Fill out the chart for each literary work.
Characterization
The Odyssey,
Homer
Odysseus = epic hero
fought at Troy among the
other Greek heroes; takes
him 10 years to return
home after the war; he
learns that he can’t just rely
on brawn, must stop being
so arrogant and rely on his
cunning
Penelope = loyal wife
awaiting her husband’s
return for 20 years
Telemachus = son;
subplot is his coming of
age; obstacle to the suitors
courting his mother he
finally stands up to the
suitors
Athena= Daughter of
Zeus; advocated for O on
Mount Olympus; Odysseus’
#1 fan; she appears in
disguise as Mentor, an old
family friend; often sends
Odysseus divine aid- deux
ex machina
Poseidon- god of the sea;
has a grudge against
Odysseus-he blinded his
Genre/
Structure
Epic Poem
Starts In
medias res –
in the middle
of things;
Odysseus is
being held
captive by
Calypso on
the island of
Ogygia
Date: 720
B.C.E.
Transmitted
orally by
Homer and
other bards
(a person who
composed and
recited epic or
heroic poems,
often while
playing the
harp, lyre, or
the like.)
Literary Techniques
(symbolism, metaphor,
irony, etc.)
1. Introduction – the poet
begins by stating his theme
2. Invocation – the poet invokes
the Muse to assist him.
3. In medias res – in the middle
of things – this is where the action
begins.
4. Flashback – the way in which
events occurring before the poem
begins are presented.
5. Metrical form – the poem was
originally written in dactylic
hexameter (5 feet each line; each
line must end in a spondee – 2 long
sounds). There are 12-17 syllables
on each line.
6. Epithet – an often repeated
descriptive title or phrase which
captures and identifies a
fundamental characteristic of a
major character. Poets devised this
method to fulfill the metrical
requirements of a poem.
Additionally, the epithet made it
easier for actors to learn their lines.
7. Epic simile – A lengthy
comparison of two essentially
Themes
Hero’s Journey-
The Ordinary World;
The Call to Adventure;
Refusal of the Call;
Meeting with the
Mentor; Crossing the
Threshold; Tests, Allies,
and Enemies;
Approach; The Ordeal;
The Reward; The Road
Back; The
Resurrection; The
Return with the Elixir
Motifsa. DISGUISES
b. FEASTS AND
FOOD
c. INSTANCES OF
DIVINE
INTERVENTION
d. DWELLINGS
(FROM PALACES TO
HUTS)
e. INSTANCES OF
XENIA
(HOSPITALITY)
f. TEMPTATION
g. THE POWER OF
son
Polyphemus
Zeus- mediates disputes on
Mount Olympus; king of
gods and men
Antinous - The most arrogant
of Penelope’s suitors.
Antinous leads the campaign
to have Telemachus killed.
Unlike the other suitors, he is
never portrayed
sympathetically, and he is the
first to die when Odysseus
returns.
Eurymachus - A
manipulative, deceitful suitor.
Amphinomus - Among the
dozens of suitors, the only
decent man seeking
Penelope’s hand in marriage.
Amphinomus sometimes
speaks up for Odysseus and
Telemachus, but he is killed
like the rest of the suitors in
the final fight.
Eumaeus - The loyal
shepherd who, along with the
cowherd Philoetius, helps
Odysseus reclaim his throne
after his return to Ithaca.
Eurycleia - The aged and
loyal servant who nursed
Odysseus and Telemachus
when they were babies.
Eurycleia is well informed
about palace intrigues and
serves as confidante to her
•5-4th century
B.C.E- The
Greeks
learned an
alphabet from
the
Phoenicians.
Scholars
believe that
The Odyssey
was written
down at this
time.
•3rd century
B.C.E.Ancient
scholars
working in
Alexandria
were
responsible
for the
division of The
Odyssey into
twenty-four
books. They
were written
on papyrus
rolls.
•2nd-5th
century C.E.Our book form
replaced the
roll.
•1488- First
printed
edition of
dissimilar things introduced by
like, so, just as, just so, etc.
8. Formal Rhetoric – Long,
formal speeches by the characters.
This technique is used to better
establish the character who speaks;
and, it is also easier to memorize
long speeches as opposed to short
spurts of dialogue.
9. Deux ex Machina – “god from
the machine” a god lowered by
stage machinery to resolve a plot or
extricate the protagonist from a
difficult situation
10. Recitation of Lineage –
explaining a character’s genealogy
11. Narrative Drift - a digression;
Homer often interrupts the
narration to elaborate on an aspect
of what he is talking about
12. The story as a metaphor for
the journey home to the self;
life being a process of selfdiscovery; Cavafy’s Ithaca – it’s
about acquiring self-knowledge
rather than arriving at a
destination, the end goal
PROPHECY
The Power of
Cunning over
Strength
Storytelling
The Wedding Bed
Penelope is the
ideal match for
her husband (both
demonstrate
cunning)
Kleos- glory
Nostos- the return
masters. She keeps
Telemachus’s journey secret
from Penelope, and she later
keeps Odysseus’s identity a
secret after she recognizes a
scar on his leg.
Melantho - Sister of
Melanthius and maidservant in
Odysseus’s palace. Like her
brother, Melantho abuses the
beggar in the palace, not
knowing that the man is
Odysseus. She is having an
affair with Eurymachus.
Calypso - The beautiful
nymph who falls in love with
Odysseus when he lands on
her island-home of Ogygia.
Calypso holds him prisoner
there for seven years until
Hermes, the messenger god,
persuades her to let him go.
Polyphemus - One of the
Cyclopes (uncivilized oneeyed giants) whose island
Odysseus comes to soon after
leaving Troy. Polyphemus
imprisons Odysseus and his
crew and tries to eat them, but
Odysseus blinds him through a
clever ruse and manages to
escape. In doing so, however,
Odysseus angers
Polyphemus’s father,
Poseidon.
Circe - The beautiful witchgoddess who transforms
Homer issued
in Florence.
Before that, it
existed only as
a handwritten
book.
Odysseus’s crew into swine
when he lands on her island.
With Hermes’ help, Odysseus
resists Circe’s powers and
then becomes her lover, living
in luxury at her side for a year.
Laertes - Odysseus’s aging
father, who resides on a farm
in Ithaca. In despair and
physical decline, Laertes
regains his spirit when
Odysseus returns and
eventually kills Antinous’s
father.
Tiresias - A Theban prophet
who inhabits the underworld.
Tiresias meets Odysseus when
Odysseus journeys to the
underworld in Book 11 . He
shows Odysseus how to get
back to Ithaca and allows
Odysseus to communicate
with the other souls in Hades.
Alcinous - King of the
Phaeacians, who offers
Odysseus hospitality in his
island kingdom of Scheria.
Alcinous hears the story of
Odysseus’s wanderings and
provides him with safe
passage back to Ithaca.
Arete - Queen of the
Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous,
and mother of Nausicaa. Arete
is intelligent and influential.
Nausicaa tells Odysseus to
make his appeal for assistance
to Arete.
Romeo & Juliet,
Shakespeare
Romeo - The son and heir of
Montague and Lady
Montague.
Juliet - The daughter of
Capulet and Lady Capulet.
Star-crossed lovers
Friar Lawrence - A
Franciscan friar, friend to both
Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civicminded, a proponent of
moderation, and always ready
with a plan, Friar Lawrence
secretly marries the
impassioned lovers in hopes
that the union might
eventually bring peace to
Verona. As well as being a
Catholic holy man, Friar
Lawrence is also an expert in
the use of seemingly mystical
potions and herbs.
Play
Elizabetha
n/Shakesp
earean
tragedy
Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
Date: 1595
First
performed by
1597
Dramatic Irony
Queen Mab as an important
allusion; clarifies Romeo &
Mercutio’s differing views on love
(Mercutio is a cynic; more pragmatic,
whereas Romeo is a romantic, believes
in love)
Feuds; faith; filial
obedience
Light vs. dark
imagery (day vs.
night imagery) light
has a negative
connotation- when
the lovers must
separate; brawls take
place in the day in
the heat; night has a
positive connotation
– secrecy- when their
love is hidden by
night’s shroud
Mercutio - A kinsman to the
Prince, and Romeo’s close
friend. One of the most
extraordinary characters in all
of Shakespeare’s plays,
Mercutio overflows with
imagination, wit, and, at times,
a strange, biting satire and
brooding fervor. Mercutio
loves wordplay, especially
sexual double entendres. He
can be quite hotheaded, and
hates people who are affected,
pretentious, or obsessed with
the latest fashions. He finds
Romeo’s romanticized ideas
about love tiresome, and tries
to convince Romeo to view
love as a simple matter of
sexual appetite.
The Nurse - Juliet’s nurse,
the woman who breast-fed
Juliet when she was a baby
and has cared for Juliet her
entire life. A vulgar, longwinded, and sentimental
character, the Nurse provides
comic relief with her
frequently inappropriate
remarks and speeches. But,
until a disagreement near the
play’s end, the Nurse is
Juliet’s faithful confidante and
loyal intermediary in Juliet’s
affair with Romeo. She
provides a contrast with Juliet,
given that her view of love is
Good vs. evil (Friar
Lawrence’s
philosophy) Life is an
admixture of good
and bad; Plants have
the potential to heal
and harm; those who
are good have the
propensity to commit
malicious deeds
under certain
circumstances and
vice versa
The madness of
young love – youth
vs. old age- Friar and
Nurse can’t possibly
understand the
sacrifices R&J are
willing to make; their
impulsivity, reckless,
foolish behavior; love
in excess- the
opposite of the Friar’s
advice- “love in
moderation”
Fate vs. free will
Conventions of
Courtly Love- are R
& J really in love, or
are they merely
earthy and sexual, whereas
Juliet is idealistic and intense.
Tybalt - A Capulet, Juliet’s
cousin on her mother’s side.
Vain, fashionable, supremely
aware of courtesy and the lack
of it, he becomes aggressive,
violent, and quick to draw his
sword when he feels his pride
has been injured. Once drawn,
his sword is something to be
feared. He loathes Montagues.
Capulet - The patriarch of the
Capulet family, father of
Juliet, husband of Lady
Capulet, and enemy, for
unexplained reasons, of
Montague. He truly loves his
daughter, though he is not well
acquainted with Juliet’s
thoughts or feelings, and
seems to think that what is
best for her is a “good” match
with Paris. Often prudent, he
commands respect and
propriety, but he is liable to fly
into a rage when either is
lacking.
Lady Capulet - Juliet’s
mother, Capulet’s wife. A
woman who herself married
young (by her own estimation
she gave birth to Juliet at close
to the age of fourteen), she is
eager to see her daughter
marry Paris. She is an
ineffectual mother, relying on
playing the part of
courtly lovers? (Like
Petrarch)
In Shakespeare’s day,
people didn’t marry
for love (for financial
or social purposes)
Suffering:
Obsession; danger &
risk; secrecy; jealousy
Pleasure: sexual
pleasure; heightening
of honor & worth;
fantasy
Time: the quickened
pace of the play;
compressing the
story, that was
originally six months,
(Arthur Brooke’s
poem) into one week
mocks R&J’s love;
intensifies the story
Who is
responsible for
the tragedy?
Romeo & Juliet- is
this normal
the Nurse for moral and
pragmatic support.
Paris - A kinsman of the
Prince, and the suitor of Juliet
most preferred by Capulet.
Once Capulet has promised
him he can marry Juliet, he
behaves very presumptuous
toward her, acting as if they
are already married.
Benvolio - Montague’s
nephew, Romeo’s cousin and
thoughtful friend, he makes a
genuine effort to defuse
violent scenes in public places,
though Mercutio accuses him
of having a nasty temper in
private. He spends most of the
play trying to help Romeo get
his mind off Rosaline, even
after Romeo has fallen in love
with Juliet.
Prince Escalus - The Prince
of Verona. A kinsman of
Mercutio and Paris. As the
seat of political power in
Verona, he is concerned about
maintaining the public peace
at all costs.
Friar John - A Franciscan
friar charged by Friar
Lawrence with taking the
news of Juliet’s false death to
Romeo in Mantua. Friar John
is held up in a quarantined
house, and the message never
reaches Romeo.
behavior for
teens, or do they
suffer from
mental disorders?
Balthasar - Romeo’s
dedicated servant, who brings
Romeo the news of Juliet’s
death, unaware that her death
is a ruse.
The Apothecary - An
apothecary in Mantua. Had he
been wealthier, he might have
been able to afford to value his
morals more than money, and
refused to sell poison to
Romeo.
Rosaline - The woman with
whom Romeo is infatuated at
the beginning of the play.
Rosaline never appears
onstage, but it is said by other
characters that she is very
beautiful and has sworn to live
a life of chastity.
Characterization
The Kite Runner, Amir - The narrator and the
Khaled Hosseini protagonist of the story. Amir
is the sensitive and intelligent
son of a well-to-do
businessman in Kabul, and he
grows up with a sense of
Genre/
Structure
Novel; the
story starts
in 2001, and
then there is
a flashback
to Amir’s
Literary Techniques
Theme
Full Circle Ending
Class Divisions
Foreshadowing
Rape
Irony
The Love and
Tension between
entitlement. His best friend is
Hassan, and he goes back and
forth between acting as a loyal
friend and attacking Hassan
out of jealousy whenever
Hassan receives Amir’s
father’s affection. Amir is a
gifted storyteller and grows
from aspiring writer to
published novelist. His great
desire to please his father is
the primary motivation for his
behavior early in the novel,
and it is the main reason he
allows Hassan to be raped.
From that point forward, he is
driven by his feelings of guilt
as he searches to find a way to
redeem himself. Ultimately he
does so through courage and
self-sacrifice, and he tells his
story as a form of penance.
Hassan - Amir’s best friend
and half-brother as well as a
servant of Baba’s. Hassan
proves himself a loyal friend
to Amir repeatedly, defending
Amir when he is attacked and
always being ready to listen.
His defining traits are bravery,
selflessness, and intelligence,
though his smarts are more
instinctual than bookish,
largely because he is
uneducated. As a poor ethnic
Hazara, he is considered an
inferior in Afghan society, and
childhood;
then to the
winter of
1975 when
his life
irrevocably
changed
after
witnessing
Hassan’s
rape
The story is
fiction,
though it is
based on the
author,
Hosseini’s
childhood
growing up
in Kabul
Date: 2003
Symbolism:
Fathers and Sons
Cleft Lip
The Search for
Redemption
Kites
The Lamb
The Brass Knuckles
Pomegranate Tree
The Persistence of
the Past
he is the victim of racism
throughout the novel as a
result. He is Baba’s
illegitimate child, though he is
not aware of this fact, and he
grows up with Ali acting as
his father. His rape is an early
catalyst in the story, and even
though he is not present in a
significant portion of the
novel, he plays a major role
throughout.
Baba - Father of Amir and
Hassan and a wealthy, wellrespected businessman. Baba
believes first and foremost in
doing what is right and
thinking for oneself, and he
tries to impart these qualities
to Amir. He also never lets
anyone’s lack of belief in him
stop him from accomplishing
his goals. Although he
distrusts religious
fundamentalism, he follows
his own moral code and acts
with self-assurance and
bravery. When necessary, he
is even willing to risk his life
for what he believes in. Yet
his shame at having a child
with a Hazara woman leads
him to hide the fact that
Hassan is his son. Because he
cannot love Hassan openly, he
is somewhat distant toward
Amir and is often hard on him,
though he undoubtedly loves
him.
Ali - Acting father to Hassan
and a servant of Baba’s. Ali is
defined by his modesty more
than anything, and he works
diligently as Baba’s servant.
He loves Hassan deeply,
though he rarely expresses his
emotions outwardly. Poor and
an ethnic Hazara, he suffers
from partial paralysis of his
face and walks with a limp
caused by polio.
Sohrab - Son of Hassan and
Farzana. In many ways,
Sohrab acts as a substitute for
Hassan in the novel, and he is
a central focus of the plot in
the later sections of the book.
He is also an ethnic Hazara
and is great with a slingshot.
His character arc takes him
from being a normal little boy
to the traumatized victim of
sexual and physical abuse, and
he goes from speaking very
little to not at all.
Assef - Hassan’s and
Sohrab’s rapist and the novel’s
antagonist. Assef represents
all things wrong in
Afghanistan. A racist who
wishes to rid Afghanistan of
Hazaras, he is incapable of
remorse and enjoys inflicting
violence and sexual abuse on
those who are powerless. He
even claims Hitler as a role
model.
Rahim Khan - Friend of
Baba and Amir. Rahim Khan
is Baba’s closest confidant,
and the one man who knows
all of Baba’s secrets. For
Amir, he serves a father
figure, often giving Amir the
attention he craves and filling
the holes left by Baba’s
emotional distance.
Farid - Amir’s driver and
friend. A former mujahedin
fighter, Farid is at first gruff
and unfriendly. But he
becomes a valuable and loyal
friend to Amir in Amir’s
search to find and rescue
Sohrab. He is missing toes and
fingers from a landmine
explosion and represents the
difficulties that many Afghans
faced in the years of warfare
that ravaged the country.
Sanaubar - Hassan’s mother
and Ali’s wife for a time.
Though Sanaubar is
infamously immoral in her
youth and abandons Hassan
just after he is born, she
proves herself a caring
grandmother to Sohrab when
she reappears later in the
novel.
Soraya - Amir’s wife. Soraya
is steady, intelligent, and
always there for Amir when he
needs her. She can be strongwilled like her father, General
Taheri, and deplores the way
women are often treated in
Afghan culture.
General Taheri - Soraya’s
father and a friend of Baba.
General Taheri is proud to the
point of arrogance at times,
and he places great value on
upholding Afghan traditions.
He is in many ways the
stereotypical Afghan male,
both in his roles as a father
and husband.
Jamila - General Taheri’s
wife and Soraya’s mother.
Jamila plays the part of the
typical Afghan wife and
mother. She obeys her
husband without question and
wants nothing more than to
see her daughter married.
Kamal - A boy from Amir’s
and Hassan’s neighborhood.
Cowardly and conformist,
Kamal helps Assef rape
Hassan. After he is raped
himself, he becomes a symbol
of the brutality that destroys
Afghanistan.
Sharif - Soraya’s uncle.
When Sharif first appears, he
is just a minor figure at
Soraya’s and Amir’s wedding.
Later, however, he becomes
instrumental in helping to get
Sohrab into the United States.
Sofia Akrami - Amir’s
mother. Though Sofia died
during childbirth, Amir knows
she loved literature as he does.
Amir seeks information about
her at various points in the
novel.
Farzana - Hassan’s wife and
Sohrab’s mother. Farzana
appears only briefly, but in
that time she is portrayed as a
loving mother.
Enrique’s
Journey,
Sonia Nazario
Enrique- The protagonist of
the story. Plagued by his
mother's abandonment,
Enrique leaves Honduras and
braves the difficult journey
north to reunite with Lourdes.
Though Enrique has many
personal problems - a drug
Nonfiction;
published in
2006
Rhetorical Devices: logos, ethos,
pathos
Immigration- is it
better for Central
American women to
leave their families
behind to travel to
the U.S. for work to
provide financial
addiction and serious
resentments among them - he
is also defined by his
persistence, bravery, and
incredible sense of hope.
LourdesMother of Belky, Enrique, and
Diana. Lourdes left her
children in Honduras to seek
better employment
opportunities in the United
States. She lived in poverty
most of her life, working
menial jobs to send money
home to her family. Lourdes
always had faith that Enrique
would one day return to her,
but has trouble overcoming his
resentments once he arrives.
Belky- Lourdes’ first child
and Enrique’s sister; she is
raised by Aunt Rosa Amalia
and Uncle Carlos
Carlos- Enrique’s Uncle who
gets him a job at a tire shop
Carmen- Sonia Nazario’s
maid whose story inspired
the author to write EJ
Diana- Lourdes’ daughter
with ex-boyfriend Santos,
she is born in the U.S.
Jasmín
Enrique and María Isabel’s
young daughter. Her existence
becomes the motivation for
Enrique's final journey, to
become a father worthy of
support, or to stay
home in poverty so
their children have a
mother?
The Journeyphysical and mental
challenges
Mother/Son
Relationships
Poverty, Drugs,
Violence
Poverty/generosit
y/role of religion
Coming of Age
Corruption – polic,
gangs, bandits
Risks migrants
face
Absence of a
childhood in
Central America
respect.
Marìa Marcos
Enrique’s paternal
grandmother, who helped raise
him as a child. Though
generous, she has trouble
battling his rebellious attitude
and has to send him
elsewhere.
Marìa Isabel
Enrique’s girlfriend, Jasmín's
mother. Marìa Isabel
eventually joins Enrique in the
United States, leaving her
young daughter in Honduras.
Mirian
Lourdes’s sister, who also
travels to the United State
seeking better employment
with the hope of returning to
Honduras and her children.
Olga
Director of the Shelter of Jesus
the Good Shepherd in
Tapachula, Mexico. She helps
migrants who have been
severely injured by the trains.
She is guided by her faith in
God, and works tirelessly to
ease the physical and spiritual
struggles of the migrants.
Padre Leo
A disheveled but lovable
priest who is called “the
champion” by migrants. He
arranges meals, phone calls,
clothing donations, and
housing for migrants in Nuevo
Laredo.
Rosa Amalia
Lourdes’ sister who raises
Belky in her absence. Rosa
Amalia is married to Carlos.
El Tiríndaro
A smuggler in Nuevo Laredo
who takes Enrique across the
border. He is a heroin addict
who bribes local police
officers so he can make money
smuggling. He was killed in
2002.
Santos
A boyfriend of Lourdes, who
lives with her in the U.S. and
fathers Diana. He eventually
disappears, presumably killed
on a subsequent attempt to
sneak into the U.S.
Marco
Lourdes's brother, with whom
Enrique lives for a while in
Honduras. Marco is a strong
presence in the boy's life until
he dies.
Characterization
Maus I & II,
Art Spiegelman
Vladek
Artie
Mala
Lucia Greenberg
Anja Zylberberg
Mrs. Stefanski
Genre/
Literary Techniques
Structure
Metanarrative
Graphic
novels
Cat-mouse metaphor
published
in 1986 and
Irony
Theme
How to categorize
Maus
Father/son
relationship
Richieu
Tosha- Anja’s older sister
Haskel Spiegelman- the
kombinator
Mrs. Motonowa- runs a
black market business;
Vladek and Anja stay with
her Szopienice, suburb of
Sosnowiec.
Mandelbaum, owner of
sweet shop; seeks to flee to
Hungary with Vladek.
Pavel, psychiatrist and
Holocaust survivor,
Yidl, Kappo in charge of the
tin factory in Auschwitz. A
communist.
Manci, Hungarian young
woman who passed notes to
Anja from Vladek.
Mengele, Doctor at
Auschwitz (58)
Shivek, friend in Dachau;
on march.
Jenny and Sonia, girls from
Sosnowiec at displaced
persons center in Belsen
Francoise
1992
Graphic Novel Terminology:
1. panel – (also known as a
frame or a box) one drawing
on a page that contains a
segment of action.
A page may have one or many
panels, and panels are
frequently, but not always,
surrounded by a border or
outline, whose shape can be
altered to indicate emotion,
tension or flashback
sequences. The size, shape and
style of a panel, as well as the
placement of figures and
speech balloons inside it, affect
the timing or pacing of a story.
Panels are used to break up
and encapsulate sequences of
events in a narrative.
2. gutter – the space between
panels
3. tier – a single row of panels
4. splash/splash page – is a
large, often full-page
illustration which opens and
introduces a story. Often
designed as a decorative unit,
its purpose is to capture the
reader's attention, and can be
used to establish time, place
The persistence of
the past; the
impact of the
Holocaust on
survivors
The two narrative
threads
Storytelling- being
treading a fine
line between being
authentic and
reinforcing
religious
stereotypes
(Vladek as the
miserly racist
Jew)
Vladek & Anja
versus Vladek &
Mala
and mood.
5. spread – an image that spans
more than one page
6. speech balloon/dialogue
bubble – is a speech
indicator, containing the
characters' dialogue. The
indicator from the balloon that
points at the speaker is called a
pointer or tail. The speech
balloon bridges the gap
between word and image. Its
shape conveys meaning.
7. thought bubble – contains
copy expressing a character's
unvoiced thoughts, usually
shaped like a cloud, with
bubbles as a pointer. Emotions
can be expressed by the shape
of the balloon—spiked
balloons can indicate shouting,
and balloons "dripping"
balloons can indicate sarcasm.
8. caption – words that appear
in a box separated from the
rest of the panel or page. It is
usually to give voice to a
narrator
9. Words specific
10.
Images specific
11. Duo specific
12. Moment to moment
13. Aspect to aspect
14. Scene to scene
15. Action to action
16. Non-sequitur
Animal Farm,
George Orwell
Napoleon - The pig who
emerges as the leader of
Animal Farm after the
Rebellion. Based on Joseph
Stalin, Napoleon uses military
force (his nine loyal attack
dogs) to intimidate the other
animals and consolidate his
power. In his supreme
craftiness, Napoleon proves
more treacherous than his
counterpart, Snowball.
Snowball - The pig who
challenges Napoleon for
control of Animal Farm after
the Rebellion. Based on Leon
Trotsky, Snowball is
intelligent, passionate,
eloquent, and less subtle and
devious than his counterpart,
Novella;
political
satire
Published
in 1945
Allegory for the Russian
Revolution
Irony
Foreshadowing
Propaganda
Euphemism
The windmill is a symbol of the
pigs’ manipulation of the other
animals for their own gain. From
an allegorical point of view, the
windmill represents the enormous
modernization projects undertaken
in Soviet Russia after the Russian
Revolution.
How can absolute
power corrupt
absolutely?
The Corruption of
Socialist Ideals in
the Soviet Union
The Societal
Tendency Toward
Class
Stratification
The Danger of a
Naïve Working
Class
The Abuse of
Napoleon. Snowball seems to
win the loyalty of the other
animals and cement his power.
Boxer - The cart-horse whose
incredible strength, dedication,
and loyalty play a key role in
the early prosperity of Animal
Farm and the later completion
of the windmill. Quick to help
but rather slow-witted, Boxer
shows much devotion to
Animal Farm’s ideals but little
ability to think about them
independently. He naïvely
trusts the pigs to make all his
decisions for him. His two
mottoes are “I will work
harder” and “Napoleon is
always right.”
Squealer - The pig who
spreads Napoleon’s
propaganda among the other
animals. Squealer justifies the
pigs’ monopolization of
resources and spreads false
statistics pointing to the farm’s
success. Orwell uses Squealer
to explore the ways in which
those in power often use
rhetoric and language to twist
the truth and gain and
maintain social and political
control.
Old Major - The prizewinning boar whose vision of
a socialist utopia serves as the
inspiration for the Rebellion.
Language as
Instrumental to
the Abuse of
Power
Three days after describing the
vision and teaching the
animals the song “Beasts of
England,” Major dies, leaving
Snowball and Napoleon to
struggle for control of his
legacy. Orwell based Major on
both the German political
economist Karl Marx and the
Russian revolutionary leader
Vladimir Ilych Lenin.
Clover - A good-hearted
female cart-horse and Boxer’s
close friend. Clover often
suspects the pigs of violating
one or another of the Seven
Commandments, but she
repeatedly blames herself for
misremembering the
commandments.
Moses - The tame raven who
spreads stories of Sugarcandy
Mountain, the paradise to
which animals supposedly go
when they die. Moses plays
only a small role in Animal
Farm, but Orwell uses him to
explore how communism
exploits religion as something
with which to pacify the
oppressed.
Mollie - The vain, flighty
mare who pulls Mr. Jones’s
carriage. Mollie craves the
attention of human beings and
loves being groomed and
pampered. She has a difficult
time with her new life on
Animal Farm, as she misses
wearing ribbons in her mane
and eating sugar cubes. She
represents the petit
bourgeoisie that fled from
Russia a few years after the
Russian Revolution.
Benjamin - The long-lived
donkey who refuses to feel
inspired by the Rebellion.
Benjamin firmly believes that
life will remain unpleasant no
matter who is in charge. Of all
of the animals on the farm, he
alone comprehends the
changes that take place, but he
seems either unwilling or
unable to oppose the pigs.
Muriel - The white goat who
reads the Seven
Commandments to Clover
whenever Clover suspects the
pigs of violating their
prohibitions.
Mr. Jones - The often drunk
farmer who runs the Manor
Farm before the animals stage
their Rebellion and establish
Animal Farm. Mr. Jones is an
unkind master who indulges
himself while his animals lack
food; he thus represents Tsar
Nicholas II, whom the Russian
Revolution ousted.
Mr. Frederick - The tough,
shrewd operator of Pinchfield,
a neighboring farm. Based on
Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Nazi
Germany in the 1930s and
1940s, Mr. Frederick proves
an untrustworthy neighbor.
Mr. Pilkington - The
easygoing gentleman farmer
who runs Foxwood, a
neighboring farm. Mr.
Frederick’s bitter enemy, Mr.
Pilkington represents the
capitalist governments of
England and the United States.
Mr. Whymper - The human
solicitor whom Napoleon hires
to represent Animal Farm in
human society. Mr.
Whymper’s entry into the
Animal Farm community
initiates contact between
Animal Farm and human
society, alarming the common
animals.
Jessie and Bluebell - Two
dogs, each of whom gives
birth early in the novel.
Napoleon takes the puppies in
order to “educate” them.
Minimus - The poet pig who
writes verse about Napoleon
and pens the banal patriotic
song “Animal Farm, Animal
Farm” to replace the earlier
idealistic hymn “Beasts of
England,” which Old Major
passes on to the others.