Animal Farm
by George Orwell
Background Information
Modified from a Power Point Presentation found on the website
www.bchs.ppsb.org/uploads/150/10/Intro_to_Animal_Farm.pps
Length: 50,000 to 75,000 words
Prose: In paragraph form
Fiction by Nature: Not true
Uses: entertainment, propaganda, and expression of a personal
philosophy
Characters: the personalities in a novel
•Developing Character (Round): a character who
changes in some way during the course of the story;
usually a major character who has several sides or
traits to his personality
•Static Character (Flat): a character (usually a minor
character) who does not change during the story; this
kind off character generally has only one or two
personality traits.
•Protagonist: a character who is trying to achieve
some goal (usually the main character)
•Antagonist: a character who is trying to stop the
protagonist
(1903-1950)
Real Name: Eric Blair
British Political Novelist
Born: To English parents in India
After his father
retired, Eric and
his family moved
back to England.
He was sent to boarding school at
the age of eight to prepare for
Eton, an exclusive prep school.
Because he had a scholarship, he
was teased and humiliated
frequently.
At eighteen, he passed the Empire’s
Civil Service Exam and became a police officer
in Burma.
Returned in Europe
Socialist: someone
who believes that the
government should
own businesses so that
everyone will be equal
Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the surface,
the fable is about animals. But on a second level, the
animals stand for types of people or ideas. The way the
animals interact and the way the plot unfolds says
something about the nature of people or the value of ideas.
Any type of fiction that has multiple levels of meaning in
this way is called an allegory.
A composition making fun of
something, usually political.
Animal Farm makes fun of
political society after the
Bolshevik Revolution.
Russian society in the early
twentieth century had two social
classes: a tiny minority
(bourgeoisie) controlled the
country’s wealth.
The working class was called the
proletariat.
Communism arose in Russia when the
nation’s workers and peasants rebelled
against and overwhelmed the wealthy and
powerful class of capitalists and
aristocrats.