Lycée-Collège de la Planta 5C
AF
Animal Farm
Oral maturity exam, summary
Napoleon
Represents Stalin & Main character. He’s a fierce-looking pig, which comes from Berkshire. He’s
got a reputation of getting his own way and he’s not much a talker. He uses brutality.
Snowball
Represents Trotsky, the rival of Stalin & Main character. He’s a young pig, more vivacious, quicker
in speech, more inventive. Wants to create the windmill. He uses his skills as a talker to convince all
animals. Used as a scapegoat by Napoleon.
Squealer
Represents The soviet press controlled by Stalin. He’s a manipulator and persuader. “Could turn
black into white”. He’s the link between Napoleon and other Animals. He’s got a shrill voice, round
cheeks, twinkling eyes, fat and act with nimble movements.
Minimus
Represents the art propaganda. He wrote the second and third national anthems of Animal Farm.
He creates poems & songs praising Napoleon.
The pigs in
general
They represent the communist party & friends of Stalin. They surround & support Napoleon. They live
in luxury unlike other animals. They enjoy the benefits of the society & help to control. They are used
to show the inequality & true hypocrisy of communism.
Jones
Represents Nicolas II (Russian Tsar which was the leader before Stalin). In Animal Farm he forgets to
feed the animals that set off the Rebellion. The Russian revolution began in 1917 when Russian
soldiers were dying in the war against Germany and people hadn’t enough food.
Jones also tried to get back the farm with the other farmers. In real life, the tsar tried to take the
power back and was helped by European countries.
Boxer (horse)
Represents the peasant of the working class. He’s naïve, simple minded, brave & valiant, loyal,
devoted and he’s a hard worker. He’s not very clever but not the stupidest. He’s getting old but
continues to work as well.
The pigs at the end of the story kill him. This event symbolizes the failure of animalism. Epic quote “ I
will work harder”. “Napoleon is always right!”
Benjamin
(donkey)
The oldest animal of the farm. The donkey seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion. He did his
work in a slow obstinate way. He made the work, which he had to make. Despite his age, he never
speaks about the pension. We know that he’s very intelligent. He knows that rules change because
he knows how to read but he makes nothing. He makes his work, and that’s it. He always makes
cynical remarks. He symbolizes the older generation, the critics of any new rebellion
Clover (Horse)
Boxer’s companion. She is loyal as Boxer even if she doesn’t possess the same physical strength.
She warms him not to straight to death. She has more capacity for doubt than her companion
(suspicious). (She remembers the rule against sleeping in beds for example) She can’t read.
Clover and Stalin’s Russia: Clover is probably an allusion to the Russian proletariat-the working class
Malika Djehiche 5C
The Farmers
Mr Pilkington: owner of Foxwood/ neighbor of the Farm / Easy-going gentleman / Enjoy fishing &
hunting / dislikes Frederick.
Mr Frederick: owner of Pinchfield/ neighbor of the Farm / Tough, shrewd, involved in lawsuit &
driving hard bargains / dislikes Pilkington,
Moses (raven)
=> They represent the capitalism (P= Allies/ F= central power). They were enemies but they have
now a common enemy: communism in USSR.
(Le corbeau) Moses was Johns’s especial pet (spy and clever talker). He was hated by the others
animals because he told tales and never worked. He went away when the pigs took the power and
came back later. He was useful for the pigs (manipulation of the farm)
Moses = Moïse, honest man who preached the freedom. He released people of Israel from slavery.
Religion in Russia at that time: Moses represents the Clergy and the Religion (“Opiate of the People
“) Religion was used to make people not complain and do their work . Stalin knew religion would
stop violent revolution. (Napoleon as well)
Sugarcandy Montain is a mysterious country where animals go when they die (somewhere up in
the sky) It’s the description of the paradise
Mr. Whymper
He appears in chapter 6 like the intermediary between humans and animals. He is not very present
in the story but when he is mentioned, it’s always to deal on something (eggs…)
He is taken on to help Animal Farm to conduct business deals. The animals feel uneasy with this
because he is a human beings and the remembered passing a resolution like: never engage in
trade with human beings…
The dogs
The dogs represent the military/police. In the beginning of the book, they voted against accepting
the rats & rabbits as 'comrades'. Shortly after the revolution, several 'pups' are stolen from their
mothers. Later in the book, these pups (now fully grown - and fully trained) protect Napoleon from
a second potential revolution, and help to enforce his decrees.
The Sheep
The sheep represent the masses at large. "Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs
ba-a-a-a-d!"
They are stupid and so they’re used by Napoleon not to let other animals protesting about what he
says.
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Malika Djehiche 5C
THEMES
Life of the author
& historical
background to
Animal Farm
George Orwell
Historical background
-
Real name = Eric Arthur Blair
-
Born in 1903, in India.
-
Then went to Eton (college)
-
Served the Indian Imperial Police in
Burma (inspired his first novel, “Bumese
days”
-
Lived in Paris for two years before going
back to England, where he worked as
private tutor/ schoolteacher/ Bookshop
assistant / contributed reviews & articles
to a number of periodicals,
-
In 1936, commissioned by Victor
Gollancz to visit areas of mass
unemployment
in
Lancashire
&
Yorkshire. (=> Wrote the book “The
Road to Wigan pier”, which is a
description of the poverty he saw)
-
Went to Spain to fight
republicans & was wounded
-
Spent six months in Morroco (“Coming
uo for Air”)
-
Served in the Home Guard and worked
for the BBC Eastern service during the
second World War.
for
Political & literary commentary
-
His unique political allegory, ANIMAL
FARM, was published in 1945, and it was
this novel, together with NINTEEN
EIGHTY-FOUR (1949), which brought him
world-wide fame.
Died in London in January 1950.
Based on the events during the 1917
Russian Revolution. (Overthrew the
absolute power of the Tsar & rigid social
system that kept most of the population
in great poverty.
-
Revolutionaries were divided into many
different groups, but most of them
based their beliefs on the writing of Karl
Marx (Communist Manifest’s author).
-
The Bolsheviks came out on top. Led by
Lenin and Trotsky.
-
Lenin died => Power struggle between
Trotsky & Joseph Stalin. Stalin won.
Trotsky was a brilliant intellectual but
had little political cunning. He was
driven into exile and died in Mexico.
-
Stalin continued Lenin’s campaign to
modernize Russian agriculture and
industry. He got anyone who stood in his
way.
-
1929 had complete control of the party
or sentenced and executed after show
trials
where
they
confessed
to
imaginary crimes.
-
Stalin turned against colleagues who
had
helped
him
defeat
the
“Trotskyites”.
-
Russia was known as the USSR or Soviet
Union until 1991. Even without its empire
it is still the largest country in the world,
twice the size of the USA.
the
-
-
-
Suite annexes dossier animal Farm “introduction
to animal farm.
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Malika Djehiche 5C
The battle of the
Cowshed & of
the Windmill
The battle of the Cowshed
The battle of the Windmill
It was going to be a normal day in October, but
something changed it all. Mr. Jones, his men
and six others from the neighbouring farms were
attacking the farm, hoping to regain control
over animal farm. They were all armed with
sticks except for Jones himself, who carried a
gun. The animals, thanks to snowball, who knew
a bit about battle after reading it up, were
prepared. When the men 1st charged,
snowball, Benjamin, Muriel and the sheep
attacked back, but it was a trap, and the men
who traveled further in were surrounded by the
other animals who attacked relentlessly.
Snowball was wounded while trying to attack
jones, but it was not serious, boxer “killed” a
stable-lad, and because of the gun, one sheep
was killed. The cowardly enemy fled after
seeing boxer stun the stable-lad and the
invasion was over. In all the confusion, no one
noticed mollie was missing until after the battle,
and boxer, who was miserable because he
thought he had killed the stable-lad, was
cheered by the knowledge that he did not kill
the stable-lad, but only stunned him. They knew
this because by the time they had found mollie,
the stable-lad had recovered and taken
flight. Finally, boxer and snowball are awarded
the medal “animal hero 1st class”, and the
dead sheep is awarded “animal hero 2nd
class”.
Russia may have been on the winning side of
World War II, but they lost huge numbers of
citizens—up to 11 million soldiers in the war, and
maybe even more civilian casualties. The low
point came in December 1942, when the
German army pushed within twenty miles of
Moscow. The Soviets managed to push the
Germans back and protect Hitler's next goal—
their southern oil fields—but only with a lot of
death and destruction.
= Represents the october revolution
Power &
corruption
Animal Farm has its own miniature version of
World War II in the Battle of the Windmill.
Frederick's men advance, take a pasture and
blow up the Windmill. As the enemy rushes onto
the farm, "even Napoleon seemed at a loss"
(8.16). A message arrives from Pilkington telling
Napoleon, "Serves you right" (8.16).
After some super violent fighting, which includes
Boxer using his hoofs to smash in the heads of
the men, the animals end up winning but being
"weary and bleeding". Almost immediately,
Squealer begins proclaiming the war as a proud
victory for Napoleon—but even dumb old Boxer
doesn't quite buy it. When Squealer points out
that they have regained the farm, all Boxer can
say is, "Then we have won back what we had
before"
= Represents world war II
- central themes of Animal Farm.
At the beginning of the book, Old Major says day will come when they overthrow their human
masters and build an equitable society. When the animals of Manor Farm drive off Jones, it
appears that day has come. But we quickly see that the pigs, by virtue of their leadership of the
revolution, quickly become corrupted by power. Napoleon continues to pay lip service to the
principles of the revolution through most of the book, but his actions are far removed from the
principles of Animalism. He and the other pigs begin to claim privileges for themselves, and
eventuallly he uses the dogs to purge those who question his authority. Snowball is driven from the
farm for dissent, and gradually, the pigs become more like the humans they fought to overthrow.
The corruption of the principles of the revolution is illustrated by the changing Seven
Commandments, which are perverted over the course of the book to the point where, at the end,
they read only "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS."
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Malika Djehiche 5C
Napoleon ‘s rise
to power
Doesn’t care about Snowball’s committees / Wants to educate the young / Takes the pupils away
from their mothers, saying he would make himself responsible of their education.
He doesn’t do anything to defend the farm. He’s not present during the battle.
Napoleon is disturbed: He sleeps alone / He eats alone with the dogs
He’s self-centered: eats with two dogs (security) / is following a black cockerel when he goes out /
demands to fire the gun for his birthday.
Getting Power:
His primary methods are by using fear, by exploiting the animal and by bending the
rules. Napoleon instills fear as a way of giving the animal no chance to argue about what he says.
This allows him to run the farm in his own manner and gives him a more confortable life than the
other animals. Early in Animal Farm, Napoleon takes Jessie and Bluebells nine newborn puppies.
These puppies become the forefront of his campaign of fear. He uses them to gain power by
eliminating his enemies, Snowball "They dashed straight for Snowball. Napoleon used the dogs in
the public forum he created by setting an example of what would happen to those animals who
chose to disobey him.
Napoleon uses many tools of propaganda to gain power. His main tool perhaps were the sheep.
Whevever any of the other animals would want to speech up the sheep broke out in to "four legs
good, two legs bad". However, Napolean only ever gained complete power from exiling snowball.
He knew from the windmill vote that snowball was a threat, and found it very easy to get the
animals to side with him. So using the dogs, which he trained in secret, he got rid of this danger.
Animalism – The
Seven
Commandments
– The Motto
Animalism
The Seven Commandments
The Motto
Napoleon,
Squealer
and
Snowball
elaborated
old
Major’s ideas into a complex
system of thougth.
All of Old Major ideas are
turned into principles.
1.Whatever goes upon two
legs is an enemy.
1. I’ll work harder! (Boxer)
2. Napoleon Is always right! (B.)
3. “Four Legs good, two legs
bad”
Man is the only real enemy for
animals.
All
animals
are
comrades … Animalism is a
system where all animal could
live respectfully, in harmony.
All animals are equal!
2. Whatever goes upon four
legs or has wings, is a friend.
3. No
clothes.
animal
shall
wear
4. No animal shall sleep in a
bed. (With sheet)
5. No animal shall
alcohol. (to excess )
drink
6. No animal shall kill any other
animal (without cause)
7. All animals are equal (but
some are more equal than
others
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Malika Djehiche 5C
Old Major’s
Speech & Beast
of England
Old Major’s Speech
Beast Of England
He uses
- specific pronouns ( us, our, we ) to show the
implication and the equality.
- Passive form to reinforce the submission
- Questions to implicate the animals
- Lexical fields (misery, slavery)
- A vocabulary accessible for a majority
Sing at first by Old Major at the end of his
speech
Origin: His mum sang to him this song
Why: He sings it to call the animal to a
revolution. The animals react great at this song.
They learnt it in a spot.
His speech content
1. Complaints: animals life = slaves, small life
expectancy, receive the bare minimum of food
Reason: Men (tyrannize, steals the production,
kills the weak animals…)
Solution: Work only for getting rid of man
2. The ideas of animalism
3. Comparison with the communism
The Notion of
rebellion
throughout the
story (animals vs
man /animals vs
Napoleon)
In the URSS: Beast Of England was the
representation of a song in the glory of the
international workers, written by a French and
translated in many languages. It’s name was
“International”. It’s always use sometimes by
socialists and communists.
Animals vs man
-
First Rebellion against Jones because
he didn’t used to feed them anymore.
Battle of The cowshed
Battle of the windmill
Man is “the only real enemy” for animals
because all animals are equal.
Lies and violence
It’s a message of a better England with food
and freedom for the animals
We can find the vocabulary of Paradise.
It represents a perfect golden future time.
Animals vs Napoleon
-
The more he gets power, the more the
animals wants to rebel
the Hens smashed their own eggs to
protest Napoleon's actions.
They can’t protest, or they would die.
They slowly understand that something
is going wrong.
VIOLENCE:
The confessions in Animal Farm clearly refers to very cruel episode of the Russian history; The purges
under Stalin. When he came to the head of the communist party, one of his principal objectives
was to “clean” Russia of all people who was not communist enough. The number of victims is
estimates at more than two million.
The goose for example has just stolen six ears of corn and it will be killed for that! STUPID!
This is the first time since the expulsion of John that animals have killed other animals!
LIES:
Putting snowball as an enemy even it’s not here anymore + seven commandments that are
changed.
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