It's well known that various characters represent real Soviet figures. Who does Mollie, the horse sympathetic to the humans, represent? Is she just a generic non-Soviet sympathizer or does she represent any other major figure in reality?
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3 Answers
Before the rebellion, Mollie is a vain horse that likes eating sugar and wearing ribbons in her manes. (She has a lump of sugar at the time of the first meeting.) After the rebellion, she still wants to wear ribbons and she tries to avoid work (by showing up late and leaving early). She is very unlike Boxer, whose motto is, "I will work harder." In other words, she shows no real change in attitude after the rebellion.
Eventually, she disappears; the pigeons later report that she has been seen wearing a ribbon and eating lumps of sugar. This shows again that she has not changed since the rebellion.
Mollie represents those in Russian society who did not want to change for the sake of the Socialist cause, who wanted to keep the luxury they knew before the Russian Revolution and went into exile. This corresponds to many people in the Russian aristocracy and bourgeosie. However, she does not join something like a white émigré organisation, something that would have made sense if Snowball had joined her later.
The fact that she is seen pulling a cart can be interpreted in two ways:
- She sticks to her old way of life, including the vanity and luxury (ribbons and sugar, respectively).
- She does work that would be below the station of an aristocrat, just like many Russian emigrés had to keep their head above water by working as taxi drivers, labourers, etc.
There is one important difference between Mollie and the Russian aristocracy: the aristocrats fled Russia mostly in order to survive, whereas Mollie left Animal Farm before Napoleon and his dogs start killing suspected dissenters.
Mollie represented the Russian bourgeoisie. She likes being pampered and fled Russia after the revolution. She now reminisces of her wealthier days.
When she leaves,
“none of the animals ever mentioned Mollie again”
She is unpleasant and demands sugar and ribbons too much; unused to the harder life.
Mollie represented the Aristocrats. She enjoyed all the benefits of society and generally being pampered. But as soon as she was required to do work and be equals with the rest of the farm animals, she left and fled to somewhere else that would let her regain her benefits without doing work.
"A fat red-faced man in check breeches and gaiters, who looked like a publican, was stroking her nose and feeding her sugar. her coat was newly clipped and she wore a scarle ribbon round her forelock" (Orwell 46, 47)
Mollie didn't have any clear, or lasting loyalty, only following those who would provide her comfort with minimum/no workload, much like the Aristocrats.
