Animal Farm Introduction

What do you know about this picture?

What can you remember about “The Tortoise and the Hare?”

Stories like “The Tortoise and the Hare” are called

Fables1. Tell a brief, simplistic story.

2. Offer a moral or universal truth.

3. Use animals in place of people.

The most celebrated writer of fables was AesopGreek slave – 6th century B.C.E.

Master storyteller

Wrote more than 600 fables

The Fisherman and the Little FishA Fisherman who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small fish as the result of his day's labor. The fish, panting convulsively, thus begged for his life:

"O Sir, what good can I be to you, and how little am I worth! I am not yet come to my full size. Pray spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall soon become a large fish, fit for the tables of the rich; and then you can catch me again, and make a handsome profit of me."

The fisherman replied: "I should be a very simple fellow, if I were to forego my certain gain for an uncertain profit."

What is the moral or universal truth?

Why does any of this matter?

Animal Farm, our last unit of the year, is a fable written by George Orwell. It tells the story of an animal revolution on a British farm. But like all fables, beyond the simplistic story is a lesson and warning about human nature.

Allegorya story that can be read on multiple levels. Often, characters in the story will represent real people or ideas.

Allegory in Nursery RhymesRing around the rosyA pocketful of posies

"Ashes, Ashes"We all fall down!

-- Black Plague in 1665

-- red rings on skin

-- carried flowers in pockets

-- cremation of bodies

Allegory in Nursery Rhymes

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.All the King's horses, And all the

King's menCouldn't put Humpty together

again!

-- Actually a cannon

-- Sat on top of a wall guarding a city.

-- English Civil War, 1648

-- Cannonball knocked the wall down

Allegory in Nursery RhymesMary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?With silver bells and cockle shells

And pretty maids all in a row.

-- Same Queen Mary, nicknamed “Bloody Mary”

-- garden is a graveyard

-- “silver bells”, “cockle shells” nicknames for torture devices

-- “maid”, nickname for a guillotine

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what period in American history?

is allegorical to

Animal Farm is widely considered an allegory for The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the years that followed. The characters and events portrayed in the

novel stand for real people and real occurrences during this time period.

Important Political Terms

Two main forms of economics

CapitalismCommunism• Encourage competition between citizens

• Provides rewards unequally

• Everyone contributes to the greater good.

• Equal distribution of rewards• “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”

– Karl Marx writes in his manifesto

• “Survival of the fittest”

Why were Russians upsetin the early 1900’s?• Failing economy• Russia not as industrialized• Could not compete economically with other countries• Poverty and illiteracy high• Little food and land available

So….

They overthrow the Tsar!!!

Important People to KnowKarl Marx – “Father of Communism”

Vladimir Lenin – Founder of the Soviet Union, communist leader along with Karl Marx

Joseph Stalin – Soviet leader from 1924-1953

Leon Trotsky – Early leader after the revolution along with Stalin. Later opposes him.

Vyacheslav Molotov – Assistant to Stalin, mainly responsible for public affairs (SPREADING PROPOGANDA)

As we read Animal Farm, we will be observing how actual historical events are symbolized in the story.

Is This Still Relevant Today?

North KoreaSyria

The Author – George Orwell (1903-1950) • British novelist, journalist,

and critic• Writes about social injustice

and an opposition to totalitarianism

• Actually named Eric Blair• Animal Farm earned the

Prometheus Award for dystopian literature in 2011 (also given to Fahrenheit 451)

• Most famous for Animal Farm and 1984.

• Both novels are warnings about the dangers of too much power.

“Orwellian”•Invasion of personal privacy•State control of its citizens’ daily life•Adoration of state leaders•“doublespeak” – population must accept

inconsistent concepts without dissent•Revision of history by the state to make it

look better•Positive connotative titles to describe

agencies or programs (war department - Ministry of Peace)