Snowball is a character in George Orwell's 1945 novel ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

''. He is largely based on

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, who led the opposition against

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

(

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

). Snowball is depicted as an intellectual white pig whose leadership, dedication, and feats for Animal Farm is unparallel to any others on the farm, however he is rivaled by

who has hatred for Snowball. In the 1954 film adaptation of ''Animal Farm'', he was voiced by

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

, and was voiced by

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...

in the 1999 television adaptation.

Biography

Snowball believes in a continued revolution: he argues that to defend Animal Farm, he must strengthen the reality of

Old Major Major (also called Willingdon Beauty, his name used when showing) is the first major character described by George Orwell in his 1945 novel '' Animal Farm''. An elderly Middle White boar, his "purebred" of pigs is a kind, grandfatherly philosoph ...

's dream of a life without humans and that they must stir up rebellions in other farms throughout England. However,

always disagrees with any ideas that Snowball has because he does not want Snowball to lead Animal Farm, wanting to lead it himself in the same vein as a tyranny. Snowball writes the

Seven Commandments ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to cr ...

for Animal Farm, which are later altered by Squealer under the orders of Napoleon, to accommodate the actions of the pigs; the commandment stating "No animal shall drink alcohol" is changed to "No animal shall drink alcohol ''to excess''", "No animal shall sleep in a bed" has been changed to "No animal shall sleep in a bed ''with sheets''", and "No animal shall kill another animal" is changed to "No animal shall kill another animal ''without cause''". Later all the commandments are replaced with one phrase: "All animals are equal'', but some animals are more equal than others''". Once Napoleon gains control of Animal Farm, he uses his guard dogs to attack Snowball and manipulates the farm into believing all he had done before was the cause of problems for the farm. Though he fought intensely for Animal Farm at the Battle of the Cowshed, Napoleon verbally alters the events to say he openly fought for Jones, with the animals who are accused of supporting him get executed. It is never revealed what happens to him after his escape. In the 1954 animated adaptation he is killed by the dogs, but in the 1999 live-action film adaptation, he is shown escaping the dogs and surviving, though Napoleon declares him banished under pain of death.

CIA-made character changes

When the novel ''Animal Farm'' was adapted for the screen in the 1950s, the CIA investors were initially greatly concerned that Snowball was presented too sympathetically in early script treatments and that Batchelor's script implied Snowball was "intelligent, dynamic, courageous". A memo declared that Snowball must be presented as a "fanatic intellectual whose plans if carried through would have led to disaster no less complete than under Napoleon." De Rochemont subsequently implemented these changes..''Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of animal Farm'', pp. 75–79

References

{{Animal Farm Fictional politicians Animal Farm characters Cultural depictions of Leon Trotsky Literary characters introduced in 1945 Fictional revolutionaries Fictional pigs Fictional characters based on real people Pigs in literature Male characters in literature