Transcript Animal Farm Novel Notes

Animal Farm Novel
Notes
George Orwell’s
Anti-Utopian Novel
Allegory – A story with
an underlying meaning
Satire – Pokes fun at a
serious issue
Fable – Animal story
with a moral
Chapter 1
 Old Major’s Prophecy - Rebel against
Man’s ways as well as Man himself:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Live in a house
Sleep in a bed
Wear clothes
Drink
Smoke
Use money
Engage in trade
No tyranny over other animals
 IRONY of Old Major as the “visionary”:
He has led a pampered life as a prize
winning show pig. He has had the
opportunity to oversee the situation faced
by the others.
Chapter 2
 Napoleon Vs. Snowball: Their descriptions
foreshadow a power struggle
Snowball –
•Good speaker
•Inventive
•Not as strong
as Napoleon
Napoleon–
•Fierce-looking
•Rarely speaks
•used to getting
his own way
 Important Characters:
 Squealer – has the ability to persuade others
 Boxer/Clover – examples of the “hard-working
masses”
 Benjamin – intelligent; sees what is happening
 Sugar Candy Mountain:
This represents that idea of “Heaven”
No matter how you suffer on Earth,
you are rewarded in the “afterlife”.
 Communist Belief:
No rewards in an
“afterlife”.
Have to make the most
of the here and now.
Allowed religion so people would have
something to believe in.
 Pigs’ Ability to Read and Write: Intelligence far
above the other animals
except Benjamin.
 Because of this, they assume the role of
‘organizers’. Very quickly, they take
advantage of the situation. They take
advantage of the others’ ignorance.
 They do attempt to teach the other animals
The Seven Commandments
1. Whatever goes upon 2 legs is an
enemy
2. Whatever goes upon 4 legs or has
wings is a friend
3. No animal shall wear clothes
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed
5. No animal shall drink alcohol
6. No animal shall kill another animal
7. All animals are equal
Chapter 3
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Boxer: selfless concern for others
Benjamin: refusal to get involved
Sheep: ignorance; very dumb and easily led
Use of Propaganda
Squealer is instrumental - good
speaker
1st use - Disappearance of the
milk and apples
Sheep’s Maxim – “four legs good, two legs bad”
Propaganda
Something written or
spoken with the
intention of making
people believe what
you want them to
believe
Propaganda shares
techniques with
advertising and
public relations
 An appeal to one’s emotions is the more
obvious propaganda method, but there are
many other forms:
 Flag Waving
 Glittering Generalities
 Intentional vagueness
 Bandwagon
 Rationalization
 Red Herring
 Slogans/Songs
 Stereotyping
 Testimonial
 Attacking the Straw Man
Propaganda Answers:
Flag Waving: Connecting person or product with patriotism.
Example: Red, white and blue packaging.
Glittering Generalities: Words that make something glitter or sparkle while
using words that are generic. Often vague but positive.
Examples: Do something “in defense of democracy” Democracy
has a positive connotation. Or using X product “is the American
way.”
Bandwagon: An appeal to the subject to follow the crowd.
Example: Over 99 billion served.
Repetition: Attempt to persuade by repeating a message over and over
again.
Example: Phone number or jingle in commercials
Propaganda Answers:
Red Herring: An irrelevant topic is presented in order to get attention
away from the original issue.
Example: O.J. Simpson couldn’t have murdered his wife. He’s in
the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.
Testimonial: Quotations or endorsements which connect a famous
person to the product.
Example: Katy Perry uses ProActiv.
Sweeping Generalization (Stereotyping): Makes an over-simplified
statement about a group based on limited information.
Example:
Circular Argument: States a conclusion as part of the proof of the
argument
Example:
Propaganda Answers:
Name-Calling: The opposite of glittering generalities. Ties a person or
cause to a negative image.
Example: In a campaign speech, the Congressman referred
to his environmentally conscious opponent as a tree-hugger.
Plain Folks: the candidate or cause is identified with common people from
everyday walks of life. Makes the candidate seem grassroots and allAmerican.
Example: after a speech to wealthy campaign donors, the
candidate stops by McDonald’s for a burger and a photo-op
Appeal to Numbers, Facts, Stats: attempts to persuade by showing the
number of people who think something is true.
Example: 9 out of 10 dentists use Crest toothpaste
Does Propaganda Work?
 Children had to decide between a plain cupcake with
frosting or a cupcake with frosting and Spider-Man.
 All the kids chose the Spider-Man
 when the kids were asked why they chose that one
they said they think it tastes better.
 Between a banana with Spongebob stickers and a
cupcake a good majority chose the banana.
 Banana with no stickers and a rock with Spongebob
stickers…
 Over ½ of the children chose the rock with the stickers
to eat for breakfast.
Chapter 4

Battle of Cowshed:
 It was planned (unlike the rebellion)
 Enforced the animals’ hold on Animal
Farm
 Snowball gains power; labeled a hero

Hero 1st Class: Snowball and Boxer

Where was Napoleon?
Chapters 5 and 6
 Mollie’s Departure:
 Used to luxury and not willing to give it up
 Material pleasures were more important than
freedom
 Represents the Aristocracy
 She was the only animal with something to
lose in the revolution
Napoleon Vs. Snowball
 Defense:
Napoleon - use of
weapons
 Windmill:
Napoleon - against
the idea
Snowball organize animals
from other farms
Snowball - create
electricity to
make life easier
What Napoleon says: will take too much time from making food
What Napoleon means: good idea - feather in Snowball’s cap
 Snowball’s Slogan - “The 3 Day Week”
 Napoleon’s Slogan - “The Full Manger”
Animals
too
ignorant to
make up
their
minds
Removal of Snowball
 Snowball forces a vote on the windmill when the
animals are leaning towards him.
 Napoleon realizes that if the vote is taken, he will lose
 Dogs chase Snowball off. His removal is the 1st
act of violence
 Foreshadows more to come
 Napoleon tells the animals that Snowball was a
traitor and that’s why he was run off
From this point on, Snowball will be a Scapegoat for
everything that goes wrong
Boxer’s new Maxim: “Napoleon is always right”
Life Under Napoleon – Ch 6
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
No more Sunday debates or voting - pigs will
make all decisions
Fear factor is increased
Windmill is to be built - Napoleon said it was his
idea
Work on Sundays
Engage in trade - Mr. Whymper is the gobetween
Pigs move into the house - need a place to work
Pigs get up 1/2 hour later than others
Pigs sleep in beds
Windmill is destroyed - blamed on Snowball;
death sentence placed on him
First Commandment Change - “No
animal shall sleep in beds with sheets”
Clover questions this
Chapter 7
 Changes in Napoleon
 Few public appearances
 Spoke through Squealer
 Always guarded - Paranoia!
 Chicken Rebellion
 Facing starvation - pigs decide to sell eggs for food
 Chickens refuse Squealer’s appeal - propaganda fails
 Chickens destroy their own eggs - WHY?
 Chickens’ rations stopped. Give in after 5 days - 9 dead
 Snowball as the Scapegoat:
 Squealer announces that Snowball led the attack
on them at the Battle of Cowshed.
 He was in league with Jones from the beginning
 Written document found in the house, but only
pigs can read it
Rewriting history - Napoleon saved the
day at Cowshed
 Boxer questions Squealer
 Finally agrees because Napoleon is always right
 Squealer now distrusts Boxer
 Scene of Bloodshed:
 Four pigs - Napoleon distrusts them because
they sided with Snowball.
 Probably admitted their actions because a DEAL
was made
 Didn’t realize they would be killed
 Why would they admit to being traitors?
 Mass hysteria, brainwashing
 Boxer doesn’t understand: vows to work
harder
 Clover begins to realize something is wrong
 Life isn’t what she expected - continues to work hard.
Abolishes “Beasts of
England”
•Napoleon says they no
longer need a song of
rebellion
•Napoleon fears a
rebellion against himself!
Chapter 8
Napoleon as a Leader
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Celebrate his birthday
Formally addressed
Given credit for all good things
More paranoid - more guards, food
tasting
Second commandment change - “No
animal shall kill another animal without
cause”
Battle of the Windmill
 Sell timber to Fredrick to buy food
 Napoleon accuses Fredrick of giving
counterfeit money
 Frederick and friends attack Animal Farm
 Windmill is blown up - Animals “win”
 1 cow, 3 sheep, 2 geese die
 Boxer is wounded
Aftermath of the Battle
 Squealer tells them that they’ll build again
 Boxer is worried he will not be strong
enough to do it all again
 Squealer announces Napoleon is dying What was really wrong?
Third Commandment Change - “No animal
shall drink alcohol to excess”
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
Pigs drink whiskey
Retirement pasture turned into a barley field
Pigs buy equipment for a still
Squealer falls while changing the
commandment
 No one catches it but Benjamin
 He says nothing!
Chapter 9
 Boxer
 Ailing health - refuses to quit working
 Near retirement age - 12 years old
 Privileges of the Pigs
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Schoolhouse built for the piglets
Piglets not to play with other animals
Other animals have to give pigs the right of way
Pigs wear green ribbons on their tails
Crops sold to buy luxuries for the pigs
 Form a Republic
 Animal Farm acts as a country of its own
 Napoleon as president - his wishes become law
 More info on Snowball - he actively fought with Jones;
wounds were made by Napoleon
 Return of Moses
 Moses returns and preaches about Sugar Candy
Mountain
 Although Napoleon warns others not to listen, Moses is
allowed to stay and given food and beer
 Why? SCM keeps the animals’ minds off their troubles prevents a rebellion
Death of Boxer
 Collapses while working - plans to retire
 Napoleon makes arrangements at a hospital
 Benjamin makes everyone aware that they
are taking Boxer to the knackers
 Boxer is too weak to escape
 Squealer announces that Boxer died at
hospital
 Vet bought knackers’ van
 Pigs bought a case of whiskey and held a
party - money from sale of Boxer
Three Reasons for Boxer’s Death
1. Pigs make money - buy whiskey
2. Pigs save money - don’t have to feed
him anymore
3. Pigs didn’t trust him
Why doesn’t Benjamin do anything? - He is too
afraid. The pigs are too powerful. He realizes he
will be killed if he causes trouble. IT IS TOO LATE!
Chapter 10
 Windmill - Complete
 Used as a grain mill not for electricity for the
animals
 Pigs use money for themselves
 Final Changes in the Pigs
 Walk on hind legs
 4 legs good, 2 legs better
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Carry whips
Use phones
Magazines
Smokes
Wore clothes
Final Commandment Change:
“All Animals are equal….
but some are more equal
than others”
The majority of animals new to Animal Farm
(born or bought after the revolution)
 Happy to live free from man
 Too stupid to really understand the
commandment’s true meaning
 No animal has retired
 Reflect - Pigs began getting their way using
Propaganda. As time went by, they used the fear
factor to keep control and the need for
Propaganda lessened.
 Finale - The animals can’t tell the difference
between the pigs and men. It wasn’t a LITERAL
similarity - the pigs’ behavior was like man.
 Full Circle - Life is no better now than it was under
Jones (possibly worse). Through corruption and
greed, the pigs have totally taken advantage of
and controlled their “comrades”
Resolution
Totalitarianism is dangerous.
It doesn’t work. Don’t
attempt it.
Review
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5.
6.
7.
Characters and Their Symbolism
Old Major……………………..…..Karl Marx
Jones…………………….…Czar Nicholas II
Napoleon…………………………….…Stalin
Snowball…..…………………..…….Trotsky
Dogs……………………KGB (secret police)
Boxer/Clover…….…Hard-Working Masses
Moses……………………….………Religion
8. Sheep………….…..Brainwashed Followers
9. Benjamin……………….…Older Generation
10. Mollie………….………………….Aristocracy
11. Squealer…………..…..Propaganda/Pravda
12. Muriel………………..……Educated People
13. Pigs……………………………..Communists