Suzanne Gulbin

Suzanne Gulbin is a first time teacher in Pennsylvania, and she had her students read Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. She had her students come up with information to add to a discussion about the two. In doing this research they found many similarities in the two books. Both deal with the government in some form; both have a transformation of pig to man, or man to pig; both have rebellions of some form; and both have situations of absolute irony. These are just some of the similarities the class came up with.

http://www.jstor.org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/stable/811152?seq=1&Search=yes&term=%22Animal+Farm%22&term=%22lord+of+the+flies%22&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2522lord%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bflies%2522%2BAND%2B%2522Animal%2BFarm%2522%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=1&ttl=186&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle

Russell Baker

Russell Baker wrote the preface for George Orwell's Animal Farm and he does a good job explaining the type of book it is. Russell Baker called Animal Farm a "Fairy Story", a political tract, satire, an allegorical lesson, and he compared it to Aesop's Fables. He says this book is laughing at all people who believed a utiopa could be achievable. He goes into detail about how the workings of the book describe what was happening in the Soviet Union, and how some people turned a blind eye until it was too late.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=SGAZdjNfruYC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Animal+Farm+%22George+Orwell%22+-movie&ots=vsJ84hnOSB&sig=DuwFP39T6rq4W-R0XAys_pmdF2s#PPR6,M1

Why Animal Farm is a Classic

I believe that Animal Farm is a classic because it has a topic that will last. George Orwell wrote this book as a parallel to when Stalin was ruling. That time wont be forgotten soon. His characters are all representations to people who were important to that time. For example: Napoleon was Stalin; Boxer represented the people under Stalin who were hard working and in this case naive; The annoying sheep were to represent the people who were lied to and manipulated and who fully supported Stalin. This is part of the reason this book is a classic, but I also think it's due to the theme. The basic, universal theme, is that power corrupts. This theme was evident throughout the whole book, and the fact that it's paired with a major time in history is what makes it last, and what will keep it going. I think everyone should read this book because it is a perfect example of what it's theme is, and also that you can really love and hate it's characters and get into the book, even though it is quite small. It has a lot to do with history, and if you take the time to look into what happened when Stalin ruled it will all make even more sense. You'll understand the allusions and how terrible everything was. I really enjoyed the book, and I hope everyone can have that same experience.

Allusions to Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a direct parallel to when Stalin ruled the Soviet Union. Napoleon, the bad pig, represented Stalin in everything he did. First he started out and made false promises, and was able to capture the attention and trust of those around him. Then as time wore on, he began to change how he ruled and how he treated those that were supposed to be his equals. He made it very clear that he was superior.
When you read Animal Farm, no other movies, no other books come to mind, just the time when Stalin ruled.

Napoleon (the bad pig)'s Character Growth

Napoleon, the bad pig, started off ok. He and Snowball took over the leader position after Old Major died. Snowball did most of the talking and Napoleon did most of the brooding. But soon, Napoleon got tired of sitting on the sidelines. He killed Snowball and blamed everything that went wrong on him as well. Then Napoleon decides that he is better than everyone else. The other animals dont really see what's happening until Napoleon starts killing other animals. Then they become worried. Napoleon changed so much because he became to interested in his own welfare, and greed, and the power that he had corrupted him

Summary of Animal Farm

On a farm somewhere in England, there were animals that were unhappy with how their lives were going. One night the oldest pig on the farm, Major, called a meeting. He said to his fellow farm animals that there should be a rebellion and they should over ride Mr. Jones, the head farmer. Major says this new way of living should be called "Animalism". Major died three nights later, and the animals decided to take it upon themselves to honor Major's memory and initiate the rebellion. The animals banned together under the leadership of Snowball and Napoleon, two pigs, and chased Mr. Jones, and all his workers off the land and took it for themselves. The first thing they did was make a victory lap around the farm and throw away all of the items that reminded them of the times that they were enslaved. Snowball and Napoleon decided it would be best to make some rules. They made 7 rules, that outlined what it was to be animal such as: "all being that walk on two legs are enemy", and "no animal shall kill a fellow animal" Things go well for a while, until Snowball and Napoleon decide to start indulging themsleves in the luxuries of being human. They begin to sleep in the house of Mr. Jones, wear clothes, and drink alcohol. The other animals are able to see this change and aren't quite sure what to do about it. Then one day, Napoleon called out his "guard" dogs, and killed snowball. Napoleon began a dictatorship. He started making working conditions and food rations unfair, and he even started killing off fellow animals. Napoleon begins making deals with the neighboring farmers to get more alcohol and one night things went awry. Napoleon was inside with the other farmers and they were laughing, playing cards and drinking. Soon, they started arguing, and the other animals heard the commotion and came to look. One of the mares, Millie, was able to look through the window, and she couldnt tell the difference between the men and the pigs.
That is how the story ends.

Anthony Kearney's speil of Animal Farm

Anthony Kearney talks about the rule ammendments in George Orwell's Animal Farm. At first, the rules were: all animals are equal. However, as time went on and the pig Napoleon gained more power, the rules somehow changed. Instead of being, "all animals are equal" it became "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Kearney speaks of what Orwell may have meant when he said "more equal" and what equality meant then, the 1940's, and now.

http://find.galegroup.com/ips/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C27%29%22Animal+Farm%22+George+Orwell%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28AC%2CNone%2C8%29fulltext%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&searchId=R2&currentPosition=14&userGroupName=mtlib_2_1527&docId=A18905468&docType=IAC&contentSet=IAC-Documents