George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's 1945

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

novel ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'' contains various anthems adopted by the eponymous farm, most notably the original anthem "Beasts of England" and its later replacement "Comrade Napoleon". The later song "Comrade Napoleon" praises Napoleon and fails to represent freedom at all. This change is used to show the corruption of the principles of the animals' rebellion by Animal Farm's leader

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Both ''The Internationale'' and "Beasts of England" reflected the principles of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and Animalism, respectively. Their replacement by different anthems reflects how these ideologies were arguably distorted by Stalin and Napoleon and thus had to be replaced and suppressed. The development corresponds to the historical events of 1943, when

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

had ''

The Internationale "The Internationale" is an international anthem that has been adopted as the anthem of various anarchist, communist, socialist, democratic socialist, and social democratic movements. It has been a standard of the socialist movement since ...

'', previously the anthem of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, replaced with a new, more patriotic national anthem. However, while "Beasts of England" was outlawed in the novel, ''The Internationale'' was not banned by the Soviet Union at any time and remained as the anthem of the Communist Party.

"Beasts of England"

"Beasts of England", the original anthem of the ''Animal Farm'' corresponds to the famous

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

anthem, ''

'', but also alludes to Shelley's '' Men of England''. In the book, the pig Old Major explains his dream of an animal-controlled society three nights before his death. The song's tune is described in the novel as sounding like a combination of "

La Cucaracha La Cucaracha (, "The Cockroach") is a popular folk song about a cockroach who cannot walk. The song's origins are Spanish, but it became popular in the 1910s during the Mexican Revolution. The modern song has been adapted using the Mexican genr ...

" and " Oh My Darling Clementine".Orwell, Animal Farm, pp. 9–10. The animals sing "Beasts of England" frequently after the rebellion, especially after meetings. At one point when Clover the horse questions the direction of Animal Farm, she sings "Beasts of England" which causes the other animals to join in. After "Beasts of England" has been used to express criticism of the direction of Animal Farm,

tries to supplant the song, arguing that such an anthem is antiquated and no longer needed after the rebellion has been completed. The anthem is first replaced by the short "Animal Farm!" and later by "Comrade Napoleon", while "Beasts of England" is eventually outlawed. The phasing out of "Beasts of England" as the anthem of Animal Farm corresponds to the Soviet Union's 1944 replacement of ''The Internationale'' with the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. However, while "Beasts of England" was banned in ''Animal Farm'', "The Internationale" was not in the Soviet Union at any time and remained the anthem of the Communist Party. Suzanne Gulbin compares the role of "Beasts of England" to that of the

conch Conch ( , , ) is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high Spire (mollusc), spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point on both ...

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954), Golding published another 12 volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 19 ...

's ''

Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of prepubescent British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves that led to ...

'': it serves to create enthusiasm and unity, and its banning represents the loss of hope for a better life. Florence and William Boos read the fact that the animals continue to sing "Beasts of England" after it is banned as a testimony to the power of the memory of Old Major.

"Animal Farm!"

"Animal Farm!" is the anthem first replacing "Beasts of England" after Squealer manages to convince the other animals that the original anthem is not required. Its purpose is to inspire loyalty to the farm, and also to the new leadership. Minimus the poet composes a short, new anthem which starts: :''Animal Farm, Animal Farm, :''Never through me shall thou come to harm!'' But it is noted that it does not inspire the animals as much as "Beasts of England." Paul Kirschner writes that the switch from "Beasts of England" to "Animal Farm!" is a parody of the transition from

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

proletarian internationalism Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all proletarian revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events. It is based on the theory th ...

to Stalin's " Socialism in One Country". The song itself is most likely a reference to the

State Anthem of the Soviet Union The State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original ...

"Comrade Napoleon"

As Napoleon became more powerful, he replaced "Beasts of England" with another anthem, again written by Minimus. The anthem praised and glorified Napoleon, attributing many of the successes on the farm to him, even though he had little or no role in them. The poem marked the general happy feeling towards the rule of Napoleon at the time in the book and was painted on the wall of the big barn opposite the Seven Commandments. It was capped by a portrait of Napoleon drawn by Squealer in white paint.

1999 film adaptation

In the 1999 film adaptation, "Beasts of England" is replaced with a song "Beasts of the World", which has its own tune and different lyrics. "Comrade Napoleon" is replaced by a song titled "Glorious Leader Napoleon", put to the tune of the Russian song " V Put". In the same film, a new song was written for Napoleon by a "grateful duck", called "Napoleon, Mighty Leader" (known as "The Song of the Grateful Duck" in the soundtrack).

References

{{authority control Animal Farm Fictional musical works 1945 songs