The Quick and Easy Historical Context for:
It’s a Genre: Type of Literature
Theme: the main idea of the novel, usually
expressed in one sentence
Setting: the time and place of the action of the
novel
Plot: the events in the novel
Point of View: Personal, Objective, Omniscient
Conflict: the struggles in a novel
Characters: the personalities in a novel
•Developing Character (Round): a character who
changes in some way during the course of the story;
usually a major character who has several sides or
traits to his personality
•Static Character (Flat): a character (usually a minor
character) who does not change during the story; this
kind off character generally has only one or two
personality traits.
•Protagonist: a character who is trying to achieve
some goal (usually the main character)
•Antagonist: a character who is trying to stop the
protagonist
(1903-1950)
Real Name: Eric Blair
British Political Novelist
Born: To English parents in India
After his father
retired, Eric and
his family moved
back to England.
He was sent to boarding school at
the age of eight to prepare for
Eton, an exclusive prep school.
Because he had a scholarship, he
was teased and humiliated
frequently.
At eighteen, he passed the Empire’s
Civil Service Exam and became a police officer
in Burma.
Returned in Europe
Socialist: someone
who believes that the
government should
own businesses so that
everyone will be equal
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 multiple levels of meaning in
this way is called an allegory.
A composition making fun of
something, usually political.
Animal Farm makes fun of
political society after the
Bolshevik Revolution.
Standard:
ELA10RL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by
relating them to it’s historical background.
Russian society in the early
twentieth century had two social
classes: a tiny minority
(bourgeoisie) controlled the
country’s wealth.
The working class was called the
proletariat.
Vladimir Lenin: Led the Bolsheviks (a Russian political
group) in the Russian Revolution in 1917.
What up, I’m
Vladimir Lenin.
Real Talk.
Before Trotsky and Stalin

By 1917, the bond between the Russian tsar (Nicholas II) and most
of the Russian people had been broken. Government corruption was
evident to everyone.
Riots because of the scarcity of food broke out in the capital,
Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) on March 12, 1917.
Russian tsar Nicholas II was forced out of power. A new Provisional
Government was formed. Nicholas II was killed the next year.
A bigger, Soviet government proved it had greater authority than
the Provisional Government and issued it’s famous “Order No. 1”
which directed the soldiers to obey only the orders of the Soviets,
not those of the Provisional Government.
On November 7 1917 Vladimir Lenin led a group of Bolshevik
soldiers into Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). Lenin and the
Bolsheviks took the city with little resistance.
The Bolshevik uprising led to the Russian Civil War (1918-1922).

Eventually,





Lenin came to power in Russia.
Petrograd (St. Petersburg) Riots 1917
We’re
hungry!
Hey big man, lemme
hold a dollar
Let’s
storm the
capitol!
Our
Russian
leaders
are
corrupt!
Petrograd (St. Petersburg) Riots 1917
We want
food!
We're hungry
and we have
guns.
Like a boss.
Hrmph, food,
hungry.
Yes, agreed,
food.
Nikki the II
representing
Russia to the
fullest.
Like a
boss
Lenin had two allies who would likely take
power after his time: Joseph Stalin and
Leon Trotsky.
 Before Lenin died in 1924, he called for
the removal of Joseph Stalin.
 Lenin’s body is still on display in Moscow,
Russia and recent debate has called for it’s
burial in 2008.

Trotsky and Stalin





After Lenin’s death in 1924, Trotsky and Stalin
competed for power.
In an effort to show loyalty to Lenin, Stalin
organized his funeral and made a speech
professing undying loyalty to Lenin.
Trotsky lost political ground to Stalin because he
was ill during the time of the funeral.
Stalin made a big deal of Trotsky joining the
Bolsheviks just before the October Revolution.
Trotsky was expelled from Russia in 1928, he
fled to Mexico in 1937 and was later killed by
one of Stalin’s spies in 1940.
Me want
control!
Me want
control
too!
Leon Trotsky
Yo dude,
I'm sick, I
won't make
it to the
funeral this
weekend.
Joseph Stalin
He he he
Don't worry
Trotsky, it's
just a funera
he he he
muha muha
hahaa
That guy Trotsky
be flexin’
I wonder have
those spies
found and
killed Trotsky
yet?
Boy, I'm
dead.
Stalin’s Socialism





Stalin came to power in 1929 and pursued his policy
of “socialism in one country.”
The term “socialism” is often used to refer to an
economic system characterized by STATE ownership
of the means of production and distribution.
The United States is a capitalistic economic system.
Individuals and business owners control the
means of production and distribution, not the
government (as in socialism/communism).
Stalin began to “purge” all those who opposed him,
including Bolsheviks. To “purge” meant to imprison,
torture and even kill.
Between 1933-1953 Stalin was responsible for over 10
million deaths.
Joseph Stalin
Stalin’s
He he he
...I'm very mean.
first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze, died in 1907, only four
years after their marriage.
 Stalin’s first son shot himself because of Stalin’s harshness
toward him, but survived. Afterward Stalin said, “He can’t even
shoot straight.”
His son was captured by the Germans in WWI. They offered to
exchange him for one of their Generals. Stalin replied, “A Captain is
not worth a General.”
Stalin’s second wife is said to have shot herself after a fight with
him.
Stalin did not attend his own mother’s funeral in 1937.
While in power Stalin created a “cult of personality” around
himself. Numerous towns, villages and cities were renamed after
Stalin.
Statues and monuments erected to glorify Stalin distorted his true
build. The monuments suggested Stalin was tall and imposing
although in reality, he stood no taller than 5”6.
Stalin died of a brain hemorrhage (although some suspect he was
poisoned) in 1953 at the age of 74.
Communism arose in Russia when the
nation’s workers & peasants rebelled
against and overwhelmed the wealthy and
powerful class of capitalists & aristocrats.
Re-Cap
Lenin led the Bolsheviks to
overthrow the Russian Government
and create one of their own.
 When Lenin died there were two
men who could possible take over:
Trotsky and Stalin.
 Stalin took over and created a
socialist cult of personality around
himself: anyone in Russia who
opposed him would be tortured or
killed.

Animal Farm is an allegory about the
Russian Revolution.
Farmer Jones
A drunk and a poor farmer,
his cruelty towards the farm animals
inspires their rebellion.
Snowball
A clever pig with a head for ideas,
he becomes one of the main
leaders of Animal Farm and
the author of its central commandments.
Napoleon
A pig with a gift for techniques of control,
he establishes most of the
farm’s rules and eventually
becomes its sole leader.
Old Major
An elderly show pig whose
instruction to the animals
about "animalism" becomes
the philosophical basis
for the creation of Animal Farm.
Squealer
A pig with the ability to make any
idea sound reasonable,
he is Napoleon's side-kick
and is in charge of communicating
to the animals.
Boxer
A strong and hard-working carthorse,
he shows tremendous
faith in the rebellion and its leaders.