1. Introduction to Animal Farm Part II
Fables and Allegories
Introduction to Animal Farm
Part II

2. The Ant and the Grasshopper: a Fable

3. The Ant and the Grasshopper
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, carrying along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

4. The Ant and the Grasshopper
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
"I am helping to store up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and I recommend you to do the same."

5. The Ant and the Grasshopper
“Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper. “We have got plenty of food at present.” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

6. The Ant and the Grasshopper
When the winter came the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.

7. The Ant and the Grasshopper
Then the Grasshopper knew...
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

8. A fable usually… is very short
features nonhuman characters who have been personified to an extreme
such as animals, plants, inanimate objects, mythical creatures or forces of nature
ends with a short moral lesson

9. Aesop
Probably the most well known writer of fables is Aesop, who lived in Ancient Greece.
He wrote “The Ant and the Grasshopper ” and lots of other fables still popular today.

10. Quotations from Aesop Don’t cry over spilt milk.
Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.
Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Appearances are often deceiving.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Slow and steady wins the race.

11. Allegory
An allegory is an artwork in which every part has at least two meanings:
the literal meaning
and a symbolic meaning
Many fables are also allegories.

12. The Ant and the Grasshopper: an Allegory, too!
Literal Meaning Symbolic Meaning
The Ant
Corn
The Grasshopper
Summer
Winter
= Hardworking People
= Work / Preparation
= Short-sighted People
= Opportunity Time
= Hard Times

13. Modern Fables
Two modern writers of fables are James Thurber, who wrote “The Tiger Who Understood People,” and George Orwell, who wrote Animal Farm.

14. Animal Farm Animal Farm is both a fable (with animals!)
and an allegory
(of the 1917 Russian Revolution).