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Animal Farm 1.8 Stop Stalin Already… a la Shmoop.

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The swine in Animal Farm seem to take after the Three Little Pigs. [Three little pigs buildings]

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Napoleon’s the one who built his political house out of brick - and he’s the last pig standing.

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Who came up this wacky equality idea in the first place? Old Major. [Pig sleeping in a field]

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He’s the great thinker who dreamed the impossible dream and rallied his comrades to revolt.

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Then he died before the action started. Sounds a lot like Karl Marx. [Pig dies on farm]

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Just like Old Major’s speech sparked the animals to rebel, Marx’s Communist Manifesto [Marx holding communist manifesto on a street]

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started a movement.

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But neither Major nor Marx stuck around to guide the revolution.

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It would soon be as dead as they were. [Gravestone for Animal farm and Russian Revolution]

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Old Major may be small in the grand scheme of things, but he sure started something.

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Like a magic bean, he planted hope for a better life and it grew into a giant problem. [Old Major protesting in a town square]

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Old Major was an idealist who discounted the allure of power and wealth.

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But pigs like shiny things, and bling is hard to resist. [Old Major with shiny diamonds]

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Major and Marx were all about the why for revolution and forgot about the how…

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As in - how the heck are we supposed to run things after we overthrow everything we know in life? [Animals on a farm discussing what to do]

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Napoleon, who is so obviously Stalin that he practically has a bushy mustache, sees

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this as a gaping hole of opportunity and gradually fills it… with himself.

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He’s the pig whose brick house of political intrigue and terror withstood all challenges and doubts. [Doubt and challenge land on brick house]

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It probably helped that it was guarded on all sides by his loyal henchdogs.

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They were all about their studded collars. [Hench dogs guarding house]

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And their job description? Tear out throats at the enemy on command.

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Like Stalin, Napoleon had a foolproof management style:

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Lie to everybody. Steal whatever you want. [Napoleon giving a speech]

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Kill whoever disagrees with you. Control by terror.

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It might sound crazy to you, but to his loyal supporters, that worked.

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How is that even possible?

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Hey, put lipstick on a pig and the crowd thinks it’s… a prettier pig. [A pig wearing lipstick and a wig]

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Add a Photoshop and, voilà, he’s a star with a fan club.

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…Or Miss Piggy….hard to tell.

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Too bad about the third little pig, Snowball.

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Just like Trotsky (the champion of the Russian Revolution), [Snowball and Trotsky]

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with all his brilliance and genuine concern for the public, he could have been a true star.

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And Napoleon wasn’t taking any chances. So Snowball had to go.

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This is where the terror and the henchdogs come in…

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Snowball was a nice guy and we all know where they finish. That’s right – last. [Snowball being chased by dog]

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Snowball had a straw house, it left him exposed and vulnerable to the big bad wolf.

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And although the dogs didn’t rip out Snowball’s throat, his counterpart, Trotsky, wasn’t so lucky.

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He was assassinated in Mexico with an icepick. Now that’s cold. [Trotsky's face in Mexico on a map and ice pick appears]

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