Animal Farm

1. Animal Farm

2. Satire • Satire is a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn. • So what does that actually mean? • It means that authors use specific (oftentimes) humorous situations to poke fun a human behavior. More often than not, this applies to public figures, celebrities, and the government. • A good modern example of satire is The Daily Show with John Stewart or The Colbert Report

3. Fable • A fable is defined as a story illustrating a moral which is usually explicitly stated at the end, and where talking animals typically illustrate human vices, follies, and virtues • Fables use animals to illustrate the eccentricities of behavior that might be considered offensive or inappropriate as portrayed by people • Although it lacks a focus directly on animals, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is well-known fable you may be familiar with. • Can you think of any modern-style fables?

4. Allegory • Allegory is an extended metaphor in which characters carry implied meanings in addition to their literal ones. • The author names characters with the intent that they stand for an idea in addition to the character they play in the story. • The Matrix names its protagonist “Neo” to insinuate someone who is inexperienced and later a character who creates a “new” existence. • Consider what traits a character with the name “Napoleon” might carry allegorically.

5. Animal Farm • Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell written in as an allegory that satirizes the events following the Russian Revolution. • In his novel Orwell uses Animal characters to represent the political figures involved in the political strife that took place from 1917 until the early 1950s • Orwell uses the novel to speak out against the evils of totalitarianism and to poke fun at the actions of Russian politicians of the time.

6. The Russian Revolution: In a Nutshell • During and after the time of WWI, Russians viewed the leadership of the monarch, Czar Nicholas II as ineffective and unfit to rule the country. • Following the Czar departure (and later his execution) a man by the name of Vladimir Lenin assumed a position of leadership that led Russia under the theory of Socialist reform. • Lenin’s contributions allowed Russia recover economically and grow into a balanced world power.

7. The Russian Revolution: In a Nutshell • Following Lenin’s death in 1926, a struggle for power ensued between two Bolsheviks (Lenin’s political party): Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. • Stalin rose to power and had Trotsky exiled to Mexico where Trotsky continued to fight against Stalin’s rule until he was assassinated by Stalin’s order in 1940. • With Trotsky eliminated, Stalin ruled a totalitarian state creating a culture of fear and animosity until his death in 1953.

8. The –isms of Animal Farm Animal Farm functions as an allegory by using numerous political ideologies as its basis for satire. These include the following: • Socialism – a system of organization which the production and distribution of goods is owned by a centralized government that plans and controls the economy. • Communism – a system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people. • Totalitarianism – imposing a form of government in which the political authority exerts absolute control over all aspects of life. The individual becomes a servant to the state, and opposition (politically and culturally) is oppressed.