Scarica Animal farm george orwell e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! ANIMAL FARM – GEORGE ORWELL Animal farm, an anti-dystopian novel, much influenced by Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, is a political fable in the form of an allegory. PLOT A group of oppressed animals overcome their cruel master and set up a revolutionary government. The pigs lead the enterprise under Napoleon’s leadership. At first, the animals’ life is guided by seven commandments based on equity, then they are altered by the pigs who become more dictatorial than humans. AIM AND ALLEGORIES He was a socialist but he was also aware that what was happening in the Soviet Union was not good. So he wrote Animal Farm to show that the ideals of the original founders of the Revolution had been betrayed and that the workers and peasants were being as cruelly treated by the communist government as they had been by the Tzar Through an animals’ revolution, through the struggle between humans and animals, through a blending of humor and sarcasm, Orwell gives an allegory of the Russian Revolution. 1. Old major stands for a mixture of Marx and Lenin, whose doctrine in summarized by the seven commandments 2. Farmer Jones is Tzar Nicholas II, described as a drunk farmer who doesn’t care for his animals 3. Snowball, the intelligent but too idealistic leader, represents Trotsky and his bravery is an example to the other animals through his inspiring speeches. 4. Napoleon is Stalin, who uses terror, force and the police to maintain his power 5. The huge dogs represent the police 6. The pig Squealer is Napoleon’s propagandist, who tells everybody that Napoleon is a great leader even if the animals are now, as before the rebellion, hungry and overworked 7. Boxer and Clover are the representative of the proletariat who follow ‘Animalism’ without understanding its complexity completely 8. The confessions and executions stand for Stalin’s purges and the show trials of the 30s 9. The non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia represents the alliance between men and pigs 10. Mr. Fredericks stands for Hitler However, Animal Farm is a satire on dictatorship, on totalitarianism in general as it is clearly shown by the name of the ruling pig, Napoleon. STYLE AND THEMES Through a language which is always fluent, clear, like a window-pane, Orwell is a socially and politically committed writer, who insists on tolerance and justice in human relationships. The main themes of Animal Farm are: I. Awareness against the dangers of propaganda II. Awareness against personality cult (e.g.: Stalin Hitler, Mussolini) III. Uselessness of any revolution by the masses since it’s doomed to fail a. Lack of a class consciousness b. No unifying values c. Ease of manipulation IV. Control and use of language as a political instrument with slogans a. «Four legs good, two legs bad», later changed in «four legs good, two legs better» after the alliance with humans. Its new meaning is not understood by the sheep, standing for the mass V. Presence of misery caused by poverty and deprivation SEVEN COMMANDMENTS 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2. Whatever goes upon four 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 any other animal. 7. All animals are equal. The last commandment, «All animals are equal», is later changed in «All animals are equals, but some animals are ore equal than others» to include all of the other commandments and to show the lack of social justice as pigs can’t be as equal as sheep.
