George Orwell was known as a journalist and social
commentator, rather than novelist
fought for the
Republicans in the
Spanish Civil War but
couldn't sign up for WW2
due to ill-health
died of tuberculosis in 1950
Personal Experiences
Orwell's experiences in the Spanish Civil War are relevant
to the explicity political Animal Farm. He became
dillusioned with politics after seeing the in-fighting of
people who were meant to be on the same side
Orwell stated that the book was an attack on dictatorships in
general and the way in which they seized and held onto
power
Setting and Place
the book is set on a farm, an unlikely setting for a
revolution. The farm animals are anthropomorphic,
although they still behave in ways characteristic to
their species
Karl Marx and Communism
Marx believed
that in a
capitalist society
workers were
exploited by the
people they
worked for
he stated that society
should be free and
equal
Capitalists would pay their workers less
money in order to make more profit
because of this the workers would rebel
against the capitalists and overthrow
them. They would then establish a more
equal society
An allegory of Russian History
In 1917 the February rebellion overthrew
the Tsar, but within months the
Provisional Government was itself
overthrown by the Communist Party, led
by Lenin
Lenin died in
1924. A
struggle for
power
between
Trotsky and
Stalin followed
The Soviet Union under Stalin
By 1928, Stalin had become a dictator. His rule seemed to have
little in common with the ideas of Lenin or Marx
propoganda was a frequently used tool that further
emphasised the control Stalin had over Soviet life.
past enemies were presented to the people as allies
"show trials" were
stage in which
people confessed to
crimes they had not
committed
people who opposed him were exiled or executed
Stalin exiled Trotsky in 1929
in Trotsky's absence, Stalin blamed him
for the county's problems and claimed
Trotsky was working with the country's
enemy to overthrow the government