Animal Farm: Characters and Interpretations, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Inglese

Scarica Animal Farm: Characters and Interpretations e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! PERSONAGGI Mr jones: factor of manor farm Mr Pilkington: owner of the Foxwood farm Mr Frederick: owner of the Pinchfield farm Mr Whymper: a lawyer living in Willingdon Old major: boar (cinghiale)/ Represent Lenin Old Major is very clever, well respected, an excellent speaker and an inspiration to the animals. He ends his speech by teaching the animals a song called Beasts of England. He died after giving his speech and the others pigs take what they learnt from him and created animalism , a set of rules for animals to live by. During his speech, Old Major uses a range of linguistic techniques such as part of rhetoric to persuade and inspire the other animals. "Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labor is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems." Old Major persuades the animals that he is right by using emotive words like 'miserable' to pull on the animals' heartstrings. He also uses questions and inclusive pronouns like 'comrades' and 'our' to involve them in his ideas. Intelligent Old Major has lived a long time and learned many lessons from his experiences."| have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living."Old Major has had a long time to consider the 'nature of life'. During this time he has learned so much that he is confident that he understands it 'as well as any animal now living. Snowball, boar (cinghiale) /Represent Trotsky Snowball is one of the key pigs who take the teachings of Old Major and turn them into a way of thinking Called ‘animalism’. He is intelligent, cares about working animals and he is also a brave fighter. Napoleon doesn’t like the ideas of Snowball and so has him chased off the farm by his guard dog. Napoleon as a scapegoat: anything that goes wrong on the farm is blamed on him. Napoleon also convinced the animals that snowball was 1 never brave during the battle. He was (snowball) brave in the battle of cowshed, a good speaker and also caring. This character represents Trotsky, a supporter of Lenin’s who was in charge of the Red Army and applied military discipline to the economy. He was successful and charismatic, so much so that he was considered the ideal candidate for Lenin’s succession. Napoleon: boars (cinghiali)/ Represent Stalin - Greedy for power ( avido di potere) Arrogant Brutal Violent Napoleon symbolise Stalin the Russian dictator, he is the one who runs the animal farm in the novel. He secretly raises the farm’s nine puppies and turns them into hounds in his service who terrorize other animals. It ends with power at the same level with humans. He is the one of three pigs that take Old Major ideas and turn them into ‘Animalism’. He also manages to get the support of the sheep, he encourages them to chant ‘four legs good, two legs bad’ during debates, preventing others making to live by. Napoleon symbolises Stalin , the Russian dictator who ruled the USSR after Lenin's death, instituting a reign of death and terror by killing all his opponents. His use propaganda and of the secret police called KGB are represented by Squealer and the dogs respectively. Bluebell, Jessie, Pincher: dogs They represent private police force to crush rebellion, use to create a state of terror, in fact is dangerous speaking your mind because they punished you. Boxer, Clover: cart-horses (cavalli da carro) Boxer: Hard worker (lavora in modo esagerato) stuck in work Self discipline Generosity Boxer is a hardworking animal, strong enough to potentially regain power from pigs, which frightens them, innocent. 2 ORWELL’S IDEAS ethical approach: All his work reflects his ethical and political views and his latest novels are a warning against the abuses of politics and the risk of a new totalitarianism. He first defined himself as an anarchist, and then as a socialist, but still was able to identify the falts of his own political side and denounce them clearly. Orwell was particularly critical of violent repression, manipulation of the masses and the use of propaganda to justify power. his vision of the poor: Orwell always had strong feelings for the lower classes and wanted them to realize about their power from a political view and be educated about it his vision about the government: The thing Orwell criticizes the most about the government is their manipulative use of language. He was extremely critical of slogans and images repeated over and over again losing their real meaning, infact he writes his novels is a simple and clear language, that everybody can understand. Orwell believed in learning from past to avoid repeating the same mistakes. He in fact believed that the government with propaganda lied about the past to convince the population that the present is always better than the past. composition of animal farm: He composed his novel as a denounce of the failure of the Russian Revolution. Orwell's decision to use the form of a fable with animals representing human vices, follows a long traditions that goes back to classic literature. Orwell was looking for a form that could put together moral teaching and more specific references to the historical period he was living in, so that people could easily recognise it. three different levels of interpretation of animal farm As a Children's Story: 5 The novel is a children's story, but also added sophisticated humor and fantasy for his adult audience. The style is straight forward, like a fairy tale, and is enjoyed by children of all ages. As a Fable: Animal Farm is a fable in which the characters are animals, each with his own personality and human characteristics for example they demonstrate the failings of humans. As a fable, the story seems like it doesn’t have an underneath meaning, but if you look closely there is great meaning. Political satire: Animal Farm is also an example of Political Satire of Russia during Stalin. It makes fun of the follies that men do in politics, they simply cannot resist the temptation of power, demonstrated when corruption develops in the farm. TOTALITARIANISM political system in which all powers are concentrated in a single political party PROPAGANDA Propaganda is the diffusion of information (facts, arguments, rumors and lies) to influence public opinion that developed in Europe before World War II. For example when Squealer uses as propaganda the excuse that if they hadn’t kept the regime of animalism they would have gone back to the old regime of Mr. Jones. There are other elements that connect the plot to historical examples of totalitarianism: one of the most important is the role of enemies. The first enemy of all animals is certainly man, the oppressor, but once men are defeated a new and different type of target for the animals' negative Instincts must be found. The so-called scapegoat is an internal enemy, someone Ino is accused of betraying the ideals of his group and therefore arouses even more hier feelings. Napoleon, as most tyrants, is good at c in hoosing the pig what could have diminished his power. snowball, and making the other animals hate him so much that he can be powerful. snowwater blem that occurs, starting from the moment of his supposed betrayal. OLD MAJOR'S SPEECH 6 In Animal Farm, the pig Old Major speaks to all the animals on the farm, making a stirring speech calling them to action. He tells them that Man is the enemy, and a rebellion is inevitable, just as Marx and Lenin, who he represents, did during the Russian Revolution. His clever use of rhetorical devices such as appeal to ethos, rhetorical questions, among many others, is what makes his speech so effective. Announcement of the revolution: It begins with the narration of a strange dream he had, one in which animals ruled in harmony over England. He presents animals with a revolutionary song that will become the anthem of Manor Farm after the revolution: "Beasts of England". And during the speech he announces to animals that humans are the cause of all their problems. “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the deepest cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing” It is from here that we understand that man is capitalist, that is, someone who owns and employs capital in productive economic activities. RIASSUNTO CAPITOLI Capitolo 1 After getting drunk, the Jones factor goes to sleep. The farm animals go around the Old Major who wants to tell a dream he had the night before. Before telling the dream he says his life is coming to an end, he reminds them of the work done for humans, and how little they give food in return, only what is strictly necessary to survive. He tells them that the puppies are taken soon after they are born to be slaughtered. The Old Major says that all animals are brothers and that the only enemy is humans. He convinces animals to fight humans and that revolution is the only solution to their problems. The major describes the dream starting by saying that he could not remember clearly, except that he remembers a song he had learned at a young age. He sings the song, which tells of a day when humans are defeated, where animals are finally free. The animals are happy and sing too, until a gunshot from the Jones factor brings everything back to normal. 7 a regime of terror, and Snowball, who wants social well-being, begins. In assemblies Snowball's ideas are more successful, but Napoleon secretly plots to defame and de-legitimize Snowball, appropriating his ideas. Snowball's most ambitious project is a windmill, which will power the farm. Napoleon is against this idea, and makes his opinion public. Snowball works day and night for the mill project. The animals meet to decide on the windmill. The farm is now divided into two factions: Snowball has convinced his supporters that thanks to the windmill they will have much more free time, while Napoleon has convinced his followers that the windmill will be a failure. During the meeting, the sheep disturb Snowball's explanations. Snowball wins the contest. Then Napoleon gets up and emits a strange sound. At this signal, nine dogs, among those that in the previous months Napoleon had taken as soon as they are born, go to Snowball and send him away from the farm. He will never come back. Napoleon says Sunday meetings will be abolished, and all future decisions will be made only by the pigs. Squirrel says Napoleon has agreed to lead the farm, as he has to sacrifice his life for that of others, and those who are against it are told that if Napoleon does not command, the humans return. Capitolo 6 A year later, the animals work on the construction of the mill and the harvest. The mill is not ready and has only taken away work from the fields. The hardest work is done by Boxer, who promises to work even harder. There are some things that cannot be done on the farm. This problem is addressed by Napoleon who announces that the animals will one day do business with the men of the neighboring farms by selling hay and grain, and the hens are told to deliver some of their eggs. Some animals do not understand why they remember that it was said that animals should no longer have anything to do with humans. Napoleon chooses a lawyer to act as an intermediary between the animal farm and the humans. Then the pigs move to live in the Jones farmer's house: they eat in the kitchen, relax in the living room and sleep in the bedrooms in comfortable beds. Some animals are upset by this. Clover consults the seven commandments and asks Muriel to read the fourth commandment aloud, which says: 10 'No animal will sleep in a bed with sheets'. Muriel does not remember having heard of her before about sheets, and in fact the commandment has been modified by the pigs that under this pretext can sleep in a bed that does not have sheets. Animals are proud of their work. But one night a storm destroys the mill. Napoleon declares that the mill was destroyed by Snowball. Napoleon announces that the works for the reconstruction of the mill will restart immediately. Capitolo 7 The animals now have a very hungry winter. At the Sunday meeting Squirrel says the hens must give all the eggs. The hens rebel but Napoleon orders all animals not to allow the hens to have food. The chickens try to resist, but after many of them have starved to death they accept the situation. Meanwhile, the pigs tell lies about Snowball, who is accused of running one of the neighboring farms, and sneaking into the animal farm at night to sabotage. Napoleon pretends to investigate Snowball, and then announces that Snowball has been friends with the Jones factor from the start. Squirrel says Napoleon's claim is based on documents the pigs found. But Boxer doesn't believe it. Napoleon, who now rarely introduces himself to others, and is always accompanied by ferocious dogs, tells the dogs to catch four pigs among the opponents. The four pigs, innocent, are forced to say they are accomplices of Snowball. Three other dogs attack Boxer, who manages to defend himself. The four pigs are declared dead. Other animals also soon confess their crimes (never actually committed) and are sentenced to death. Capitolo 8 Dopo le esecuzioni, Berta (Clover) ricorda che uno dei sette comandamenti è trasgredito, quello che impedisce l'uccisione di animali. Berta chiede a Muriel di leggere il comandamento : 'Nessun animale ucciderà un altro animale senza ragione' Berta non ricordava di aver sentito prima le parole 'senza ragione', effettivamente aggiunte dai maiali per avere un pretesto di uccidere. 11 Gli animali passano l'anno seguente lavorando più duramente che mai. Squearel esorta loro a compiere grandi sforzi, dicendo loro che l'efficienza della fattoria è aumentata enormemente dopo l'ultima tentata ribellione, anche se tutti sanno che, segretamente, gli animali nelle loro case soffrono la fame. Napoleone, che adesso è conosciuto come 'il nostro leader' ed è diventato uno spietato dittatore, si vede sempre meno in pubblico, e sempre circondato da cani feroci. Tramite Whimper come intermediario, Napoleone era intento a trattare con Frederick e Pilkington (i fattori delle fattorie confinanti) la vendita di una partita di tronchi d'albero che ancora non si è riusciti a vendere. Intanto si sparge la voce che Frederick sta per attaccare la fattoria degli animali. Gira voce che si è scoperto un complotto ordito da Palla di Neve per uccidere Napoleone. Tre galline confessano che Palla di Neve vive a Pinchfield (la fattoria di Frederick), e che fa parte del complotto. Napoleone annuncia che la partita di tronchi sarà venduta a Pilkington (che è una persona onesta) e tra le due fattorie si instaura amicizia e collaborazione. Mentre le trattative vanno avanti, viene terminato il Mulino a vento. Gli animali festeggiano questo magnifico avvenimento. Tutti gli animali si congratulano con Napoleone. Qualche giorno dopo viene convocata una riunione nel granaio, in cui viene annunciato che la partita di legna è stata venduta a Frederick. Gli animali sono increduli, ma subito Squaerel spiega che la strategia usata da Napoleone è stata quella di simulare di essere amichevole con un vicino, mentre segretamente trattava con l'altro ad una cifra maggiore. La vendita va in porto ma tre giorni dopo si scopre che le banconote con cui Napoleone è stato pagato erano false. Napoleone raduna gli animali e pronuncia la condanna a morte di Frederick. Allo stesso tempo, mette in guardia che Frederick e i suoi uomini stanno per attaccare la fattoria, e manda dei piccioni con dei messaggi di richiesta di aiuto alla fattoria di Pilkington. L'attacco arriva il mattino successivo ma stavolta il nemico è troppo forte, e l'unica speranza di vittoria è appesa alla risposta dei piccioni. I piccioni arrivano, ma la risposta di Pilkington è : 'ben vi stà'. La battaglia prende presto un esito favorevole agli uomini, che piazzano dell'esplosivo nel mulino e lo fanno esplodere. 12