How does Orwell use Napoleon to entertain the reader and teach them about historical context of the Russian Revolution?
Orwell introduces the readers to Napoleon mainly for entertainment purposes, but also in some sense teaches the audience about the Russian Revolution. Napoleon is very manipulative as he is good at “getting his own way” and he is also very sneaky.
The name Napoleon means lion and that can relate to the character in Animal Farm in such way; “fierce looking Berkshire boar... not much of a talker, but with a reputation of getting his own way”. Also “getting his own way” can tell the reader that nobody can stop him and that this could lead to problems. In addition to this, “with a reputation of getting his own way” can give another clue of what might happen to the reader.
Napoleon plays a key part in Animal Farm because the book is predominantly about who is in power of Animal Farm and throughout most of the book, Napoleon and Snowball are competing for it. As Orwell described Napoleon as “fierce”, this conveys that he is cruel and brutal in competition. Orwell makes the reader think and lets them know that he “plays his cards” even if he is “not much of a talker”. He is not only dominant in Animal Farm, but he is also dominant throughout all the cleverer pigs. The pigs were thought to be the cleverest animals in the farm, however Napoleon was “the only Berkshire on the farm”, so he was treated as an elite.
Orwell makes a clever, but not so obvious, connection with the Russian Revolution and Napoleon. Napoleon represents Stalin in the Russian Revolution. Napoleon's removal of Snowball is like Stalin’s removal of Leon Trotsky from power in 1927 and his subsequent