ANIMAL FARM - by George Orwell s2

Introduction

"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism as I understand it." – George Orwell, "Why I Write"

Every now and then a book is published that becomes part of our literary tradition and heritage, a book that even people who have never actually read it know about and are able to quote from. Animal Farm is one of those books. Sixty years after its publication in 1945, it is the world's most widely read book of political fiction. In print in more than 70 languages, it is considered to be one of the great novels of all time. With its clear, easy-to-read prose and its deceptively simple plot, it can be enjoyed just as a whimsical 'fairy story', as its writer George Orwell originally called it – the tale of farm animals who drive away the incompetent and neglectful farmer and run the farm for themselves. But to read it purely on these terms is to miss the richness of the novel. Animal Farm works on several levels at the same time: it is a parody of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the regime that followed it; it is a biting satire on any and all revolutions; it is a political dystopia about the faults of totalitarian governments and the excesses of those who run them; and it is a scathing condemnation of 'man's inhumanity to man'. Orwell wrote the book following his experiences during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, which are described in another of his books, Homage to Catalonia. He intended it to be a strong condemnation of what he saw as the Stalinist corruption of the original socialist ideals. For the preface of a Ukrainian edition he prepared in 1947, Orwell described what gave him the idea of setting the book on a farm: I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat. In the more than half century since Orwell's story was written, the truth of his vision has been proved over and over again, in country after country, where corrupt and undemocratic governments have been overthrown, only for the new leaders to become corrupt and oppressive themselves as they succumb to the trappings of power and begin using violent and dictatorial methods to keep it. This can be seen in many former African colonies such as Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose African-born rulers have proved themselves worse tyrants and more corrupt than the European colonists they supplanted. Like all good literature, Animal Farm will reward more than one reading – and it is short enough for this not to be a problem. You will appreciate its richness and depth much more on a second – or even third – reading. This will also help you to become familiar with the story so that you can write about it with ease. It will help you to write with confidence about themes if you are able to use the vocabulary appropriate to this type of novel. A match-up exercise is included to help you with this.

NB Take care with your punctuation when writing about this book. Animal Farm or Animal Farm should be used when referring to the novel; Animal Farm is the name of the farm in the story, like Manor Farm.

The picture on the front is from a 1954 Latvian translation of the novel, which was banned in Soviet bloc countries but circulated illegally.

2 Orwell: A Brief Biography

"I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development. Before he ever begins to write he will have acquired an emotional attitude from which he will never completely escape." – George Orwell, "Why I Write"

George Orwell is the pseudonym of English writer Eric Arthur Blair. Orwell was born in 1903 in Motihari, in India. His mother's parents were traders and lived in Burma (now called Myanmar); both his father and grandfather were officials in the British forces that occupied India as part of the British Empire. Orwell moved back to England with his mother when he was very young. He was a good student, and he attended several schools on scholarship, including Eton. However, he found that as a scholarship boy he was often the butt of bullying and discrimination, and he lost interest in academic achievement while at Eton. He decided to return to India where he served for a number of years as a policeman in the Indian Imperial Police. His experiences as an officer charged with keeping the Burmese people obedient to British rule opened his eyes to the fundamental difficulties of power. In his essay, "Shooting an Elephant," he describes an incident in which he felt compelled to shoot an elephant in front of a large crown of Burmese simply to avoid looking like a fool. The real lesson, he wrote, was that, when a man becomes a tyrant, "it is his own freedom that he destroys." Returning to England in 1927, he decided to fulfil his childhood ambition to be a writer. For the next five years he lived in an adventurous fashion, always on the edge of poverty. In Paris, he wrote – and washed dishes in a hotel when the money ran out. Back in England, he lived in a series of cheap hotels in the East End of London and travelled through the countryside, occasionally doing agricultural labour. The documentary account of these experiences – and of the desperate poverty he observed – became his first full-length published work, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933). Since he was unsure what sort of reaction the book would receive, he decided to publish it under a pen-name. The man who had been a student at the exclusive Eton and had served as an instrument of the British Empire remade himself as George Orwell, a socialist writer who ignored the barriers of class and wrote about poverty with insight and empathy. In the years that followed the publication of his first book, Orwell taught, worked in a bookshop, and continued to write. He also continued his travels and adventures. In 1936 he lived in the industrial north of England so he could to investigate the conditions of working-class life and the effects of unemployment. And in 1937 he went to Spain to serve in a militia fighting against the forces intent on establishing a fascist government in that country. In the 1940s Orwell lived in the UK, working for the BBC (1941 to 1943), producing radio shows for broadcast to India and Southeast Asia. From 1943 to 1946 he was the editor of a politically left newspaper, the Tribune. He also served as a wartime correspondent from Paris in the spring of 1945. He wrote Animal Farm during this period, though he could not get it published until after the war. Animal Farm was written at a very inopportune time, for everywhere, even in the United States, respect for the Russian communist government was growing after their valiant opposition to Nazi Germany. Later, however, the Cold War and accompanying anti-communist sentiment caught up with his book. Orwell was not a capitalist; he was a socialist, whose hatred for Russian communism had grown as he saw the way it had perverted the original ideals of Marx. Orwell distrusted the leaders who lived in mansions while the workers slaved in the fields; communism in Russia was just another way for an elite to control the majority. In the late '40s, his health began to decline seriously. He had always had respiratory problems, and he developed tuberculosis seriously enough to require hospitalisation in 1947, 1948, and again in 1949. He revised his draft of 1984 after his release from the hospital in 1948. He was able to see the initial favourable response to both his novels, but died from a haemorrhaged lung in early 1950, well before the impact of his writing would be fully evident.

Aspects of a Novel

3  Use this diagram as a model to complete a summary of the aspects of this novel; it will be a useful study aid for exams. Write the title in the centre of your diagram, and in each box, fill in the relevant details. Keep them brief.

PLOT  the story or narrative  there may be a main plot and one or more sub-plots

SETTING CHARACTERS  in time = when  main characters  in place = where  minor characters  in society = who  'stock' characters are sometimes used for minor roles Aspects of a Novel

STYLE STRUCTURE  the choice of words  the order in which the story is told  the way they are arranged  Point of View (who tells the  use of imagery, symbolism, story) dialogue, etc

THEMES  the ideas the novel explores  any 'messages' suggested

4 Close Reading Task Sheet 1

Chapter 1 1. Mr Jones, representative of the human race, is dismissed in a paragraph. Quote the words and phrases which condemn him (and by implication people generally)? 2. Quote the three words that especially establish Old Major's position and authority? 3. What are Old Major's 'tushes'? Why have they never been cut? 4. How are Boxer and Clover established as caring animals? 5. Orwell is careful to retain animal qualities for his characters. Quote some examples. 6. Even though he describes them as animals, Orwell also gives them human characteristics. Quote the amusing example of personification he uses for Clover. 7. Benjamin is described as 'cynical'. What does this mean? 8. Why is Moses not with the other animals? 9. Old Major mentions his dream but then goes on to make a speech. What is the purpose of mentioning the dream? 10. What is the purpose of the speech? 11. Which word gives an early indication that this novel is to be a parody of communism? 12. What are the hopes expressed in Old Major’s song 'Beasts of England'? 13. Why does the song have a catchy tune? Why is the song important? 14. What is the mood of this meeting? 15. What important 'rules' does Old Major give the animals at the end of his speech?

 The opening chapter of any book is important since it is here that the writer provides the basic situation on which the story will be built. What has been established by the end of the first chapter?  What is the effect of the contrast between Jones and Old Major in the first two paragraphs?

Old Major's speech parodies Karl Marx’s theories of class struggle and exploitation of the working class. The speech says that the animals, who alone are productive (the workers, peasants and intellectuals to Marx) should regard man – “the only creature that consumes without producing” (the bourgeoisie and capitalists) – as their enemy, and should therefore revolt against this domination. Though Old Major is probably sincere, he does manipulate his audience, which accepts uncritically what he says.  Outline the main arguments Old Major uses.  Explain HOW he manipulates and persuades his listeners, and complete the worksheet.

Chapter 2 1. Why do the pigs emerge as the natural leaders? 2. Why is the way Squealer whisks his tail "somehow very persuasive"? 3. 'Animalism' is a parody of Communism. What is Mollie told she will have to do without? What do these things represent in human terms? 4. Why do the pigs have difficulty in persuading the other animals? 5. Mollie's reaction to Animalism suggests an important reason for the failure of revolutions. Explain. 6. Moses talks about the 'Sugarcandy Mountain'. What do he and his ideas represent in human terms? 7. What qualities does Moses have that make him the appropriate bearer of this message? 8. What is suggested by the fact that Moses lives in the house with the Joneses? 9. What specifically drives the animals to an act of rebellion? 10. Why do the animals have a bonfire as their first act of freedom? 11. Snowball burns the ribbons and says that "all animals should go naked." What is Boxer's response – and what is Orwell showing by this? 12. Snowball burns the ribbons and establishes a new 'rule'. What does Napoleon do? What does this tell us about these two pigs? 13. What is significant about the fact that the pigs have learned to read and write? 14. In the last few paragraphs of chapter 2, the same verb is used several times, foreshadowing the future dominance of the pigs. Quote it, and explain its effect. 15. What happens to the milk?

Chapter 3 1. Why do the animals work so hard on their first harvest? 2. What do the designs on the flag symbolise? What does the flag parody? 3. What is the purpose of Snowball's committees? Are they effective? 4. How effective is his plan to teach all the animals to read and write? 5. Napoleon makes himself responsible for "the education of the young". What is he really doing? 6. How does Squealer justify the pigs having the apples and best food? 7. What is different about the way he uses the word 'Comrades' from the way Old Major used it? 8. What is the animals’ principal fear? 9. What is the main problem with the concept that all animals are friends? 10. By the end of Chapter 3, a number of things have occurred which foreshadow the corruption of the Revolution. List them.

Discussion or Task Reread the paragraph beginning, As for the pigs… Orwell is satirising attitudes to education in society.

 Explain in general terms which type of person each animal represents.

Chapter 4 1. The humans could easily retake Animal Farm if they wanted to. What prevents this happening? What does this represent in political terms? 2. What is the effect in the neighbouring farms of the new organisation of Animal Farm? 3. The Battle of the Cowshed gives the animals a big success. Which animals are rewarded for their contribution to the victory – and which animals are conspicuous by their absence? 4. How are the responses of Boxer and Snowball to the battle casualties contrasted?

This is the high point of the animals' lives on Animal Farm, the time at which things are at their best. Napoleon and Snowball have promised that Animalism will make the lives of the animals far better than they were. Are their lives better?  Rule up two columns, and head one 'better' and one ' worse/no better'. Under each heading, list specific details of the ways in which their lives are better, and the ways in which their lives have not improved or have become worse.

Chapter 5 5. What qualities does Mollie demonstrate that eventually make her run away from the farm? What is the effect of her defection? 6. The next big step in the animals' return to servitude takes place this winter. What is it? 7. Napoleon and Snowball demonstrate two different approaches to politics and to leadership. Explain the difference in your own words.

Discussion Constructive opposition and criticism are important to the working of democracy. Is Napoleon's opposition to Snowball's ideas constructive or simply confrontational and negative? Is political discussion in this country constructive or confrontational?

Chapter 6 8. Although work on the windmill was voluntary, how does Napoleon ensure that all work on it? Why are the animals still happy to do the extra? 9. A smear campaign is begun against Snowball. What are the things he is accused of doing? Was he guilty of any of these accusations? 10. What arguments are advanced by Squealer to justify the pigs’ sleeping in beds? 11. Why does the windmill fall down in the storm? Why does Napoleon blame Snowball?

Chapter 7 12. Why is it "vitally necessary" to conceal from the outside world the poor conditions on the farm? 13. In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public… Why does Napoleon withdraw from day to day contact with the other animals? 14. How is the revolt of the hens dealt with? 15. What is the point of the incident of the confessions, where those who confess to association with Snowball are slaughtered? Are they guilty?

Chapter 8 1. Why is it that the pigs are able to rewrite the Commandments and not be challenged on the changes? 2. What is the purpose of Squealer’s statistics? 3. The completion of the windmill poses a problem for Napoleon. What is it? 4. What do the pigs do after the Battle of the Windmill that shows them becoming more like humans? 5. What does the episode with the ladder and the paint pot tell us about the condition of the animals? Chapter 9 6. The pigs have been rewriting history to suit themselves. What example of this is given in this chapter? 7. Why is Moses allowed to return to the farm? 8. Where do the pigs get the money for their second case of whisky? Chapter 10 9. But still, neither pigs nor dogs produced any food by their own labour. What do they actually do? 10. If the animals went hungry it was not from feeding tyrannical human beings. Are they then free from tyranny?

The Novel as a Whole 1. How does the mood of the final scene contrast with that of the opening meeting? 2. Read again the third paragraph in ch. 2. (These three had elaborated…) What is ironic about the way the animals refer to Mr Jones? 3. Read again Old Major's speech. Comment on its ironies in light of what happens to the animals of Animal Farm. [Work sheet provided.] 4. Why is it important - to both plot and satire - that all the animals except the pigs and the dogs are unintelligent? 5. Which animal in the novel do you think represents Orwell's point of view? Give reasons. 6. Why do you think Orwell chose the pigs to be the leaders? 7. Complete the Seven Commandments worksheet, explaining how each commandment is subverted by the pigs.

It is vital to the success of this novel that the characters are convincing both as animals and as human equivalents. 8. Rule up two columns. Head one 'animal characteristics' and the other 'human characteristics'. Under the relevant heading, list the ways in which the animals remain animals, and the ways in which they are portrayed like humans.

Discussion  To what extent can Boxer and Clover be held responsible for allowing the pigs to treat them as they do?  To what extent can Benjamin be blamed for what happens? He sees the faults and he does nothing.  How important to the failure of the Rebellion is the fact that so few animals learn to read and write properly? What do you think Orwell is suggesting by this?

8 Conflict

The main element that drives any story is conflict. Without it, there isn't much of a story.

Conflict is a problem or struggle in a story that triggers action, that causes things to happen.

It can be very obvious, like people fighting, or much less obvious, as when someone worries over what is the right thing to do, or what action they should take. This second kind is called 'internal conflict', and often focuses on a struggle between a person's good and bad impulses.

There are six basic types of conflict: a. Person against person: one character has a problem with one or more of the other characters. b. Person against society: a character has a problem with some aspect of society: the school, the law, the accepted way of doing things, etc. c. Person against self: a character has a problem deciding what to do in a particular situation, or is torn between two (or more) courses of action, or between right and wrong. d. Person against Nature: a character has a problem with some natural occurrence: a snowstorm, an avalanche, the bitter cold, or any other element of nature. e. Person against Fate: a character has to battle what seem to be forces beyond human control. Whenever the problem seems to be a strange or unbelievable coincidence, fate can be considered the cause of the conflict. f. Person against machine: a character has to confront technology or other elements of human creation (as opposed to natural or divine creation).

 On your own or in a group, think about the six types of conflict listed above. Which of them are included in this book? How many different examples of each can you list?

The first part of the novel – the exposition – will usually prepare us for the conflicts and problems the main character will face, and perhaps indicate or hint at what might cause more conflicts later. 1. Think about the first chapter. What conflicts have been established so far?

2. Which of the conflicts you have listed are the most significant as the story progresses?

3. How are these conflicts resolved by the end of the novel?

4. In what ways is this novel different from usual in the types of conflicts depicted and the way in which they are depicted?

9 Plot and Narrative Structure

 Write a brief summary of the plot, or complete the Plot Summary worksheet.

Narrative structure is a useful term to describe the way the story is told. On the simplest of levels, it means the order of events and the point of view from which these events are narrated. The most common ways in which stories are told are a. in chronological order, i.e. the order in which the events happen; b. using flashbacks, i.e. earlier events are included later in the story c. with a frame of later time, and the whole story a flashback (book-ending) d. with flash-forwards, in which future events are included earlier than they actually happen. 1. Which of these descriptions best fits the structure of this story?

When we talk about the plot of a book, we mean a story that is tied together, in which everything that happens is important: A causes B, which causes C and so on. Remove any one incident, and the whole pattern should be affected, the whole story will fall apart, the way a stack of blocks will collapse if you pull out one from the bottom. Stories told like this usually build to a climax. This tightly plotted approach is sometimes called the step-stair structure. Episodic narratives, by contrast, are looser; individual episodes or incidents can be added or removed without really affecting the outcome of the plot. 2. Which of these two approaches better describes the plot of Animal Farm? 3. Is there one plot or are there sub-plots?

Point of View There are three basic types of point of view used in novels. a. First person or Autobiographical: the story is told by one of the characters, using the first person: 'I'. This can be a central character or one on the sidelines of the story. b. Third Person Limited: the story is told through the eyes of only one character but by the author, using the third person 'he' or 'she'. c. Omniscient or Eye of God: the author tells the story from outside of the narrative. Like God, the author is all-seeing and all-knowing. It is told in the third person. 4. What Point of View does Orwell use to tell his story? 5. What is the effect of this POV on the novel?

At a deeper level, narrative structure includes details such as the length of time covered (also an aspect of setting) and the use of techniques such as foreshadowing, repetition, parallels and motifs.

6. What do you notice about the time frame of the story? 7. How is the narrative linked to time? Quote examples to show this. 8. Look at the start of each chapter. What do most of them have in common? Quote examples. 9. The events of the plot are structured in a series of crises. Identify them. 10. Which of these crises is the turning point of the plot, and which is the climax? 11. Can you identify examples of the foreshadowing of events? (These may be very subtle.) 12. Identify examples of parallels in the action of the story, i.e. incidents that have an echo or are repeated in a different way later. 13. Three is a number that has a long tradition in literature, history, myth and religion: 'three blind mice'; the Three Wise men; the Three Graces; the Trinity etc. How many groups of three can you identify in this book, e.g. there are three farms: animal/Manor Farm; Pinchfield Farm and Foxwood Farm.

10 Style

'Whoever writes English is involved in a struggle that never lets up even for a sentence. He is struggling against vagueness, against obscurity, against the lure of the decorative adjective, against the encroachment of Latin and Greek, and, above 'all, against the worn-out phrases and dead metaphors with which the language is cluttered up.' – Orwell

Much of the huge success of this novel is a result of the clear and accessible style in which is written, a style usually described as fresh, terse and direct. It is often described as 'simple', but this only a seeming simplicity – the result of careful word choice and sentence construction – which often says more than first seems on the surface.

In 1945, the year the novel was published, Orwell suggested some rules for good writing: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

The successful application of these rules is to be found in almost every paragraph of Animal Farm. All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master. With the worthless parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat. There was more leisure too, inexperienced though the animals were. They met with many difficulties – for instance, later in the year, when they harvested the corn, they had to tread it out in the ancient style and blow away the chaff with their breath, since the farm possessed no threshing machine – but the pigs with their cleverness and Boxer with his tremendous muscles always pulled them through.

Sentences are simple rather than complex; words are short rather than polysyllabic – though he has used a few wonderful examples, such as: worthless parasitical human beings. The few adjectives have been chosen with care. Most of the nouns are concrete, and the verbs carefully selected to create verisimilitude (a likeness to the truth). There is a sense of down to earth realism in the choice of phrases like "pulled them through" and "like clockwork". The pace is easy but varied – it begins with a smooth flow when relating the happiness of the animals, and slows a little when difficulties are encountered and surmounted.

 Choose any short paragraph from the novel, and examine its style. Look at the nouns and verbs, the length of the sentences and the use – if any – of figurative language. [A worksheet is provided.]

Humour Although the story is in the end a tragic one, Orwell enlivens his narrative with touches of humour (sometimes black).  Identify and quote examples of humour.

What's in a Name? Orwell chose the names for his characters very carefully.

 Suggest what each of the following implies:

 Old Major  Boxer  Moses  Mr Whymper

 Napoleon  Clover  Minimus  Pinchfield / Frederick

 Snowball  Benjamin  Mr Jones  Foxwood/ Pilkington

 Squealer  Mollie

11 Style 2: Satire

Animal Farm is a political satire, i.e. writing which combines a critical attitude with humour and wit for the purpose of mocking and ridiculing people's political behaviour and institutions. Written at the end of 1943, and published in 1945, it satirises – on one level – the people and events of the Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution that threw out the Tsar (emperor) and replaced the monarchy with a republic. Orwell saw that the revolution had started off with high ideals and high hopes but had turned into a political tyranny under the dictatorship of Stalin. On another level, it can also be seen to satirise all dictatorships and totalitarian systems of government. The main techniques used in his satire are parody, irony and symbolism.

Parody All of the characters and situations in Animal Farm have some sort of political counterpart in Russian history, and/or world history as well.  Read the history of Russia provided. Make a list of characters and events from the book and match them with their real-life counterparts OR  Complete the worksheets provided.

Irony Irony is often defined as saying one thing and meaning the opposite, but this is too narrow a definition to cover most of the great ironical writers of literature (such as Jane Austen and Orwell). Literary irony is rarely as crude as this, but is more about implying something different from what is said on the surface. The political message of Orwell's story relies heavily on the irony created by its limited point of view – i.e. the reader understands more than the animals do. He also uses dramatic irony, which is when the reader knows more than the characters do. Tragic irony is dramatic irony used to tragic effect; when a character confidently predicts an outcome that comes true but in an unexpected or tragic way.  How many examples of irony and dramatic irony can you identify?

Symbolism A symbol is anything that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. In daily life, we see symbols everywhere: e.g. wedding and engagement rings; crosses on churches – though a red cross symbolises first aid. In fables, writers use animals to represent or symbolise human characteristics. In allegories, characters symbolise abstract ideas or qualities, like courage or idealism. Orwell uses both these levels of symbolism in Animal Farm.  Complete the Symbolism worksheet