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Animal Farm Background Notes

George Orwell

June 25, 1903 January 21, 1950

George Orwell: English author who earned his living writing novels & essays. His friends recalled that he had a great sense of responsibility for the well-being of animals, especially horses. He was bitterly opposed to social injustice and political oppression. He was a socialist (based on the thought that every citizen should have equal opportunities) and very passionate about his cause. He merged his two interests politics and writing and wrote novels that taught a lesson (Animal Farm and 1984).

Why did Orwell write Animal Farm?

He wrote Animal Farm during World War II and it was published in 1945. Through Animal Farm, Orwell warned the world about the dangers of totalitarianism. He showed how power inevitably corrupts and that's why revolutions end up in failure. He tries to prove that absolute power corrupts absoluetly.

Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a...

Fable Satire Allegory Novella

Fable

A short tale that is passed on by word of mouth that has animal characters with human qualities that teaches readers a moral and/or lesson In Animal Farm, characters are animals each with his/her own personality and human characteristics The animals think, meet, talk, act, fight, disobey & obey

Examples: The tortoise and the hare, The boy who cried wolf, The lion and the mouse

Allegory

The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures or events in narrative, dramatic or pictorial form A form of an extended metaphor
A story with two meanings:
Literal meaning it's about animals on a farm

Symbolic meaning the animals and events symbolize something

The underlying meaning of an allegory has moral, social, religious or political significance In an allegory, characters are personifications of abstract ideas like charity, greed, or envy An allegory continues throughout the text Examples: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Matrix, XMen

Satire

A manner of writing that mixes a critical attitude with wit & humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions Examples: Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, Scary Movie, Weird Al songs

Techniques of Satire used in Animal Farm


Exaggeration To enlarge, increase or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen Parody To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place or thing

Ridicule Language or behavior intended to mock and humiliate Reversal - To present the opposite of the normal order (e.g., the order of events, hierarchical order)

Animal Farm as a Political Satire


It is inspired by a personal grievance or passion for reform (change)
It is an attack on a group of people and social evil Exposes and ridicules the corruption within some governments and leaders Shows how persuasion can be used to manipulate society

Animal Farm as a novella

Novella: A fictional story usually longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

Whats Animal Farm About?


Animals on a English farm are tired of working for humans. They feel abused, mistreated and neglected. The animals dream of a utopia where all animals are equal, and everything they produce is shared equally. The animals decide to rebel against the humans and form a revolution. They take over the farm, forcing the humans out, and now believe it is the start of a better life. But the new leaders of Animal Farm begin to enforce their own law. One by one the principles of the revolution are abandoned, until the animals have even less freedom than before.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others

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