Making sense of Animal Farm By George Orwell

Making sense of Animal Farm By George Orwell

Definitions Proletariat Pravda Cold War Bolsheviks Lowest social class; laboring class Russian newspaper Tension following WWII between US/NATO and Soviet Union / Warsaw Russian extremist/supreme power during Revolution

Political Characters Mr. Jones Mr. Pilkington Mr. Frederick Napoleon Snowball Squealer Old Major Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia Leaders of England Leaders of Germany Joseph Stalin Leo Trotsky Russian media Karl Marx/Lenin

Other Major Characters Boxer Clover Mollie Dogs Moses Benjamin Hens Working class A female ‘Boxer’ Russian upper class Military police Russian Orthodox Church Pessimism/ the tired Peasant Farmers

Places and Things Animal Farm Manor Farm Farmhouse Sugar Candy Mountain Animalism Animal Committees Windmill/& destruction of Animal Revolt Battle of Cowshed Selling of wood to Frederick Soviet Union Russia Kremlin Heaven Communism Soviet Committees Stalin’s Five Year Plan Russian Revolution Red October (Tsars vs Bolsheviks) Nazi-Soviet Pact

Political Powers: pros and cons? Communism Socialism Totalitarianism Capitalism Democracy No private ownership/ goods are owned in common; form of totalitarianism/est’d by Marx Gov’t ownership and collection and unequal distribution of goods for work done (theory between capitalism and communism) Autocratic leadership which operates with coercive measures Private ownership of goods; investments, competition, no state control Gov’t by the people; majority rule; supreme power is vested and exercised by the people

Themes Power Corrupts Ignorance – oppression Revolutions-self-defeating? Society’s inequities/utopia? Abuse of Language/propaganda

Elements of AF Humor? Symbols? Rhetoric (language is used as an instrument of social control/pigs rewrite history) Climax? Orwell’s alter ego?

Panel Discussion Questions

Fascism Today? 1.The essential question of this novel is not “could it happen again”, but “do I realize it is happening everyday all around me?” What are my responsibilities to do something about it? What is Orwell’s perpetual battle against totalitarianism? Explain the ongoing exploitation of the weak by the strong as it appears in the world we live.

Class Warfare? 2. Consider class warfare in America. Do the powerful continue to maintain by garnering a larger and larger portion of the wealth in a society? Is distribution of wealth the answer? Is it fair to assume the wealthy (such as Bill Gates) evil for having money? Poor people as lazy? Can an Animal Farm revolution happen here in our country? Why does the world need rich people?

Revolutions? 3. Why do revolutions occur? Is revolution worth the upheaval it causes? Can it bring about lasting change? Are there elements to the human condition so basic that no revolution can change? Consider the way the animals’ lives changed throughout the story. How does Orwell feel about revolutions? What factors can a government modify to help prevent revolution?

Propaganda? 4.Discuss methods people use for persuading others to follow certain rules of behavior. How do these methods rely on bias and manipulation of information? How would you feel if rules for correct behavior kept changing (Ten Commandments, Constitution, etc.)?

Self-destructive? 5. Are the other animals responsible for their own manipulation by Napoleon? Do you ever sympathize with the animals complaints and goals? Is it fair, then, that those (in real life) who are more educated, more skilled, or wealthier (like the pigs) have more influence in decision making?

Hopeless theme? 6. One of the reasons why the novel has such a wide appeal today is that it possesses those timeless qualities which enable readers of different generations and different cultures to apply its lessons to their own circumstances. George Orwell stated: “There have been, are, and always will be pigs in every society, and they will always grab power. Even more cruel is the conclusion that everyone in the society, wittingly or unwittingly, contributes to the pigs’ tyranny.” Therefore, is the book a profoundly pessimistic fable?