Animal Farm
George Orwell’s 1945 novella, Animal Farm, is the story of an animal revolution. The animal residents of Manor Farm, spurred on by the dream of the pig, Old Major, decide they will change their “miserable, laborious, and short” lives. They overthrow Mr. Jones, their master, and take over the management of the farm. Rather than living under the heel of their human master, the animals of Manor Farm decide that they will take control of the products of their labor, working for the good of the farm and other animals, rather than for the good of humans.
Many of the events at Manor Farm are closely linked to political events in Russia during the first half of the twentieth century. The rebellion by the working animals of the farm against the oppressive human farmer who lives off the fruits of their labor is directly analogous to the Russian Revolution of 1917 in which workers and peasants revolted against a feudal system in which feudal lords lived luxuriously from the toil of the peasants who farmed on their lands
Many of the characters in Animal Farm are clearly meant to represent historical figures. The human inspiration for Orwell’s fictional characters can often be found in the characters’ parallel actions, and sometimes even in their names. Symbolism plays an important role in the book.
Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984, are often cited as works that are designed to show the weaknesses of Communism. These works took aim at the Soviet Union, however Orwell’s larger target was tyranny, in whatever form it appeared. He was as much concerned with the repression of rights and the injustice of the economic system in his own England as he was about Stalinist Russia.
An allegorical tale, Orwell’s Animal Farm uses the story of Napoleon, Snowball, and Boxer as a form of rhetoric. Rhetoric can be understood as the use of language to persuade an audience of a belief or point of view. In the case of Animal Farm, Orwell is using the story of Manor Farm’s animal rebellion to caution people against the encroachment of tyranny.
Tyranny by any other name...
· What is Orwell trying to persuade the audience to see or understand?
· What is Orwell cautioning his audience against?
· How does the story of Boxer act as a persuasive argument against tyranny?
· Compare/Contrast Napoleon and Snowball, including their motives and the techniques they used in their struggle for power.
· What are the lessons to be learned from Napoleon’s behavior?
· What is the warning contained in the changes to the list of commandments?
· What is the lesson contained in the final, single commandment: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others?
· Why do you think the author chose to use a fable rather than an essay in his condemnation of totalitarianism?