The Life of Oscar Otter: An Allegory of the Russian Revolution

Chapter 4

A civil war had broken out.

No sooner had the soviet gained control, than a new faction rose up to oppose them. As it turned out, there was a group of animals that had slowly been growing. They were all loyal to the Tiger and the way things had been before his abdication. Although they were disorganized, they were many in number, and posed a great threat to the newly formed soviet government.

Under the new control of the soviet, independence was given to a group of soldiers in the far south. The group began to behave recklessly and caused many injuries in the process of leaving their posts. Wolf demanded that they stop, yet they refused. Having tasted freedom they didn't want to be controlled again. Wolf then sent troops down there to stop them, yet again, they resisted and defeated all of the soviet troops. These renegade soldiers then took control of a major railway and eventually joined the side that fought against the soviet, soon to be known as the "whites".

More uprisings began taking place and threatened the hegemony of the soviet. The attacks were also starting to move closer and closer to where the Tiger and his family were being kept in protective custody. This concerned Oscar greatly, and he quickly voiced his concerns to Wolf who said that he had been worrying about the same thing. With the attacks so close, there was worry that the whites would actually set them free and reinstate them.

Wolf, Oscar and others from the military department tried to come up with a solution to prevent that from happening. Many ideas were thrown around, but none were without flaws.

"I hate to say it," someone said, "but it looks like the only way to be sure, would be to kill them."

Wolf's black brow furrowed and a silence fell on the room. Everyone thought about what was said. Although many of them didn't like it, they all agreed that that was the only way to ensure that the whites wouldn't be able to get their hands on the Tiger and his family. Oscar agreed as well, although reluctantly, knowing that there was nothing else he could do.

"It's settled then," Wolf said, adjusting his glasses, "I will send word to the guards informing them of our plans."

One week later, Oscar sat at home with his mother, telling her about the most recent events in the civil war and why he would have to go back to soldiering again, only this time it was to fight the whites.

Suddenly there was shouting in the street and an animal was waving the newspaper and throwing copies to everyone. The headline read: The End of the Tiger and the article described the events of his death.

It was just last night when the terrible legacy of the Tiger came

to an end. The Tiger and his family, who were being held in Tobolsk,

were shot and killed just last night under orders from our dear Marvin Moon. Reports tell us that the white army, headed by Benjamin Brown

had plans for freeing the Tiger and reinstating him as ruler. So, Moon

took immediate action...

Oscar breathed out a sigh and set down the paper, marveling at how much things had changed in these few short years. He expected that he would feel some kind of relief at the Tiger's death, but if anything, he felt saddened. There was no way that he would let that show. He quickly put that aside and thought instead about his upcoming departure for the battle front.

Wolf had recently called together a group of animals, Oscar among them, and told them about their dire situation. Despite having better organization and weapons, the huge mass of animal-power that the whites were putting into the war was completely overwhelming them. He informed them about the details, before finally coming forward with the point of their meeting.

"Comrades, I have amassed a good number of animals willing to fight for our cause. What we need now is a group of capable, trustworthy animals that can lead them into victory." He paused to let that sink in, before smirking with a toothy smile and continuing. "You, friends, are those I wish to lead those commands."

Oscar couldn't believe it. This was more of a promotion than he could have ever hoped for, and now he would be the one commanding instead of fighting. "Thank you sir," he said grinning, "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't Otter," Wolf replied. "Be ready to move out with your troops by within the week."

Five days after his meeting with Wolf, and two days after the announcement of the Tiger's execution, Oscar was standing in his new uniform at the train station about to join his command at the front lines. He couldn't believe that he was going back. He had sworn that he wouldn't be the cause of any more bloodshed, but he also knew that it was for a cause he believed in and that he was willing to fight for that.

The train arrived and Oscar boarded, seeing his troops for the first time. The animals were young and enthusiastic to defend their country, looking forward to doing their part. Oscar knew what that felt like, he himself felt it less than five years ago when he was fighting for the Tiger. He knew that their giddiness would be crushed soon enough as the reality of war set upon them. Oscar used the time that they had on the train to explain to them their situation, and to assess the skills of the soldiers. He was pleasantly surprised by his findings and was glad that he wouldn't have to do much training with them.

Six days later, the train arrived at their destination and they all disembarked, meeting the soldiers that were there already. Oscar helped them set up their camp and later went over a few training exercises with them before dismissing his troops to go about their business and get settled in.

Oscar then joined his fellow commanders for a nice dinner of potatoes and greens, much better than he remembered the army food being while he was fighting for the Tiger.

***

The war seesawed back and forth, both sides struggling for a big enough advantage to finally win. For three years they struggled, winning and losing, a constant tension, with many casualties on both sides. This time around, however, Oscar felt much more at ease about his family's situation back at home.

Because his salary was so much higher as a commander and member of the soviet council, he was confident that his mother was getting the care that she needed. This was confirmed by the letters she sent him every week discussing the trivial things that were happening in her life

back in Petrograd, as well as checking on Oscar's own health. Oscar frequently reported their situation back, although he left out a few of the less fortunate details as to not worry her too much.

At last the war was over and Oscar could go back home again, adorned now, with medals of valor. His actions had also earned him much respect throughout the soviet. Of course all the attention felt good, but Oscar hardly noticed it, preferring instead to go back to his mother's humble farm. There wasn't much more he could ask for at this point; he and his mom had enough to eat and they were free from the Tiger's control. He was content with his life and everything was finally peaceful.

The next two years were much calmer than Oscar had experienced in a while, and he was glad for a break from all the chaos. However, just because things were more settled didn't mean that they didn't have a lot of work to do. Those two years were spent trying to replenish all the resources that Russia had spent on the wars, and that meant a lot of work. The soviet worked tirelessly trying to get everything ironed out, meaning that Oscar was also working tirelessly. Despite the neverending work, Oscar was still happy; he had food on the table for him and his mother and everything was going well.

There were many animals in their town, however, who weren't quite so happy or well off. Because the soviet was directing all of their resources towards resurrecting their dying government, they weren't attentive enough to the needs of the animals that they were supposed to be taking care of. Many animals went hungry that year, about half even dying from common colds that their weakened immune systems couldn't fight off. No, the animals weren't happy, but they still retained some hope for a brighter future with the soviet.