Animal Farm

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Animal Farm

• By George Orwell

PowerPoint presentation by Eric Khan
ISBN 0-451-52634-1
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Key Passage

• Napoleon now called upon them to confess their
  crimes. They were the same four pigs as had
  protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday
  Meetings. Without any further prompting they
  confessed that they had been secretly in touch
  with Snowball ever since his expulsion, that they
  had collaborated with him in destroying the
  windmill, and that they had entered into an
  agreement with him in destroying the windmill,
  and that they had entered into an agreement with
  him to hand over Animal Farm to Mr. Frederick.
  They added that Snowball had privately admitted
  to them that he had been Joness secret agent for
  years past. When they had finished their
  confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats
  out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded
  whether any other animals had anything to
  confess. (Orwell 92)

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Theme Analysis

• Although the theme of animal farm can be
  interpreted in many different ways, the most
  commonly seen theme is Orwells distaste in the
  ideal of socialism. Throughout the book Orwell
  shows the progression of power Napoleon receives
  and how that power corrupts him. Many of the
  characters in the novel can be seen as references
  to important people during the time of Russian
  communism. Mr. Jones can be seen as the Czar,
  Napoleon as Stalin, the animals (who have less
  than admirable attention spans and memory) as the
  masses of Russia. Orwell illustrated all of this
  in his story. Power corrupts is what Orwell tries
  to show and Russias communism is a prime example
  to illustrate this point.

http//www.novelguide.com/animalfarm/themeanalysis
.html
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Why Read Animal Farm?

• Aside from it being an entertaining book that is
  written so simply that even if one misses the
  badly hidden message, the book also allows one to
  see the progression of power and see into the
  mind of both the dictator and their subjects. The
  book allows the reader to take a small
  psychological trip into the minds of Napoleon
  and the upper class (dictators) and the animals
  (the masses) and see why and how the dictators
  acquire power and why the masses allow themselves
  to be controlled. It gives us a better
  understanding of the countries still under
  dictator control, countries such as North Korea
  for example. I chose the book because it was
  recommended to me by my father many times and
  when I picked it up I found that I could not put
  it down. Orwells simple style of writing really
  pulled at me and made me want to finish his book.

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What do you think?

• Now that you have a little background with
  George Orwell, tell me what you think. Orwell
  published an essay in 1947 that defended
  Shakespeare's King Lear from Russias censorship.
  Why would Orwell do this? Are there any
  similarities between the books? Remember think of
  Orwells theme discussed in the power point, or
  if you have any other interpretations let me
  know.

http//www.netcharles.com/orwell/ctc/docs/tolstoy.
htm
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MLA

• Orwell, George. Animal Farm. 1st Signet Classic
  Edition. New York Penguin Group, 1956.

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Where to buy Animal Farm

• If youd like to buy your own copy here is an
  amazon link to a hard cover copy.
• click here!