1. Animal Farm By George Orwell Allegorical Representations
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

2. Why Animals?
In explaining how he came to write Animal Farm, Orwell says he once saw a little boy whipping a horse and later he wrote,
“It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the [worker].”

3. Children’s Book? – No!
After Animal Farm was published in 1945, George Orwell discovered with horror that booksellers were placing his novel on children’s shelves. According to his housekeeper, he began traveling from bookstore to bookstore requesting that the book be shelved with adult works. This dual identity — as children’s story and adult satire — has stayed with Orwell’s novel for more than fifty years.

4. Significance Today
But why – now that Soviet Communism has fallen and the Cold War is over –does Animal Farm deserve our attention? The answer lies in the power of allegory. Allegorical fables, because they require us to make comparisons and connections, can be meaningful to any reader in any historical period. The story of Animal Farm will always have lessons to teach us about the ways that people abuse power and manipulate others.
Orwell's chilling story of the betrayal of idealism through tyranny and corruption is as fresh and relevant today as when it was first published in 1945.

5. Allegory
Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the surface, the fable is about animals. But on a second level, the animals stand for types of people or ideas. The way the animals interact and the way the plot unfolds says something about the nature of people or the value of ideas. Any type of fiction that has multiple levels of meaning in this way is called an allegory.

6. Allegory (cont’d)
Animal Farm is strongly allegorical, but it presents a very nice balance between levels of meaning. On the first level, the story about the animals is very moving. But at the same time, each of the animals does serve as a symbol. The story's second level involves the careful critique Orwell constructed to comment on Soviet Russia.
Boxer

7. Squealer, Snowball, & Napoleon
Allegory (cont’d)
Yet there is no reason that allegory must be limited to two levels. It is possible to argue that Animal Farm also has a third and more general level of meaning. For instance, the pigs need not only represent specific tyrannical soviet leaders. They could also be symbols for tyranny more broadly: their qualities are therefore not simply the historical characteristics of a set of actual men but are the qualities of all leaders who rely on repression and manipulation.
Squealer, Snowball, & Napoleon

8. Characterization in Fables
We already know that a fable is a narration intended to enforce a useful truth. Fables have two important characteristics. First, they teach a moral or lesson. In Animal Farm, the moral involves Orwell’s views about Soviet politics. Second, the characters are most frequently animals. These animal characters often function as a satiric device to point out the follies of humankind. Though Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon may represent Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin, many of the story characters are much more general. Some animals are grouped together as a single character—“the sheep,” “the hens,” and “the dogs.” Orwell also capitalizes on the traits generally associated with particular animals, such as sheep as followers and dogs as loyal.

9. Czar Nicholas II Mr. Jones Czar Nicholas II
The irresponsible owner of the farm
Lets his animals starve and beats them with a whip
Sometimes shows random kindness sometimes kind - mixes milk in animal mash
Czar Nicholas II
Weak Russian leader during the early 1900s
Often cruel and brutal to his subjects
Displays isolated kindness - hired students as spies to make $

10. Karl Marx Old Major Karl Marx / Lenin
An old boar whose speech about the evils perpetrated by humans rouses the animals into rebelling.
His philosophy concerning the tyranny of Man is named Animalism.
He teaches the animals the song “Beasts of England”
Dies before revolution
Karl Marx / Lenin
The inventor/establisher of communism
Wants to unite the working class to overthrow the government.

11. Religion/Russian Orthodox Church
Stalin used religious principles to influence people to work and to avoid revolt. Religion
Marx said "Opiate of the people" a lie
used to make people not complain and do their work
Religion was tolerated because people would work
Stalin knew religion would stop violent revolutions
Moses    
A tame raven and sometimes-pet of Jones who tells the animals stories about a paradise called Sugar Candy Mountain.
animals can go there if they work hard
Snowball and Major were against him
they thought Heaven was a lie to make animals work
Napoleon let him stay because he taught animals to work and not complain

12. KGB/Secret Police/Stalin’s Body Guards
The Dogs
Private army that used fear to force animals to work
Killed or intimidated any opponent of Napoleon
Another part of Napoleon's strategy to control animals
The KGB were not really police, but mercenaries used to force support for Stalin.
Used force, often killed entire families for disobedience
Totally loyal, part of Stalin’s power, even over army

13. Leon Trotsky Snowball Leon Trotsky
Boar who becomes one of the rebellion’s most valuable leaders.
After drawing complicated plans for the construction of a windmill, he is chased off of the farm forever by Napoleon’s dogs and thereafter used as a scapegoat for the animals’ troubles.
young, smart, good speaker, idealistic
really wants to make life better for all
Leon Trotsky
A pure communist leader who was influenced by the teachings of Karl Marx.
He wanted to improve life for people in Russia, but was driven away by Lenin’s KGB.

14. Joseph Stalin Napoleon Joseph Stain
Boar who leads the rebellion against Farmer Jones
After the rebellion’s success, he systematically begins to control all aspects of the farm until he is an undisputed tyrant. Napoleon
An abrupt speaker, not as clever like Snowball
Cruel, brutal, selfish, devious, corrupt
His ambition is for power, killed opponents
Used dogs, Moses, and Squealer to control animals
Joseph Stain
The communist dictator of the Soviet Union from who killed all who opposed him.
He loved power and used the KGB (secret police) to enforce his ruthless, corrupt antics.
An abrupt speaker, not educated like Trotsky
Same as Napoleon, didn't follow Marx's ideas
Used KGB, allowed church, and propagandized

15. Working Class/Proletariat
BOXER
Strong, hard working horse, believes in Animal Farm
"Napoleon is always right", "I must work harder"
Gives his all, is betrayed by Napoleon
A dedicated but dimwitted horse who aids in the building of the windmill.
Represents the dedicated, but tricked communist supporters of Stalin. Many stayed loyal even after it was obvious Stalin was a tyrant. Eventually they were betrayed, ignored, and even killed by him.

16. Clover = Female Working Class
Clover is a gentle, motherly, and powerful mare, who supports the revolution, but becomes dismayed by the direction it takes under Napoleon. Yet she has neither the will nor the personality to resist the pigs. She becomes a witness to the corruption of the revolution as it turns into a totalitarian state, though she only vaguely understands that something has gone wrong.
Clover symbolizes the female working class and peasants of the Soviet Union.

17. Propaganda/Newspaper
Squealer =   
A big mouth pig who becomes Napoleon’s mouthpiece. Throughout the novel, he displays his ability to manipulate the animals’ thoughts through the use of hollow, yet convincing rhetoric.
Convinces animals to believe and follow Napoleon
Changes and manipulates the commandments
Represents the propaganda department that worked to support Stalin’s image; the members of the department would use lies to convince the people to follow Stalin.
Benefited from the fact that education was controlled.

18. Upper-class Skilled Worker or Bourgeoisie who fled the U.S.S.R.
Mollie A vain horse who resists the animal rebellion because she doesn't want to give up the petting and treats she receives from humans.
Went with anyone who gave her what she wanted
Mollie represents vain, selfish people in Russia and throughout the world who ignored the revolution and sought residence in more inviting countries.
Aristocracy themselves
Went to other countries that offered more for them

19. Older Generation Who are Critics of the Rebellion
Benjamin =
Old, wise donkey who is suspicious of revolution
Thinks "nothing ever changes", is right
The most cynical of all the animals, the farm's donkey doubts the leadership of the pigs but is faithfully devoted to Boxer
His suspicions are true, about Boxer and sign changes
Benjamin represents all the skeptical people in Russia and elsewhere who weren’t sure revolution would change anything.
Realized that a crazy leader can call himself communist
Knew that communism wouldn't work with power hungry leaders

20. The Minority of Working Class who are Educated
Muriel
A goat who believes in the rebellion, she watches as Animal Farm slips away from its founding principles.
Muriel represents the minority of working class people who are educated enough to decide things for themselves and find critical and hypocritical problems with their leaders. Unfortunately for the other animals, Muriel is not charismatic or inspired enough to take action and oppose Napoleon and his pigs.

21. Communist Party Loyalists, Friends of Stalin
The Pigs
They got all the luxuries, and hardly had to do anything, but keep secrets from their fellow mates, and boss people around.

22. Unskilled Working Class
The Sheep
Not tremendously clever, the sheep remind themselves of the principles of animalism by chanting "four legs good, two legs bad."
Uneducated in anything but Animalism, the sheep believe whatever propaganda is told to them and follow orders.
They represent the duped citizens of a totalitarian state.

23. Unethical, Silent Rejecters of the “New Order”
The Cat
The unethical, “lazy” people who go along with Communism even though they see it’s issues, because it means they get fed, without having to work.
Voted on both sides of the 'rat-comrade' question. "The cat joined the Re-education Committee and was very active in it for some days. She was seen one day sitting on a roof and talking to some sparrows who were just out of her reach. She was telling them that all animals were now comrades and that any sparrow who chose could come and perch on her paw; but the sparrows kept their distance." The Cat disappeared right before the 'purges'.

24. Soviet Propaganda Delivered to Other Countries Through Seeking Wealth
Mr. Whymper =
The human that the pigs use as their connection to the outside world, Whymper symbolizes capitalists who got rich doing business with the USSR.

25. Place Where Greed and Lust Dominate
Farm House =
(The Kremlin.) Home of Mr. Jones (the Czar). After the revolution, there were some that wanted to destroy the farmhouse, but it was decided to preserve it as a museum. (The Kremlin was saved in a similar manner). Eventually, Napoleon (Stalin) decided to take up residence there.

26. Gun =
The gun started out as a symbol for the animal’s freedom only to become a symbol for Napoleon’s oppression and rule.

27. Flag =
This was the flag during the Russian Revolution. The symbols on the flag are a hammer and a sickle.
Hammer: The workers (factory/industrial) Sickle: Farmers
This is the flag that was made during the Revolution in Animal Farm. The symbols on the flag are a hoof and a horn.
Hoof: Hammer from the Russian flag (the workers) Horn: Sickle from the Russian flag (farmers)

28. The Overthrow of the Czar
The Battle of Cowshed=
The Return of Jones . Red October. The battle of the Tsarists forces against the Bolsheviks. (The Reds vs. the Whites) "The civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) ravaged Russia until 1920.

29. Luxuries of the life enjoyed by the middle class
Ribbons!

30. Sugar & Apples =
Commodities for the Privileged
Signs of wealth

31. Milk =
Vodka
After the revolution it is decided that animals should never again consume milk/alcohol. After a short time, the pigs ignored began to break this cardinal rule. This could also be a metaphor for the intoxicating effects of power.

32. Windmill = Soviet Industry
The windmill is a symbol for Stalin's 'Five-Year plan'. Just a the windmill was promised to make the animal's life easier, the 'Five-Year Plan' was supposed to improve Soviet industry to the point that the proletariats' life as well by increasing production and allowing the soviets to shorten the work-week. And just like the windmill, Stalin's plan was an utter failure. After the destruction of the Windmill, the Animals decided to build another one and in real-life, Stalin kept churning out new 'Five-year Plans' - promising that each new plan would solve all of Russia's problems and bring the USSR closer to parity with the industrialized nations of the west.

33. More Characters Mr. Pilkington – Mr. Frederick –
Owner of Foxwood (Roosevelt and Churchill). He doesn't represent one person in particular, but rather is a composite.
Mr. Frederick –
Owner of Pinchfield = Hitler. It is said that Frederick had ''flogged an old horse to death (A reference to Hitler's euthanasia program), he had starved his cows (A reference to the Jews), he had killed a dog by throwing it into the furnace (Most likely a reference to Night of Knives), and that he amused himself in the evenings by making cocks fight with splinters of razor-blade tied to their spurs.'‘
See “Handout” for more information.

34. Minimus = Propaganda take over of Art
A pig who writes propaganda poems and songs praising Napoleon and Animal Farm. Minimus represents the takeover of art by propaganda in a totalitarian state that aims to control what its citizens think.
A movement was initiated to put all arts to service of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The ideas of “Proletkult " (Proletarian Cultural and Enlightenment Organizations) attracted the interests of Russian avant-garde, such as Kazimir Malevich. However the ideas of the avant-garde eventually clashed with the newly emerged state-sponsored direction of Socialist Realism.

35. Events The Animal Revolt - The Russian Revolution.
Battle of Cowshed - The Return of Jones . Red October. The battle of the Tsarists forces against the Bolsheviks. (The Reds vs. the Whites) "The civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) ravaged Russia until The Whites represented all shades of anti-Communist groups, including members of the constituent assembly. Several of their leaders favored setting up a military dictatorship, but few were outspoken czarists."
Pigeons sent to incite other rebellions - Communist Internationale

36. Events
The hens' revolt - This signifies the Ukrainian peasants’ bitter resistance to collective farming.
Selling of the wood to Frederick - Nazi-Soviet pact
Battle of the Windmill - Battle of Stalingrad - German Invasion of Russia During WWII.

37. Animalism = Communism Animalism Communism Taught my Old Major
No rich, but no poor
Better life for workers
All animals are equal
Everyone owns the farm
Communism
Invented by Karl Marx
All people are equal
Government owns everything
People own the government

38. Animal Farm Revolution = Russian Revolution
Was supposed to make life better for all, but . . .
Life was worse at the end.
The leaders became the same as, or worse than the other farmers (humans) they rebelled against.
Russian Revolution
Was supposed to fix the problems created by the Czar, but . . .
Life was even worse after the revolution.
Stalin made the Czar look like a nice guy.

39. A “simple” story becomes:
A moral warning against the abuse of power
A fable of human strengths and weaknesses
My bias: When a populace doesn’t pay close attention to its leadership, hegemony (a dominant culture maintains its dominant position) sets in and the general population bears the brunt.

40. How do we steer clear of the dangers Orwell warns us against?
By becoming and staying informed, of course, but this is not as easy as it might sound.
Why?