Animal FarmGeorge Orwell

Fable & Allegory On the surface, the fable is about

animals. On a deeper level, the animals stand

for people and ideas Animal Farm is an allegory that

represents Orwell’s criticism of communism in the Soviet Union

History of Communism Capitalism was going strong in Europe and

America in the mid 1800s. However, workers labored 14-18 hours a day

under unsafe conditions. There were no child labor laws, and wages

were barely livable for the common worker.

Karl Marx In comes Karl Marx, a German philosopher,

in 1847. He was asked to draw up a plan for an

international workers’ group called the Communist League.

Marx then wrote a plan called The Manisfesto of the Communist Party.

Marxism Marx envisioned a workers’ revolt against the

present conditions. Each worker would work according to his or

her ability and receive according to need. He saw communism as being total worldwide

economic equality.

Marxism Around this time, labor laws were finally

passed in Western Europe and America. The work place was safer and more tolerable

of workers. The revolution that Marx foresaw never

happened.

Socialism People following Marx’s thinking were called

Socialists. They split into two groups. One group wanted to bring about communism

by slowly passing new laws. The other group (Communists) wanted a

major workers’ revolt.

Communism The Communists were a small extremist

group compared to the larger number of Socialists.

The Bolshevik Party was formed led by Nikolai Lenin in Russia.

“All Power to the Soviets”: The Communist Takeover Czar Nicholas II was the leader until 1917,

when he was taken from power The soviets led by Vladimir Lenin began to

take control of Russia’s lines of communication such as railroads and telegraph lines

Lenin was aided by Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin

Continued: The three leaders promised “land,

bread, and peace” for everyone On October 24, 1917, Lenin and his

men took control to usher in the first-ever Communist government

Communism from 1917-1922 Upon power, the new government

stripped land from all of the owners, forbade the holding of private property

The fields were redistributed according to need and hired labor was outlawed.

Communist goal: equality and peace for all!

Opposition of Communism As with any new government taking power, there

were those who were opposed to the new government

Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin decided to root out and destroy any opposition to the Communist government

Anti-communists were executed 1918-1921 a civil war raged between the

communists and their enemies The “Red Army” (the communists) prevailed

Change of Power 1922-1940 Lenin died in 1922

as a result of three paralyzing strokes

Both Trotsky and Stalin vied for power

Stalin won out and reigned for 25 years

Stalin’s Reign Stalin maintained control through

political and social terror Stalin silenced all opposition High-ranking officials were arrested,

forced to admit to crimes they did not commit, and then executed

Stalin died in 1953

Characteristics of Totalitarianism Organized violence/police terror: Used forced

to crush all opposition Propaganda: one-sided information to

persuade and influence that supported the state only

Censorship: Only “official” versions of information was allowed; all other pieces of information was limited, suppressed or destroyed

Characteristics: Cult of the individual/single strong leader:

Leader is elevated to God-like status State control over the individual: demand of

total unquestioning obedience & sacrifice for the state

State control over society: control of business, education, family, housing, religion, etc.

Characteristics: Ideology of the state: glorified aims of the

state used to justify all government action Dictatorship/one party rule: absolute control

maintained by a single leader or party

Post-Stalin From 1953 to the early 1980’s the Soviet Union

remained repressive Internal spying was rampant, and all

communication was tightly monitored by the communists

Ideas that were not communist were considered dangerous

As a result, people were threatened, imprisoned, or executed for expressing these ideas

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev took the reigns of Soviet

power He announced economic restructuring and

social and political openness Ideas were now accepted that were not

communist By 1991, the communist government of the

Soviet Union admitted its demise

How would you define tyranny?

How is governmental power best distributed?

Is democracy the best system?

Does the United States have a government that produces perfect equality among the citizenry?

What amount of inequality or brutality should be tolerated within a nation?

What different kinds of brutality or inequality can you think of?

Major Characters

Mr. Jones Owner of the farm Symbolizes Czar Nicholas II, the

leader before Stalin The Czar was abdicated in 1917

Old Major “purebred” pig Grand fatherly

philosopher of change Represents a metaphor

of Karl Marx (founder of Communism)

Encourages rebellion under the ruling of Mr. Jones

Moses Raven Mr. Jones’s especial pet-

doesn’t work Represent Orwell’s view of

the Church To Orwell, the Church is used

as a tool by dictatorships to keep the working class hopeful and productive

Orwell is critical of the role of Church

Snowball Pig Wants leadership as

much as Napoleon (leader of the pigs)

Represents Trotsky (Stalin’s opponent for leadership)

Napoleon Chief villain Central character

on the farm Leader of the pigs Represents Stalin

Boxer Horse Represents the

unskilled labor class Lower class drawn

to Napoleon (Stalin) He thinks he will

benefit most from the new system

Squealer Pig Manipulative and

persuasive Represents the Pravda, the

Russian newspaper of the 1930’s

Represents propaganda He is used to communicate

between Napoleon (Stalin) and the other animals (Russians)

Mollie Represents the typical middle-class skilled

worker who suffers from this new communism concept

She is very vain and only cares about her looks

She is now considered to be lower class because of the design of communism (everyone is equal)

Benjamin Elderly donkey Symbolizes the older

generation Critical of the

communist government He seems smarter than

the other animals

Muriel Goal Smart and educated Represents the

minority of working class people

He is not inspired by Napoleon (Stalin)

Pigs Surround and support

Napoleon Symbolize communist

party loyalists Live in luxury and enjoy

the benefits of the society they control

The animals work and the pigs make the money!

Dogs Represents the KGB

(police force of the Soviets)

Bodyguards of Stalin

Dedicated and mindless