The Ribbons and Sugar of the Russian Revolution

            “We will make our hearts cruel, hard, and immovable without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds.  Let them drown themselves in their own blood.  For the blood of Lenin let there be floods of the blood of the bourgeois – more blood, as much as possible” (“Red Terror”).  The Russian Revolution was a terrifying experience for the upper class, or bourgeoisie.  Mollie, a character in the satiristic fable Animal Farm by George Orwell, represents the upper class attitude and reactions during the Russian Revolution but misinterprets their intentions.

            Mollie, “the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones’ trap” (Orwell 27), enjoys a life of luxury in Manor Farm and despises the Rebellion.  Mollie’s favorite objects in life are the ribbons that plait her mane and sugar cubes.  Attention-loving and conceited, Mollie is not content with being one of the crowd.  Her special treatment leads her to oppose Animalism that stresses animal equality.  She has no sympathy for the miserable animals she lives with.  Secretly, Mollie hopes the Rebellion will never come so she can continue her carefree days of admiration by her master.  However, after the Rebellion Mollie is no longer given ribbons or sugar and is expected to work along with the other animals.  Having never done a day of work in her life, Mollie dodges her responsibilities by making excuses.  For example, “Mollie [is] not good at getting up in the mornings and [has] a way of leaving work early” (Orwell 47).  Along with being lazy, Mollie is also a coward.  Mollie went from a pampered pet to meaningless worker after the Rebellion.    

            The upper class, or bourgeoisie, in Russia met a turning point in their lives after the Revolution.  Nobles, government officials, army officials and church officials owned the basis of the society’s wealth benefiting from the work of the lower class, or proletariat.  Royalty and other of high status did not care about the meager lives of the peasants that toiled night and day to add to the bourgeoisie’s wealth.  The Bourgeoisie also did not participate in the Rebellion; in fact, they used their education to argue against Communism and would have succeeded if they made up more than 20% of the population.  Not being strong enough, however, the bourgeoisie were forced to succumb to the Russian Revolution’s Communism.  During Lenin’s rule after the Rebellion of 1917, he ordered slave labor camps containing 70, 000 people, most of them bourgeoisie, by 1923.  Almost all Russian royalty were killed by the rampaging Bolsheviks.  Punishment of death or hard labor ending in death for being anti-Communist was harsher than Mollie’s work at Animal Farm and escaping was also more difficult.  Being forced to work, the indolent bourgeoisie learned the difficulty of living with hunger and regretted the selfishness that led them to rebellion.  The upper class were treated as criminals during the Revolution.  Mollie’s actions mirror those of the bourgeoisie after the Rebellion.

            The bourgeoisie and Mollie flee from their rebelling nation.  During the first winter, Mollie is seen being stroked on the nose by a human and three days later, leaves Animal Farm to be cared for by a bartender in Willingdon.  In town, Mollie can go back to her old lifestyle without fear of punishment; however, Mollie misses the days under Mr. Jones’s leadership.  If she had postponed leaving until later when Napoleon acquired absolute power, she would have been killed by his secret police dogs.  Fleeing from Animal Farm, Mollie did not predict Napoleon’s corruption but left to be adored.  Freedom and independence are not qualities Mollie values in life.  Even though many were captured, a number of bourgeoisie families escaped to other countries offering a safe haven.  Alexander Presniakov, the 3-year-old son of an officer in an elite royal cavalry unit, fled from the Bolsheviks in 1918.  A ship full of White Russian families was leaving, and his father was forced to throw young Alex across the icy water into the arms of a family friend on the ship in order to force the captain to let them on.  Barely escaping, the Presniakovs hid from the Red Terror in Norway (Taylor).  Russian bourgeoisie left the Revolution for fear of being killed or captured by the Bolsheviks.  After relocating, the bourgeoisie also missed their lives in Russia before the Revolution.  Under similar circumstances, Mollie and the bourgeoisie reacted in similar fashions.

            The bourgeoisie class suffers greater consequences from their actions than Mollie.  After Mollie leaves Animal Farm, she is literally forgotten by the others, and “none of the animals ever [mention] Mollie again” (Orwell 62).  Mollie was looked upon as a traitor by her fellow animals and as a threat to Snowball and Napoleon.  If all of the animals began leaving to find their own fortune, the pigs would lose their power.  Lenin influenced the uneducated masses of Russia to shun the upper class.  As Richard Pipes writes in his book Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, “Lenin hated what he perceived to be the ‘bourgeoisie’ with a destructive passion that fully equaled Hitler’s hatred of the Jews” (Pipes).  The bourgeoisie went from being powerful to helpless in the hands of the Bolsheviks.  Orwell does not leave Mollie to a tragic fate like Boxer or any of the other animals on Animal Farm; however, he does describe her with disgust and disdain by calling her “foolish” and “stupid”.  Mollie’s future looks the brightest compared to all of the rest of the animals, but she still left her home farm to crumble on its own.  Bourgeoisie families that left after the Revolution did not lead as bright a future as before.  Leaving Russia, they left all of their wealth and belongings.  Migrating to a foreign country, these once respected families worked in factories and small stores.  Unlike Mollie, the bourgeoisie left Russia in fear of being killed rather than to obtain sugar and ribbons.  In the midst of Mollie and the bourgeoisie’s many similarities, they have differences.

            Mollie left Animal Farm to dodge work and eat sugar; the bourgeoisie left Russia to keep from being murdered.  After they leave, their society goes haywire and the public lives in mortal fear of their new leaders.  Both Mollie and the bourgeoisie abandon the people of their country to ensure their personal safety.  Orwell portrays Mollie as a scared, childish flirt that abandons her peers.  Mollie falsely portrays the upper class in Russia because after learning the consequences of staying in Russia, readers of Animal Farm need to forgive the wealthy families who were only trying to save their families.  In contrast, the bourgeoisie did not leave Russia to keep their wealth but to survive.  Mollie and the bourgeoisie both left their homes after a life changing revolution; however, their intentions separated the traitor from the refugees.

Works Cited

Pipes, Richard.  Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime.  London: Harvil, 1994.

“Red Terror.”  Spartacus.schoolnet.uk.co.  Jan. 17, 2007. 

            < http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSterror.htm>

Taylor, Michael.  “Alexander Presniakov—escaped Russian Revolution.”  San Francisco Chronicle.  Oct. 31, 2004.  Jan. 17, 2007.  <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/31/BAGKU9JIGI1.DTL>