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Author Background and Literary Terms Animal Farm Author Background and Literary Terms

George Orwell The Early Years Born Eric Blair in 1903 in Bengal, India (part of British Empire) Went to a prep school where he was recognized for his intelligence but humiliated by poverty. To Orwell, the school was, “a world of force and fraud and secrecy.” He felt like, “A gold fish [flung] into a tank full of pike.” His mother brought Orwell and his siblings back to England to educate them (typical of colonial families)

The early Years Cont… Attended Eton on Scholarship at the age of 13 Influence by his teacher Aldous Huxley, known for his dystopian novel, Brave New World Joined the Indian Imperial Police Orwell noted that his work on Burma with the Indian Imperial Police made him callous, particularly towards the Bermese. His experience as an imperial officer exposed to Orwell the unjust system that was used to maintain the British Empire. Many of his experiences appear in his literature and they certainly shaped his political perspective, as he said, “I felt I had got to escape not merely from imperialism but from every form of man’s dominion over man.” This philosophy led him into such conflicts as the Spanish Civil War where he joined on the side of those he felt would end “man’s dominion over man”

The Spanish Civil War Orwell moved to Spain with his wife to fight in Franco (Totalitarian Dictator, backed by Hitler and Mussolini) vs. former gov’t forces, including socialist and communist workers Orwell sympathized with the workers and joined POUM, which had Maxist affliations He became disillusioned with the cause after the corruption among the communist faction fighting against Franco became apparent. Orwell’s objective to destroy “man’s dominion over man” was evident in his socialist political stance. Many of his early novels offered critiques of the class system and exposed social injustice, and he continued with such writing even after his experience in the Spanish Civil War.

After the Spanish Civil War Orwell remained a strong voice for democratic socialism (ideals more in line with Marx) Wrote Animal Farm to expose the corruption of Russian Communism and affirm his ideal version of socialism Later, wrote dystopian novel, 1984, depicting an even bleaker outlook than Animal Farm Orwell’s objective to destroy “man’s dominion over man” was evident in his socialist political stance even after the Spanish Civil War. Many of his early novels offered critiques of the class system and exposed social injustice, and he continued with such writing even after his experience in Spain.

Literary Terms Allegory: a narrative that functions two levels of meaning: literal level (story level) symbolic level, in which characters represents historical figures or ideas. Animal Farm is a political allegory where the characters and events represent the historical figures and events of the Russian Revolution

Lit. Terms Cont. Fable: A type of allegory; A short tale told to a moral point in which animals are used to represent human qualities or types. This form is often used for satire Epigram – a short, witty statement, often used to state the moral at the end of a fable.

Lit. terms Cont. Satire: a ridicule of human shortcoming, cultural events, institutions in an attempt offer a critique or bring about change or reform. (Different than comedy because its end or purpose isn’t humor or laughter, but criticism) Often uses: Irony Ironic tones are esp. characteristic of satire Irony adds subtly; attack is never directly stated Exaggeration Understatement Caricature Sarcasm

Lit. Terms (cont.) Characterization: the technique the author uses to reveal the personality of a character Symbol: something that stands for or represents more than itself Foreshadowing: the use of clues by an author to hint at future events in the narrative Imagery: Language that appeals to the five senses Connotation – the associations or emotional undertones of a word

Journal Now that you’ve learned a bit about the rise of communism in Russia and about Orwell’s own experience with communism, what do you think will happen as a result of Major’s speech in the novel?