George Orwell’s
Comparing Orwell’s Characters to
the Russian Communist
Movement
Animal Farm is an Allegory
 An
allegory is a story in which the
characters and settings and events
stand for certain other people or events
or concepts
 Each of the characters in Animal Farm
serve as a symbol for someone in early
Soviet Russia
For example….




Old Major is a symbol
for Karl Marx
Old Major is the father
of Animalism
Karl Marx was the
father of Communism
Both die before the
revolution they speak of
happens
Beasts of England
would be Communist Internationale if it
were Russian
And the song Animal Farm
composed by Minimus would be
the Soviet Anthem
Napoleon
is a symbol for
Stalin

Both were harsh
leaders who ruled
through terror
Snowball
is a symbol for
Leon Trotsky

Both were
driven off
by the
others in
command
After a Revolution (or
Rebellion) , these
leaders were forced
to abdicate
Farmer Jones is a symbol for
Czar Nicholas II
Squealer represents the
Soviet propaganda machine
 He
can be identified with Pravda, the
Russian newspaper of the 1930’s
Moses
represents
the
Orthodox
Church
 Orwell’s
view of the
church was that it
encouraged hard
work and
submissive
behavior
What do these represent?
The Barn represents the
Kremlin
The Flag represents the
Soviet Flag
And the rest…
The
proletariat
– betrayed
by the
leadership
Russian industry – the
Five Year Plans to
make Russia modern
KGB – the
army that
silenced
opposition to
the leadership
Who do you
think Frederick
represents?
See any resemblance?
Stalin and Hitler signed a Non-Aggression pact like the
deal between Napoleon and Frederick over the timber
Your Presentation
 The
goal of your presentation is to
prepare a PowerPoint slide show that
compares the symbols in Animal Farm
to the characters, events, or places of
Soviet Russia
 This is a group project
 Two or three people will work together
in a group
But What Should My Presentation Have?
 CONTENT
2
should include:
symbols for each person (for a total of 46 depending on group size)
 An explanation of what each
character/place/event represents
 A comparison/contrast for EACH of the
book events and historical events
 Quality NOT quantity
But What Should My Presentation Have?
 OpenOffice
PRESENTATION should
include:
 Title
page
 Graphics/clip art
 Slide Transitions
 Object Animations
 Sound (if possible)
What about the presentation itself?
Presentations will be Monday,
November 30th
 I will be looking at:
 How
knowledgeable everyone is on the
information
 How much information your group includes
 If everyone takes part in the presentation
(each person should present their slides)
When You Get in Groups
 Your
first decision should be to decide
which symbols you are going to choose
 The next is to divide up the
responsibility – who will work on what
 Each person should really be creating
their own slides and then as a group
you combine them into one presentation
 Decide how you want to format your
slides (charts, tables, bullets, etc.)
Plan Tonight’s Homework
 Everyone
should have what symbol
they are working on
collecting information – from the
novel – perhaps create a timeline of events
for your symbol
 List important details about your symbol
and bring to computer lab tomorrow
 Start
Plan for Computer Lab

Sit together as a group
 Everyone will learn how to get a picture off
the internet –
 IMPORTANT – Pictures need to be saved on
your flash drive so that you can bring them
back to your netbook
 Use the Internet to gather more information
on your historical figure – take good notes
 Start to compare your novel symbol to your
historical figure
Plan for Netbooks
 Start
creating your slides
 Insert the pictures you gathered off the
internet
 You can have more than one slide per
symbol
 Put your presentation together as a
group
Any Questions?