Old “Mc” Orwell Had a Farm: Manor Farm or Animal Farm

What Is an Allegory? Narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. May be fables, parables, poems, stories, any almost any other form of literature. Four levels: literal meaning, satirical allegory, political treatise, beast fable.

Which Three Forms of Allegory Fit Animal Farm?  Satirical Allegory  Political Treatise  Beast Fable Learning to Walk

Allegory vs. Symbol  Allegory is a complete narrative that conveys abstract ideas to get a point across.  Symbol is a representation of an idea or concept that can have different meanings throughout a literary work.

A Simple Story Becomes… A moral warning against the abuse of power; A story of disillusionment with the Russian Revolution of 1917; An exposure of Stalin’s evils; A fable of human strengths and weaknesses.

Why Orwell Wrote the Book He was a democratic socialist. He was disgusted by Stalin’s betrayal of the ideals of the Russian Revolution. He wanted to teach us: Power corrupts; Revolutions come full circle and devour their people;

George Orwell

Why Orwell Wrote the Book (Con’d) Even good people are vulnerable to power- hungry leaders if they do not question what they are told.

Character: Old Major  Represents a mixture of Marx and Lenin  Marx and Lenin were well- educated “thinkers.”  They were revolutionaries, NOT street fighters.  Marx was dead before the Revolution started, and Lenin was already an old man.

Character: Farmer Jones  Represents the Czar Nicholas and his royal family Not a bad ruler, but too weak to deal with the revolution and put a stop to it.

From One House to Another Winter Palace Room Where Czar and Family Murdered

Character: Old Major (Wise, Old Hog)

Famous Sayings  “Animals of the world unite.”  “No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.”  “All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.”

Marx/Lenin Marx and Lenin were “thinkers” and writers. Dream of abolishing class distinctions and redistribution of land and resources Philosophical belief in the possibility of an utopian society based on equality and work sharing (think of Early Christians)

Marx and Lenin

Character: Boxer, Benjamin, et al  Boxer (the work horse) represents the Russian working class, especially the peasants.  Benjamin (the donkey) stands for the cunning workers who saw the disaster coming with the revolution, but did nothing about it.

Boxer and Benjamin

Famous Sayings  Boxer: “I will work harder.” “ If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be true.”  Benjamin:“Donkeys live a long time.” “I can read, but there’s nothing worth reading.

Character: Boxer, Benjamin, et al (Con’d) The hens stand for the Russian farmers who attempted to hold on to their farms. The sheep represent the unthinking workers who did not understand what was happening, but wanted the status quo to change.

The Hens  Refuse to give up their eggs and are severely punished by the hogs until they comply.

The Bolsheviks Russians: largely peasants with some formal education On an intellectual level, this population embraces the Revolution. Enthusiastically worked for the Revolution because of the promise of food and work.

Bolsheviks  Bolsheviks (or "the Majority") were an organization of professional revolutionaries who considered themselves as a vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat.  Beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism.  Party was founded by Vladimir Lenin, who also led it in the October Revolution

Josef Stalin  totalitarian ruler of Russia after Lenin  expels Leon Trotsky from the Party and then adopts many of Trotsky’s financial and political plans  iron-fisted dictator

Joseph Stalin (Con’d)  Took control from Lenin  Cold-blooded killer  Far more murders than Hitler  Responsible for MILLION murders  Personally enjoyed killing and watching others kill  Murdered at least one wife

Joseph Stalin (Con’d) Ruled Soviet Russia

Character: Napoleon Napoleon represents Stalin

Joseph Stalin  Real name Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili  “Stalin” means “man of steel” or “hammer of steel.”  From a peasant family in the Russian providence of Georgia

Stakhanovites  The Stakhanovites (Working Class)  poor Russian populace with little to no formal education

The Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches  under Marxism, the “church” has no official role  Marx comments that “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness.”

Russian Church Lenin called religion “the opiate of the masses”; He meant that is was used as a painkiller for the unfairness of the workers’ world. The raven Moses represents religion in the book.

Leon Trotsky an intellectual and Lenin’s “right hand” man much more practical than Lenin, more aware of the daily struggles of the population conceives of the notion of the Five Year Plan that Stalin later adopts

Character: Snowball  Snowball represents Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was a “thinker,” but also a street fighter for the revolution. Stalin felt that Trotsky had to be eliminated because he was too smart and powerful and “might” pose a threat to Stalin’s rule.

White Russians (Belarusian)  under the Czar, these Russians were land owners with a certain degree of influence  before the Revolution, White Russians own serfs and control distribution of wealth in “the bread basket” of Russia (Ukraine, Belarus)

White Russians (Con’d) resented by the general population as members of the elitist (class) system that exists before the Revolution

Winston Churchill (England) close diplomatic ties with Lenin in order to defeat Hitler and the Nazis during World War II Churchill had reservations about socialism but overlooked them in order to manage what he saw as a greater threat to England and Western Europe: Fascism

Forced Labor The Revolt of the Hens and their brutal punishment represents to measures taken by Stalin and his men to force the Russian farmers to give up their land and way of life.

Propagandists (Pravda) Russian newspaper, state-run Pravda was well-known in the West for its pronouncements as the official voice of Soviet Communism

Secret Police (Beria) NKVD (later the KGB) come to be regarded with great fear by the Russians was responsible for political repression during the Stalinist era conducted mass extrajudicial executions, ran the Gulag system of forced labor, conducted mass deportations of nationalities and peasants labeled as “Kulaks" to unpopulated regions of the country, guarded state borders, conducted espionage and political assassinations abroad, was responsible for subversion of foreign governments, and enforced Stalinist policy within Communist movements in other countries

Secret Police (Con’d) also known for its Main Directorate for State Security, which eventually became the Committee for State Security (KGB)

Characters: Squealer and the Dogs The Dogs were taken by Napoleon to train as his protection force. They became his ruthless killers.

Plot Parallels  October Revolution 1917  Kronstadt rebellion  Trotsky’s emphasis on heavy industry  Civil War  Stalin’s emphasis on agriculture  Trotsky’s permanent revolution  Stalin’s “socialism in one country”  Trotsky’s exile  Failure of the first “Five Year Plan”

…continued  Purge trials 1936 – 1938  Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939  German invasion 1941 Tehran conference 1943

Plot parallels Snowball champions the windmill The animals’ rebellion Napoleon’s opposition to sending pigeons The Battle of the Cowshed led by Snowball Snowball is defeated and driven away The windmill is demolished Deal with Frederick Battle with Frederick The mutiny of the hens Snowball wants to send pigeons to nearby farms Pigs and men are indistinguishable Starvation Confessions and executions of animals

Snowball’s Dream and Disaster Snowball proposed building a windmill to make life easier for the workers in the future. Napoleon objected because he wanted to sell goods the workers could produce. Napoleon used this windmill idea to label Snowball a traitor and force him off the farm.

Finale By the end of the book, it is impossible to tell the difference in the actions of the Hogs and Man. The animals are still suffering under the rule of a monster. It may be an “animal” monster, but he is still a monster. Created by: Mrs. Cheryl Metz