Animal Farm by George Orwell, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Animal Farm by George Orwell e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! ANIMAL FARM The author: George Orwell George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Blair, was born in India in 1903. As a child he was brought to England and educated in a preparatory school (where he suffered the lack of privacy and the pressure to conform to traditional English school values). So he began to develop an independent personality and, when he finished school, began serving as a police officer in Burma; He then decided to start publishing his works and writing about his experiences and about the conditions of poor and exploited people, insisting on tolerance and criticizing totalitarianism; he later joined the BBC as a journalist and also made reports on the Spanish Civil War. General informations First Edition: 1945, as Orwell's 4th book; Genre: satirical, allegorical and dystopian novel; Narrator: 3rd person; Short Plot: novel about the rise and fall of a group of farm animals struggling to establish an equal society free from human oppression. Setting Place: a farm in a rural English location, probably near Wallington; Time: mid-20th century. characters: Pigs: 1) Old Major: an old pig who acts as the instigator of the animals' rebellion. He makes a speech illustrating the injustices of human domination and inspires the animals to seek a better life. Orwell based this character both on Marx and Lenin; 2) Napoleon: a pig initially supporter of true revolutionary ideals, although his ambition will lead him to become a dictator who uses propaganda and violence to maintain control over the farm and other animals. His character represents Stalin in the allegory of the Russian Revolution; 3) Snowball: an "intellectual" pig that plays a crucial role in the first stages of the revolution, helping to develop the farm with his ideas. His character represents Trotsky in the allegory, as at the end he is exhiled from the farm by Napoleon's dogs; 4) Squealer: an intelligent and persuasive pig who spreads Napoleon's propaganda among other animals. He is capable to manipulate and distort the truth to justify the pigs' actions and maintain their control over other animals. His character represents the role of propaganda in the totalitarian regime. Horses: 1) Boxer: a cart-horse whose incredible strength and dedication plays a key role in the first stage of the revolution. He is quick to help but has a limited capacity to reflect independently and, in the end, despite his loyalty (symbolized by the two mottos "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right"), he is betrayed by the pigs. His character symbolizes the proletariat, often exploited for its work; 2) Mollie: a white horse who loves luxury and human attention. She refuses to join the rebellion and has difficulty in living in the “new” Animal Farm. Her character symbolizes the bourgeoisie, that escaped Russia a few years after the Revolution; 3) Clover: a good-hearted horse and Boxer's close friend. She supports the revolution because of her belief that it can protect the weakest and, being illiterate, she doesn’t notice the changes made to the seven commandments. His character symbolises the female working class of the Soviet Union. Other Animals: 1) Moses: a raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountains, the paradise where animals are supposed to go when they die. His character represents how communism exploits religion to offer comfort to the oppressed; 2) Benjamin: an old donkey known for his sceptical view of life. He does nothing to stop the revolution, even if he is one of the few conscious of what was really going on. His character represents those who did nothing to stop Stalin's oppressive politics; 3) Sheep and Dogs (that are treated as a group): the first represents the easily manipulable masses (who constantly repeat slogans, like the maxim “four legs good, two legs bad”, and propaganda of the regime), while the second are Napoleon's loyal servants and represent the political police that repress opposition. Humans different people. You don't have to know a lot about Marxist Leninism or Russian history to understand the important ideas in the novella. But if you do know some things about Russia's past, you might understand better how George Orwell is making fun of those ideas and being critical of them. To make his story relatable to everyone, not just people from Russia, the author George Orwell used two old styles of writing called political fable and animal fable, to talk about what's wrong with society in a way that is easier to understand. These types of stories are good for places where people can't speak out against the government because the stories can be seen as just make-believe. "Animal Farm" is a story where animals are the main characters and they are used to talk about important issues about how people behave and how politics work. This kind of story is called a fable or a beast fable. Many writers have used animal fables to talk about their own society without getting in trouble. The book "Animal Farm" uses a fable about animals to criticize society he lived in. It is similar to other stories that use animals to make a point about society. The story is meant to show how society in England and the Soviet Union is unfair and oppressive. Traditionally, fables rarely include more than one human character, but in this story, Orwell includes many human farmers. This is to show that the way animals are treated in the story is similar to how humans can be treated in real life. This means that animals can be exploited and mistreated just like people can be. Also, when a writer tells a story about human problems using animals, it can help them see how silly and foolish people can act. This is because the writer is looking at the situation from a distance and can make it into a simple story that is easy to understand. In "Animal Farm," George Orwell does this by telling the story of the Russian Revolution using talking animals on a farm. This makes the story simple and easy to understand. Orwell can teach a clear lesson about morality using this story. Old Major's dream is like a picture of a perfect world for the animals. The song "Beasts of England" talks about a future where the animals are free from humans and can enjoy the good things they work for. The song's words like "Tyrant Man shall be o’erthrown" and "Riches more than mind can picture" make the animals excited, but they don't realize that their dream is very different from the way things really are. Chapter 2 Three nights after Old Major's speech, he dies in his sleep. For the next three months, the animals secretly prepare to take over the farm from Mr. Jones, as Old Major had wanted. The cleverest animals, the pigs, take on the responsibility of teaching and organizing the other animals. Two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, along with a persuasive pig called Squealer, create a set of ideas called Animalism, which they share with the other animals. The animals address each other as "Comrade" and go to the pigs with their questions about the upcoming rebellion. At the beginning, the animals find it hard to understand Animalism because they are used to Mr. Jones being their boss. Mollie, a horse who cares about her looks, worries about losing her luxuries like sugar and ribbons in the new world. Snowball tells her that ribbons represent being controlled (symbolize slavery) and that they won't be allowed in the animals' perfect world. Mollie reluctantly(halfheartedly) agrees. The pigs in the story "Animal Farm" face a problem with Moses the raven, who tells the other animals about a wonderful place called Sugarcandy Mountain where animals go when they die. Many animals don't like Moses because he talks too much and does not work hard, but they like the idea of Sugarcandy Mountain. The pigs work hard to prove that Sugarcandy Mountain is not real. With the help of the cart-horses Boxer and Clover, who are not very smart but very loyal, the pigs finally convince the other animals to join them in a revolution. The animals rebelled against Mr. Jones sooner than expected and it was surprisingly easy for them to take control of the farm. Mr. Jones was upset after losing money in a lawsuit and started drinking alcohol. He did not take care of his farm workers, who became lazy, dishonest, and neglectful. One day, the animals on the farm were very hungry because Mr. Jones, their owner, had been drinking and forgot to give them food. The cows were so hungry that they broke into the storage shed and began to eat. When Mr. Jones found out, he was angry and whipped the cows. The other animals became angry too and attacked the men, driving them away from the farm easily. The animals were surprised that they were able to take control of the farm from the humans. They were excited and quickly got rid of any tools or equipment that the humans used to control and hurt them, like chains, whips, and other tools. They found these things in the farm buildings and destroyed them. The pigs tell the other animals that they learned how to read. Snowball, one of the pigs, changes the sign on the front gate of the farm to say "Animal Farm" instead of "Manor Farm." Snowball and Napoleon, another pig, come up with seven key commandments for the animals to follow, which they paint on the side of the barn. The animals went to collect the crops(the food that has grown), but the cows had not been milked for a while, so they started making loud noises. The pigs then milked the cows and the other animals looked at the five buckets of milk with desire. Napoleon tells the animals not to worry about the milk and promises that it will be taken care of. Snowball, another pig, leads the animals to the fields to start harvesting crops. However, Napoleon stays behind, and when the animals come back later that day, the milk is gone. Snowball, leads the animals to the fields to start harvesting crops(to start working on the fields). However, Napoleon stays behind, and when the animals come back later in the evening, the milk is disappeared. Analysis: Boxer and Clover, in particular, are like hard-working and loyal workers who can be easily manipulated by those with more education and power. Boxer and Clover are two animals in "Animal Farm" who represent the working class. They work very hard and are very loyal to each other. However, they don't have strong beliefs or ideas of their own, which makes them vulnerable to being controlled by the more educated animals who want to manipulate them for their own purposes. the pigs are like the smart and powerful people who organized and led the Russian Revolution. Squealer, one of the pigs, spreads messages to the other animals that are like the propaganda that revolutionaries used to convince people to join them.(Squealer creates propaganda similar to that spread by revolutionaries via official organs such as the Communist Party newspaper Pravda.) Moses the raven represents the Russian Orthodox Church, which tried to calm down the peasants by promising them a better life after they died. Mr. Jones gives Moses beer-soaked bread, which is like the way that the leaders of the Romanov dynasty used to bribe the church to support them.(Bribes are money, gifts, or other things of value given to someone, often in secret, in exchange for something that the giver wants) Mollie the horse represents the selfish and wealthy people who only care about themselves. She spends time with the humans who can give her nice things instead of supporting the other animals. The animals in the story had good ideas for how their society should be run. George Orwell, the author, was a supporter of socialism, which is a type of government where everyone is treated equally and with respect. This is what the animals wanted for their society, but it didn't work out. This is also what happened during the Russian Revolution. People who were smart and powerful took over the government and made it their own, instead of following the original ideas. In Animal Farm, it was the pigs who took over, and this led to problems. In "Animal Farm," there is a part where the animals try to get rid of things that remind them of their past mistreatment by humans. In the story, Orwell shows that he cares deeply about people who are very poor and have no power. He also really hates when people are hurt and it takes away their respect and self-worth. what happens with the sheep who mindlessly repeat the phrase without understanding its true meaning. The animals on the farm come up with a simple slogan that is easy to understand, even for those who aren't very smart. This slogan helps to motivate the animals to fight for their freedom, but the pigs take advantage of it and use it to establish their own oppressive rule. The animals themselves may be partly to blame for this, as they don't show much curiosity or interest in learning beyond what is necessary. For example, the dogs only read the Seven Commandments, and Benjamin the donkey doesn't use his reading skills to explore further. The birds don't understand Snowball's explanation about wings counting as legs, but they believe him because he is their leader. The other animals, who are not as smart as the pigs, don't realize that the pigs are going to treat them badly. The animals want to help each other and they sing a song called "Beasts of England" to show their enthusiasm. The pigs are very smart, but they use their intelligence to take advantage of the other animals who don't care as much. This is very bad behavior. Squealer is an important character in "Animal Farm" because he is good at spreading lies to convince the other animals that the pigs are doing good things. The pigs are actually being greedy, but Squealer makes it seem like they are doing what is best for everyone. He uses tricky language and tricks to control the other animals and make them think that the strict rules are necessary to protect them from humans. In Animal Farm, Squealer is a pig who helps the other pigs by pretending to be on the side of the other animals. He lies to make it seem like the pigs' goals are the same as everyone else's, even though they are not. Chapter 4 By the end of summer, news about Animal Farm has spread to many places nearby. The farm's previous owner, Mr. Jones, lives in Willingdon and spends his time drinking and complaining about his bad luck. In "Animal Farm," there are two farmers named Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick who own farms next to Animal Farm. They are afraid that their own animals will want to rebel like the animals on Animal Farm. However, they are in a competition with each other and cannot work together to stop Animal Farm. Instead, they spread rumors about the farm being bad and not working well. Meanwhile, animals in many places start singing a song called "Beasts of England," which they learned from pigeons sent by Snowball, one of the leaders of Animal Farm. Some animals also start behaving in a rebellious way. One day in October, some pigeons inform the animals of Animal Farm that Mr. Jones and some other people are coming to attack them. Snowball, who has read about Julius Caesar's battles, makes a plan to defend the farm. He leads the animals in attacking the humans by surprise, and they quickly win the battle. Boxer and Snowball fight bravely, and the only animal casualty is a sheep who is given a special burial because she died while defending the farm.(The animals’ losses amount only to a single sheep, whom they give a hero’s burial.) Boxer, a strong horse on the farm, feels bad because he thinks he accidentally killed a stable boy in the chaos. He is sad because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, even a human. Snowball, another animal on the farm, tells Boxer not to feel guilty. Snowball believes that humans are bad and that it's better if they're not alive. Mollie, who is a horse, did not want to be in danger, so she hides during the battle. Snowball and Boxer are given medals that say "Animal Hero, First Class" because they were brave during the battle. The animals find Mr. Jones's gun in the mud where he dropped it. They decide to put it at the bottom of the flagpole and shoot it twice a year. They choose October 12th, the day they won the Battle of the Cowshed, and Midsummer's Day, the day the anniversary of the Rebellion. Analysis: (In this chapter, Orwell makes masterful use of irony, an important component of satirical writing, to illustrate the gap between what the animals are fighting for and what they believe they are fighting for) In this chapter of "Animal Farm," the author uses irony, which means saying something but meaning the opposite, to show the difference between what the animals are fighting for and what they think they are fighting for. All of the animals except Mollie, work hard to fight in the Battle of the Cowshed, but they don't fully understand what they are fighting for or defending. They think that by fighting, they are protecting themselves from being treated unfairly, but in reality, they are helping the pigs become more powerful(But in truth, the other animals are unknowingly helping the pigs become more powerful by getting rid of the humans who were the main threat to the pigs' rule). The animals are willing to risk their lives to protect Animal Farm, but they don't realize the consequences of their actions. For example, Boxer feels guilty when he thinks he may have killed someone during the fight. After a battle on the farm, Snowball, one of the pigs, says that the animals should be willing to die for their farm. This makes the reader think about why some leaders use violence to control people. The farm owner, Mr. Jones, is careless and the other leaders, Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick, will do anything to stay in power, even if it means hurting the animals. They attack the farm because they want to keep their power, not because they think it's the right thing to do. Chapter 5 Mollie, one of the animals on the farm, starts to cause problems. She doesn't show up for work on time, talks to people from other farms, and doesn't follow the rules of Animalism. Eventually, she runs away with a man who fed her sugar and now she pulls his carriage. The other animals don't talk about her anymore. In the story "Animal Farm," the animals have meetings in the big barn during the cold winter months. Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, have disagreements that cause problems during the meetings. Snowball is good at talking and debating, while Napoleon is better at getting support from the other animals outside of the meetings. Snowball has ideas to make the farm better, like building a windmill that would generate electricity and make work easier for the animals(studies Mr. Jones’s books and eventually concocts a scheme to build a windmill, with which the animals could generate electricity and automate many farming tasks, bringing new comforts to the animals’ lives), Making the windmill would be very difficult and require a lot of hard work. But Napoleon thinks they should focus on their current needs instead of planning for the future. This causes a big argument among the animals. Napoleon shows his dislike for Snowball's plans by peeing on them. In the story "Animal Farm," Snowball has finished planning a new project to build a windmill. All the animals gather together for a meeting to decide if they should go ahead with the project. Snowball makes a very emotional and persuasive speech about why they should build the windmill. But Napoleon, another leader of the animals, responds with a short and weak argument. Snowball continues to talk about the amazing things they can do with the windmill and gets the animals excited about the idea. Right before the animals are about to vote, something strange happens. Napoleon makes a strange noise, and then nine big dogs wearing fancy collars show up and attack Snowball. They chase Snowball away from the farm. The dogs come back to Napoleon, and he announces that meetings are not allowed anymore except for special occasions. He also says that only the pigs will be making important decisions from now on. Afterward, many of the animals feel confused and disturbed. Squealer, another pig, tells them that Napoleon, the leader, is taking on a big responsibility by making decisions for everyone. Squealer says that Napoleon is the smartest animal and he is doing what is best for all of them. This makes the animals feel better, but they still wonder why Snowball was kicked out. Squealer tells them that Snowball was a traitor and a criminal. Eventually, the animals believe this story, and Boxer, a hardworking horse, supports Napoleon even more by saying things like "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right." After Snowball was kicked out, the animals find out that Napoleon is now in favor of building the windmill. Squealer tells the animals that Napoleon never really disagreed with the plan, and he only pretended to in order to get rid of Snowball. Squealer says that this was for the good of everyone. The animals believe Squealer and don't question his explanation because he has three dogs with him who can be scary. Analysis: In this part of the story, we learn that Napoleon, one of the pigs in charge, is greedy and wants power all to himself. He kicks out Snowball, another pig who was working with him, without any good reason. He also lies and changes what really happened in the past to help himself. Chapter 7 In the cold winter, the animals have a hard time rebuilding the windmill. They run out of food in January, but try to keep it a secret from the nearby human farmers so they don't think Animal Farm is failing. The humans don't believe that Snowball caused the windmill to fall, and instead say that the walls were too thin. The animals know this isn't true, but decide to make the walls twice as thick anyway. Squealer makes speeches about how sacrifice is good, but the animals are really inspired by Boxer, who works harder than anyone. Napoleon, the leader pig of the farm, makes a deal to sell 400 eggs every week to get food for the animals. The other animals are surprised because Old Major, a wise pig who died, had spoken against the selling of eggs. The hens become angry and refuse to give their eggs. As a punishment, Napoleon stops giving the hens their food. Sadly, nine hens die because of hunger before the others agree to Napoleon's request. After some time, the animals hear some bad news. They find out that Snowball has been secretly visiting the farm at night and causing trouble. Napoleon, another pig, says that he can see Snowball's influence everywhere, and that whenever something goes wrong, Snowball is blamed for it. One day, Squealer, another pig, tells the animals that Snowball has betrayed them and gone to work for a neighboring farm. Squealer says that Snowball has been plotting against them from the beginning and reminds them of how Snowball tried to get the animals defeated during a battle. The animals are upset and angry at Snowball for betraying them. The animals are surprised to hear these words. They remember that Snowball had been brave and had even won a medal. Boxer is especially confused. But Napoleon and Squealer convince the animals that Snowball was actually a traitor, and that Napoleon was the real hero. Squealer tells the animals such a vivid story about Napoleon's bravery that they almost believe they saw it happen. After four days, Napoleon gathers all the animals in the yard with his nine big dogs. He accuses some of the animals of conspiring with Snowball and makes them confess. Then he orders the dogs to kill these animals. The dogs even attack Boxer, but he is strong enough to fight them off. Unfortunately, many animals, including four pigs and a lot of others, are killed because of Napoleon's actions. Even the hens who didn't want to sell their eggs are killed. (The animals are very upset and confused after a lot of violence and killing happens)The fighting and killing made the animals very upset and unsure of what to do next. When Napoleon left, Boxer says that he would never have believed that such a thing could happen on Animal Farm. He thought maybe the animals did something wrong, so he decided to work even harder. Clover looked around the farm and wondered how things could have gone so wrong, after they had such a great rebellion. Some of the animals begin to sing “Beasts of England,” but Squealer appears and explains that “Beasts of England” may no longer be sung. It applied only to the Rebellion, he says, and now there is no more need for rebellion. Instead, Squealer gives them a new song written by another pig named Minimus, the poet pig. The new song talks about how great Animal Farm is, but it doesn't make the animals feel as excited as "Beasts of England" did. Chapter 8 After some time has passed since the violent killings, the animals notice that one of the rules, which used to say "No animal shall kill any other animal," now says "No animal shall kill any other animal without cause." The animals think that they must have forgotten about those last two words. They continue to work hard to rebuild the windmill, even though they struggle with hunger and the cold. Squealer reads continuously from a list of statistics to show that their lives are still better than they were when Mr. Jones was in charge and that things are getting even better. Napoleon, has made himself the leader of the farm and given himself many impressive titles. A poet named Minimus has written a poem praising Napoleon and put it on the barn wall. There is some leftover wood on the farm that they want to sell, that no one is using, and Napoleon is trying to sell it to either Mr. Frederick or Mr. Pilkington. Napoleon negotiates with two men, Mr. Frederick and Mr. Pilkington, to sell the wood. When the negotiations favor Mr. Frederick, the pigs teach the animals to hate Mr. Pilkington. But when Mr. Pilkington seems like he might buy the wood, the pigs teach the animals to hate Mr. Frederick instead.(Jones, and Napoleon engages in complicated negotiations for the sale of it to either Mr. Frederick or Mr. Pilkington. When negotiations favor Mr. Frederick, the pigs teach the animals to hate Mr. Pilkington. When Mr. Pilkington then appears ready to buy the timber, the pigs teach the animals to hate Mr. Frederick with equal ferocity.) In the story, the animals blame Snowball for anything that goes wrong on the farm. When they are angry at a different farm owner named Mr. Frederick, they say Snowball is hiding there. The animals are told a lot of negative information about Mr. Frederick, and Napoleon even says "Death to Frederick!". The animals are surprised when Mr. Frederick buys their timber, even though they were told he was their enemy. The pigs are very proud of how smart Napoleon is, because he didn't take a check, only cash, and now he has the money. Now, Napoleon has a lot of money in the form of five-pound notes. The animals finish building the windmill, but Napoleon discovers that the money they received for the wood is fake. He warns them something bad might happen, and soon Mr. Frederick comes with a group of men and attacks Animal Farm. The men blow up the windmill with dynamite, and the animals fight back, they attack the men, driving them away, but at a heavy cost: many of them are hurt or killed. Boxer is badly hurt. The animals are sad, but a ceremony where they raise their flag helps them feel better and gives them hope. Soon after, the pigs find some whisky in the basement of the farmhouse. That night, the animals hear the pigs singing and fighting after drinking the whisky. The next day, the pigs look sick and some animals think that Napoleon, the leader pig, might be dying. However, he gets better by the evening. The following night, some animals find Squealer near the barn, with a paintbrush, and he fell from a ladder while painting the Seven Commandments. But the animals don't realize that something is wrong. They think that their memory is not good, and that they had misremembered the rule that said "No animal shall drink alcohol." When they see that the actual rule is "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess," they think that they had just misunderstood the rule. Chapter 9 The animals were tired and weak, but they continued to work on rebuilding the windmill. Boxer, a horse, was hurt but didn't show any pain and worked every day without taking a break. Clover, another horse, made a healing paste for his hoof, which helped, but Boxer didn't look as strong as he used to be. Boxer wanted to see the windmill working well before he retired, even though no animal had retired on the farm before. Horses were allowed to retire when they turned twelve, and Boxer was approaching that age. He looked forward to living a comfortable life in the field as a reward for his hard work. In the story "Animal Farm," there is not enough food for all the animals, and the pigs and dogs get more food than everyone else. But Squealer, a pig, tells the other animals that they are still getting enough food, and even more than they did before. He says that when the pigs and dogs are healthy, it is good for everyone. When some pigs have babies, Napoleon the pig becomes the leader of the farm. When some of the sows (female pigs) give birth to many piglets, Napoleon decides to build a school for them, even though the farm doesn't have much money. He also starts organizing events called Spontaneous Demonstrations where the animals walk around and listen to speeches, feeling proud of being on Animal Farm. Some animals don't like these events, but the sheep, who enjoy them a lot, make noise to cover up any complaints by repeating the chant, "Four legs good, two legs bad!" the government of the farm declares that it is now a republic in April. Napoleon becomes the leader after everyone votes for him, even though he was the only one running for the position.