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Home Middelbare School EN Uittreksels Uittreksel George Orwell - Animal Farm

Uittreksel George Orwell - Animal Farm

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Extracts English Literature
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George Orwell - Animal Farm

Secker & Warburg, (1945)

Title:

The title is well-chosen because the animals are personified as the owners of a "farm", a farm where the leading animals are like communist rulers who treat those under them as inferiors whom they believe are not as intellectual as the leaders themselves. The animals not in power on this farm are seen as 'good,' while the leaders are seen as 'bad.' Orwell may have been saying that communism is a form of stupidity in which there are leading "animals", the communist leaders, and those who must follow them. This includes those who think they are being wronged and yet still choose to follow and obey, as animals do. The animals who want to change the world may not be so different from people who think that communism is the way to rule the world; a "farm" of world "animals" led by communist "farmers".

Author:

Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was born in Motihari, India on June 25, 1903. He was educated at Eton College in England and there he wrote articles for the college magazines. He served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927. His first published article was in Le Monde in 1928 while he was living in Paris. Orwell hated totalitarianism and in 1936 he joined the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War, and was wounded. Later, when the Communists attempted to eliminate their allies on the far left, Orwell fought against them and was forced to flee Spain for his life. During the Second World War, Orwell wrote a weekly radio commentary, designed to counter German and Japanese propaganda. He died in England in 1950 of tuberculosis.

Orwell was a socialist but detested extreme political viewpoints. His most successful publications, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four are meant to be warnings against totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.

The literary period:

Although this book was written in 1945 and could be seen as a book either from the first or second part of the Twentieth century, its underlying theme is about the corruption of communism, a common theme of the twentieth century—first part.

The genre:

A fable—the animals talk and act just like certain types of human beings, and the story has a moral lesson.

An allegory—this story has two levels. There is the story about the animals on the farm, but the novel is a satire on Soviet Russia, with many parallels between the story on the farm and the history of the Russian Revolution.

Summary:

Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is always drunk and treats his animals very badly. Sometimes he does not feed them, and when an animal gets old, he simply ships it off to be killed. Major, an old and wise pig, tells the other animals that they should start a rebellion against Mr. Jones. He says that it is the only way to change their miserable lives. He teaches the others a song called 'Beasts of England,' a song about the time when England will belong to the animals. Major dies shortly after, but the animals are ready to win their farm, and they begin to prepare for the great day.

One day, Mr. Jones and his workers forget to feed the animals. This is the last straw. The animals break into the shed, start eating the food stored there and go on to chase Jones and his men from the farm. Their rebellion has worked, and they change the name of the farm to Animal Farm. The pigs can write, so they are the ones who write down the seven commandments that are painted on the barn wall. The animals are to obey these commandments in order to keep all of the animals happy.

Now that they own the farm, the animals do not mind working hard to do the things that need to be done. But they see that there is a strong rivalry between the two pig brothers, Snowball and Napoleon, when they all gather for their Sunday meetings. Mr. Jones and his workers try to recapture the farm, but a plan by Snowball drives him away again. Snowball also produces plans for a windmill on the farm, a great feat for a pig, but Napoleon chases him away with the help of nine fierce dogs. Napoleon is now the leader of Animal Farm, and things start to change very subtly.

The commandments on the wall slowly start to change to suit the behaviour of the pigs and the dogs. The animals who complain that they know the rules have been changed are answered by the pigs who maintain that it has always been that way. The pigs do not need these lowly animals to become smart and foil their plans of taking over completely. The pigs and dogs slowly become more and more like the men that they had driven out of the farm. They hunger for more power and will stop at nothing to get it. Poor Boxer works so hard that he falls ill, and the animals are told that he is being taken to a hospital. The ample food is now being rationed, and the animals are treated in the same way as they were with Mr. Jones.

One night, the pigs have a party with six neighbouring farmers with whom they have become friends. All of the farm animals go to the house to see what all the commotion is about. They look in through the windows of the farmhouse that Mr. Jones used to live in, and they all feel helpless and betrayed. The pigs are acting no differently from the men who treated them badly in the first place.

Time:

Animal Farm

Setting:

The story takes place in an imaginary farm in Southern England in the 1940's. It was first called Manor Farm, but is later called Animal Farm, then Manor Farm again at the end of the book.

Characters and relationships:

Mr. Jones

He is the original owner of Manor Farm. He is eventually driven out of his own farm by the animals that he owns.

Major:

An old pig who tells the animals that they must start a rebellion against the cruel Mr. Jones who hardly ever feeds them. He dies before the farm is taken over by the animals and never knows what real freedom is like. He can be compared with Lenin.

Snowball and Napoleon:

Two pigs in the fight for the ultimate leadership of Manor Farm. They are cruel leaders only out to please themselves and the other pigs. Eventually, Napoleon wins the leadership because he outwits Snowball. Napoleon can be compared with Stalin and Snowball with Trotsky, but there is also a relationship between Napoleon's name and the fierce leader at the beginning of the 19th century.

Squealer:

He translates the writings of the pigs for the other animals because only the pigs can read. He is the middleman between the forces of good and evil.

Boxer and Clover:

The two horses on the farm; Boxer is a hard working horse who works even harder if things are not going well. He does not see that the pigs are slowly taking over.

Benjamin:

The donkey, who is also the oldest animal on the farm. He is the worst tempered and also very stubborn.

Credibility:

....

Theme:

The theme of the novel is one of society's failures. The pigs, like the communists, have the power, but do not have the knowledge to make things work right. They abuse their power and try to be something that they cannot be, and in the end they are no better than the communists of Soviet Russia. This book is to be a warning against the social failings of strict idealism and dictatorship.

Motto:

None.

Linguistic usage:

This book uses modern language which is easy to understand, but contains many themes which may not be apparent to younger readers who may not know the history of the first half of the twentieth century.

Dedication:

None.

Perspective:

An omniscient narrator, who uses much description in his tale, narrates this novel.

Construction:

The book begins with a foreword followed by 10 numbered chapters.

Own opinion on the book:

Your opinion!

:
was written as a general parallel to the political developments in Russia between the pre-Revolutionary era and the Second World War. The story spans several years and is written in chronological order.

 

I took the road less travelled by and that has made all the difference.

Ik nam de minder bewandelde weg en dat heeft al het verschil gemaakt. 

Robert Frost