ANIMAL FARM

• Published in August, 1945

• George Orwell
1. Eric Arthur Blair
2. Father was a civil servant in the Indian Army
3. Mother was the daughter of a French Merchant
4. Lower-Middle Class, but acted like Upper class
5. Born in Mata Hari in British India in 1903
6. Family moved back to England when he was a baby
7. Scholarship to attend St Cyprian School in East Sussex (hatred of cruelty and
oppression began here)
8. Attended from 1911 to 1916
9. Essay “Such, such were the joys”, published after his death describes the cruelty
and snobbery he experienced (There are those who deserve to win and keep
winning, and those who deserve to lose that keep losing)
10. 1917 at prestigious Eton College till he was 18
11. Joined the Imperial Police, assigned to Burma (then part of India)
12. Essay “Shooting an Elephant”, he describes how repulsed he was by the British
Empire. (imperialism is an evil thing, so I quit my job)
(a) Saw the dirty work of the empire at close quarters because of his job
(b) Conditions of the prisoners and the punishment they received (flogging)
(c) Felt a sense of guilt
(d) Mingled with the locals and learned their language, ways of life
13. Argued in favour of Indian Independence
14. Left the imperial police in 1928 after a bout of dengue fever and a holiday in England
15. Became a writer
16. Pseudonym ‘George Orwell’ in 1933
17. Wrote
- ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ (first book, wrote after living with the
impoverished class in London)
- ‘Burmese Days’
- ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’
- ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’
18. Believed that our world should be full of free and equal human beings
19. 1936, fought in the Spanish Civil War, against the fascist Military-led revolt (General
Franco).
20. Started writing against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism
21. Shot in the throat, returned to England in 1937. Due to injuries, didn’t fight in WWII
22. Kept writing and worked for BBC. Started writing ‘Animal Farm’ during WWII
23. Published ‘1984’ in the year 1948, it’s a dystopian novel about a future, repressive
government
 24. Death from Tuberculosis in 1950
• “Orwellian” has become an adjective to describe anything that threatens a free and open
society. Orwell believed in Democracy, freedom, Socialism ,Free and equal human beings
• Animal farm is a story about Power, corruption and tyranny
• The story was a reaction to the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the oppression that followed
• story tells a lot about governments, and the abuse of power
• The Russian revolution and it’s after math is ALLEGORISED by Orwell in Animal Farm
(Allegory – a narrative whose plot, characters, or setting are used to symbolize real-world
issues and events)
• But Animal Farm is not merely just about the Russian Revolution, it’s wider than that.
Orwell embeds a broader warning about the danger of naivety and ignorance among the
masses.

• MORAL OF ANIMAL FARM: “to be that revolutions only effect Radical Improvement when the
Masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their
job.”
- George Orwell, A Life in Letters (P.334)

In other words, if you need a revolution to overthrow a useless government, so be it! But
make sure you stay sharp to the schemes of greedy tyrants disguised as revolutionaries.

Once they dig into positions of power and authority, the new order will be just as bad as,
or worse than the old.

A notable film that explores the theme of a successful revolution leading to a corrupt
and oppressive regime is "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1". In this instalment
of the series, Katniss Everdeen becomes a symbol of rebellion against the oppressive
Capitol. However, as the revolution gains momentum, the leaders of the rebellion,
particularly President Coin, reveal their own ambitions for power, showcasing a shift
from fighting oppression to establishing a regime that mirrors the Capitol's cruelty.

• When the pigs are caught hoarding the apples and milk by the other animals, instead of
reclaiming the apples and milk, the animals trusted the pigs’ lies that “they are the ‘brain-
workers’ and need this nutrition, despite disliking the apples and milk”, and let it slide.
The animals weren’t the vigilant critical thinkers Orwell wants us to be.

• Parallels of the Russian Revolution with the Animal Farm

a. Danger of Naivety
b. Revolution and Tyranny
c. Corruption of Political Ideas
d. Social Stratification
e. Language and Power
- WWI was about to end; Russian people were angry and rioting over food scarcity
- Russia’s 500-year-old Monarchy was overthrown by the people
- The Tsar of Russia, abdicated/stepped down in March 1917
- Bolshevik Party took power in September 1917
 - October Revolution of 1917, Bolsheviks seize government buildings and murder the
Tsar and his entire family.
- Civil War (1917 – 1922) between the Bolshevik red army and the counter-
revolutionary white army.
- ‘The Red Terror’ – a 4-year period of brutal repression carried out Bolsheviks and
their secret police, ‘The cheka’. 50k-200k were shot during the red terror.
- 1922, USSR is born under Vladimir Lenin. Peace, land, and bread is promised.
Teaching of ‘Karl Marx’ (German Philosopher and economic theorist) are to be
followed
- Communism – opposite of capitalism in west, classless society, land, capital,
stocks are owned collectively by the people
- Died in 1924, warned about the growing power of Joseph Stalin in the communist
party, a tyrant (Napolean == Stalin)
- Due to his wit and intellect, he became leader.
- had Tropski expelled, inspite of his strong following. Later exiled from the USSR
- But then people started rebelling (like the hens in AF) in early 1930s
- Workers and Farmers were discontent with Stalin’s policy and their living conditions
- Famine, made worse by Stalin. Millions starved to death; this was hushed up
- Stalin only cared about Soviet Industrialization, not peasants
- Stalin became paranoid, like Napolean and increased security, Millions dead next
- ‘The Great Purge’ – mass arrests, show trials, ethnic cleansing, torture, executions
- Thus, Revolution was betrayed, Stalin was now a Totalitarian (all power vests with 1
government). Thus, Stalin redefined the revolution in his favour, just like Napolean
rewrote the 7 commandments into “All animals are equal, but some animals are
more equal than others”
- 1936, “The Revolution Betrayed” by Leon Trotsky. Made him Public Enemy no. 1,
suggested socialist democracy, teachings of Karl Marx
- Upper class formed – Stalin and his supporters, they enjoyed perks and luxuries
- Then came the Red Army, they prevented any future revolutions, the lower class
were unaware of those ideas anyway
- Soviet Propaganda Machine went into overdrive, false information. Using false
information to promote certain political ideas and people’s opinions
- Squealer, Minimus(poem) == Soviet Government
- People loved Stalin, formed a cult
- Animal Farm banned in USSR from 1945 to late 1980s, angered Stalin

Old Major = Karl Marx

Farmer Jones = Russian Tsar
Napolean = Joseph Stalin
Snowball = Leon Trotsky
Squealer = Propaganda
Boxer = Workers
Sheep = unthinking masses (?)
Seeing Animal Farm - 1999 British television film; directed by John Stephenson; Special effects at Jim
Henson’s Creature Shop: four pigs, a horse, two mares, a dog, a donkey, a raven, a goat, a flock of
sheep, cows, a rat, chickens, ducks, and pigeons. Voice-cast: Jessie (the narrator); Snowball,
Napoleon, Squealer, Boxer, Benjamin, Mollie, Old Major, Moses and Pincher, and Muriel; Mr, Mrs.
Jones, Mr and Mrs Pilkington, Mr. Fredrick. The voice-over narration and the music add to the visual-
auditory adaptation of the film.

1. Why animals? To make story universal, satire, creating detachment and objectivity, symbolic,
and more accessible (kids and illiterate audiences)
2. Similar works? The jungle book (animals reflect colonial relationships and social hierarchies.)