Animal Farm George Orwell

Fable & Allegory On the surface, the fable is about animals. On a deeper level, the animals stand for people and ideas Animal Farm is an allegory that represents Orwell’s criticism of communism in the Soviet Union

History of Communism Capitalism was going strong in Europe and America in the mid 1800s. However, workers labored 14-18 hours a day under unsafe conditions. There were no child labor laws, and wages were barely livable for the common worker.

Karl Marx In comes Karl Marx, a German philosopher, in 1847. He was asked to draw up a plan for an international workers’ group called the Communist League. Marx then wrote a plan called The Manisfesto of the Communist Party.

Marxism Marx envisioned a workers’ revolt against the present conditions. Each worker would work according to his or her ability and receive according to need. He saw communism as being total worldwide economic equality.

Marxism Around this time, labor laws were finally passed in Western Europe and America. The work place was safer and more tolerable of workers. The revolution that Marx foresaw never happened.

Socialism People following Marx’s thinking were called Socialists. They split into two groups. One group wanted to bring about communism by slowly passing new laws. The other group (Communists) wanted a major workers’ revolt.

Communism The Communists were a small extremist group compared to the larger number of Socialists. The Bolshevik Party was formed led by Nikolai Lenin in Russia.

“All Power to the Soviets”: The Communist Takeover Czar Nicholas II was the leader until 1917, when he was taken from power The soviets led by Vladimir Lenin began to take control of Russia’s lines of communication such as railroads and telegraph lines Lenin was aided by Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin

Continued: The three leaders promised “land, bread, and peace” for everyone On October 24, 1917, Lenin and his men took control to usher in the first-ever Communist government

Communism from 1917-1922 Upon power, the new government stripped land from all of the owners, forbade the holding of private property The fields were redistributed according to need and hired labor was outlawed. Communist goal: equality and peace for all!

Opposition of Communism As with any new government taking power, there were those who were opposed to the new government Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin decided to root out and destroy any opposition to the Communist government Anti-communists were executed 1918-1921 a civil war raged between the communists and their enemies The “Red Army” (the communists) prevailed

Change of Power 1922-1940 Lenin died in 1922 as a result of three paralyzing strokes Both Trotsky and Stalin vied for power Stalin won out and reigned for 25 years

Stalin’s Reign Stalin maintained control through political and social terror Stalin silenced all opposition High-ranking officials were arrested, forced to admit to crimes they did not commit, and then executed Stalin died in 1953

Characteristics of Totalitarianism Organized violence/police terror: Used forced to crush all opposition Propaganda: one-sided information to persuade and influence that supported the state only Censorship: Only “official” versions of information was allowed; all other pieces of information was limited, suppressed or destroyed

Characteristics: Cult of the individual/single strong leader: Leader is elevated to God-like status State control over the individual: demand of total unquestioning obedience & sacrifice for the state State control over society: control of business, education, family, housing, religion, etc.

Characteristics: Ideology of the state: glorified aims of the state used to justify all government action Dictatorship/one party rule: absolute control maintained by a single leader or party

Post-Stalin From 1953 to the early 1980’s the Soviet Union remained repressive Internal spying was rampant, and all communication was tightly monitored by the communists Ideas that were not communist were considered dangerous As a result, people were threatened, imprisoned, or executed for expressing these ideas

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev took the reigns of Soviet power He announced economic restructuring and social and political openness Ideas were now accepted that were not communist By 1991, the communist government of the Soviet Union admitted its demise

How would you define tyranny?

How is governmental power best distributed?

Is democracy the best system?

Does the United States have a government that produces perfect equality among the citizenry?

What amount of inequality or brutality should be tolerated within a nation?

What different kinds of brutality or inequality can you think of?

Major Characters

Mr. Jones Owner of the farm Symbolizes Czar Nicholas II, the leader before Stalin The Czar was abdicated in 1917

Old Major “purebred” pig Grand fatherly philosopher of change Represents a metaphor of Karl Marx (founder of Communism) Encourages rebellion under the ruling of Mr. Jones

Moses Raven Mr. Jones’s especial pet- doesn’t work Represent Orwell’s view of the Church To Orwell, the Church is used as a tool by dictatorships to keep the working class hopeful and productive Orwell is critical of the role of Church

Snowball Pig Wants leadership as much as Napoleon (leader of the pigs) Represents Trotsky (Stalin’s opponent for leadership)

Napoleon Chief villain Central character on the farm Leader of the pigs Represents Stalin

Boxer Horse Represents the unskilled labor class Lower class drawn to Napoleon (Stalin) He thinks he will benefit most from the new system

Squealer Pig Manipulative and persuasive Represents the Pravda, the Russian newspaper of the 1930’s Represents propaganda He is used to communicate between Napoleon (Stalin) and the other animals (Russians)

Mollie Represents the typical middle-class skilled worker who suffers from this new communism concept She is very vain and only cares about her looks She is now considered to be lower class because of the design of communism (everyone is equal)

Benjamin Elderly donkey Symbolizes the older generation Critical of the communist government He seems smarter than the other animals

Muriel Goal Smart and educated Represents the minority of working class people He is not inspired by Napoleon (Stalin)

Pigs Surround and support Napoleon Symbolize communist party loyalists Live in luxury and enjoy the benefits of the society they control The animals work and the pigs make the money!

Dogs Represents the KGB (police force of the Soviets) Bodyguards of Stalin Dedicated and mindless