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The novel “Animal Farm” was written in 1945 by author George Orwell.  George Orwell was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, a British writer born in Motihari, India in 1903.  After serving in the Indian Imperial Police force, Orwell wrote “Down and Out in Paris and London,” an account of the conditions faced by the poor in France and England.  Next, in 1936, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, which was his source of inspiration for “Homage to Catalonia.”  After his days in service, he devoted his efforts to speaking out against the domination of one man over another.  This is shown in books such as “Animal Farm” and “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
 “Animal Farm” takes place in England, on Manor Farm (later renamed Animal Farm) in Willingdon.  It incorporates all seasons of the year, as it takes place over the course of many years, tracing the lives of all the animals.  The point of view in the novel is third person, omniscient.
 “Animal Farm” is an allegory of the Russian Revolution and the course of communism in Russia and the USSR.  The many characters in the book symbolize either one person or a group of people.  The pigs represent the communist government and are the ones that become corrupt.  More specifically, Old Major is Karl Marx, the “father of communism,” Snowball is Vladimir Lenin and Napoleon is Joseph Stalin.  The dogs that Napoleon uses as his personal guards symbolize the KGB, the Soviet police force.  Most of the other characters like Boxer, Clover, the chickens, Benjamin and others represent the working class that is gradually taken advantage of more and more throughout the story. Mr. Jones represents the last Russian Czar, Nicholas II, who is overthrown in the Russian Revolution, his men represent the Red Army and Mollie represents the sympathizers of the old government in the USSR.
 George Orwell sets up the novel by introducing the prize winning boar ‘Old Major’ and establishing him as the leader of the animals.  He then uses to describe the harsh conditions that the animals (or Russian labor class) were forced to endure on Manor farm and throughout England.  He then tells them how good life would be without humans, which was called in the book ‘animalism’  (represents communism).  Old Major finishes off by teaching the animals a song called “Beasts of England” which becomes their anthem and remains until outlawed by Napoleon later in the book.
 There are two main themes for the complications in “Animal Farm,” those caused by the animals and those caused by the humans.  Perhaps the most important complication in the book caused by humans was their unfair domination of the animals, which caused the Rebellion.  The animal caused complication that started the downturn in Animalism was caused when Snowball was driven from Animal Farm and Napoleon started taking advantage of the animals.  The complication that strengthened Napoleon’s hold on the animals was when their windmill was destroyed and the pigs blamed it on Snowball.
 The conflicts found in the novel amongst the animals and between the humans and the animals.  One example of a human-animal conflict is when Jones and his men unsuccessfully try to retake Animal Farm in the ‘Battle of the Cowshed.’  An example of an animal-animal conflict is when Napoleon and Snowball disagree about how to deal with various issues on the farm.  This hints that the farm isn’t big enough for both of them and that one of them will have to go.
 The climax in “Animal Farm” wasn’t easy to spot.  I believe the climax occurred when the animals overthrew Jones.  The rest of the book is spent resolving the conflicts hinted to in the beginning, like with the neighboring farmers, Mr. Jones, and between the animals.   My reason for this is that there is no other conflict as major that is actually resolved.
 The resolution, I think, covers most of the book.  It starts after the rebellion and deals with the working out of various problems.  One example is how the problem of how the farming and harvesting is gradually solved over time.  The problem of the pigs taking advantage of the other animals is never resolved because George Orwell was trying to show what was happening in communist Russia during the time “Animal Farm” was written.

 

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