An Introduction to Animal Farm

by George Orwell

George Orwell

• 1903 -- Born Eric Blair in Bengal, India (a part of the British Empire)

• 1904 -- moved back to

England to begin education

• 1917 -- at the age of 13 received scholarship to Eton in resulting in first exposure to popular liberal and socialist ideas

• 1921 -- Joined the Civil Service after graduation; traveling to Burma to become a police sergeant in the Indian Imperial Police

• 1927-- Quit the Civil Service and lived among the working-class people of Paris and the homeless in England

• 1933 -- Wrote about these experiences in his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London

• 1933 -- Took his pseudonym, George Orwell– last name from an English river near

where he once lived – first name because it was typically

English

• 1934 -- Wrote his first novel Burmese Days

• 1935 -- Worked as a teacher at this time and met and married Eileen O’Shaughnessy; wrote A Clergyman’s Daughter, his second novel

• 1937 -- Became a socialist, and his publisher encouraged him to write about oppressed people; his fourth book explored the problems of poor miners in one of the most depressed areas of Britain in The Road to Wigan Pier

• 1938 -- Went to Spain to observe and fight in the Civil War where he was wounded by a sniper’s bullet in his neck which permanently altered his voice; the war experience had given him a horrifying glimpse of political reality—communist treachery destroyed the government’s resistance and he returned to England and wrote about his experiences in Homage to Catalonia

• 1939 -- WWII began and he tried to join the army but he was rejected because of poor health

• 1943-1944 -- Orwell saw Russia’s powerful dictator, Josef Stalin, come up through the revolutionary ranks and end up oppressing the people worse than anyone before him; wrote Animal Farm depicting his views; his wife dies leaving him and his adopted son alone

• To show how a whole nation could be enslaved, Orwell created this story about the animals on Manor Farm

• Orwell said that the book was the first “in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose in one whole”

• 1949 – Ordered by his doctor to go south because of poor health; at the urging of friends, he moved to a hospital in London

• During this time, Orwell managed to complete his final book, Nineteen Eighty-Four depicting his vision of the bleak future awaiting humankind

• Marries Sonia Brownell two months before his death on January 23, 1950, when he died of a tubercular hemorrhage at age 46

Historical Context

Karl Marx Friedrich Engels

• Marx was born in Prussia in 1818

• He was a journalist whose unpopular political views forced him to leave his country

• He eventually settled in London and in 1848 along with Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto

• This pamphlet outlined Marx’s ideas about government and economics, including his belief that pure communism would be the inevitable outcome of human history

• A major tenet of his philosophy, Marx stated, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his need”

• Communism is an economic system where the basic idea is that everyone does what they are best at, and everyone gets everything that they need

• Karl Marx is considered the “Father of modern Communism”

• His beliefs become known as Marxism which is the theory of class struggle

• Marx divided people into two main classes:

– Bourgeoisie: a minority class of modern capitalists who own the means of production

– Proletariat: the working class living at the lowest possible level to sustain health while providing wealth for the upper class

• He hoped to eliminate the social classes creating an equal society, but without competition there would be no market, and modern industry would cease to exist.

• By the early 1900s, the writings of Karl Marx, increasing economic hardship, and the injustices of the czars inspired widespread revolt and led to the Russian Revolution

The Russian Imperial Family

Nicholas and Alexandra

Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Alexandra and

Alexei

• The first half of the 20th century was a time of great tension and uncertainty

• Two world wars, revolutions in Russia and China, a civil war in Spain, the rise of totalitarianism governments in Germany, USSR, and Italy, and worldwide economic depression caused many nations either to reevaluate or fortify their political philosophies

• Animal Farm is based upon the events that occurred during and after The Russian Revolution of 1917 with various historical figures representing different animals and events

• The ruling family at the time of the Revolution was the Romanov family

• The Czar was Nicholas II and his Czarina was Alexandra

• Nicholas was suddenly thrown into power at a young age of 28 when his father died

• Nicholas was the absolute sovereign of Russia, which meant that he controlled every aspect of the government; he was the richest man in the world and his family ruled Russia for over 300 years

• The downfall of the Romanov Dynasty began with an incident that later become known as “Bloody Sunday”

• In 1904, workers called for industrial action

• Over the next few days over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike

• In an attempt to settle the dispute, a petition (based on Marxism) outlining the worker’s sufferings and demands was signed by 150,000 people

• On January 22, 1905, a large procession of workers are led to the Winter Palace in order to present the petition to Nicholas; upon word of their visit, he left

• The guards opened fire group killing over 100 workers

• After this incident, the people began to view Nicholas as a bloodthirsty tyrant

• This revolt laid the groundwork for the Russian Revolution

• Nicholas II made bad decisions concerning the war effort, and the people began to blame his wife, who was part German, and her priest, Rasputin, for influencing the Czar’s decisions

• Nicolas II, led into a trap, was taken prisoner and forced to abdicate his throne

• On March 15, 1917, Nicholas II was overthrown and later executed along with his wife and five children

• A provisional government of revolutionaries assumed leadership

• Seven months later, the Bolsheviks (the majority), led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the provisional government

• This was known as the October Revolution

• The Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Russian Communist Party and became known as the Reds

Vladimir Lenin

• Lenin was a follower of Marxism, but he did not agree with every aspect of Karl Marx

• He came up with his own theory which became known as Leninism

• Unlike Marx, he believed that once the proletariat became the only class, the state should not disappear entirely but should be led by a Vanguard Party ( a political party at the forefront of a mass action, movement, or revolution)

• Lenin began the process of trying to rebuild Russia’s economy

• Even though he made some progress in industrialization, agriculture remained a problem

• The government favored collective farms, where the peasants could work together, sharing both farm machinery and the rewards of labor

• Most farmers, however, preferred to keep their own land and continued farming using the old ways

• Lenin’s policies were often more violent and sneaky than those of Marxist beliefs eliminating anyone in his way

• The first official socialist state was created with Lenin at the helm

• After his death in 1924, a power struggle emerged between two key players

• The two major contenders were Leon Trotsky and Josef Stalin

Leon Trotsky Josef Stalin

• Trotsky was a strict Marxist and talented party organizer who played an important role in the Russian Revolution

• Trotsky believed in permanent revolution, reinforcing a need for a worldwide socialist class (Trotskyism)

• Stalin favored a modified form of Marxism and argued that a socialist state could and must first be created within Russia itself, and that Russia would be the leader for the international proletariat.

• Later, Stalin’s ideas and practices turned to those of a totalitarian nature because he was power-hungry

• Stalin eventually won the power struggle

• Stalin, after skillful maneuvering, became dictator of the Soviet Union

• Following a struggle marked by assassination and betrayal, Trotsky was exiled in 1928; Later his agents assassinated Trotsky in Mexico

Take himTake himToTo

MEXICO!MEXICO!Uh –oh…Uh –oh…

• By 1938, it was apparent that the Soviet Union had become a totalitarian dictatorship under Stalin

• He instituted a series of Five-Year Plans to increase economic growth, but consumer goods actually decreased when he ordered the collective farms to give most of their products to the government for export to raise money for his program of Soviet industrialization

• Millions of peasants and others opposed Stalin and were severely punished in purges

• Nearly 8 million people who were thought to be disloyal were arrested, tried, and sent off to labor camps, deported, or executed

• Totalitarianism is a form of government with a strong central rule that attempts to control individuals by means of coercion and repression; no individual freedoms are allowed under this type of rule

• By the beginning of WWII, most single-party governments in Europe could be described as totalitarian

• The first totalitarian states in modern history were Nazi Germany under Hitler and the Soviet Union under Stalin

• These two were followed by Mussolini in Italy and Franco in Spain

• The 1939 Pact between the Soviet Union and Germany severely damaged Stalin’s reputation in Britain

• By 1944 Russia was again an ally of Britain, and soldiers were keeping large numbers of German forces occupied in the defense of the Eastern Front

Animal Farm

by George Orwell

• Literary history reflected these political realities: four publishers rejected Animal Farm, reluctant to publish a book attacking a British ally

• Animal Farm was published the year after the war ended, and it brought Orwell to the unfavorable attention of the Soviet press

• He continued his efforts to obtain for Animal Farm to the widest international audience

• He licensed translations and radio broadcasts of his book in Eastern Europe and elsewhere

• He encouraged other anti-Stalinist writers to do the same

• 1948, the US Information Agency sponsored translations and distributions of Orwell’s books in more than 30 languages

• To convey his political message, Orwell employs these literary forms:

• Allegory -- a story that can be read on two distinct levels where characters and events represent something else and are used by the writer to convey a moral or philosophical message

• Satire -- uses ridicule to make certain people, events, or institutions appear foolish

• Fable – a brief, often humorous, tale that presents a moral or message; by using animals as characters, Orwell creates detachment that allows readers to see the issues in a new light.

• The narrative is driven by external conflicts between the animals, such as disagreements between Napoleon and Snowball, between the animals and humans, and between the animals and the elements

• Internal conflict is minimal; in fact, one of Orwell’s points is the lack of internal conflicts among animals whose doubts and disillusions are so easily smoothed over by Squealer.

• Animal Farm is a richly allegorical representation of Russia’s political history from around1917-1943

• That history begins with the Russian Revolution, then follows the establishment of the Soviet Union and the descent of a revolutionary ideal into a repressive regime

Propaganda

What is Propaganda?

The principles reflecting the views and interests of a particular organization or movement

What does this mean???

• If you believe in something, everything you do is done to tell others about your cause and your beliefs.

• And whatever you do, you never show the negative side of your cause.

The Point Is…

• Propaganda is a system Propaganda is a system of persuasionof persuasion

• In propaganda you only In propaganda you only tell one side of the storytell one side of the story

Russian Propaganda Used

During the Russian

Revolution

                             

The Red Army broom sweeps out the scum completely!

"The October revolution is a bridge to a bright future."

Its theme is meant to encourage the Russian public that the revolution was the

right thing to do.

"10 years of October." Showing the success of the Revolution

continuing toward the future.

"The future is with us. Leninism is our ideal!"

This poster was meant to make the common people feel close to Lenin and to make them

strive to please their government.

                  

Stalin propaganda poster: "Beloved Stalin—good fortune of the people!"

Propaganda in Advertisements

Persuasion• A system of persuasive

techniques is used to keep you believing in the cause or product

• In propaganda, the message is “hammered in” to you

Persuasion Techniques

1. Bandwagon

2. Testimony

3. Transfer

4. Glittering Generalities

5. Plain Folks

6. Facts and Figures

7. Repetition

8. Emotional Appeal

9. Faulty Cause and Effect

10.Name calling

Everyone is doing

it, so should you!

#1

Celebrity endorsement of a product, movement, or candidate

#2

Transfer employs the use of symbols, quotes or the images of people to convey a message not necessarily associated with them. Attempts to persuade through the indirect use of something respected, such as a patriotic or religious image.

This is closely related to TRANSFER. Here, a generally accepted VIRTUE is usually employed to stir up favorable emotions.”

Candidate or cause is identified with common people from everyday walks of life; appearance as grassroots and all-American

“4 out of 5 dentists prefer TRIDENT!”

An appeal to a particular emotion; often appeals to several emotions

at a time

The reason for The reason for the desire has the desire has NOTHING to do NOTHING to do

with the with the situationsituationStudents

should have more choice in what they take in high school because then they would graduate.

This is the OPPOSITE of GLITTERING GENERALITIES. NAME-CALLING ties a Person or cause to a largely Perceived NEGATIVE message.

Why you need to know this…

When you think for yourself, you keep your freedom