Narrator & Allegory

Narrator

Animal Farm has an omniscient narrator who appears to be giving the reader the facts in a simple way using simple language. It is told from the animals’ point of view and in chronological order.

Clover

There is only a brief moment when we see through an individual animal’s eyes, and that is through Clover (who represents the working classes).
This suggests that Orwell wants the reader to sympathise with the working classes.
It also shows the reader that the animals are blindly loyal and enables us to see things which the animals cannot.

Simple language

The simple language makes events seem factual, inevitable and threatening (almost as if it cannot be argued with).
This, and the narrator’s lack of reaction, makes the events even more shocking.

Simple language - quotes

“The milk was “mixed every day into the pigs’ mashes”.
“The dogs promptly tore their throats out”.
“Boxer was never seen again”.

Allegory

Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution.

Soviet Union

The pigs create Old Major’s ideal society just as Trotsky (Snowball) and Lenin created the Soviet Union, where all wealth was meant to be divided equally.

Stalin and Trotsky

Snowball and Napoleon disagree over everything. Napoleon forces Snowball to leave.
After Lenin’s death, Trotsky and Stalin battle for power. Stalin wins and Trotsky is forced to leave Russia. He is later assassinated in Mexico.

Stalin's propaganda

Squealer convinces the animals that Napoleon has their interests at heart just as Stalin used propaganda and manipulation to convince people that he was the only one who could protect them.

Confessions and persecutions

The chickens are persecuted when they resist giving up their eggs.
The public executions take place where animals confess to crimes that they haven’t committed and anyone who is a threat to Napoleon or who has shown loyalty to Snowball is executed.
In Russia, many were forced to confess to non-existent crimes and were publicly executed.

Stalin's police

Napoleon's dogs are allegorical figures for Stalin's secret and violent police force who eliminated any threats to Stalin’s power.

1Important Plot Features

1.1Plot Summaries

1.1.1Chapters 1-2

1.1.2Chapters 3-4

1.1.3Chapters 5-6

1.1.4Chapters 7-8

1.1.5Chapters 9-10

1.1.6Keywords

1.1.7End of Topic Test - Chapters 1-5

1.1.8End of Topic Test - Chapters 6-10

2Characters & Their Links to History

2.1Key Characters

2.1.1Old Major

2.1.2Snowball

2.1.3Napoleon

2.1.4Squealer

2.1.5Boxer

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Key Characters

2.1.7AO2/3 - Key Characters

2.1.8Exam-Style Questions - Boxer

2.2Other Characters

2.2.1Mr Jones

2.2.2Clover

2.2.3Hens

2.2.4Sheep

2.2.5Mollie

2.2.6Benjamin

2.2.7Moses & Mr Frederick

2.2.8Pilkington & Mr Whymper

2.2.9End of Topic Test - Other Characters

2.2.10End of Topic Test - Other Characters 2

3Key Themes & Orwell's Purpose

3.1Key Themes

3.1.1Education

3.1.2Power & Control

3.1.3Power & Language

3.1.4Equality

3.1.5End of Topic Test - Key Themes

4Language, Form & Structure

4.1Language, Form & Structure

4.1.1Form & Structure

4.1.2Language

4.1.3Symbols

4.1.4Narrator & Allegory

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