Cross-Curricular Reminder

In English, we have studied Animal Farm to expand our knowledge of classic literature and elements of the novel. Significant to our stidy are the symbols present in the novel. These symbols coincide with things you have been covering in history class as well. Napoleon as a symbol for Stalin and Snowball as a symbol for Trotsky, for example, are symbols that Orwell employed in his allegorical warning against the dangers of communism.

Considering what you have learned about the Russian Revolution, consider what the other characters or events may have symbolized. Foxwood and Pinchfield farms and the Battle of the Cowshed, for instance, played important parts in the novel. Characters like Benjamin and Mollie, however, don't symbolize individuals, but they are used to show types of people present in the proletariat.

Furthermore, keep in mind that texts exist within a time period, but they also exhibit a relationship with the conditions under which the text was created. Animal Farm is Orwell's thinly veiled attack against the dangers of Soviet communism, but remember that Orwell's agenda against communism went further than his personal devotion toward socialism. Because he disagreed with totalitarianism, Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, enlisted in a Loyalist force to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Under Stalin's leadership, Russia had supported the forces against which Orwell battled, and because the pen is mightier than the sword, Orwell exacted vengeance for his near-fatal throat wound by creating Animal Farm.