1. Animal Farm by George Orwell

2. The Novel  Many people enjoy the book as a simple animal story.  While it is possible to read without knowing the historical background,  Knowing the world’s situation during the 1940s adds interest to the novel.  Many political and societal references are found in the text.

3. Keep Reading!  Even though historical events of the 40s influenced the novel, the themes are still relevant today.  Orwell stressed the universality of his book by using animals for characters and by not setting the story in a specific era.  The messages are still important today.

4. The Satire  Animal Farm is a satire –a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.  The target was the USSR, or the Soviet Union, who was a military ally of Great Britain during WWII.

5. World War II  In 1939 England declared war on Germany.  At this time no one thought that the Soviet Union and England would be allies.  But many were stunned by the news that a Soviet-German nonaggression pact was made.  Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin secretly worked out the agreement, while the Soviet leader (Stalin) publicly pursued an alliance with Great Britain and France against Germany (Hitler).

6. A Shocking Union  The world, which had for several years watched Germany's expansionist moves, was suddenly confronted with the Soviet Union doing the same thing.  Orwell on the situation: "Suddenly the scum of the earth and the bloodstained butcher of the workers were marching arm in arm, their friendship 'cemented in blood,' as Stalin cheerily expressed it."  Orwell portrays the Hitler-Stalin pact in his novel Animal Farm as the agreement between Mr. Frederick and Napoleon.

7. More War  When it looked like Germany was preparing to invade England, Orwell and his wife moved from their home where they raised animals to London.  The war changed when the Soviet Union was unexpectedly invaded by the Germans in June 1941. Still stung by Stalin's betrayal just two years earlier, the Allies (France, England, and—after Pearl Harbor—the United States) were nevertheless forced to join him in order to defeat Hitler.

8. Orwell vs. Stalin  Orwell was angry with Stalin and what he did.  Orwell wrote: "I thought of exposing the Soviet (Stalin’s) myth in a story that could be easily understood by almost anyone and which could be easily translated into other languages."  Orwell knew he would have trouble publishing it because Stalin had become quite popular in England as the one who saved England from an invasion.  Orwell couldn't forgive the Soviet leader's complicity with Hitler, or his bloody reshaping of the Soviet Communist Party during the 1930s which resulted in the death or deportation of hundreds of thousands of Russians.

9. The Aftermath  Although finished in February 1944, Animal Farm wasn't published until 1945, a pivotal year in world history- the war had ended, but it was also the year the first nuclear bomb was used.  The cost of the war was staggering: estimates set the monetary cost at one trillion dollars, while an estimated 60 million people lost their lives.  The war had allowed only the United States and the Soviet Union to survive as world powers. So the end of the war brought the beginning of a Cold War, an ideological conflict pitting the Soviet Union and its allies against the United States and its allies, that persisted with varying degrees of intensity until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

10. The Characters  Mr. Jones – owner of farm. Had been a decent master of the animals until farm hit harder times (symbolizing the Great Depression). He symbolizes the evils of capitalism and also Czar Nicholas II, the leader before Stalin.  Old Major - This "purebred" of pigs is the kind, grand fatherly philosopher of change— an obvious metaphor for Karl Marx. Old Major proposes a solution to the animals' desperate plight under the Jones "administration" when he inspires a rebellion of sorts among the animals.

11. characters  Mr. Fredrick - The tough, shrewd operator of Pinchfield, a neighboring farm. Based on Adolf Hitler.  Mr. Pilkington - The easygoing gentleman farmer who runs Foxwood, a neighboring farm. Mr. Frederick's bitter enemy, Mr. Pilkington represents the capitalist governments of England and the United States.

12. characters  Napoleon - The pig who emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Joseph Stalin, Napoleon uses military force (his nine loyal attack dogs) to intimidate the other animals and consolidate his power

13. characters  Snowball - The pig who challenges Napoleon for control of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Leon Trotsky.  Boxer - The cart-horse whose incredible strength, dedication, and loyalty play a key role in the early prosperity of Animal Farm  Squealer - The pig who spreads Napoleon's propaganda among the other animals

14. characters  Clover - A good-hearted female cart-horse and Boxer's close friend. Clover often suspects the pigs of violating one or another of the Seven Commandments  Moses - The tame raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountain, the paradise to which animals supposedly go when they die.  Mollie - vain, flighty mare who pulls Mr. Jones's carriage. Mollie craves the attention of human beings and loves being groomed and pampered  Benjamin - The long-lived donkey who refuses to feel inspired by the Rebellion