Animal Farm George Orwell

1
Animal FarmGeorge Orwell
Menu
Introduction Background Discussion Starters
2
Animal FarmGeorge Orwell
Whos holding down the farm?
3
Animal Farm Introduction
Things are about to get a little strange on Manor
Farm.
4
Animal Farm Introduction
Farmer Jones has locked up the henhouse and
stumbled off to bed . . .
thinking all is well in the barnyard.
5
Animal Farm Introduction
He doesnt knownor would he believethe events
that are about to occur inside his barn.
6
Animal Farm Introduction
Old Major, Manor Farms prize-winning boar, has
called all the animals together.
Pigs, hens, horses,
dogs, ducks, goats
all gather round to hear about Majors dream.
7
Animal Farm Introduction
Humans, old Major tells his comrades, are the
enemy.
They produce nothing, yet own everything.
Animals work all their lives for their masters,
but receive only enough food to keep them working.
8
Animal Farm Introduction
Old Major believes that someday animals will work
together to throw off their oppressors.
They will create a farm of their own, in which
they will live in harmony, plenty, and equality.
9
Animal Farm Introduction
Soon, Major says, the days of slavery will end.
The Rebellion will come.
And every animal must be ready.
10
Animal Farm Introduction
Will the Jones place become the first true
ANIMAL FARM?!
11
Animal Farm Background
Animal Farm is an allegorya story that can be
read on two levels.
One level is literal
A pig is a pig.
A pig is a political leader.
The other level is figurativesomething
represents something else.
12
Animal Farm Background
Events and characters in an allegory are used by
a writer to convey a moral message.
Orwells story seems to be about barnyard
animals.
But what is the story really about?
13
Animal Farm Background
George Orwell uses his novel to comment on events
in Russian history, Communism, and revolutions.

• Russian Revolution

• the peasants revolt

• rise of totalitarianism

• the Moscow purge trials

14
Animal Farm Background
The Russian Revolution occurred in March 1917.

• It was brought on by economic hardship and the
  injustices of Russian czars, and

• was encouraged by the Communist Manifesto of Karl
  Marx.

The czar of Russia was overthrown and
revolutionaries assumed leadership of the
country. They tried to transform the country
through communist principles.
15
Animal Farm Background
Under Joseph Stalin, the country fell under
totalitarianisma form of government with strong
central rule that tries to control individual
freedoms.

• Stalin instituted Five-Year Plans to increase
  economic growth, but ordered farms to give most
  of their products to the government.

• Peasants who opposed Stalin were sent to labor
  camps, deported, or executed.

16
Animal Farm Background
Not everyone wanted a Communist country. In 1920,
peasants revolted against the governments
efforts to turn their individual farms into
collective farms.

• The government wanted farmers to share land,
  equipment, and the rewards of their labor, but

• most farmers preferred to keep their own land and
  farm the old way.

17
Animal Farm Background
By 1938, Stalin began to use what become known as
the Moscow purge trials to control workers.

• Millions of peasants who opposed Stalin were
  severely punished.

• Nearly eight million were arrested and tried for
  treason.

• Some were sent off to labor camps or deported
  others were executed.

18
Animal Farm Background
Many of the characters in Animal Farm represent
political leaders of the Russian Revolution.

• Czar Nicholas II

• Karl Marx

• Vladimir Lenin

• Leon Trotsky

• Joseph Stalin

19
Animal Farm Background
Czar Nicholas II

• part of the Romanov dynasty that ruled Russia for
  over 300 years

• czar means emperor and comes from the word Caesar

• Russian czars lived in a magnificent palace
  called the Kremlin

• Czar Nicholas II, his wife, and his children were
  executed during the Russian Revolution

20
Animal Farm Background
Karl Marx

• a journalist whose unpopular views forced him to
  leave Prussia and settle in London

• published the Communist Manifesto, a statement of
  his ideas about government and politics

• believed that communism would become the main
  form of government

21
Animal Farm Background
Vladimir Lenin

• leader of the Bolsheviks

• overthrew the provisional government put in place
  by the Russian Revolution

• led the Communist government until his death in
  1924

22
Animal Farm Background
Leon Trotsky

• a strict Marxist (favored pure communism)

• a talented organizer who played a major role in
  the Russian Revolution

• exiled in 1928 when rival Joseph Stalin became
  dictator

• executed by Stalins forces while living in exile

23
Animal Farm Background
Joseph Stalin

• favored a modified form of Marxism

• secretary general of the Communist Party when
  Lenin died

• outmaneuvered Trotsky and became dictator

• formed a pact with Germany in 1939, but allied
  with Britain by 1944

24
Animal Farm
Discuss (1) Communism in its purest form relies
on peoples willingness to work to the best of
their abilities to meet the needs of everyone in
society.

• Is such a system desirable? Is it possible?
• Why might attempts at pure communism be rare and
  hard to sustain?

25
Animal Farm
Discuss (2) The animals on Manor Farm hope to
build a utopia, or perfect society, free of
masters and the suffering they bring. Can a
utopian society last?

• What factors are needed to keep a utopian system
  in place?
• What forces might threaten or destroy it?