Why did Orwell use animals instead of people for his characters?

2. Why did Orwell use animals instead of people for his characters? • For censorship/disguise • To emphasize human weaknesses • To simplify his purpose • Men can become beast-like when corrupted by power

3. What is the political statement that emerges from Old Major’s dream? • All animals should unite and rebel against tyranny because all animals are equal like brothers.

4. What is Major’s warnings to the animals? • Must not resemble Man • Do not take on Man’s vices; he forbids living in a house, sleeping in a bed, drinking alcohol, wearing clothes, smoking tobacco, touching money and engaging in trade • Animals must not tyrannize another animal

5. What makes it easy for the pigs to gain control? • they are intelligent • The extreme ignorance of the other animals

6. Name the levels of interpretation in Animal Farm that make it an allegory? • Fictional • Satirical • Political • Historical • Symbolic (figurative)

7. What is the theme of Animal Farm? • Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

8. What is the climax of the novel? • When the animals look into the window and see the pigs and humans and cannot tell the difference between the two of them. Or • When Napoleon runs Snowball off of the farm.

9. In what ways did the pigs change during the course of the novel. • Saved best food for themselves • Moved into the house • Slept in beds • Isolated themselves • Dealt with men • Took up tobacco and liquor • Walked on hind legs

10. What was the first right Napoleon took away from the other animals? • Their participation in decision-making – no more debates or voting

11. Why does Orwell write from the “lower” animals’ point of view? • So the reader can see the oppressing side of betrayal and oppression • So the reader can identify with the victims

12. What function does Benjamin serve in Animal Farm? • He is cynical. He expresses Orwell’s belief that power always corrupts.

13. What political function does Snowball eventually serve for Napoleon? • Scapegoat

14. What are some of the tactics Napoleon uses to ensure his powerful position? • Dogs—as police they help isolate the pigs from the other animals and they help purge the problem animals by killing them. • Propaganda—He rewrites history and creates a great project to unite them • Mass rallies and elaborate ceremonies • Educating the young • Discrediting Snowball

15. Give an example of verbal irony in this book. • Any commandment

16. Give an example of dramatic irony in this book. • When the pigs walk on two legs and Boxer’s maxim “Napoleon’s always right”

17. Give an example of a paradox in the novel. • “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

18. According to Napoleon, the truest happiness lay in what 2 ideas? • Working hard and living frugally

19. What is Squealer’s role in the story? • Serves to spread propaganda for Napoleon • Justifies Napoleon’s edicts • Creates a diversion • Is a manipulator and serves to snoop around for Napoleon

20. What is the importance of reading in this society? • Reading = knowledge=power • illiteracy enforces this type of government and the separation of the classes

21. What is the original maxim of Animal Farm? • All animals are equal

22. What was Orwell’s purpose in writing Animal Farm? • To satirize the totalitarian society

23. At the end of the novel, what changes does Napoleon propose in his speech? • Drop the use of “comrade” • Omit visiting the boar’s skull • Remove the hoof/horn from the flag • Change “Animal Farm” to “Manor Farm”

24. A totalitarian’s only real concern is • Increasing POWER