Before reading Animal Farm you should know some things about Russia, Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, Stalin, Marx and other important figures. These are those things.

1. I N T R
O D U C
T I O N
A N I M A L
F A R M
George Orwell

3. “Pretty music is
used to hide how
unfair and corrupt
society is.”
-20th Century
Women
In what ways is
society unfair?

4. “Man is the only real enemy we have.
Remove Man from the scene, and the
root cause of hunger and overwork is
abolished for ever. Man is the only
creature that consumes without
producing. He does not give milk, he
does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull
the plough, he cannot run fast enough to
catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the
animals. He sets them to work, he gives
back to them the bare minimum that
will prevent them from starving, and the
rest he keeps for himself.
Why then do we continue in this
miserable condition?”
PHASE 1:
INEQUALITY
Capitalism always results in
a big gap between the rich
and poor.
(‘Man’ is a
metaphor for the
capitalist elite.)
Old Major, Chapter 1:

5. PHASE 2:
EQUALITY
Communism in its ideal
form means that everyone
will be equal
1
List five rules or laws that
you would need to make
so that everyone is equal.
(For example, everyone
must wear green jeans
and white shirts.)
2
Can you predict any
problems that might result
from these rules and
laws? (For example, some
people don’t like the color
green.)
Imagine you must design a
society where everyone is
equal. This may mean equal
in wealth, equal in
education, equal in
opportunity, but it is up to
you to decide what “equal”
means.

6. PHASE 3:
SUBJUGATION
Communism cannot survive
in a pure form because
people inevitably use power
for their own gain.
*Adversity: (n.)
great difficulty.
“People in poverty
face much
adversity, such as
providing for their
families.”
*Subjugation:
the action of
bringing
someone or
something under
domination or
control.

7. POLITICAL & ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
IN THEORY
Communism
Primary thinker: Karl Marx
Advocated class war, leading to a society in
which no regulation is needed because
each person works and is paid according to
their abilities and needs. Communists see
socialism as a stepping stone to
communism.
Capitalism
A country's trade
and industry are
controlled by
private owners for
profit, rather than
by the state. AKA
the free market
economy.
Socialism
The community / government control the means of production.

8. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN
RELATION TO THE QUOTE AND CHAPTER 1:
1. Is Man the only REAL enemy of animals everywhere?
2. Who/What else are enemies of animals?
3. What do humans do to animals that make us their
enemy?
4. What do you think about the way animals are treated?
5. How can we improve the lives of animals?
6. Do you think that animals and people should be equal?
Why/why not?

9. COMMUNISM
IN PRACTICE
• Poor management of people and
resources resulted in severe poverty.
People were worse off than before.
• The rulers became greedy and power-
hungry. They abused their status and
began living “better” lives than the
general population. Therefore, classes
DID develop.
• People suffered for the vision of their
rulers – e.g. prisoners were forced to
work in horrifying conditions to build
roads in the freezing mountains of
Russia, simply because a leader wanted

10. WHAT’S THIS GOT TO DO WITH
THE NOVEL?
Animal Farm was written to expose the failure of
communism in the USSR. It is allegorical and satirical: The
animals in this story act as symbols of actual people who
were important role players in the rise of communism.
*Satire
The use of humour, irony,
exaggeration, or ridicule to
expose and criticize people’s
stupidity or vices, particularly in
the context of contemporary
politics and other issues.
*Allegory
A story, poem, or
picture that can be
interpreted to reveal a
hidden meaning,
typically a moral or
political one.

11. WHO’S WHO?
• Old Major - Marx/Lenin
• Napoleon - Stalin
• Snowball - Trotsky (who was exiled and later
assassinated)
• Mr Jones - Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia
• Mrs Jones - the Tsarina
• Frederick - the leaders of Germany but particularly Hitler
• Pilkington - the leaders of England
• The dogs - the Russian secret police (KGB)
• Moses - the Russian Orthodox Church

12. CHARACTERS
• Pigs:
– Napoleon
– Snowball
– Old Major
– Squealer
– Minimus
• Horses
– Boxer
– Clover
– Mollie
• Dogs
– Jessie
– Bluebell
– Others
• Moses - Raven
• Humans
–Mr Jones & Mrs Jones (Animal
Farm owners)
–Frederick (Neighbouring
farmer)
–Pilkington (another
neighbouring farmer)
• Benjamin – Donkey
• Muriel - Goat

14. Why do bad things stay the same?
“Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man
from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and
overwork is abolished for ever. Man is the only creature
that consumes without producing. He does not give
milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the
plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet
he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he
gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent
them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.
Why then do we continue in this miserable condition?”
- Old Major, Chapter 1

15. OLD MAJOR’S SPEECH
• Basic point = Man is the enemy of all animals
• Also, animals live terrible lives:
– They only get as much food as will keep them alive
– They work from the time they are old enough till they
cannot anymore
– After they have lost their ability to produce/work, they
are killed without mercy.
• The main thought here is that the animals deserve to be
treated better.

16. LINKS BETWEEN
OLD MAJOR’S SPEECH
AND COMMUNISM
• Old Major wants the animals to all be equal – no rulers.
• There should be no difference in classes.
• All animals should share in the produce that they
contribute
• Old Major wanted the animals to rise up against those
who were oppressing them (humans) just like the
communist leaders – Marx and Lenin wanted the poor
farmers/workers to rise up against the ruling
government in Russia.

17. THE REBELLION
• Old Major wants the animals to
rebel against the humans – but he
knows that it might not happen in
their lifetimes.
• He then tells the animals to make
sure that they keep his message
in their “history” and tell it to
future generations so that nobody
forgets what they should be
doing.

18. BEASTS OF ENGLAND
Verse 1: Animals from England, Ireland and ALL over the world
should hear Old Major sing about the wonderful future.
Verse 2: The day will come when Man will be removed from
power and animals will be free.
Verse 3: Animals will no longer have to wear the painful
harnesses, chains and rings.
Verse 4: All the resources that the animals did not have will
become theirs.
Verse 5: England will become a better, purer place once all the
animals are free.
Verse 6: All the animals must work together to make their
freedom possible.
Verse 7: Once again, Old Major calls all the animals to listen to

19. RECOGNISABLE EVENTS, IDEAS AND PLACES
SATIRISED IN ANIMAL FARM
Hoof and Horn - the Hammer and Sickle on the Russian Communist flag.
The Windmill - Stalin's Five Year Plan, which took control of industry in
Russia.
Committees - the animal committees are an echo of how Communist Russia
was organised.
Battle of the Cowshed - this was the October Revolution in 1917, whereas
the initial rebellion refers to the February Revolution.
Battle of the Windmill - the Battle of Stalingrad.
Hens' Revolt - the protest of Ukrainian farmers against Stalin's proposed
collectivisation of the small (peasant) farms.
• This close referencing of real events meant that Orwell's criticism of
Russia was hardly disguised and resulted in a struggle to get the book
published. Although these are references to specific situations, they are
still vague enough to parallel many modern day situations