Animal Farm Chapter 1 & The Communist Manifesto

Animal Farm Chapter 1 & The Communist Manifesto

Lesson objective

• Students will analyze Old Major’s speech in Chapter 1 of Animal Farm and draw parallels to Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto, evaluating how Orwell uses allegory to critique political ideologies.

do now:

• In your own words, define “equality.”
• Who in society benefits the most when everyone is equal?
• Who might resist equality?

Animal farm is an allegory

Allegory: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Here are five key points about "Animal Farm" as an allegory:

• Represents the Russian Revolution and Soviet Union: The novel serves as a direct allegory for the events leading up to and following the 1917 Russian Revolution, with the farm animals' rebellion against their human oppressor mirroring the overthrow of Tsarist Russia and the rise of communist rule.
• Character symbolism reflects historical figures: Major characters represent key historical figures - Napoleon parallels Joseph Stalin, Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, and Old Major embodies a combination of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, while Mr. Jones symbolizes Tsar Nicholas II and the old aristocratic order.

Animal farm is an allegory

• Critiques the corruption of revolutionary ideals: Orwell uses the allegory to demonstrate how noble revolutionary principles can be gradually corrupted by those in power, showing how the original vision of equality and freedom becomes distorted into tyranny and oppression.
• Explores themes of propaganda and manipulation: The allegorical framework allows Orwell to examine how language and information can be weaponized by those in power, particularly through Squealer's role as the regime's propagandist who constantly rewrites history and justifies the pigs' increasingly authoritarian actions.
• Warns against totalitarianism universally: While rooted in the specific context of Soviet communism, the allegory functions as a broader warning about how any political system can devolve into totalitarianism when power becomes concentrated and citizens become passive, making it relevant beyond its immediate historical context.

old major's speech

Old Major’s speech is modeled after revolutionary calls to action, especially Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto.

• Class struggle as the driving force of history: Marx and Engels argue that all of human history can be understood through the lens of conflict between social classes - from ancient masters and slaves to feudal lords and serfs, and in their contemporary era, the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) and the proletariat (working class).
• Critique of capitalist exploitation: The manifesto presents capitalism as a system that inherently exploits workers by paying them less than the value they create through their labor, with capitalists extracting this "surplus value" as profit. Marx and Engels argue that capitalism reduces workers to mere commodities and creates alienation, where people become disconnected from the products of their work and from their essential human nature as creative beings.
• Revolutionary transformation to a classless society: The authors advocate for the overthrow of the capitalist system through proletarian revolution, leading to the establishment of a communist society without private property or class distinctions. They envision this as an inevitable historical progression where the working class will unite across national boundaries, seize control of the means of production, and eventually create a stateless, classless society where goods are distributed according to need rather than ability to pay.

'Your content is iked, but it engages much more if it is interactive'

as a refresher, lets listen to old major's speech again

what did the communist manifesto sAY?

Passages essential to chapter one

• Old Major’s Speech Key Excerpts
• “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing…” (Critique of ruling class exploitation)
• “All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.” (Workers’ solidarity/class unity)
• “Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.” (Call for revolution)
• How does Old Major define the enemy of the animals?
• What similarities do you see between this speech and the ideas of Marx and Engels?
• Do Old Major’s arguments sound convincing? Why or why not?

analyzing political messages: a refresher

Ethos, pathos, and logos are three rhetorical appeals developed by Aristotle to persuade an audience.

• Ethos (Credibility and Authority)
• Focus: Builds trust and authority by highlighting the speaker's expertise, experience, and good character.
• Pathos (Emotional Appeal)
• Focus: Connects with the audience's feelings, values, and imagination to create an emotional response that drives action.
• Logos (Logic and Reasoning)
• Focus: Appeals to the audience's rational mind by presenting a clear, well-reasoned argument supported by evidence.

worksheet

In Canvas you will find a document that will ask you questions about Old Major's Speech and "The Communis Manifesto". After that you will see a graphic organizer where you will compare the two side by side.

The contents of this file was once censored in countries all over the world, cost people their livelihoods if they were suspected of studying it, and got people put on the FBI’s spy suspect list. Read if you dare.

exit ticket

• In 2–3 sentences, explain how Old Major’s speech reflects the ideas of The Communist Manifesto.
• Do you think Orwell presents Old Major as an idealist, a realist, or something else?

WRITE ATITLE HERE

When giving a presentation, there are two objectives to pursue: conveying information and avoiding yawns. To achieve this, it may be good practice to create an outline and use words that will burn into your audience's memory.

WRITE ATITLE HERE

When giving a presentation, there are two objectives to pursue: conveying information and avoiding yawns. To achieve this, it may be good practice to create an outline and use words that will burn into your audience's memory.