An Introduction to Animal Farm

Satire  Type of writing that ridicules something—a person, a group of people, humanity at large, an attitude or failing, a social institution—in order to reveal a weakness.

Most satires…  Convince us of a point of view.  Persuade us to follow a course of action.  Involve exaggeration.

Allegory  A story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for certain other people, events, or concepts.

How is Animal Farm an allegory?  It parallels revolutionary and postrevolutionary Russia (late 1920s to 1953).  Many characters are based on Russian historical figures and ideas.

Czar Nicholas II  Poor leader at best  Cruel, sometimes brutal with opponents  Sometimes kind, hired students as spies to make money

Russian Revolutionaries  Karl Marx  Joseph Stalin  Leon Trotsky

Karl Marx  German social philosopher  Chief theorist of modern socialism and communism  “Revolution is inevitable”

Socialism  Political and economic theory that advocates a system of government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods.

Communism  A totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production.

Totalitarianism  Seeks to control not only all economic and political matters but also the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population.  Generally led by a dictator.

Joseph Stalin  Studied Marxism, but did not follow it  “Man of steel”; killed all who opposed him  Not a good speaker, not very well-educated

Leon Trotsky  Followed Marxism  Very well-educated  Wanted to improve life for all in Russia  Eventually chased away by the KGB

Other Similarities…

KGB  “Secret police”  Not really police, but forced support for Stalin  Often killed entire families for disobedience

Religion  Was tolerated because it encouraged the people to work  Would stop violent revolutions

Vain, Selfish People  Didn’t care about revolution  Only thought about themselves  Went to other countries that offered more for them

Skeptical People  Weren’t sure revolution would change anything  Knew communism wouldn’t work with power-hungry leaders

Dedicated Communists  Believed Stalin because he was a “communist”  Stayed loyal after it was obvious he was a tyrant  Were betrayed by Stalin