Allegory

1. Allegory In Orwell’s Animal Farm

2. What is an allegory? • from the Greek allegorein, which means ‘to speak as if to imply something other.’ • Synonyms – Fable or parable • Draw your cheesecake and label four levels: literal meaning, satirical allegory, political treatise, beast fable. • Make sure you understand what these are!

3. A simple story becomes: • A moral warning against the abuse of power; • A story of disillusionment with the Russian revolution; • An exposure of Stalin’s evils; • A fable of human strengths and weaknesses.

4. Why Orwell wrote the book • He was a democratic socialist • He was disgusted by Stalin’s betrayal of the ideals of the Russian Revolution • He wanted to teach us: • Power corrupts; • Revolutions come full circle and devour their people; • Even good people are vulnerable to power hungry leaders if they don’t question what they’re told.

5. Marx/Lenin • A combination of Marx and Lenin • dream of abolishing class distinctions and redistribution of land and resources • philosophical belief in the possibility of a utopian society based on equality and work sharing

6. The Bolsheviks • Russians: largely peasants with some formal education • on an intellectual level, this population embraces the Revolution enthusiastically because of the promise of food and work • Bolsheviks (or "the Majority") were an organization of professional revolutionaries who considered themselves as a vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat • beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism. • party was founded by Vladimir Lenin, who also led it in the October Revolution

7. Josef Stalin • totalitarian ruler of Russia after Lenin • expels Leon Trotsky from the Party and then adopts many of Trotsky’s financial and political plans • iron-fisted dictator

8. Stakhanovites • The Stakhanovites (Working Class) • poor Russian populace with little to no formal education

9. The Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches • under Marxism, the “church” has no official role • Marx comments that “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness.”

10. Leon Trotsky • an intellectual and Lenin’s “right hand” man • much more practical than Lenin, more aware of the daily struggles of the population • conceives of the notion of the Five Year Plan that Stalin later adopts

11. White Russians (Belarusian) • under the Czar, these Russians were land owners with a certain degree of influence • before the Revolution, White Russians own serfs and control distribution of wealth in “the bread basket” of Russia (Ukraine, Belarus) • resented by the general population as members of the elitist (class) system that exists before the Revolution

12. Winston Churchill • close diplomatic ties with Lenin in order to defeat Hitler and the Nazis during World War II • Churchill had reservations about socialism but overlooked them in order to manage what he saw as a greater threat to England and Western Europe: fascism

13. Propagandists (Pravda) • Russian newspaper, state-run • Pravda was well-known in the West for its pronouncements as the official voice of Soviet Communism

14. Secret Police • NKVD (later the KGB) come to be regarded with great fear by the Russians was responsible for political repression during the Stalinist era • conducted mass extrajudicial executions, ran the Gulag system of forced labor, conducted mass deportations of nationalities and peasants labeled as "Kulaks" to unpopulated regions of the country, guarded state borders, conducted espionage and political assassinations abroad, was responsible for subversion of foreign governments, and enforced Stalinist policy within Communist movements in other countries • also known for its Main Directorate for State Security, which eventually became the Committee for State Security (KGB)

15. Plot parallels • October Revolution 1917 • Civil War 1918 -9 • Kronstadt rebellion • Trotsky’s emphasis on heavy industry • Stalin’s emphasis on agriculture • Trotsky’s permanent revolution • Stalin’s ‘socialism in one country’ • Trotsky’s exile • Failure of the first ‘five year plan’

16. …continued • Purge trials 1936 – 8 • Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939 • German invasion 1941 • Tehran conference 1943

17. Plot parallels • Snowball champions the windmill • The animals’ rebellion • Napoleon’s opposition to sending pigeons • The Battle of the Cowshed led by Snowball • Snowball is defeated and driven away • The windmill is demolished • Deal with Frederick • Battle with Frederick • The mutiny of the hens • Snowball wants to send pigeons to nearby farms • Pigs and men are indistinguishable • Starvation • Confessions and executions of animals