Animal Farm
(Whoops - how did that picture get there?!)
Again, lots and lots of great stuff already on blog here:
Some new stuff:
Additional Info for AUTHOR context:
- Orwell was relatively poor when he returned to England from following his Socialist beliefs, despite an upper-middle class upbringing.
- Sense of profound isolation in childhood - never felt he fitted in
- Tolerant of individualism and sympathetic with the working classes
- Strong sense of social injustice
- Unhappy about Imperialism
- Socialist but became progressively more anti-Communist in sentiment / anti-patriotism
- Positioned himself as sympathiser to the plight of the poor.
- Saw Animal Farm as a 'truth' and a social commentary.
- Deliberately used animals to mock / satirise powerful humans.
- Grew disillusioned after seeing the in-fighting in the Spanish Civil War which he reflects with the characters of Snowball and Napoleon after their success in battle.
- Approved of MORALS of revolution
- Saw the MILK STEALING scene as crucial pivotal point in text: "If animals had put their foot down then, it would have been all right."
- Deliberately an unlikely setting - a farm - to show universal nature of corruption.
- Used anthropomorphism (animals with human features)
- 'Fairy story' subtitle - fable / allegory / subversive (no such thing as happy ever after...) A fictional story making a serious, factual and political point
- Wanted to draw attention to peasants living in appalling conditions in Russia - food shortages, agitation, punishment.
- Lenin died in 1924 and then there was a power struggle between Trotsky (Snowball?) and Stalin (Napoleon)
- Trotsky had plans to industrialise the country to improve economy but they were opposed by Stalin (like Snowball's windmill plans) and then, after exile of Trotsky, Stalin started '5 year plan' and took credit...!
- Power of persuasion and propaganda on the masses - danger of intelligence mis-used
- Stalin became dictator in 1928.
- Climate of fear.
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