Mr. Jones the farmer is a drunk and cruel tyrant, and one day the animals on his farm have had enough of him, so they take over the farm and kick him out. They set up a government of their own. It starts out as an egalitarian government, where all animals are equal, but as time progresses it turns into a regime as repressive and totalitarian as that of Mr. Jones. Their new motto is "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." In the end they become a drunk tyrant just like Mr. Jones, so the revolution was not revolution at all.
1. Animal
By Farm
George Orwell
Allegory - Satire - Fable
Presented by :
Mohammed Sabri
Bamerni
( Prime_Metin)
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
2. Animal Farm in brief
It was written in 1940's. It's an allegory of the Russian
revolution, on how communism doesn't work. In the
story, a bunch of farm animals overthrow the farmer
who treated them badly. They set up an ideal society
in which all the animals are equal, and all work for the
benefit of each other (basically a communist society).
The pigs take a leadership position, even though
technically all the animals are equal. One pig,
Napoleon, who is power hungry, kicks out his co-
leader, Snowball, and then becomes a tyrant. He
mistreats the other animals in a similar way as the
farmer mistreated them. The animals are back to
square one, and no improvement has been made.
3. Why Animals?
In explaining how he came to write Animal Farm,
Orwell says he once saw a little boy
whipping(beating horse by whip) a horse and later
he wrote,
“It struck me that if only such animals became aware of
their strength we should have no power over them, and
that men exploit(use) animals in much the same way as
the rich exploit the [worker].”
4. What is Animal Farm?
A masterpiece of political satire, Animal Farm is a
tale of oppressed individuals who long for
freedom but ultimately are corrupted by
assuming(arrogant) the very power that had
originally oppressed(tyrannized) them.
The story traces(sketches, describes) the
deplorable(miserable) conditions of mistreated
animals who can speak and who exhibit(present)
many human characteristics(features). After
extreme negligence(carelessness) by their owner,
the animals revolt and expel(drive out) Mr. Jones
and his wife from the farm.
The tale of the society the animals form into a
totalitarian(tyranny) regime is generally viewed as
Orwell's critique(critic review) of the communist
system in the former Soviet Union.
Interesting Fact: Orwell initially struggled
to find a publisher for Animal Farm .
5. Significance(importance) Today
But why – now that Soviet Communism has
fallen and the Cold War is over –does Animal
Farm deserve our attention? The answer lies
in the power of allegory. Allegorical fables,
because they require us to make comparisons
and connections, can be meaningful to any
reader in any historical period. The story of
Animal Farm will always have lessons to
teach us about the ways that people abuse
power and manipulate others.
Orwell's chilling(bitter) story of the betrayal of
idealism(utopian) through tyranny and
corruption is as fresh and relevant today as
when it was first published in 1945.
6. When History and Literature Merge
Critics often consider Animal Farm to be an
allegory of the Russian Revolution. In the early
1900s, Russia’s Czar Nicholas II faced an
increasingly discontented populace(offended
people). Freed from feudal serfdom(slavery) in
1861, many Russian peasants(farmers) were
struggling to survive under an
oppressive(unfair, tyrannical) government. By
1917, amidst(among) the tremendous(terrible)
suffering of World War I, a revolution began. In Czar Nicholas II
two major battles, the Czar’s government was Vladimir Lenin
overthrown and replaced by the Bolshevik
leadership of Vladimir Lenin. When Lenin died
in 1924, his former colleagues Leon Trotsky,
hero of the early Revolution, and Joseph
Stalin, head of the Communist Party, struggled
for power. Stalin won the battle, and he
deported(banished) Trotsky into permanent
exile(banishment). Joseph Stalin Leon Trotsky
7. Animalism = Communism
Animalism Communism
Taught by Old Major Invented by Karl Marx
No rich, but no poor All people are equal
Better life for workers Government owns
All animals are equal everything
Everyone owns the People own the
farm government
8. Animal Farm Revolution = Russian Revolution
Animal Farm Revolution Russian Revolution
Was supposed to make life Was supposed to fix the
better for all, but . . . problems created by the
Life was worse at the end. Czar, but . . .
The leaders became the Life was even worse after
same as, or worse than the the revolution.
other farmers (humans) they Stalin made the Czar look
rebelled against. like a nice guy.
9. George Orwell
British Author & Journalist
1903-1950
Born in India
At that time India was a part of the British Empire, and Blair's
father, Richard, held a post as an agent in the Opium(kind of
drugs) Department of the Indian Civil Service.
The Blair family was not very wealthy - Orwell later described
them ironically as "lower-upper-middle class". They owned no
property, had no extensive investments; they were like many
middle-class English families of the time, totally dependent on
the British Empire for their livelihood(living) and prospects.
Noted as a novelist and critic, as well as a political and cultural
commentator
One of the most widely admired English-language essayists of the
20th century
Best known for two novels critical of totalitarianism in general, and
Stalinism in particular:
Animal Farm
Nineteen Eighty-Four
“Liberty is telling people what they do not want to hear.”
10. 1984
The novel, published in
1949, takes place in 1984
and presents an imaginary
future where a totalitarian
state controls every aspect
of life, even people's
thoughts. The state is
called Oceania and is
ruled by a group known as
the Party; its leader and
dictator is Big Brother.
11. George Orwell and His Beliefs
Orwell was a person who had a reputation for standing apart and even
making a virtue of his detachment(independence in opinion).
This “outsider” position often led him to oppose the crowd(people whom
work with).
Orwell’s beliefs about politics were affected by his experiences fighting in
the Spanish Civil War.
He viewed socialists, communists, and fascists as repressive and self-
serving.
He was skeptical(doubt) of governments and their willingness to
forsake(leave) ideas in favor of power.
Interesting Fact:
George Orwell’s real name was Eric Blair.
12. George Orwell in India
He was born in India and
spent his early years there
since his father held a post
there.
He was a lonely boy who liked
to make up stories and talk
with imaginary companions.
As an adult, he worked for
the Imperial Police in British
occupied India.
13. Work
Orwell joined the police in Burma, where he had family
connections. In 1924 he was promoted. In 1927 he
contracted Dengue fever: in light of this he was allowed to
return to England. It was at this time that he resigned from
the police force with the intention of focusing on writing. It
was this time in Burma that provided the inspiration for
Orwell’s first novel, Burmese Days, published in 1934.
Orwell took a job as a teacher in England, after living in
Paris for a short time. It was a small school and allowed
Orwell to focus on his writing. He was contributing on a
regular basis to the magazine New Adelphi, where his
essay "A Hanging" first appeared.
Orwell, after suffering with pneumonia, would take a part-
time job working in a book shop in Hampstead.
14. War
When the Spanish Civil war began, Orwell
volunteered to fight for the republicans against the
uprising. He was injured after being shot in the
neck by a sniper's bullet; following this he and his
new wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, left Spain to
return to England.
Death
Orwell became seriously ill around this time,
suffering with tuberculosis. Orwell had been
courting Sonia Brownell and married her while in
hospital in October 1949. By Christmas Orwell
was very weak and in January of 1950, aged 46,
he died. In accordance with his wishes, Orwell
was buried. He lies in All Saint’s Churchyard in
Oxford, as it was impossible for him to be buried in
London.
15. Characters
Old Major Karl Marx
An old boar whose speech about The inventor of communism
the evils perpetrated(have done) Wants to unite the working
by humans rouses(awakes)the class to overthrow the
animals into rebelling. government.
His philosophy concerning the Dies before the Russian
tyranny of Man is named Revolution
Animalism.
He teaches the animals the song
“Beasts of England”
Dies before revolution
16. Who is Karl Marx?
Many of the ideals behind the Soviet
revolution were based on the
writings and teachings of Karl Marx.
A German intellectual who lived in
the mid-1800s, Marx believed that
societies are divided into two
segments, a working class and an
owner class. The working class
creates all the products, while the
owner class enjoys all the benefits of
these products. This class division
leads to inequality and oppression
(tyranny , injustice) of the working
class. Marx’s objective was to create
a classless society in which the work
is shared by all for the benefit of all,
and he believed revolution was the
way to achieve this goal.
17. Napoleon = Joseph Stalin
Napoleon Joseph Stain
Boar who leads the rebellion
The communist dictator of the
against Farmer Jones Soviet Union from 1922-1953
who killed all who opposed
After the rebellion’s success,
him.
he systematically begins to
control all aspects of the farm
He loved power and used the
until he is an undisputed(no KGB (secret police) to enforce
one stand against him) tyrant. his ruthless(unmerciful), corrupt
antics.
18. Joseph Stalin
Once in power, Stalin began, with
despotic(tyranny) urgency and
exalted(glorified) nationalism, to move the
Soviet Union into the modern industrial age.
His government seized(captured) land in
order to create collective(group) farms.
Stalin’s Five Year Plan was an attempt(try,
effort) to modernize Soviet industry. Many
peasants(farmers) refused to give up their
land, so to counter resistance Stalin used
vicious(evil) military tactics. Rigged trials led
to executions of an estimated 20 million
government officials and ordinary citizens.
The government controlled the flow and Joseph Stalin
content of information to the people, and all
but outlawed churches.
19. Snowball = Leon Trotsky
Snowball
Boar who becomes one of the Leon Trotsky
rebellion’s most valuable
leaders.
A pure communist leader
who was influenced by the
After drawing complicated teachings of Karl Marx.
plans for the construction of a He wanted to improve life
windmill, he is chased off of for people in Russia, but
the farm forever by was driven away by Lenin’s
Napoleon’s dogs and KGB.
thereafter used as a
scapegoat for the animals’
troubles.
20. Farmer Jones = Czar Nicholas II
Farmer Jones Czar Nicholas II
The irresponsible owner of Weak Russian leader
the farm during the early 1900s
Lets his animals starve(feel Often cruel and
hungry) and beats them brutal(harsh) to his
with a whip subjects
Sometimes shows random Displays
kindness isolated(seperated)
kindness
21. Squealer & Boxer
Squealer
A big mouth pig who becomes Napoleon’s mouthpiece.
Throughout the novel, he displays his ability to
manipulate(treat in proficiency) the animals’ thoughts
through the use of hollow(tell lies), yet convincing rhetoric.
Represents the propaganda department that worked to
support Stalin’s image; the members of the department
would use lies to convince the people to follow Stalin.
Squealer
Boxer
A dedicated but dim-witted(stupid) horse who aids(assists)
in the building of the windmill but is sold to a glue-boiler
after collapsing(crash down) from exhaustion.
Represents the dedicated, but tricked(cheated) communist
supporters of Stalin. Many stayed loyal even after it was
obvious(clear) Stalin was a tyrant. Eventually(finaly) they
were betrayed, ignored, and even killed by him. Boxer
22. Jessie & Moses
Jessie
The farm's sheepdog, she keeps tabs on the
pigs and is among the first to suspect that
something is wrong at Animal Farm.
Jessie
Moses
A tame(domesticated) raven and sometimes-
pet of Jones who tells the animals stories
about a paradise called Sugar-candy
Mountain.
Moses represents religion. Stalin used
religious principles to influence(affect on)
people to work and to avoid revolt.
Moses
23. More Characters
Pilkington
Jones' neighbor, The easygoing gentleman farmer who runs Foxwood, a neighboring
farm. Mr. Frederick’s bitter enemy, Mr. Pilkington represents the capitalist
governments of England and the United States.
Mr. Frederick
The tough, shrewd operator of Pinchfield, a neighboring farm. Based on Adolf Hitler,
the ruler of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. Frederick proves an
untrustworthy neighbor.
Mollie
A vain horse who resists the animal rebellion because she doesn't want to give up
the petting and treats she receives from humans. Mollie represents vain, selfish
people in Russia and throughout the world who ignored the revolution and sought
residence in more inviting countries.
Benjamin
The most cynical(ironical) of all the animals, the farm's donkey doubts the leadership
of the pigs but is faithfully devoted to Boxer. Benjamin represents all the skeptical
people in Russia and elsewhere who weren’t sure revolution would change anything.
The Sheep
Not tremendously clever, the sheep remind themselves of the principles of animalism
by chanting "four legs good, two legs bad."
The Dogs
Napoleon’s private army that used fear to force the animals to work; they killed any
opponent of Napoleon. The dogs represent Stalin’s loyal KGB (secret police). The
KGB were not really police, but mercenaries used to force support for Stalin.
24. Plot Summary
The story is set on the Manor Farm, owned and
operated by Mr. Jones.
One night the prize(something deserves to
struggle for it) boar(male pig), Old Major, tells
all the other farm animals he has realized that
the misery of their daily lives is all due to the
tyranny of human beings, and that if they work
to overthrow(defeat) the humans their lives will
become easy and comfortable.
25. Plot Summary
After Old Major dies, the pigs (led by the
two boars Snowball and Napoleon) start
teaching his ideas (which they develop
into a system of thought called Animalism)
to the other animals. A few months later,
Mr. Jones gets drunk and forgets to feed
the animals, who become so hungry that
they rebel and drive the human beings off
the farm. They rename the farm 'Animal
Farm' and write the Seven
Commandments of Animalism up on the
wall of the barn(fold, store for animals
food). Jones comes back with a group of
armed men and tries to recapture the
farm, but the animals, led by Snowball,
defeat the men.
26. Plot Summary
Snowball and Napoleon argue constantly(never
stopping) over plans for the future of the farm,
never able to agree - especially over a windmill
which Snowball wants to build to provide the
farm with electric power, and which Napoleon
ridicules. Napoleon calls in nine dogs whom he
has specially trained and they chase Snowball
off the farm. Squealer, the very persuasive
pig(able to persuade other) who
relays(broadcasts) most of Napoleon's
decisions to the other animals, tells them that
Snowball was a traitor in league(union,
alliance) with Jones, and that the windmill was
really Napoleon's idea anyway and will go
ahead.
27. Plot Summary
The animals work hard - work on the
windmill is slow and they rely(depend)
heavily on Boxer the cart-
horse(strong horse suitable for heavy
work), who is very strong and hard-
working. Napoleon begins trading with
nearby farms, and the pigs move into
the farmhouse(Mr.Jones's house) and
sleep in the beds there - even though
sleeping in beds like humans was
forbidden by the original
principles(rules) of Animalism.
28. Plot Summary
The winter is difficult - the animals have
little food. Napoleon and Squealer blame
Snowball for everything that goes wrong on
the farm, from bad crops(harvest, product)
to blocked drains(consumes). Then
Napoleon's dogs attack four pigs, who then
confess to plotting(conspiracy) with
Snowball and start a series of confessions
of various 'crimes' from other animals - all
of those who confess are slaughtered(was
slaying) by the dogs, leaving the survivors
shaken(trembled) and miserable(hopeless).
29. Plot Summary
The windmill is finally completed and to get
money to buy the machinery for it, Napoleon
decides to sell a pile(pack, heap) of
timber(wood of trees) - after
wavering(hesitation) between the two
neighboring farmers Pilkington and Frederick,
he sells it to Frederick only to discover that he
has been paid with worthless(silly, valueless)
forged(fake) banknotes(currency). Frederick
and his men then come on to the farm and
blow(blast) the windmill to pieces with
explosives, although the animals manage to
drive them off the farm again after a bloody
battle. A few days later the pigs find a case of
whisky(alcohol) in the farmhouse
cellar(underground store) and get drunk.
30. Plot Summary
Boxer is injured while working on repairs to the
windmill, and Benjamin notices that the van(the great
leader) Napoleon calls to send him to the
vet(veterinary doctor), has 'Horse Slaughterer' painted
on the side. After Boxer has 'died in hospital' under
care of the vet, the pigs mysteriously(secretly) find
money to buy another case of whiskey.
After many years, life is just as hard as it ever was.
The pigs start walking on two legs. None of the old
Commandments(rules) are left on the barn wall. A
group of human farmers come to see the farm, they
quarrel(fight) with the pigs over a game of cards - and
the animals discover they can no longer tell which is
human and which is pig.
31.
32. Themes
Conflict and resolution :
There are many conflicts in Animal Farm and I will
write about the two that I look at as the most
important. The first is in the beginning of the book –
the rebellion. The animals on the farm chase Mr.
Jones away and after they have done that, the
problem is solved. The second isn’t solved at all: In
the end of the book the animals see the pigs have a
fight with the humans and they can’t see any
difference between them. I think a new conflict is
created at this moment and you, as the reader, must
guess what happens next.
33. Themes
Utopia/Dystopia –
Animal Farm was intended to be a Utopia
but it became a dystopia when the pigs
changed
it into a communist society. Old Major's ideas
for the perfect society were well placed but
did not work. Not one animal was really equal
and most were not cared for as should be.
34. Themes
False Allegiance(loyalty)
A final noteworthy (and again, satiric) theme is the way in which
people proclaim their allegiance to each other, only to betray
their true intentions at a later time. Directly related to the idea
that the rulers of the rebellion (the pigs) eventually betray the
ideals for which they presumably fought, this theme is
dramatized in a number of relationships involving the novel's
human characters. Pilkington and Jones;Frederick, for
example, only listen to Jones in the Red Lion because they
secretly hope to gain something from their neighbor's misery.
Similarly, Frederick's buying the firewood from Napoleon seems
to form an alliance that is shattered when the pig learns of
Frederick's forged banknotes. The novel's final scene
demonstrates that, despite all the.
35. Allegory (cont’d)
Yet there is no reason that
allegory must be limited to
two levels. It is possible to
argue that Animal Farm
also has a third and more
general level of meaning. For
instance, the pigs need not
only represent specific
tyrannical soviet leaders.
They could also be symbols
for tyranny more broadly:
their qualities are therefore
not simply the historical
characteristics of a set of Squealer, Snowball, & Napoleon
actual men but are the
qualities of all leaders who
rely on repression and
manipulation.
36. Propaganda
The pigs began to spread
propaganda to the animals when
they told them that they were doing
well. The animals, being naive,
believed every word of it.
Propaganda was spread to other
farms, telling them about how
Animal Farm was more prosperous.
They were urged to rebel.
The animals also could be
Boxer indoctrinated using propaganda.
Ex: The sheep bleating.
37. Satire
In a satire , the writer
attacks a serious issue by
presenting it in a ridiculous
light or otherwise poking fun
at it. Orwell uses satire to
expose what he saw as the
myth of Soviet socialism.
Thus, the novel tells a story Soviet Coat of Arms
that people of all ages can
understand, but it also tells
us a second story— that of
the real-life revolution.
38. Irony
Irony results when there is a disparity
between what an audience would
expect and what really happens.
Orwell uses a particular type of irony –
dramatic irony. He relies on the
difference between what the animals
understand and what we, the
audience, can conclude about the Snowball below the commandments.
situation at Animal Farm.
We know just what the animals know,
but we can see so much more of its
significance than they can. The
conclusions we reach that the animals
never quite get to – that the pigs are
decadent, corrupt, and immoral – are
all the more powerful because we
arrive at them ourselves, without the
narrator pointing these things out
directly.
Napoleon overindulging himself.
39. Irony (cont’d)
Orwell uses dramatic irony to
create a particularly subtle
satire. Satire stages a
critique of an individual,
group, or idea by
exaggerating faults and
revealing hypocrisies. The
dramatic irony of Animal
Farm achieves this aim
indirectly. We see the
hypocrisy that the animals
don't and therefore
understand in this backward
fashion that the book is deeply
critical of the pigs.
40. Themes
Religion and Tyranny
Another theme of Orwell's novel that also strikes a satiric note is the idea of
religion being the "opium of the people" (as Karl Marx famously
wrote). Moses the raven's talk of Sugar-candy Mountain originally annoys
many of the animals, since Moses, known as a "teller of tales," seems an
unreliable(untruthful) source. At this point, the animals are still hopeful for a
better future and therefore dismiss Moses' stories of a paradise elsewhere.
As their lives worsen, however, the animals begin to believe him, because
"Their lives now, they reasoned, were hungry and laborious(exhausting);
Was it not right and just that a better world should exist somewhere else?"
Here, Orwell mocks(ridicules) the futile(useless) dreaming of a better place
that clearly does not exist. The pigs allow Moses to stay on the farm — and
even encourage his presence by rewarding him with beer — because they
know that his stories of Sugar-candy Mountain will keep the animals
docile(obedient). Thus Orwell implies that religious devotion( — viewed by
many as a noble character trait — can actually distort the ways in which one
thinks of his or her life on earth.
41. Some definitions
Definition of allegory :
Extending a metaphor through an entire speech or
passage so that objects, persons, and actions in the
text are equated with meanings that lie outside the
text.