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In a big article on George Orwell's Animal Farm in the Guardian's literary review supplement (17 April 2010), Christopher Hitchens writes: 'There is, however, one very salient omission. There is a Stalin pig and a Trotsky pig, but no Lenin pig. Similarly, in Nineteen Eighty-Four we find only a Big Brother Stalin and an Emmanuel Goldstein Trotsky. Nobody appears to have pointed this out at the time (and if I may say so, nobody but myself has done so since; it took me years to notice what was staring me in the face).' < http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/17/christopher-hitchens-re-reads-an imal-farm > This statement is factually incorrect. I had an edited collection of essays on Orwell published in 2005, George Orwell: Enigmatic Socialist. In my contribution, '"I Know How But I Don't Know Why": George Orwell's Conception of Totalitarianism', I wrote: 'The taciturn, devious and ambitious Napoleon is clearly Stalin, and the more inventive and vivacious Snowball is an equally obvious Trotsky... There is, however, no porcine Lenin, as Major (Marx) dies just before the animals take over the farm, although the displaying of Major's skull is reminiscent of the rituals around the embalmed Bolshevik leader.' John Molyneux wrote in his contribution, 'Animal Farm Revisited', an article originally published in 1989: 'It is clear that Napoleon represents Stalin, just as Old Major is Marx and Snowball is Trotsky. Who then represents Lenin? Since Orwell depicts the Rebellion as led by two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, one is forced to the conclusion that Napoleon also represents Lenin. Thus in Animal Farm the figures of Lenin and Stalin are merged into one character.' So it can be seen that Hitchens is making a totally unwarranted assertion. I sent the e-mail below to the paper. Paul F 'To the Editor, Guardian Review 'Dear Sir 'Re: Christopher Hitchens, 'Where's Lenin?', Guardian Review, 17 April 2010. 'Christopher Hitchens is quite wrong in arrogantly insisting that nobody but himself has pointed out that there is no Lenin figure in George Orwell's Animal Farm. I noted the absence in '"I Know How But I Don't Know Why': George Orwell's Conception of Totalitarianism', in a collection of essays that I edited, George Orwell: Enigmatic Socialist (London, 2005). In his contribution to the collection, 'Animal Farm Revisited', John Molyneux also noted the absence of a porcine Lenin, and considered that Orwell merged the characters of Lenin and Stalin in the pig Napoleon. 'Yours faithfully 'Dr Paul Flewers' ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
