Reilly Cullen Moss English 6 15 November 2018 Rafael Trujillo and how he is like Napoleon in Animal Farm George Orwell’s Animal Farm was a book about rebellion and dictatorship in communist Russia. He wrote this book for other reasons too. He wrote it not just too represent Russia and their dictators, but all the dictators and rebellions in the world. He wrote it to show that all rebellions come back to what they had before and were useless. In Animal Farm, the animals overthrow their leader.
Two main leaders arise: Snowball the pig and Napoleon the pig. Napoleon exiles Snowball, then he takes over. After Napoleon takes over, he makes many bad decisions that result in the terrible and grueling lives the animals lived before the rebellion. Rafael Trujillo is similar to Napoleon in Animal Farm because he named the capital and roads after himself, and had people hurt, exiled, or killed for being against him. Rafael Trujillo, his power unchallenged, destroyed and killed people during his terrible dictatorship.
Trujillo was born on October 24, 1981, in San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic. He was born to a middle-class family. He rose through the ranks as a military officer. He then was elected as president and started to rule by force, causing a dictatorship. Trujillo killed 20,000 Haitian immigrants in an attack on them. That death count included women and children. Trujillo named the capital and buildings after himself. Trujillo also shut down a revolution by the “butterflies”, a group of sisters who were a symbol against women violence.
They started a movement that led to the assassination of Trujillo but was killed by Trujillo’s men. Trujillo stood strong and uncovered those rebellion attempts which made him strong as a dictator. But he lost power by being assassinated in 1961. As the website biography.com reports, Trujillo renamed the capital after himself. He built many monuments after himself while renovating the capital, Santo Domingo, after a devastating hurricane. In Animal Farm, the narrator says, “the mill would be named Napoleon Mill”.
Trujillo thought that to be a leader, you need to know how to deceive someone. This is like Napoleon because he used propaganda to deceive all of the other animals on the farm. Trujillo also took control of many land areas for his own. Trujillo seized banks and he gained all control of major industries. Entire communities were moved for Trujillo’s sugar plantation. This is like Napoleon because he gained control of all things that dealt with money on the farm. He also took one of the fields and he “intended to sow it with barley”. He did this so he could make more beer for himself and the other pigs. Like the website, chiblib.org reports, Trujillo killed and exiled many times who tried to overthrow him and the government. In 1949, some exiled Dominicans tried to overthrow the government, they were destroyed by Trujillo and his army.
On June 14th, 1959 exiles attempted to overthrow the government again but were killed by Trujillo and his army. Just like Trujillo, Napoleon would exile or kill any opponents he had. The narrator says, “they dashed straight for Snowball…and was seen no more”. Napoleon exiled Snowball for being against him. Napoleon had a secret police that would arrest people no matter what, just like Trujillo. In Trujillo’s reign, he killed a group of sisters known as the Maribals who tried to overthrow the government. The Maribals were known as the “butterflies”. They inspired many people to join them and attempt to kill Trujillo. Trujillo eventually tracked the “butterflies” and killed them on the side of the mountain. Many people who were with the Maribals or thought they were with the Maribals were tracked down and killed or they fled. This is like Napoleon on Animal Farm because he made Snowball leave the farm by force and killed any animal that did anything because of Snowball. Dictatorships and Rafael Trujillo are like Animal Farm because all of them made bad decisions and tortured and killed people.
George Orwell's "Animal Farm". (2022, Feb 28). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/george-orwell-s-animal-farm/