1. **Napoleon**
- **Role**: A Berkshire boar who becomes the dictator of Animal Farm.
- **Representation**: Joseph Stalin.
- **Personality**: Cunning, manipulative, and power-hungry. He gradually takes control by using fear, propaganda, and intimidation, particularly through his loyal enforcers, the dogs.
- **Actions**: Napoleon consolidates power, expels his rival Snowball, and turns the farm into a totalitarian regime where he enjoys privilege while other animals suffer.
2. **Snowball**
- **Role**: A pig who initially helps lead the revolution but is later exiled by Napoleon.
- **Representation**: Leon Trotsky.
- **Personality**: Intelligent, passionate, and idealistic, though somewhat naive. He believes in education and modernization to improve the farm.
- **Actions**: Snowball organizes the defense of the farm in the Battle of the Cowshed and promotes the windmill project, but he’s vilified and blamed for all problems after being ousted by Napoleon.
3. **Squealer**
- **Role**: A pig and Napoleon’s propagandist.
- **Representation**: The Soviet press (Pravda).
- **Personality**: Persuasive, cunning, and sycophantic. Squealer manipulates language to justify Napoleon’s actions and maintain control over the animals.
- **Actions**: He twists the truth and rewrites history to suit Napoleon’s needs, convincing the animals that their suffering is for the greater good and that they should remain loyal to Napoleon.
4. **Boxer**
- **Role**: A loyal and hardworking cart-horse.
- **Representation**: The working class.
- **Personality**: Dedicated, strong, and trusting but not very intelligent. His mottos are “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right.”
- **Actions**: Boxer works tirelessly for the success of the farm, blindly following Napoleon’s leadership. Despite his loyalty, he is eventually betrayed and sold to the glue factory when he is no longer useful.
5. **Old Major**
- **Role**: An elderly pig who inspires the revolution.
- **Representation**: Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin.
- **Personality**: Wise, idealistic, and charismatic. Old Major’s vision of a society where animals are free from human oppression drives the revolution.
- **Actions**: His speech encourages the animals to overthrow Mr. Jones and establish Animalism. However, his ideals are quickly corrupted after his death.
6. **Clover**
- **Role**: A motherly cart-horse who works alongside Boxer.
- **Representation**: The working class, particularly women.
- **Personality**: Gentle, caring, and loyal, but also confused by the gradual shift in leadership.
- **Actions**: Clover supports the revolution but grows increasingly concerned as the pigs become more like the humans they overthrew. She remains loyal but quietly questions the leadership.
7. **Benjamin**
- **Role**: A cynical donkey.
- **Representation**: Intellectuals or skeptics.
- **Personality**: Pessimistic, intelligent, and aloof. Benjamin believes life will always be hard and doesn’t actively participate in the revolution.
- **Actions**: He recognizes the corruption of the pigs but doesn’t act until it’s too late. His greatest contribution is his realization of Boxer’s betrayal, but by then, Boxer is beyond help.
8. **Mr. Jones**
- **Role**: The human farmer overthrown by the animals.
- **Representation**: Tsar Nicholas II or the aristocracy.
- **Personality**: Irresponsible and neglectful. Mr. Jones represents the old, oppressive regime that the animals revolt against.
- **Actions**: His mismanagement and cruelty lead to the animals' rebellion. After being overthrown, he makes attempts to regain control but ultimately fails.
9. **Mollie**
- **Role**: A vain and self-absorbed horse.
- **Representation**: The bourgeoisie or upper class who resist change.
- **Personality**: Frivolous, materialistic, and concerned with her own comfort.
- **Actions**: Mollie abandons the farm when she can no longer enjoy luxuries like sugar and ribbons, symbolizing those who fled the revolution to maintain their status and wealth.
10. **The Dogs**
- **Role**: Napoleon’s loyal enforcers.
- **Representation**: The secret police (e.g., the KGB).
- **Personality**: Fierce, obedient, and violent.
- **Actions**: The dogs serve as Napoleon’s personal security force, using intimidation and violence to silence dissent and enforce his rule.
11. **The Sheep**
- **Role**: Mindless followers.
- **Representation**: The unthinking masses.
- **Personality**: Easily led and manipulated.
- **Actions**: The sheep are often used by Napoleon to drown out dissent with chants like "Four legs good, two legs bad!" Later, they repeat "Four legs good, two legs better!" as the pigs take on human characteristics.
12. **Mr. Frederick**
- **Role**: The tough and shrewd neighboring farmer.
- **Representation**: Adolf Hitler or fascist regimes.
- **Personality**: Deceitful and aggressive.
- **Actions**: Mr. Frederick cheats Napoleon in a business deal by paying with forged banknotes and later attacks Animal Farm, symbolizing the betrayal of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
13. **Mr. Pilkington**
- **Role**: Another neighboring farmer, more laid-back than Frederick.
- **Representation**: Western powers (Britain and the United States).
- **Personality**: Pragmatic but indifferent.
- **Actions**: He maintains a complicated relationship with Animal Farm, eventually attending a dinner with Napoleon, symbolizing the uneasy alliances between Western powers and the Soviet Union.
These characters mirror the events and figures of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, showcasing Orwell’s critique of power, corruption, and betrayal in the name of equality.