In “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, the animals who take over the farm to turn it into their own world, and government start off with a pristine vision of what their world would look like. Along the way, however, personal agendas of those vying for total control tarnish what could have been a wonderful home and structure. After the death of Old Major, Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball begin to strive to take the power. While in Orwell’s original text he was making connections to Stalin, Marx, and Trotsky the attitudes and actions of these characters can be linked to the twenty sixteen election. Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball are Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Hillary Clinton respectively. As history is a cyclical process, it comes as no shock that nearly identical campaign processes used by the original communist leaders were used by Donald Trump and Mike Pence. 

 To fully grasp the initial effects that the book had on the people of the world, it is crucial to look back to those times. In this article, “How 'Animal Farm' Gave Hope to Stalin's Refugees.", the author, Andrea Chalupa, discusses the historical relevance of the book Animal Farm. She talks about how the American people reacted to the book upon its initial publication. As we had just recently become allies with the Soviet Union, the release of a book publicly bashing the great nation was a shocking notion. The translation of the story, and its international release brought the book to the attention to the newly acquired states of the Soviet Union. As Orwell had previously lived in the country, he knew how the government was in controlling all aspects of thought. However, the book was still able to penetrate through the borders, delivering an allegorical tale of repressed truths to those who needed it most. His work was mixed into the anti-Soviet movement which included many authors who were in either the Soviet Union, or Ukraine, where a bulk of this work was being released from. The people who were able to get their hands on these copies were given hope from the fact that if they were able to read them than that meant that people in countries with the ability to make a difference also had access to the hidden truths. To them it meant that there was a time, very soon even that people would be able to take a stand against the horrible oppressors working to hide every aspect of their nations workings and tear it down. There was a freedom for people who forcibly starved their citizens.

While it might no longer be the Soviet Union who is gas lighting and brain washing their people, with the recent election outcomes, there is a large group of American people who are terrified out of their minds. Being able to keep this book in circulation, to keep it getting translated into all sorts of works is vital as it still has the capacity to show suppressed people that what they are experiencing is not something that is normal or good. It shows people of color, women, and those in the LGBTA community that there are people who realize that what is going on and what will transpire is not who we are as a nation. There is a real hope that people will notice that what the government is doing follows too closely to the repressive enemies that we have in the middle east. And while these groups of minorities are more than right to want to leave their country, there is the hope being presented that those who are arrogant in power will crumble. The article also shows the reader how the American people did not at first enjoy hearing that the Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, formerly Uncle Joe, was actually committing atrocities. People had images of George Orwell in their homes as a sign of respect to someone who had gone out and saved them from the crippling way of live impressed upon them. He was their motivator to leave the country they called ‘home’ after it had been bastardized for so long. As for now, we will have to shoulder the burdens of a mad man with no possible way to fathom what he has gotten himself into. We will hold onto the same hopes that the book previously brought to the Soviet Union, we are not alone, we will be free, this is not forever.

Napoleon, or Stalin, made some fairly intense promises while campaigning for power. And while he did achieve those promises to a degree, Napoleon would go back on his word on what he had previously promised. Such is the same with Donald Trump, one of the biggest similarities was that both Napoleon and Trump want to entirely block out one group. For Donald trump that group are the Mexicans and Muslims, and for Napoleon it was the humans. Napoleon makes sure that with regards to his competitor Snowball, the other animals on the farm learn to not trust a word that Snowball says. Napoleon is able to convince the other animals that Snowball has conversed with a human, Mr. Jones. After doing this Snowball is very easy to eradicate. Similarly, Donald Trump’s incessant mentioning of Hillary’s email scandal, evidently nothing showed up, was enough of a problem that it cost her the election. 

While there was the constant promise of ‘if you worked hard enough you would be able to retire and enjoy as much food and luxury as wanted’ on the farm, those dreams never came to fruition as the animals had to keep working their hardest to ensure there was food available. Donald Trump’s plan to keep social security is a very good plan, however it is very expensive to upkeep as it “is one of the biggest line items on the budget.” (Qiu) The cutting of rations by Napoleon and Squealer can be equated to the tax cuts of Donald Trump. While tax cuts are typically a good thing, Donald Trump’s plan includes massive tax breaks to the rich. “The top 0.1 percent would receive more tax relief than the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers combined. Trump’s plan would bloat the federal deficit by at least $10 trillion over the next decade, even if you factor in economic growth.” (Qiu) These facts along with Donald Trumps wish to keep up with the social security program is what links it to the rationing of food in animal farm. The majority of the middle class will become responsible for paying off the bloating of the deficit. This also makes retiring much harder as the people will have to be able to work much longer to continue to pay off our nations debts, feed their families, pay rent, pay taxes, and put away money for retirement. 

Initially, Donald Trump does not exactly inspire the image of Joseph Stalin or a pig named Napoleon. However, when one takes the time to look at the specifics of what both the dictator, and character have done, the similarities are impossible to miss. History is in constant motion and will always be repeating itself until we can learn from the past. With our President Elect Donald Trump we must look into the past, and learn how to protect ourselves so that the effects of Stalin do not permeate into this nation of ours.
