Boxer (Animal Farm)
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Boxer is a fictional horse from George Orwell's Animal Farm. He is the farm's most hard-working and loyal worker. He serves as an allegory for the Russian working class who helped oust the Czar and establish the Soviet Union, but were eventually betrayed by the Stalinist deformation of Marxism.
Boxer is one of the most popular characters. Boxer is the tragic avatar of the working class, or proletariat: loyal, kind, dedicated, and strong. He is not very clever and seldom progresses beyond the fourth letter of the alphabet. His major flaw, however, is his blind trust in the leaders, and his inability to see corruption. He is used and abused by the pigs more or less in the same manner as he was by Jones. He fights bravely in the Battle of the Cowshed and the Battle of the Windmill but is upset when he thinks he has killed a stable lad. His death serves to show just how far the pigs are willing to go — when he collapses after overstraining himself, the pigs supposedly send him to a vet, when in fact he was sent to the knacker's yard to be slaughtered in exchange for a case of whiskey for the pigs. A strong and loyal draft horse, Boxer played a huge part in keeping the Farm together prior to his death. Boxer could also represent a Stakhanovite. His two mottos sum up the double side of his character.
On Animal Farm, Boxer works harder than anyone else, and is the main reason the farm is able to construct a windmill. But with age, his strength begins to fail, and when he collapses from overexertion, Napoleon claims to arrange for him to be treated in a human hospital. In truth, Boxer is sold to a glue factory, and Napoleon uses the money to buy whiskey. Ironically, during Old Major's speech which inspired the principles of animalism a specific reference is made to how he would be turned into glue under Jones rule. Although it is not specifically mentioned, the general feeling is that it wouldn't happen under Animalism. This is possibly a further decline from animalism to Napoleon's government.
Boxer may have been inspired by Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov, a miner in the Soviet Union who became a hero in 1935 for his great productivity, or the Soviet Stakhanovite movement named after him, which was aimed at increasing worker productivity. His name was possibly based upon the Boxer Uprising in China.
[edit] Boxer's Mottos
- "I will work harder." is Boxer's response to nearly all problems. He ends up overstraining himself and collapses.
- "Napoleon is always right" similar to "Mussolini is always right", is Boxer's statement where he always shows a belief in Napoleon no matter what.
| Animal Farm | |
|---|---|
| By George Orwell | |
| Main Characters | Old Major | Napoleon | Snowball | Squealer |
| Secondary Characters |
Frederick | Pilkington | Jones | Boxer | Benjamin |
| Battles | The Revolution | Battle of the Cowshed | Battle of the Windmill |
| Songs | Beasts of England | Comrade Napoleon |
| Miscellaneous | Animalism | Seven Commandments |
