Animal Farm by George Orwell Fable Allegory Irony Satire

Fable A short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects from nature as characters One of the oldest literary forms (older than the novel or short story) Conveys a clear moral or message Earliest fables still preserved date back to 6 th Century Greece B.C.E. and the author of these fables, Aesop, used animal characters to stand for human types. Aesop’s fables were instructional tales about human emotions and human behavior.

Fable Example Example – “The Fox and the Crow” by Aesop A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. "That's for me, as I am a Fox," said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. "Good day, Mistress Crow," he cried. "How well you are looking today: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds." The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. "That will do," said he. "That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future: "Do not trust flatterers."

Allegory Allegory is a literary device in which characters or events represent or symbolize ideas and concepts. An allegory conveys its hidden message through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events. An allegory has multiple levels of meaning. Writers use allegory to add different layers of meanings to their works. Allegory makes their stories and characters multidimensional, so that they stand for something larger in meaning than what they literally stand for. Allegory allows writers to put forward their moral and political points of view. A careful study of an allegorical piece of writing can give us an insight into its writer’s mind as to how he/she views the world and how he/she wishes the world to be.

Irony The message in Orwell’s story relies heavily on the irony created by its limited point of view. Irony results when what happens is quite different or opposite of what we expected to happen. Dramatic Irony – the reader/audience knows something that the characters in the story do not know. Orwell uses dramatic irony as he relies on the difference between what the animals understand and what we, the audience can conclude about the situation at Animal Farm. We know just what the animals know, but we can see so much more of its significance than they can.

Satire Satire is the use of exaggeration, wit, irony, or sarcasm to expose, criticize, ridicule, or scorn an individual, group, or idea. Satire exaggerates faults and reveals hypocrises. Orwell uses dramatic irony to create a particularly subtle satire. Examples – Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show