The book Animal Farm written by George Orwell portrays the character of Mr. Jones representing the Russian Czar Nicholas II. The book makes many references to the Czar through underlying messages, unknown facts, and details that may be unknown to the common reader. It does an excellent job in comparing the character of Mr. Jones to Czar Nicholas II.
In Animal Farm, Mr. Jones is the leader of the Manor Farm. In the beginning of the book Mr. Jones is going through hard times and comes home really drunk every night. He is neglecting his farm and the animals. Likewise, in Russia, Nicholas was going through hard times and could not handle the responsibility of the nation. He fighting in fruitless wars and forgetting about the people of his country.
According to Orwell’s story, one night late after Mr. Jones had gone to bed, the animals gather in the barn to hear Old Major speak. He tells the animals of an upcoming revolution, one that will shift the people’s lives into a society where they will rule themselves. Mr. Jones wakes up to hear an uproar from the animals, and he fires a round of pellets at the barn. His cruel action ends the meeting and the animals begin to disperse.
In Russia a similar cry was heard from the people who were being sent to war and who were starving from lack of food. There were many meetings and plans made by the people to start a revolution, which came from small ideas that they could run their country without the help of the Czar Nicholas II. For the moment they were silenced and "sent back to sleep" as Nicholas tried to regain power, but they could not be held back forever.
In Animal Farm as Mr. Jones falls on even worse days, he begins to drink very heavily. On a Midsummer’s Eve on a Saturday, Mr. Jones goes to Willingdon and gets so drunk at the Red Lion that he doesn’t come back till midday on Sunday. When he gets home, he goes straight to sleep on the sofa and doesn’t bother with his animal chores. As a result, the animals are so hungry that they break into the food bin and begin eating as much as they please. Mr. Jones awakes to discover the animals in the food, and he and his men grab their whips and proceed to the bin to punish the animals. This action is more than the animals can take, and they begin kicking and butting and clawing until Mr. Jones and his men are run off the farm and the revolution begins.
In Russia in 1917, Nicholas II had also fallen on hard times, and his countrymen were starving in the dead of winter. Czar Nicholas thought that the eventual hard times would pass and everything would be all right. In spite of everything that Nicholas could do, the people wished to remove him as Czar. Thus, Nicholas was forced to abdicate his powers to his younger brother, who in turn also abdicated. After the abdications, the country was ruled by a provisionary government that would eventually be taken over by the Bolshevists.
These are the similarities that are presented between Mr. Jones in Animal Farm and Czar Nicholas II in Russia. Each reference to Mr. Jones refers to Nicholas II and to the events that occurred in his life. By focusing on Mr. Jones in Animal Farm, one can learn much about Czar Nicholas II in Russia.
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