Animal Farm Flashcards
Includes Context for the allegory, novella and historical context (39 cards)
How has Orwell used songs as a motif in AF?
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Animal Farm is filled with songs, poems, and slogans, including Major’s stirring “Beasts of England,” Minimus’ ode to Napoleon, the sheep’s chants, and revised anthem, “Animal Farm, Animal Farm.” All of these songs serve as propaganda, one of the major conduits of social control.
By making the working-class animals speak the same words at the same time, the pigs evoke an atmosphere of grandeur and nobility associated with the recited text’s subject matter. The songs also erode the animals’ sense of individuality and keep them focused on the tasks by which they will purportedly achieve freedom.
Beasts of England is a propaganda song with lyrics convey the idea of a utopia free of man’s control. Gives the animals hope for a better future and is sung throughout the Novella in times of victory or low spirits until Napoleon banns it as rebellion has been completed and better society established irony.
What is an allegory and why is animal farm one?
Political allegories are stories that use imaginary characters and situations to satirize real-life political events.
The characters and events of Animal Farm represent the real people and events of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Orwell wrote Animal Farm because he wanted to tell the true story of the Russian Revolution in a way anyone could understand, even if they didn’t know all the historical details. The novella also makes a broader argument about political power and oppression in general. Orwell brings the events of the Russian revolution to the English countryside to argue that the events of the Soviet Revolution are “closer to home” than his English readers realize. And also comment on the nature of revolutions as well as political systems.
How does Orwell use a circular structure to comment on the nature of rebelion?
- In ch10, Orwell shows that the farm and the animals are regressing, becoming exactly the same as in Jones’ time.
- The corruptions of the original ideas and plans for Animal Farm are highlighted as the animals finally realise the pigs tyranny when it is too late.
- The proliferation (multiplying) of the greedy ‘upper classes’
As the other animals watch through the window, they find they are unable to tell pigs and humans apart. The pigs have started to dress and behave exactly like humans. The book’s final image expresses the animals’ realization that the pigs have become as cruel and oppressive as human farmers. In CH10 it is clear to the animals now that the farm has become exactly the same as in Jones’ time however it is too late.
Circular structure is used to highlight the corruptions of the original ideas and plans of animal farm as Orwell argues ‘All rebellions are failures’
The concept of inherent equality has given way to notions of material entitlement: Animal Farm as an institution no longer values dignity and social justice; power alone renders a creature worthy of rights. By claiming to be “more equal”—an inherently nonsensical concept—than the other animals, the pigs have distorted the original ideals of the farm beyond recognition and have literally stepped into the shoes of their former tyrannical masters.
Explain what Animalism is.
Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer develop Old Major’s idea that animals have a right to freedom and equality into “a complete system of thought” (Chapter 2) which they call Animalism. The central beliefs of Animalism are expressed in the Seven Commandments, painted on the wall of the big barn.
However, as the pigs seize more and more power, they change the Commandments painted on the barn, until Animalism is reduced to a single principle which is virtually the opposite of Old Major’s original idea: “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (Chapter 10).
What is totalitarianism?
A system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state. Animal Farm suggests that all totalitarian regimes are fundamentally the same: those in power care only about maintaining their power by any means necessary, and they do so by oppressing the individual and the lower classes.
While Animal Farm is, most directly, a pointed critique of the USSR, the totalitarian regime established by Joseph Stalin in the early 20th century. However, the book also implies at various points that the USSR was not the only totalitarian regime worth critiquing.
Mr Jones running manor farm is similarly totalitarian regime where animal lives are short and guaranteed to be in hunger while Jones lives in relative luxury and believes the natural order is humans ruling over animals. When the pigs and Napoleon takes over by the end of the novel they emulate the oppressive hierarchy despite initial ideas of equality. At the end the other farmers who visit Napoleon’s AF who aren’t yet running totalitarian farming establishments note that is commendable N is able to run the farm with ‘discipline and orderliness’ when lower animals receive so little food. This makes Orwell’s perspective clear that Napoleon as a totalitarian dictator isn’t an anomaly—he’s part of a much larger tendency of powerful leaders to consolidate and hoard as much power as possible.
Why is the word ‘Comrades’ used throughout AF?
“Comrades” is introduced first by old Major as a façade that all the animals are one group and to empower them – part of something bigger. The Pigs then use it through out novella esp. in Squealers propaganda speeches. Used when the speaker wants to take control of the situation. Addressing others as equals in a context of battle or struggle, when no real equality exists, is an attempt at manipulation.
How does Orwell make OM speech persuasive?
The purpose of Old Major’s speech is to persuade the animals to rebel and show them how they are being exploited. Old Major begins by addressing the assembled group as “comrades” which he then repeats throughout the speech, “now comrades”, and “remember comrades”. This unites and empowers them as a group. It is also reminiscent of the term used by the Bolsheviks, the Communists who overthrew the old order in the Russian Revolution of 1917, reminding us that Orwell wrote Animal Farm as an allegory. He then informs the animals that he thinks he will die soon and uses the word “duty” to convey the sense of obligation and urgency that he feels to encourage an uprising.
What is the context of OM speech?
Major’s speech is closely based on the beliefs of Karl Marx, a German philosopher. Humans in the pig’s speech take the place of the capitalists in Marxist thinking. In the same way, the farm animals serve as the proletariat in the novel. The capitalists exploit them by working them hard in return for minimal pay. The workers are therefore not allowed to enjoy the result of their own labour. Marx believed that this would only be solved by a revolution of the workers in an armed uprising against capitalists.
Orwell uses OM to parallel the ideology of Karl Marx and to show the corruption of his original ideas in the USSR.
How does Orwell suggest at the outset that Old Major’s utopia can never be achieved?
There are lots of rules that could be broken; equality will be difficult because there is an already established hierarchy.
What are the seven commandments?
The Seven Commandments are an allusion to the Ten Commandments in the Bible – a set of moral principles outlining how followers should live their lives. The Ten Commandments are viewed as unalterable moral rules, so when Squealer alters these commandments, it seems farcical.
In Orwell’s Allegory what do the Animal’s rebellion and the battle of cowshed represent?
The Russian proletariat were very unhappy with their living conditions under Tsar Nicholas II, and with his actions in WW1 so the rebellion represents when the Russian people rose up to depose him. They kept his family prisoner until they executed them at gunpoint in 1918. Tsar Nicholas II was replaced by a provisional government during the first revolution of February 1917.
Some Russians used this period of unrest to destabilise the government by bringing the exiled Bolshevik Vladimir Lenin back into the country to lead a revolution.
In the second revolution that October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik (Communist) government. The Battle of the Cowshed represents the October revolution.
Vladimir Lenin because and when Lenin died there were two possible successors to leadership Stalin and Trotsky. (Napoleon and Snowball)
What does the windmill signify/ a symbol of?
The great windmill symbolizes the pigs’ manipulation of the other animals for their own gain. Despite the immediacy of the need for food and warmth, the pigs exploit Boxer and the other common animals by making them undertake backbreaking labor to build the windmill, which will ultimately earn the pigs more money and thus increase their power.
The pigs’ declaration that Snowball is responsible for the windmill’s first collapse constitutes psychological manipulation, as it prevents the common animals from doubting the pigs’ abilities and unites them against a supposed enemy. The ultimate conversion of the windmill to commercial use is one more sign of the pigs’ betrayal of their fellow animals. From an allegorical point of view, the windmill represents the enormous modernization projects undertaken in Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution.
Allegorical context: Lenin once famously remarked that communism was merely socialism plus the electrification of the countryside, a comment that reveals the importance of technological modernization to leaders in the young Soviet Union. Communist leaders considered these programs important for the new nation and Stalin who had initially disregarded the emphasis on technology highly encouraged it when he secured his dictatorship.
Why is Chapter 5 important structurally?
It is the climax of tension that has been building up since chapter 3 after the rebellion and . Just as Snowball became favourable with the windmill Napoleon took power by force using the dogs as a weapon and threat to the animals. Now the animals face Napoleons tyranny under his dictatorship. Squealer’s propaganda is used to prevent questions and objections from the animals and Sunday meetings are cancelled by Napoleon as he instates a pig committee and more rituals.
Snowball’s exile is a key turning point in the novel. From this point on, the farm is characterised by an atmosphere of fear, danger and paranoia. Snowball’s exile allows power-hungry Napoleon to gain control for himself.
What event in the USSR does Snowballs exile mirror?
The struggle for power between Napoleon and Snowball, represents the struggle between Stalin (Napoleon) and Trotsky (Snowball) who had different ideas for the future of Russia.
Stalin seized power by manoeuvring his supporters into the party and exiled Trotsky who moved to Mexico and then was assassinated (with an ice pick) on Stalin’s instructions.
Stalin’s power grew and he became more corrupt and unpopular, more and more like the greedy Tsar before.
How does Orwell make the corruption of the pigs clear in Ch6?
Orwell makes the corruption of the pigs especially clear in chapter 6 as he is showing how the pigs betray the commandments, contrasting previous agreements made by the animals. This is usually for their own benefit. For example, in Ch2, the ‘unbelievable luxury’ of the farmhouse is made clear and the animals agree unanimously that it ‘should be preserved as a museum’ and not used due its connection with humans. Living and sleeping in the farmhouse represents the ‘luxury’ and carelessness of man towards his animals. However, in Ch6, the pigs ‘suddenly moved in…and took up residence’. The use of the word ‘suddenly’ emphasises again the lack of discussion and democracy within the regime, and shows the selfish and corrupt nature of the pigs as they echo the behaviour of Farmer Jones. They manipulate and lie to make a better life for themselves. The animals are clearly not ‘equal’.
What is the context of confessions and executions in Soviet Russia?
Governments throughout the world have long bolstered their standing among the populace by alluding to the horrors of an invisible, conspiratorial enemy, compared to which their own misdeeds or deficiencies seem acceptable.
Stalin used this tactic in Russia by evoking a demonized notion of Trotsky, both German and American governments used the threat of communism to excuse or cover up their own aggressive behaviours.
Why do the animals confess to something they haven’t done in CH8?
While Orwell doesn’t explain why the animals confess to crimes they didn’t commit, readers can infer that the four pigs who are the first to be executed are terrified of the dogs and believe that if they do as Napoleon asks, he will spare their lives—after all, the Commandments state that no animal should harm another.
The number of other animals who confess to Snowball-inspired crimes, however, suggests the degree to which paranoia has gripped the animals, who now feel the need to confess things as slight as stealing six ears of corn or urinating in the drinking water. Afraid that their crimes will be discovered, the animals confess them because they are unable to stand the strain of their guilt.
What does the Battle of the Windmill represent in the allegory?
The battles within the novel represent various uprisings during and after the revolution in Russia. The Battle of the Windmill reflects the USSRs involvement in WW2- specifically Battle of Stalingrad 1943, which was a major turning point in WWII, when Stalin’s forces defeated Hitler’s (as Napoleon’s defeat Frederick). This shows us that no one in power can remain unchallenged. There will always be attempts by others to gain control. Ultimately, all regimes fail but will try to hide this from their citizens.
How is Boxers death used in the Novella?
Boxer’s death represents the ultimate betrayal of the animals by those in power. He has given everything to Napoleon’s regime but he is slaughtered rather than given retirement. This represents how corrupt leaders lie to their citizens and manipulate them into behaving in a certain way. The pig leadership’s treachery and hypocrisy becomes even more apparent by selling Boxer for profit, the pigs re-enact the very same cruelties against which the Rebellion first fights—the valuing of animals for their material worth. The moment when Benjamin reads the cart says ‘Glue Factory’ reminds us of OM speech where he says Boxer will be sold to the Knackers and invites the reader to compare life in this point of the book to the start.
What is context for the pigs and humans meeting in the Farmhouse at the end of the Novella?
Behind this farmhouse meeting is the Tehran Conference, a meeting between the World War II Allied leaders Franklin Roosevelt (U.S.), Winston Churchill (U.K.), and Stalin himself (U.S.S.R.).
At this point in WWII, Stalin’s army was successful, and the other leaders wanted his help. In exchange, he got them to promise to support his government and also to give him most of eastern Poland. Churchill and Roosevelt decided that Stalin’s demands were a small price to pay for winning the war. However, many other people in the West—like Orwell—saw it as a sellout and a compromise with an evil dictator at worst.
Who is Old Major?
The prize-winning boar whose vision of a socialist utopia gave the inspiration for the Rebellion. Three days after describing the vision and teaching the animals the song “Beasts of England,” Major dies, leaving Snowball and Napoleon to struggle for control of his legacy. Orwell based Major on both the German political economist Karl Marx and the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin.
What does the character Moses represent and Why?
Moses is portrayed in a way that parodies both religion and the politicization of religion. Moses, a spy, and storyteller
He talks about Sugarcandy Mountain, a haven for animals. Moses’ description of Sugarcandy Mountain makes us laugh as reader, because we are aware of how all religious leaders deceive their followers by extolling the virtues of an imaginary heavenly life. Orwell meant to mock Stalin’s indulgent treatment of a Roman Catholic priest through whom Stalin sought to install a kind Pope in Rome by using Napoleon’s tolerance of Moses on the farm.
Who does Clover represent in the novella?
This description of Clover suggests that she is caring and maternal, but perhaps not particularly strong or suited to the hard labour that Animal Farm comes to value.
Who does Mollie represent in the Novel?
Bourgeoisie middle class – pretty materialistic vain etc.
Mollie’s materialistic nature reflects the attitude of the upper class during the Russian Revolution, who, when asked to contribute their wealth for the socialist cause, fled to the West.
Mollie cares nothing for her fellow animals. When life at the farm becomes harder, Mollie shirks work, leaving it all to the other animals. This reflects her laziness and vanity, unlike the character Boxer who is completely dedicated to Animal Farm and its leaders.
