Animal Farm en guide till boken Orwell George

Animal Farm Guide

On Animal Farm, a book by George Orwell

Questions gathered/collected over the years...

Man's wickedness & corruption by power

A satire on dictatorship in general & Russian dictatorship in particular

Historical events, parallels story and Russia

Now what is the Manor Farm, and how would you describe it?

What do you know about the Russian Revolution?

When did it take place ?

What about the dates October 23, 1917 & November 7, 1917?

What's Comintern?

Describe Old Major, Napoleon, Snowball & Mr. Frederick!

Any parallels in real life?

What windmills do you know of?

What happened eventually to Trotsky and where?

Why do you think this happened?

How would you explain the differences between Stalin's interpretation of Marx and the true Marx doctrines?

What about "kulaks" and collectivization?

Which of the characters do you like most?

Which one goes through more hardships than others?

Is there any particular character that changes drastically through the story?

Now here are some questions on Animal Farm,
chapter by chapter:

Chapter 1

1	Why did Old Major assemble a meeting?
2	How did he describe the lives of the animals?
3	Who did he say was the cause of all their evils?
4	What message did he wish to pass on to the other animals?
5	How was he suddenly disturbed in the middle of his speech?
6	What question had to be settled before he could go on?
7	What was the result of the voting?
8	What was the song about?
9	How was the song received by the other animals?
10	Why did they suddenly have to break up the meeting?

Chapter 2

1	Who were the most prominent pigs? Describe their different characters!
2	How did most of the animals react to the new teachings?
3	What questions did Mollie ask and why was she not satisfied with the answer?
4	Why was Moses hated by many of the animals? What did he tell them about Sugarcandy Mountain?
5	The rebellion came earlier and was more easily carried out than they had expected. How come?
6	How did they spend the first few hours of their freedom?
7	What did they do with the farmhouse?
8	What important matter had to be attended to before they began the harvest?
9	What did the Seven Commandments say/tell?

Chapter 3

Chapter

1	Why did it fall upon the pigs to organize the work?
2	What was the great difference between their lives now and in Mr Jones’s time?
3	Who was the hardest worker? Who was the worst worker?
4	How were the Sundays spent?
5	Who were the most active debators at the meetings?
6	What was, however, rather remarkable?
7	How did the reading and writing classes turn out?
8	How were the Seven Commandments changed (and simplified)?
9	What did Napoleon think of Snowball’s arrangements?
10	What did Napoleon do with the newborn puppies?
11	What happened to the milk every day and how was that explained by Squealer?

Chapter 4

1	What was the first reaction of the neighbours, Mr Pilkington and Mr Frederick, when they heard about the rebellion on Animal Farm?
2	What did they decide to do early in October?
3	How was the farm defended by the animals?
4	What made the men finally turn and run away?
5	How was the victory celebrated?
6	How is it shown the pigs are not keeping to the principle of equality?
7	What anniversaries did they decide to celebrate in the future?

Chapter 5 ?

Make your own questions here!

You can't expect somebody else to make everything for you, right?

Chapter 6


1	How did the animals work?
2	What about the coming winter?
3
4	Were there any unforeseen shortages? Were there any particular needs?
5	Some needs had to override everything else. What needs were those?
6	What were some of the earliest resolutions made at the first meeting after Jones was expelled?
7	How did Squealer set their minds at rest? He assures them something... “had never been passed.”
8
9
10

Chapter 7

pp 45-55 (Pages may vary depending upon edition!)
1	What part of the year are we talking about here?
2	What was it like?
3	What is sleet? Explain in English!
4	What was were the animals primarily engaged in?
5	What is said about Snowball?
6	Nothing could be done for a long time because the quarry was full of what?
7	Explain what a quarry is!
8	Which animals never lost heart?
9	What did Squealer do?
10	When did food fall short?
11	What about the potato crop? … only a few were edible…
12	Some days there was nothing to eat bt what?
13	Napoleon ordered the almost empty bins in the store-shed to be filled almost to the brim with sand. Why?
14	What did Squealer announce one Sunday morning?
15	Who had sold himself according to Squealer?
16	What happened to the four pigs, the three hens, a sheep and two other sheep? Why?

Chapter 8

	pp 56-68 (Pages may vary depending upon edition!)
1	What was the Sixth Commandment?
2	How thick were they building the walls of the windmill this time?
3	Compare and transform into Swedish standard 18 inches and 3 feet!
4	Napoleon was now referred to as …
5	Napoleon was engaged in negotiations regarding what? ...and with who/m/?
6	What about the bank-notes?
7	What happened after the affair with the bank-notes?
8	Frederick and his men halted where? Where did they halt?
9	What tools did two of the men produce. (had brought…)?
10	What happened to the windmill?
11	What happened after that?

-"And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood.

When it was all over, the remaining animals, except for the pigs and the dogs, crept away in a body. They were shaken and miserable. They did not know which was more shocking—the treachery of the animals which had leagued themselves with Snowball, or the cruel retribution they had just witnessed."-

Key figures/characters: assumptions, possible parallels

Mr Jones - the Czardist regime

Mrs Jones - those who fled after the Revolution belonging to the old regime

Mr Pilkington - Conservative British Government 1917 - 45

Foxwood - England

Mr Frederick - Hitler & the Nazi regime

Pinchfield - Germany

Mr Whymper - could be European Socialists and Communists working for co-existence with the U.S.S.R.

Old Major - Lenin (with some traits of Marx) founder of the Bolshevik Party, 1912

Napoleon - Joseph Stalin

Snowball - Leon Trotsky

Squealer - Communist propaganda, especially as voiced by Pravda (since 1918)

Boxer - the urban working class, proletarians, all loyal to the Revolution

Moses - the Russian Orthodox Church

the dogs - the Soviet Russian Secret Police

the black cockerel - the Soviet Army

the sheep - the body of the Communist Party, obedient supporters of Stalin

the windmill ? the 5-year plans

-Orwell, George, a pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), a British novelist, essayist, and critic whose brilliant reporting and political conscience fashioned an impassioned picture of his life and times.

Orwell was born in Motihari, India, but grew up in England where he was educated at Eton College. He served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma (now Myanmar) from 1922 to 1927, when he returned to England determined to make a career as a writer.-

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How was the farm defended by the animals?