Animal Farm
George Orwell
TITLE · Animal Farm: A Fairy Story
 AUTHOR · George Orwell (pseudonym of
 FULL
Arthur Blair)
OF WORK · Novella
 GENRE · Dystopian animal
Eric
 TYPE
fable; satire; allegory;
political roman à clef (French for “novel with a
key”—a thinly veiled exposé of factual persons
or events)
 LANGUAGE · English
 TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · 1943–1944, in
London
 DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION · 1946
Important Facts
George Orwell (1903-1950)

He was born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 in
Motihari, Bengal, India.

He went to Bruma and served in the
administration of the Indian Imperial Police
from 1922 to 1927 when he resigned in part
due to his growing dislike of British
imperialism.

He hated Communism and preferred British
Socialism. The reason he hated communism
so much is because it was not pure socialism
-- he distrusted the leaders who lived in
mansions while the common folk slaved in
the fields. Communism , he thought, was
just another way for the elite to control the
majority of peasants.
In reaction to the sudden glare of
fame, Orwell moved to the island
of Jura, off the coast of Scotland,
which aggravated his tuberculosis
considerably.
 While at Jura, Orwell wrote his
last novel and perhaps most
famous novel, 1984
 In 1949 Orwell returned to
England, but his tuberculosis was
by that time painfully advanced.
 He eventually succumbed to the
disease, dying on January 21, 1950.

It was Animal Farm that finally
made Orwell prosperous. His
other world wide success was
Nineteen Eighty-Four, which
Orwell said was written "to alter
other people's idea of the kind of
society they should strive after."
Sadly Orwell never lived to see
how successful it would
become.
The story of Animal Farm is an allegory of the
events in Russia after the downfall of Tsar
Nicholas II (1910's to 1940's). The characters and
events in the story all represent those during this
time.
 Major represents Karl Marx, Animalism is
similar to communism, Napoleon represents
Stalin, Snowball represents Trotsky, Squealer
symbolizes propaganda, Mr. Jones represents the
Tsar when he was in power and other things.

Allegory in Animal Farm
About Animal Farm
Through a coincidence of history,
Animal Farm appeared in stores the
same month that the atomic bombs
were dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
 The irony of this publication date for
one of the most politicized novels of
the 20th century did not escape its
early readers, or its author.
 Orwell made no secret of the fact
that his writing, and Animal Farm in
particular, was single-mindedly
focused on the obliteration of
totalitarian regimes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bomb
About Animal Farm cont.
Animal Farm, while obviously
referring to the general scope of all
forms of totalitarian governments,
may be seen as a satire of the Russian
Revolution of 1917 in particular.
 Because of this controversial subject
matter, British publishing houses were
loathe to take on Orwell's work, and
he was rejected throughout his entire
first round of publishing attempts.

Upon the novel's eventual publication in
1945, however, Orwell was instantly
famous.
 The reception of Animal Farm led to many
different interpretations of its meaning,
which Orwell perhaps clarifies best himself,
in his article called "Why I Write":

http://www.zb.eco.pl/gb/21/i
mage6.jpg&imgref
•"Every line of serious work that I have written since
1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against
totalitarianism...Animal Farm was the first book in
which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was
doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose
into one whole."
Major Characters
Farmer Jones: Farmer Jones
is the man who originally
owned Animal Farm, and who
is overthrown by the animals
at the beginning of the
Revolution.
He symbolizes corrupt and
fatally-flawed governments
that create societies ripe for
Revolution.
Old Major: Old Major
is the old pig whose
visionary dream inspires
the animals with their
first concept of
revolution. He may be
compared to Karl Marx,
whose ideologies and
writings eventually led
to the Communist
Revolution.
Snowball: The brilliant,
idealistic pig who, along with
Napoleon, assumes a loose
leadership at the beginning of
the Revolution. His ideas are
not always practical, but they
are always grand and farreaching. He is run off the
farm by Napoleon and
subsequently vilified by the
common animals.
Napoleon: The aggressive,
shrewd pig who, along with
Snowball, becomes the early
leader of Animal Farm.
After he successfully eliminates
Snowball, he gradually
increases his personal power
and privileges, while
simultaneously tightening the
control over the other animals.
By seizing onto a populist
revolution and turning it into his
personal regime, he may be
compared to his namesake,
Napoleon Bonaparte of France.
Squealer: This young pig is the
persuasive speaker who is the
liaison to the common animals,
always convincing them to accept
Napoleon's latest infringements on
their rights. In this role, he
represents the propaganda machine
of a totalitarian government.
Muriel: Muriel the goat is the farm
animal who reads better than the rest
of the "common' animals. Though
she does not always understand the
meaning of what she reads, she often
reads the altered Commandments to
the other farm animals, and so to the
reader she may symbolize a
revelatory force.
Boxer: Boxer is the hardworking carthorse who becomes the strongest
devotee of the Revolution, standing
behind Napoleon through all of the
outrages he commits. He symbolizes the
downtrodden peasants who are lied to
and mistreated by political figures out
for personal gain.
Mollie: Mollie is the young mare who
runs away because she cannot endure
the loss of her precious sugar lumps
and colored ribbons. Her departure is
seen by some of the animals as a
betrayal. Mollie represents the fickle
class of nobles who fled Russia after
the Revolution.
Benjamin: Benjamin is the
gloomy, cynical donkey who
never embraces the
Revolution or stands in
opposition to it.
He represents the human
tendency toward cynicism,
apathy, and the belief that
"things will never change".
Moses: Moses the raven
always tells the animals
fantastical tales of Sugarcandy
Mountain, a marvelous place
where no animals have to
work.
Moses, however, is free to fly
away, and comes and goes
from Animal Farm as he
chooses.
* He symbolizes organized religion in general, and the
Russian Orthodox Church more specifically.
Pilkington: The neighboring farmer who Napoleon plays off
Frederick in negotiations for the pile of timber. Pilkington's
nonchalance and apathy toward the situation at large is a
commentary on a specific type of decadent and unpoliticallyminded British gentleman, as well as on the slow response of the
Allies during World War II.
Frederick: The evil and cruel farmer to whom Napoleon
eventually sells the pile of timber; he pays in forged bank notes,
thus cheating Animal Farm. The rumors of exotic and cruel animal
tortures he performs on his "farm" are meant to echo the horror
stories emerging from Nazi Germany.
Whymper: Whymper is
the man who acts as a
trade agent for Animal
Farm. His interests in the
farm's affairs are purely
business-minded, and his
lack of concern for the
animal rights issues
behind the Animal Farm
regime offer up a parody
of the activities of
countries which conduct
business with communist
regimes.
Comrade Napoleon:
Stalin
Comrade Napoleon
Friend of fatherless!
Fountain of happiness!
Lord of the swill-bucket! Oh, how my soul is on
Fire when I gaze at thy
Calm and commanding eye,
Like the sun in the sky,
Comrade Napoleon!
The 7 Rules of the Farm
and the changes in RED.

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has
wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol in excess.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal
without cause.
7. All animals are equal, but some are more
equal than others.
Grave
Marker of
Karl Marx
http://www.sijmen.nl/filo/philoimages/marx.jpg
Themes in Animal Farm
The Corruption of Socialist Ideals in the
Soviet Union
•Animal Farm is most famous in the West as
a stinging critique of the history and rhetoric
of the Russian Revolution.
•It retells the story of Soviet communism in
the form of an animal fable, Animal Farm
allegorizes the rise to power of the dictator
Joseph Stalin.
Old ruling order: the
royal family.
Czar Nicholas (1868—
1918) of Russia with family.

In the novella, the
overthrow of the human
oppressor Mr. Jones by a
democratic group of
animals quickly gives
way to the consolidation
of power among the pigs.

Much like the Soviet
intelligentsia, the pigs
establish themselves as
the ruling class in the new
society.
The Societal Tendency toward Class
Stratification
*Animal Farm illustrates how classes that are
initially unified in the face of a common enemy,
as the animals are against the humans, may
become internally divided when that enemy is
eliminated.
•The expulsion of Mr. Jones creates a power
vacuum, and it is only so long before the next
oppressor assumes totalitarian control.
PIGS TAKE OVER
Soon the farm becomes divided between
the powerful PIGS who consider
themselves the “brainworkers. The PIGS
use their superior intelligence to
manipulate the farm for their own
benefit.
 The novella points out that there is a
tendency toward total government
control in many communities and that it
poses a threat to democracy and freedom.

The Abuse of Language as Instrumental
to the Abuse of Power
•One of Orwell’s central concerns, both in Animal
Farm and in 1984, is the way in which language
can be manipulated as an instrument of control.
•In Animal Farm, the pigs gradually twist and
distort a rhetoric of socialist revolution to justify
their behavior and to keep the other animals in the
dark.
The animals heartily embrace Major’s
visionary ideal of socialism, but after
Major dies, the pigs gradually twist the
meaning of his words.
 By the end of the novella, after
Squealer’s repeated revisions of the
Seven Commandments in order to
decriminalize the pigs’ treacheries, the
main principle of the farm can be
openly stated as “all animals are equal,
but some animals are more equal than
others.”


Old Major warns, "Your resolution must never
falter. No argument must lead you
astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man
and the animals have a common interest....we
must not come to resemble him...No animal
must ever live in a house or sleep in a bed, or
wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke
tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade.“

But when Muriel reads the writing on the
barn wall to Clover, interestingly, the words
are, "No animal shall kill any other animal
without cause.“

The 7 Commandments are abridged for the
last time, simply reading, "All animals are
equal but some animals are more equal than
others."
New Commandments
Farmhouse
•The Jones' farmhouse represents the place where
greed and lust dominate.
•Unlike the barn, which is the fortress of the common
man, the genuine concept of socialism, the farmhouse,
where Napoleon and the pigs take over, symbolizes
the Kremlin.
•Even today the Kremlin is an important place to
Russian leaders, who, instead of embracing Marxism,
have created their own distorted view of communism
and have shoved it down their peoples' (animals')
throats.
Animalism:
Animalism represents socialism. This view
was first expounded by Karl Marx (old
Major), who, in Orwell's opinion was naive in
thinking that his philosophy would actually
work.
 Orwell, although he agreed with the concept of
equality though socialism, was critical of Marx
because he didn't take into account the greed
and jealousy which would eventually
undermine the entire cause.
 This idea was shown through Napoleon and
the other pigs, who, through persuasion and
force became the dominant authority on the
farm.

The Flag:
The nationalism the animals' feel
is demonstrated through their daily
processions and rituals where they
practically worship the flag (their
institution of the state and
obviously not God).
 These processions and parades
grow more dramatic with the fall of
socialism and the rise of
Napoleon's dictatorship.

The Gun
The gun represents the overthrow of Mr.
Jones in the Battle of Cowshed. Again,
opposing Marx's ideal that rebellion is to
be accomplish through honesty,
innocence, and passive determination.

Napoleon and even Snowball (Trotsky)
rise to power by using death and
destruction, the very system Jones used
on them. Thus they prove themselves no
better than Jones and the previous
administration.

Battle of Cowshed:

The Battle of Cowshed is a clear
metaphor for the overthrow of the
old Russian government based on
czars (Mr. Jones).

The violence used in the battle,
however was not condoned by
Marx (old Major) or Orwell, who
both believed in pacifism.

Snowball and Napoleon, though,
were too greedy and were required
to use force in order to establish
their corrupt government.
Sugarcandy Mountain:

Orwell uses Sugarcandy
Mountain to symbolize the
Christian concept of
Heaven.

Moses, the raven of Mr.
Jones, and later Napoleon, is
the vehicle from which the
working class hears about
this land where clover and
sugar is unmeasured and
free to everyone.
Ribbons & Sugar:

Orwell's use of ribbons and sugar
symbolizes the luxuries of life enjoyed
by the old middle class under the old
government.

Mollie, the symbol for the capitalist, is
particularly fond of ribbons and
sugar— so much so that she leaves the
farm for them.
Milk and Apples:
Orwell uses milk to represent the care and
love that mothers give to their children.
 When Napoleon takes the milk for himself
and the other pigs, he is, in essence,
stealing the very core of the people.
 Now he can raise the children (other farm
animals) as a tool of the state. No longer
is the power in the family; now the
cornerstone of civilization is in the
totalitarian government of Napoleon
(Stalin).

Alcohol:
Orwell uses beer to represent the "Old" Russia. He
first notes that the reason Jones lost control of the
farm and began being cruel to the animals was
because of alcohol. It symbolizes, more than
anything, a corrupt government— a government
drunk on prosperity (a prosperity which never
trickles down to the common animal).

Alcohol was originally seen as a grave evil of the
new regime. Old Major repeatedly warns the
animals against taking on Man's ways, but his
concerns are not heeded. Really it was the issue of
alcohol that made many of the animals suspicious of
the pigs. Thus, Napoleon had Squealer change the
commandments.

Windmill:
* The windmill is used by Orwell to
symbolize Soviet industry. If you'll
notice in the book, the windmill was
destroyed several times before it finally
was complete.
* This represents the trials the
communists in Russia went through to
establish their armament-production
industry.

http://www.onlineliterature.com/forums/quiz2.php?quizid=
200

Take this Quiz for review.



http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/the
mes.html
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/a
nimalfarm/
Images From:
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movie/animalfarm/a46.jpg&imgrefurl
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