Pre-reading Background Information A NIMAL F ARM BY G EORGE O RWELL

The Theme of Animal Farm Corrupt: to damage, make something bad Absolute: possessing unlimited power, total The most profound theme in this novel is “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”—Lord Acton

V OCABULARY USED IN REFERENCE TO A NIMAL F ARM  Satire: This novel is considered a political satire, or work that uses ridicule to expose wickedness or stupidity.  Fable: This story is also considered a fable because it shows animals talking and behaving like humans. It isn’t really about animals, it is about us. The audience is amused by the story and more likely to pay attention to its real point.  Allegory: This story, as we have discussed before, is an allegory—it symbolically substitutes the events on the farm for actual events in history. It causes readers to make a deep comparison between events in the story and the parallel events in history.

KEY HISTORICAL FIGURES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND PLACES Tsar Nicholas II: The last Russian tsar. He was an ineffective ruler that was overthrown and executed along with his family by the Bolsheviks. Joseph Stalin: A Bolshevik leader who became prominent only after Lenin’s return. He succeeded Lenin as leader following Lenin’s death. Vladimir Lenin: The founder of the Bolshevik Party, organizer of the October Revolution. He was the first leader of the Soviet Union. He was a devout follower of Marxism. He other Marxists believed Communism would catch on and become a worldwide movement. Leon Trotsky: A Bolshevik leader and one of the most prominent figures of the revolution. Trotsky was closely aligned with Lenin.

O VERVIEW OF THE R USSIAN R EVOLUTION OF 1917 Russian tsar, Nicholas II, is overthrown Civil war broke out between revolutionaries The Bolsheviks—led by Lenin and Trotsky—come out on top After Lenin’s death, Stalin and Trotsky fight for power— Stalin wins By 1929, Stalin had complete control of the party Stalin turns against his colleagues—he sentences them to death Russia became known as USSR, or Soviet Union until 1991

Historical Figures and their Allegorical Parallels Relating factor=“is represented as” Lenin Old Major Stalin Napoleon Trotsky Snowball Pravda— propaganda newspaper Squealer The proletariat —ordinary workers Boxer Secret Police The Dogs Tsar Nicholas II Farmer Jones The Windmill The “Five Year Plan”

“General” Level of Allegory Old Major Napoleon Snowball Squealer BoxerThe Dogs Farmer JonesThe Windmill Wise leader, philosopher Any dictator More idealistic & better leader “Spin doctor” propagandist A loyal follower who’s taken advantage of Government police Any overthrown ruler Pointless goal to keep citizens focused

And A Few More… Mollie BenjaminTaking Over Animal Farm The Sheep Russian Revolution Any change of government Skeptics Those who watched RR skeptically, but didn’t fight it The White Russians Those that would say, “I liked it the way it was…” or Loyalists Mindless Followers of any leader Mindless followers of Stalin Relating factors: “can be generalized as” and “is represented as”