y. He was at one time considered the second most powerful man in Russia. (Trotsky” Comptons 290). Besides characters there are many items that can be compared as symbols in the book and in Russia. The whip that Napoleon used in the farmyard to wield power can be compared to the power that Stalin used on the Russians. Napoleon carried a whip in his trotter. Stalin used his power to starve the Russian people and to have Lenin arrested. Stalin’s main goal was to maximize his personal power. (“Stalin,” Britannia 576). Stalin “whipped” his people into shape by collectivizing agriculture, by police terror, and by destroying remnants of individual prosperity. He also led the Soviet Union into the nuclear age (Clarkson 442). Propaganda is another item that was used in the Russian revolution. It can be compared to Squealer in Animal Farm. Squealer brainwashed (a form of propaganda) the barnyard animals into believing that they did not like apples and milk, while he and Napoleon were stealing the food for themselves. In Russia, the Bolsheviks carried out propaganda on the people by passing out leaflets and putting stories in the newspapers that were not true. They told workers, soldiers, and peasants to not trust their own hands and to take away land from the landowners. (Golubeva and Gellerstein 80). Another item that is similar in both Animal Farm and Russia are the dogs and the secret police. Napoleon trained his dogs when they were puppies to guard him and to obey his every command. They chased Snowball away. Stalin trained his secret police to do his bidding whenever he issued an order. Stalin had his secret police kill between 60,000 to 70,000 people. These police were called the Checka and the graves filled with bodies stacked upon each other with bullets in each skull were found many years later. (Imse, C2). Another symbolism that exists in the book and in R...
