Archetypal literary theory in the first 2 thirds of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

Now that I have read the first two thirds of the book or up to chapter 8 I am now applying archetypal literary theory to this book. At this point in the book many bad things have begun happening to animal farm with the consensus government being replaced by a dictatorship run by the pig Napoleon who chased his only other political rival (Snowball) off the farm. This blog post will be about all the different archetypal patterns displayed throughout the story up to this point.

As there seems to be no main character and the book revolves around the entire society the main archetypes are those of the individual characters within the society. These archetypes are mostly very basic but because many of them are so different from each other they add together to form a very realistic group of personalities. They include archetypes such as the trickster, the greedy pig and the hard-worker.

The pig "Squealer" who in the book acts as the trickster as he is brilliant with words and is gifted at changing people’s minds. The book describes him as being so persuasive that he "could turn black into white." he uses this talent while working for the new "leader" to spread propaganda and lies to make every other animal think that "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right." even if they are direct contradictions to previous statements. That is why Squealer plays the "Trickster" archetype/role.

There were many dogs that were born near the beginning of the book and they were then taken by the pig Napoleon, so he could "make himself responsible for their education." However, they were being brainwashed and fed only Napoleons beliefs and views in "such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence." The brainwashing of these dogs makes them have no character or personality other than to follow orders and act as enforcers of Napoleons will. This, for me shows that the dogs as act as the "Muscle" or "Henchmen" archetype serving Napoleon.

The horse "Boxer" plays the archetype of the "good guy" and is a basic hard-working animal who just wants what is best for the group. His willingness to help the cause is shown in his waking up to work before anyone else. His devotion is showed in his two personal mottoes "I will work harder." and "If Napoleon says it, it must be right." This extraordinary dedication and selflessness clearly puts him in the archetype of "The working man" or as an ordinary good guy. Unfortunately, his trust and devotion are manipulated by the lazy and greedy pigs who are willing to exploit the hard workers for their own gains.

Finally, there is of course, Napoleon who is the clear archetype of the exploitative bad guy who only wants more for himself and is willing to manipulate other people to reach his goals of power and an easier lifestyle. This archetype is very common in many different stories however works extremely well in this story which puts Napoleon as the replacement to the farmer with the exception that he is not human. This archetype also goes well with the communistic undertones as he is the fat pig capitalizing on the work of the laborers. 

The archetypes in this book are clear to see and I think that this was an intentional move by the author rather than just lazy writing as it allows the book to be easier to understand. This also makes his points aggressively clear. These clear and plain archetypes allow the reader to show how some of the most basic to understand characters can put the commune they were living in into shambles and how trying to follow a "good" archetype can still lead to failure.