Animal

Farm
By George Orwell
Gen re:

Al le gory - Satir e - Fab le

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

George Orwell

British Author & Journalist

1903-1950
Born in India

At that time India was a part of the British

Empire, and Blair's father held a post as an
agent in the Indian Civil Service.
The Blair family was not very wealthy.
They owned no property and had no
extensive investments; they were like
many middle-class English families of the
time, totally dependent on the British
Empire for their livelihood and prospects.

Noted as a novelist and critic, as well as a

political and cultural commentator
One of the most widely admired Englishlanguage essayists of the 20th century
Best known for two novels critical of
totalitarianism in general, and Stalinism in
particular:

Animal Farm
Nineteen Eighty-Four

Liberty is telling people what they do not want to hear.

19 84

The novel, published in

1949, takes place in 1984
and presents an imaginary
future where a totalitarian
state controls every aspect
of life, even people's
thoughts. The state is
ruled by a group known as
the Party; its leader and
dictator is Big Brother.

George Orwell and His Beliefs

Orwell was a person who had a reputation for standing apart

and even making a virtue of his detachment.
This outsider position often led him to oppose the crowd.
He viewed socialists, communists, and fascists as repressive
and self-serving.
He was skeptical of governments and their willingness to
forsake ideas in favor of power.

Interesting Fact:
George Orwells real name was Eric Blair.

Trivia:
What is an authors pen name called?

Why Animals?

In explaining how he came to write Animal

Farm, Orwell says he once saw a little boy
whipping a horse and later he wrote,

It struck me that if only such animals became aware

of their strength we should have no power over
them, and that men exploit animals in much the same
way as the rich exploit the [worker].

George Orwell in India

He was born in India and

spent his early years
there since his father held
a post there.

He was a lonely boy who

liked to make up stories
and talk with imaginary
companions.

As an adult, he worked
for the Imperial Police in
British occupied India.

What is Animal Farm?

A masterpiece of political satire,

Animal Farm is a tale of oppressed
individuals who long for freedom but
ultimately are corrupted by assuming
the very power that had originally
oppressed them.
The story traces the deplorable
conditions of mistreated animals who
can speak and who exhibit many
human characteristics. After extreme
negligence by their owner, the
animals revolt and expel Mr. Jones
and his wife from the farm.
Animal Farm is generally viewed as
Orwell's critique of the communist
system in the former Soviet Union.
Inter es ti ng Fact : Orwell initi ally stru ggl ed
to fin d a pu bli sh er for Anima l Fa rm .

Significance Today

But why now that Soviet Communism

has fallen and the Cold War is over
does An imal Far m deserve our
attention? The answer lies in the power
of allegory. Allegorical fables, because
they require us to make comparisons
and connections, can be meaningful to
any reader in any historical period. The
story of An imal Far m will always
have lessons to teach us about the
ways that people abuse power and
manipulate others.
Orwell's chilling story of the betrayal of
idealism through tyranny and
corruption is as fresh and relevant
today as when it was first published in
1945.

Childrens Book? No!

Af ter Ani mal Far m wa s pub lish ed in 1945 , George

Or we ll disco ver ed wi th horror tha t b ookse ll er s we re
pl aci ng his no vel on ch il dre ns shelv es . Acco rdin g to
hi s house ke epe r, he b egan trav el in g from bo okst ore
to bo okst ore r equ esti ng th at the book be sh el ved
wit h ad ult wo rks. This du al ide nti ty as child ren s
st ory and ad ult sa tir e has s taye d wi th Orwe ll s
no vel for mo re th an sixt y ye ar s.

The Fable

The fable is one of the oldest

literary forms - older than the novel
or the short story.
A fable is usually short and conveys
a clear moral or message.
The earliest fables date back to 6th
Century Greece.
The author of these fables, Aesop,
used animal characters to stand for
human "types.

For example, a fox character might

embody the human characteristics of
cunning and cleverness.

Animal Fables

The most popular animal fables of

the 20th Century are the Jus t So
Stories (1902) written by Rudyard
Kipling.
Kipling's fables were adapted by
Disney in the movie Th e Jun gle
Book .
Orwell admired Kipling, and the
Jus t So St orie s would seem to
have influenced the form of
An imal Far m .

Characterization in Fables

We already know that a fab le is a narration intended to

enforce a useful truth. Fables have two important
characteristics.
First, they teach a moral or lesson.
Second, the characters are most frequently animals.
These animal characters often function as a device to point
out the follies of humankind.

Allegory

Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the surface, the

fable is about animals. But on a second level, the animals
stand for types of people or ideas. The way the animals
interact and the way the plot unfolds says something about
the nature of people or the value of ideas. Any type of
fiction that has two levels of meaning in this way is called an
al le go ry .

Allegory (contd)

Boxer

An ima l Fa rm is strongly allegorical.

On the first level, the story about
the animals is very moving. You can
be upset when Boxer is taken away
by the horse slaughterer without
being too aware of what he stands
for. But at the same time, each of
the animals does serve as a symbol.
The story's second level involves the
careful critique Orwell constructed to
comment on Soviet Russia.

Allegory (contd)

The pigs not only

represent specific
tyrannical soviet leaders.
they could also be
symbols for tyranny more
broadly: their qualities
are therefore not simply
the historical
characteristics of a set of
actual men but are the
qualities of all leaders
who rely on repression
and manipulation.

Squealer, Snowball, & Napoleon

Satire

In a sat ire , the writer

attacks a serious issue by
presenting it in a ridiculous
light or otherwise poking fun
at it. Orwell uses satire to
expose what he saw as the
myth of Soviet socialism.
Thus, the novel tells a story
that people of all ages can
understand, but it also tells
us a second story that of
the real-life revolution.

Soviet Coat of Arms

Irony

Ir ony results when there is a

disparity between what an
audience would expect and what
really happens.
Orwell uses a particular type of
irony dramatic irony.

Snowball below the commandments.

The audience can recognize that

the pigs are decadent and corrupt
without the narrator pointing these
things out directly.
The other characters (the animals)
cannot see that the pigs are
corrupt.

Napoleon overindulging himself.

When History and Literature Merge

Critics often consider Animal Farm to

be an allegory of the Russian
Revolution.
In the early 1900s, Russias Czar
Nicholas II faced a very unhappy
population.
Many Russian peasants were
struggling to survive under an
oppressive government.
By 1917, a revolution began.
In two major battles, the Czars
government was overthrown and
replaced by the leadership of Vladimir
Lenin.
When Lenin died in 1924, his former
colleagues Leon Trotsky and Joseph
Stalin struggled for power.
Stalin won the battle, and he
deported Trotsky into permanent
exile.

Czar Nicholas II
Vladimir Lenin

Joseph Stalin

Leon Trotsky

Joseph Stalin

Once in power, Stalin began, with

utmost urgency to move the Soviet
Union into the modern industrial age.
His government seized land in order to
create collective farms and modernize
Soviet industry.
Many peasants refused to give up their
land, so to counter resistance Stalin
used vicious military tactics.
Rigged trials led to executions of an
estimated 20 million government
officials and ordinary citizens.
The government controlled the flow and
content of information to the people,
and all but outlawed churches.
Joseph Stalin

Napoleon = Joseph Stalin

Napoleon

Boar who leads the rebellion against

Farmer Jones
After the rebellions success, he
systematically begins to control all
aspects of the farm until he is an
undisputed tyrant.

Joseph Stain

The communist dictator of the Soviet

Union from 1922-1953 who killed all
who opposed him.
He loved power and used the KGB
(secret police) to enforce his ruthless,
corrupt antics.

Farmer Jones = Czar Nicholas II

Farmer Jones

The irresponsible owner of the

farm
Lets his animals starve and beats
them with a whip
Sometimes shows random
kindness

Czar Nicholas II

Weak Russian leader during the

early 1900s
Often cruel and brutal to his
subjects
Displays isolated kindness

Snowball = Leon Trotsky

Snowball

Boar who becomes one of the

rebellions most valuable leaders.
After drawing complicated plans
for the construction of a windmill,
he is chased off of the farm
forever by Napoleons dogs and
thereafter used as a scapegoat for
the animals troubles.

Leon Trotsky

A pure communist leader who was

influenced by the teachings of Karl
Marx.
He wanted to improve life for
people in Russia, but was driven
away by Lenins KGB.

Old Major = Karl Marx

Old Major

An old boar whose speech about

the evils perpetrated by humans
rouses the animals into rebelling.
His philosophy concerning the
tyranny of Man is named
Animalism.
He teaches the animals the song
Beasts of England
Dies before revolution

Karl Marx

The inventor of communism

Wants to unite the working class
to overthrow the government.
Dies before the Russian
Revolution

Who is Karl Marx?

Many of the ideals behind the Soviet

revolution were based on the writings
and teachings of a German intellectual
named Karl Marx.
Marx believed that societies are divided
into two segments:

a working class (creates all the products)

an owner class (enjoys all the benefits)

This class division leads to inequality and

oppression of the working class.
Marxs objective was to create a classless
society in which the work is shared by all
for the benefit of all, and he believed
revolution was the way to achieve this
goal.

Squealer & Boxer

Squ ea ler
A big mouth pig who becomes Napoleons
mouthpiece. He manipulates the animals
thoughts through the use of hollow, yet
convincing rhetoric.
Represents the propaganda department that
worked to support Stalins image through lies.

Boxer
A dedicated but dimwitted horse who aids in
the building of the windmill but is sold to a
glue-boiler after collapsing from exhaustion.
Represents the dedicated, but tricked
communist supporters of Stalin who stayed
loyal even after it was obvious Stalin was a
tyrant.

Squealer

Boxer

Jessie & Moses

Jes sie
The farm's sheepdog, she keeps tabs
on the pigs and is among the first to
suspect that something is wrong at
Animal Farm.

Mos es
A tame raven and sometimes-pet of
Jones who tells the animals stories
about a paradise called Sugarcandy
Mountain.
Moses represents religion. Stalin used
religious principles to influence people
to work and to avoid revolt.

Jessie

Moses

Animalism = Communism

Animalism

Taught my Old Major

No rich, but no poor
Better life for workers
All animals are equal
Everyone owns the
farm

Communism

Invented by Karl Marx

All people are equal
Government owns
everything
People own the
government

Animal Farm Revolution

= Russian Revolution

Animal Farm Revolution

Was supposed to make life

better for all, but . . .

Life was worse at the end.

The leaders became the
same as, or worse than the
other farmers (humans) they
rebelled against.

Russian Revolution

Was supposed to fix the

problems created by the
Czar, but . . .

Life was even worse after

the revolution.
Stalin made the Czar look
like a nice guy.