of Russian revolution. Now a days, Lenin’s impetus and contributions has affected the contemporary thinking about world affairs. Lenin’s brother Aleksandr was executed because he was involved in a group to assassinate Emperor Alexander III. This has changed Lenin’s thinking towards politics. During the year of his brother’s execution, Lenin went to Kazan university, but was expelled after his participation in a demonstration. In 1889, Lenin has considered himself a marxist. As the movement of marxist had slowly developed in Russia, Lenin lead a bourgeois revolution. Leadership and hierarchy was his key concepts of every revolution. Lenin has raised Preoccupation with wards of national liberation, imperialism, decolonization and important issues of contemporary social science. [1] He was arrested in 1897 and sent months in jail, and was sentenced to 3 years of exile. Lenin has expressed his ideas in a book “What’s to be done?” (1902). His fighting spirit was also expressed in a pamphlet “Two tactics of social-democracy in the democratic revolution” (1905).
Lenin VS Old Major
In the novel Animal Farm written by George Orwell, Lenin was described as Old Major. Lenin was considered as the origin communism leader, in here, Old major is the main leader of the farm revolution, he has created “animalism”. Lenin and Old major are Ideologist which they dream of having an ideal government system, so they have decided on a revolution. George Orwell has expressed this through Old Major’s speech saying that it’s impossible to “escape the grasp of capitalism” [2]. During a night meeting Old major has held before his death, he convinced the animals the rebel against the rules of the farm in exchange for a better living. The animals sang “Beasts of England” to announce the start of revolution and Mr Jones suddenly fired a shot into the barn. This is related to the failed assassination attempt on Lenin in 1918, when Lenin was giving a speech. However before the revolution starts, Old major has died. This is similar to Lenin as he was dead shortly after the revolution. After the death of Old major, the animals took his bone structure and displayed it on top of the farm. The reason why the animals kept Old major’s head is to pay homage to how the rebellion started. Same as Lenin, after his death, his body remain displayed to the public. People kept his full body and his head was embalmed. Even though both of them died shortly, due to the respect they’ve gained from others, they are both honored after their deaths.
Was George Orwell Successful in representing Old Major as Lenin?
George Orwell chose to represent Lenin as Old major in the way he did because both of the them lead the start of a revolution. Old major and Lenin are both highly respected by others because of their wisdom. It is well known that the motto of the pig is “it’s better to give than to receive”. People born under the year of pig enjoys life and they will offer the best for their family and friends. They are compassionate souls who simply want to keep the peace. [3] From here, we can see that the sign of pig is similar to Lenin and Old major. As mentioned above, Lenin and Old major strives for a peaceful environment for their citizens. Both of them dream to have an ideal government system. In this novel, George Orwell effectively expressed Lenin through the speech and movement of Old major. He is successful by using Old Major as Lenin because as many people are familiar with the sign of the pig, therefore it is easy for others to deeply understand the character.
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Intext Reference
[1] General Logon Page. (n.d.). Gale Error Page. Retrieved March 21, 2013, from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOver&query=&prodId=SUIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1631003891
[2] pdg. (n.d.). animalfarm. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from http://pdg-animalfarm.wikispaces.com/Old+Major+-+Vladimir+Lenin
[3] Chinese Horoscopes - The Pig. (n.d.).Lovegevity.com, Inc.. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/Pig.htm
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Intext Reference
[1] General Logon Page. (n.d.). Gale Error Page. Retrieved March 21, 2013, from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOver&query=&prodId=SUIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1631003891
[2] pdg. (n.d.). animalfarm. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from http://pdg-animalfarm.wikispaces.com/Old+Major+-+Vladimir+Lenin
[3] Chinese Horoscopes - The Pig. (n.d.).Lovegevity.com, Inc.. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/Pig.htm