George Orwell Bio

Born Eric Blair (1903) in Motihari,
Bengal, in the then British colony of
India.

He was one of the poorer English boys
at his upper-class school. He was
treated like a “charity case”, and
because of this he developed a hatred
of the rich class.
Orwell cont.

Orwell supported Democratic Socialism
for his entire life.

Orwell loved Socialism but despised the
actions of the Russian Communists. He
hated how Europe and America
romanticized the Russian revolution.
Orwell cont.

Orwell fought against Stalin’s forces in Spain
after Stalin tried to gain control in 1937’s
Spanish Civil War.
Orwell almost died in a manhunt:
“It taught me how easily totalitarian propaganda
can control the opinion of enlightened people
in democratic countries.”

The Anti-Soviet Book and the
Hardships of Publication

Animal Farm serves as a political tract, a
satire, a contempt of Utopian ideals and an
allegorical lesson all under the façade of a
fable.

Animal Farm was not meant to bring
damage to Socialism, it was written to warn
others of the danger of
Socialism/Communism manipulated into
Tyranny.
The Anti-Soviet Book and the
Hardships of Publication

The United Kingdom was still enamored with the
USSR and considered them “politically decent” in
1943 (when Animal Farm was completed)

Not until two years later would a publisher be
willing to publish Orwell’s book because no one
wanted to print an Anti-Soviet story.

“Since 1930 I had seen little evidence that
the USSR was progressing toward anything
that one could truly call socialism.” – George
Orwell

According to Orwell, the USSR was a
“hierarchal society, in which the rulers have
no more reason to give up their power than
any other ruling class.”
Animal Farm















Animal Farm
Old Major
Jones
Moses
Animal Rebellion
Napoleon
Snowball
Squealer
Animals other than pigs & dogs
Mollie the Cart Horse
Hoof and Horn (flag)
Pigeons sent out to other farms
Foxwood Farm (Pilkington)
Pinchfield Farm (Frederick)
Battle of the Cowshed
USSR
Russia / USSR
Karl Marx / Lenin
Czar Nicholas II
Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Revolution of 1917
Joseph Stalin
Trotsky
Pravda
proletariat
bourgeoisie
hammer and sickle
Communist Internationale
England (Churchill)
Germany (Hitler)
Anti-revolutionary invasion of Russia
Animal Farm sequence of events
Life is miserable
On Manor farm
Jones neglects the
animals
The pigs take over
Old Major tells
Of his dream of
Free animals
The animals
overtake
the farm for
themselves
Plans are made
for the improvement
of life on the farm,
pigs become leaders
Pigeons spread ideas
To other farms
Battle of Cowshed
Snowball gains
Support for windmill
Pilkington and
Frederick get
frustrated
The animals win,
Human-like
celebration
Napoleon overpowers
Snowball, exiles him,
And takes credit
For the idea