Animal Farm - Revision Guide

Exam Structure

  • Section 1: Allegory and Symbols (25%)

    • Define allegory: A story with characters, events, or settings symbolizing something else.

    • Animal Farm as an allegory of the Russian Revolution.

    • Symbolism of characters:

      • Mr Jones: Tsar Nicholas II

      • Moses: Religion

      • Boxer: Working classes

      • Napoleon: Stalin

      • Intellectuals

      • Old Major: Marx/Lenin

      • Squaler: Molotov/Propaganda

      • Manor Farm: Russia

      • The Dogs: Secret Police/KGB

      • Animal Farm: Soviet Union

      • Snowball: Trotsky

      • Mollie: Nobility

      • Western capitalists

      • Mr. Federeck and Pinchfield Farm: Hitler And Germany

      • Animalism: Communism

      • The Sheep: Easily manipulated masses

      • Lawsuits: Wars

      • Construction of the Windmill: Electrification

      • Sugarcandy Mountain: Heaven

      • The Farmhouse: The Winter Palace

  • Section 2: Quotations (10%)

    • Identify speakers of 8 quotations from the book.

  • Section 3: Short Answer Questions (15%)

    • 15 generic questions based on slide presentation.

    • Knowledge of how the 7 commandments were changed.

  • Section 4: Political Context (20%)

    • Define totalitarianism: Government control over every aspect of life.

    • Compare communism and capitalism, including a problem with each system.

    • Define cult of personality: Idealized and heroic leader.

    • Methods used by dictators like Napoleon to create a cult of personality.

    • Define propaganda and its use on the farm.

    • Explain the use of fear and violence to control animals on the farm.

  • Section 5: Historical Context (15%)

    • Knowledge of historical events and their symbols in the book:

      • Operation Barbarossa

      • Holodomor

      • The Russian Civil War

      • The Germany-Soviet Union non-aggression pact

      • The Show Trials

  • Section 6: Final Scene Analysis

    • Meaning of the final sentence: “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and it was impossible to say which was which.”

    • Differences between the book's ending and the cartoon movie's ending and the reasons behind it.

Revision Tips

  • Read the book.

  • Review the slides.

  • Ask questions using Google or AI.

  • Watch summary videos.

  • Play the Blookets.

Allegory and Symbolism

  • Allegory Defined: A story using characters, events, and settings as symbols to represent something else.

    • Surface Story: Literal events (e.g., talking animals).

    • Symbolic Meaning: What the surface events represent.

  • Animal Farm as Political Allegory: Represents the Russian Revolution and the rise of totalitarianism.

    • Warns against the dangers of concentrated power.

Historical Context: The Russian Revolution

  • The 1917 Russian Revolution: The first Communist revolution.

  • Communism: A political and economic system where property is owned by the community.

  • Tsar Nicholas II: Symbolized in the book; the people revolted against his family, which had been in power for over 500 years.

    • Believed in his divine right to rule but lacked leadership skills.

    • Ignored growing unrest and hardship.

  • Joseph Stalin (Man of Steel): A ruthless dictator responsible for millions of deaths.

  • Top 5 Biggest Killers in History

    • Chairman Mao, China - 70 million, Famine (Great Leap Forward), Cultural Revolution, executions

    • Stalin, Russia - 20 million, Famine (Holodomor), purges, gulags

    • Hitler, Germany - 17 million, Holocaust, Genocide

    • Ghengis Khan, Mongolia (10% of the world’s population) Wars and massacres

    • King Leopold II of Belgium, Congo - 15 million, Colonial Slavery, forced labour

Chapter 1

  • Old Major: Represents Karl Marx and Lenin.

    • Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto.

    • Lenin led the communist party in Russia.

  • Post-Reading Questions

    • Is Mr. Jones a good farmer? Who does he represent in the allegory?

    • Does Old Major have bigger ideas beyond just taking over the farm?

Chapter 2

  • The Rebellion: It happened spontaneously.

  • Main pigs: Napoleon (Stalin), Snowball (Trotsky), Squealer (Propaganda/Molotov).

  • The 7 Commandments are created to establish animalism.

Animalism

  • Animalism is a symbol of .

  • Commandments of Animalism.

  • Character who ‘wasn’t much of a talker but had a reputation for getting his own way’.

  • Squealer could ‘turn black into white’. What does that mean?

  • Character who doesn’t work and talks about ‘Sugar Candy Mountain’. What does Sugar Candy mountain represent?

  • What happened to the character when the animals rebelled?

  • The milk disappeared. This act foreshadows problems with equality.

Cold War Context

  • Animal Farm used as a weapon; books airdropped to destabilize countries.

  • George Orwell coined the term ‘Cold War’.

Allegorical Symbols

  • The Farmhouse: Represents the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, where Tsar Nicholas lived.

    • Turned into a museum after the revolution.

  • Mollie: Represents the Russian Nobility.

    • Avoids work, likes finer things, concerned about sugar after the revolution.

  • Squealer: Represents Vyacheslav Molotov or propaganda.

  • Molotov Cocktail: Improvised petrol bombs used by Finland against Russia in 1939.

  • Moses the Pet Raven: Represents organized religion.

    • Communism was anti-religion.

    • Karl Marx called religion ‘the opium of the people’.

  • Communists believed religion distracted from demanding real change on Earth.

Chapter 3

  • Work begins on the farm.

  • Decision made about the apples.

  • Two pigs don’t see eye-to-eye.

  • Dogs have pups taken away from their mothers.

Allegorical Symbols

  • The sheep: Represents the easily manipulated masses.

  • Boxer: Represents the hard-working working class.

    • Loyal, says “I will work harder.”

  • Benjamin the donkey: Represents cynical, educated people who don’t speak up.

Chapter 4

  • News spreads; neighboring farmers worry about rebellion.

  • Farmers decide to help take the farm back.

Historical Context

  • The White Army: Fought against the Communists during the Russian Civil War (1917–1923).

  • Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick: Represent foreign countries in this tale.

Capitalism vs. Communism

  • Capitalism: People and businesses own property and make money by buying and selling goods and services.

    • Encourages competition and freedom of choice.

    • Can lead to big gaps between rich and poor.

    • Today, the top 1% of the World’s population own 99% of the World’s wealth.

  • Communism: All property is owned by the community, and everyone is supposed to share wealth equally.

    • Often involves a single-party government that controls the economy and limits individual freedoms.

Chapter 5

  • Mollie leaves.

  • The windmill idea.

  • Napoleon chases Snowball off the farm with dogs and Snowball becomes a scapegoat.

  • Sunday morning meetings end.

Historical Context

  • What happened to Trotsky?

  • The Windmill represents the Electrification of Russia

George Orwell

  • Orwell volunteered to fight for a Marxist group in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists.

  • After being shot through the neck by a sniper in 1937, became a strong critic of totalitarianism.

  • Supporter of Social Democracy, wrote books aimed at improving conditions for the working Classes.

  • Lived in poverty to understand how poor people lived.

  • Died of Tuberculosis at 50. Tragically there was a cure for TB the following year; 1951.

C.I.A. Involvement

  • The C.I.A. secretly funded the movie.

  • Is this movie propaganda?

Chapter 6

  • How the pigs are gaslighting the other animals.

  • Who was blamed for the destruction of the Windmill?

  • What happened in real life to the person blamed?

Chapter 7

  • The historical context of Holodomor (execution by hunger) 1932-1933

  • Stalin quotes « Death solves all problems no man no problem » and “One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.
    Connection to Animal Farm.

  • Historical context of Show trials and the Great Purge

  • Why did the animals confess to being traitors ?

  • Why do you think Napoleon banned the singing of Beasts of England?

Chapter 8: Non-aggression pact

  • Napoleon is developing a ‘cult of personality’ ( to create an idealised and heroic leader). How is he doing this?

  • How has Napoleon set himself apart from the others? Is he becoming paranoid? What is a ‘cult of personality’ and how is Napoleon creating one?

  • What historical event did the selling of the timber pile represent? What was wrong with the pile of 5 pound notes? What alcoholic drink did the pigs find in the farmhouse? How was the fifth commandment ‘thou shalt not drink alcohol’ changed? Who was changing the commandments?

  • Historical Context : German invade Russia. Serves you right

Chapter 9 review questions :

  • Chapter 9 - The great betrayal of boxer.

  • How is squealer using propaganda in this chapter? Which animal has returned to the farm? What does he symbolise? Why do you think he is now tolerated by the pigs? Which commandment has been broken in this chapter? - Page 76 What is the significance of the final line of the chapter : “From somewhere or other the pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whisky. ” Page 84

  • Named the Windmill ‘Napoleon Windmill’ , Poems and large paintings of him are painted on to the barn wall; he is referred to as ‘Our leader, Comrade Napoleon’ or ‘Father of all animals’ etc… . Awarding himself medals for bravery.

Final Chapter

  • The great betrayal of Boxer

  • What happened to the 7 Commandments? What is the meaning of the final sentence? ‘The creatures outside looked from pig to man and from man to pig and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was.

  • Should the animals blame themselves for what went wrong on Animal Farm? Is Animal Farm still relevant today? How has Animal Farm Changed from the beginning of the book to the end? Was farmer Jones a worse leader than Napoleon?

  • Why didn’t the C.I.A. like the ending? We are going to watch the final part of the hat were the two main differences between the ending of the book and the ending of the movie?