GEORGE ORWELL'S

ANIMAL FARMAdapted By Peter Hall

All the Characters performed bythe four actors

Boxer (the cart horse)Clover (the horse, a stout motherly mare)HensJones (the farmer)Mollie (the foolish, pretty white mare)Moses (a raven, she told tales and did notwork)Muriel (the goat)Mr. Pilkington (a neighbour farmer)Napoleon (a boar, cruel, corrupted by power)Snowball (a pig, inventive, vivacious)Squealer (a pig, a brilliant talker)Old Major (the majestic looking old pig)

Animal Farm was first performed at theCottesloee Theatre, London, on 25 April 1984by the National Theatre. Compagny ACTpresented it for the first time in Paris on 3rdDecember 1988 at Theatre de la main d'or.This new production will be created at the MJCPalaiseau on the 26th January 2006 and touredaround France until end of April 2006.

An ACT Production

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Animal Farm 1er acteSynopsis en français, scène par scène

Mr Jones fermier autrefois capable, a sombré dans l'alcool. Il néglige saferme, laisse les terres en friche, maltraite les animaux.Le bruit court dans la ferme qu'une réunion secrète aura lieu dans la grange."Old Major", le porc le plus ancien, veut leur parler.

Old Major harangue les animaux. Il leur fait prendre conscience de latyrannie dont l'homme fait preuve à leur égard. Mais il est possible de créerun monde idéal où les animaux seront maîtres de la ferme, partageantloyalement le fruit de leur travail.Il prêche la rébellion. Les animaux votent pour la première fois. Old Major lesmet en garde: "Quand vous aurez renversé l'homme n'adoptez pas ses vices., etn'oubliez jamais, Tous les animaux sont égaux!"

Old Major meurt 3 jours plus tard, mais les animaux ont maintenant un secretà partager: Ils attendent le jour de la rébellion.

Les porcs, les plus intelligents parmi les animaux, se préparent en apprenantà lire et à écrire. Ils mettent au point un nouveau système de pensée qu'ilsappellent "Animalisme". Ils doivent aussi combattre les comportementscontre-révolutionnaires de certains animaux: La frivolité de Mollie, jumentau service des maîtres, et les sermons lénifiants de Moses , corbeauapprivoisé de Jones.

Le grand soir est arrivé, Jones plus saoul que d'habitude a oublié de nourrirles animaux, C'est la révolution, Jones est destitué, l'Animalisme est instauré.

Les animaux découvrent pour la première fois la maison de Jones. Ils décidentd'en faire le musée de l'infamie où aucun animal n'habitera jamais.Dans cette maison sont restés les jeunes chiots de Jones. Un des porcs,Napoleon, les prend sous sa protection.

Un autre porc, Snowball dévoile le nouveau nom de Manor farm: AnimalFarm. Il dévoile aussi les 7 commandements, principes inaltérables del'Animalisme.

Les animaux entreprennent leur première moissson. Chacun travaille aumieux de ses capacités:. Boxer, le cheval de trait, a un seul objectif: travaillertoujours plus - Clover la jument, prend soin de tous, - Muriel la chèvre,observe et essaye de comprendre – Squealer, second de Napoleon, donne lesordres. Seule Mollie reste à l'écart.

Tous les dimanches, les animaux se retrouvent autour du drapeau où sontdessinés le sabot et la corne et chantent leur hymne: "Beasts of England"Pour la première fois Napoleon et Snowball s'affrontent.

Jones et les fermiers des environs se retrouvent au pub. Ils décident l'attaqued'Animal Farm. Les animaux sous la conduite de snowball remportent lavictoire.

Snowball, idéaliste visionnaire, propose de construire un moulin quialimentera la ferme en électricité. Napoleon s'oppose à ce projet qu'il jugeirréaliste. Les animaux se préparent à voter. Soudain, Napoleon relâche leschiens qu'il a dressés depuis le premier jour de la rébellion Snowball estchassé de la ferme.

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Animal Farm: The author

George Orwell ( Eric Arthur Blair) was born on the 25 June 1903 at Motihari in NorthwestBengal. Raised and educated in England, he enlisted with the Indian Imperial Police inBurma. His early writings show a ridicule of imperial, despotic, oppressive rule. He wentto Spain during the Civil War, ostensibly as a journalist. Seeing the intrigue, treachery,lies, expedient denunciations and falsifications of the communists, his future politicalbeliefs took root. Orwell completed the book Animal Farm in February 1943. He hadgreat difficulty publishing it for Russia had become an ally in the war against Germanyand publishers refused to accept the validity of Orwell's attack on Soviet Communism.Animal Farm was finally published in May 1945, the month of the German surrender.Orwell's last work, 1984, is a grim and bitter novel. Perhaps his pessimism is due toaggravated ill-health which plagued him throughout his life. He died on the 23ndJanuary 1950.

In his preface to the Ukrainian edition published in 1947, Orwell said that he wanted towrite a book in a simple language because he wanted to tell ordinary English peoplewho had enjoyed a tradition of justice and liberty for centuries, what a totalitariansystem was like. His experience in Spain had shown him "how easily totalitarianpropaganda can control the opinion of people in democratic countries":

"Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried with full consciousness of what Iwas doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into a whole".

Orwell used Russian historical background to build his story but in Animal Farm, heintended to criticise something inherent in all revolutions, thinking of the FrenchRevolution and of the Spanish Civil War as well as the Bolshevik Rebellion in 1917.

"- the most encouraging fact about revolutionary activity is that, although italways fails, it always continues. The vision of free and equal human beings,living together in a state of brotherhood - in one age it is called the Kingdomof Heaven, in another the classless society - never materialises, but the belief init never seems to die out. "

His point was to get people to face the facts of injustice, of brutality, and hopefully toget them to think out for themselves ways in which a true and democratic socialismcould be brought about.

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Animal Farm: the playINTRODUCTION

In the past Mr. Jones, although a cruel master, had been a capable farmer. But nowhe spent more and more time in the Red Lion Pub. Every night he came home drunk.His farm was now thoroughly neglected. The fields1 were full of weeds2 and theanimals were underfed and in poor condition. But this night, when Jones was asleep,the animals began to meet in the barn.3 . Word had gone round the animals that therewas a secret meeting. Old Major, the stud boar 4had something to say ....

ACT I - SCENE 1: "OLD MAJOR'S ADDRESS"

MAJOR: Wait - no noise - wait! Or we'll wake up Jones! Listen!What is the nature of this life of ours?We are born, we are given just enough food to keep the breath in our bodies and thevery instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered5 withhideous cruelty.Man is our only enemy. (reaction from animals)Clover, where are your six children, the foals6 who should have been the supportand pleasure of your old age?

CLOVER: They were sold at a year old by our enemy, man!I will never see them again.

MAJOR: And you hens7: (the two hens enter and create quite a fuss).What has happened tothe eggs you have laid?

HENS: They have been stolen from us by our enemy! Man!MAJOR: Boxer, the day your great muscles lose their power, Jones will sell you to the local

"abattoir", where your throat 8will be cut and you will be boiled down for dogfood.

BOXER: No!MAJOR: To that horror we must all come.

Cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone.BOXER: What must we do?MAJOR: Work Boxer! Work comrades all. Work night and day, body and soul, for the

overthrow of the human race! Rebellion!ALL: Rebellion!MAJOR: Shhh! But when you conquer man do not adopt his vices.

Remember - "All Animals Are Equal"!ALL: All Animals Are EqualCLOVER: But what about the wild creatures Old Major - the rats and the rabbits - are they our

friends or our enemies?MAJOR: You must decide. You must learn to vote.

Each one of you must have a say in the way we lead our lives.I propose this question to the meeting: Are the wild creatures comrades? All thosein favour...

STORY TELLING: And so the animals learnt to vote for the first time.It was agreed by an overwhelming majority that the wild creatures were comrades.....

1fields: champs2weeds: mauvaises herbes3barn: grange4stud boar: porc reproducteur5slaughtered: massacrés, abattus6!the foals: les poulains7hens: Poules8throat: gorge

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Animal Farm: the playSummary until Act II scene 3

ACT I SCENE 2 "BEFORE THE REVOLUTION"

Three nights later, Old Major died peacefully in his sleep. Butnow the animals had a secret. They did not know when toexpect the rebellion, but they believed fervently that one day itwould come. The pigs, being the cleverest of the animals, ledthe preparations by organising and teaching. Three pigs,Snowball, Squealer and Napoleon elaborated Old Major'steachings into a complete system of thought to which theygave the name "ANIMALISM".

The Communist Manifesto written in 1848

ACT I SCENE 3 "THE REBELLION"

And so they went on waiting, waiting for the rebellion. Finally, itcame sooner than anyone expected. One Saturday night, MrJones got so drunk at the Pub, that he did not come home tillSunday and then he forgot to feed the animals. Boxer kickedopen the barn door and the other animals rushed in andbegan to feed. Mr. Jones hearing the noise came into theyard.9 Suddenly the Animals flung themselves onto Jones. Theirattack took him so much by surprise that he ran from the farm.The animals slam the gate behind him. Jones was gone, andthe animals were free. The rebellion had been successful.

The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917

They all made a tour of inspection of the whole farm andsurveyed with speechless admiration the ploughland10, thehayfield11, the orchard12, the pool,13 the spinney14. It was asthough they had never seen these things before. Then they filedback into the farm house and halted outside the door. Theytiptoed from room to room afraid to speak above a whisper.They touched with awe the unbelievable luxury - the beds, thelooking glasses, the sofa, the carpets.

NAPOLEON: I propose that this odious farmhouse should bepreserved as a museum. The museum of man, the murderer.

SNOWBALL: Let us put it to the vote.THE ANIMALS: Agreed! Agreed!

ACT I SCENE 4 "THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS"

Snowball had reduced the principles of Animal Farm to sevencommandments:

One. Two-legged beings are our enemies.Two. Four-legged beings are friends.

9yard: cour10the ploughland: la terre de labour11hayfield,: champ de foin12the orchard: le verger13the pool: la mare14the spinney: le petit bois

6Three Animals shall never wear any clothes.Four. Animals shall never sleep in beds.Five. Animals shall never drink alcohol.Six. Animals shall never kill animals.Seven. All animals are equal.

ACT I SCENE 5 "THE HARVEST15"

It was the biggest harvest the farm had ever seen. Everyoneworked hard. The hens with their sharp eyes gathered up thevery last stalk16. Boxer was the admiration of everybody. Hehad one answer to every problem, every setback "I will workharder". Every one worked according to his capability.

ACT I SCENE 6 "SUNDAY MEETING"

On Sundays there was no work. The day began at theflagpole17. The Hoof and Horn18 stood for the World Republicof the Animals which would be achieved when the humanrace was finally overthrown.

The hoof and horn is the hammer and sickle19, emblemof the Communist Party

The song "Beast of England" is A parody of "TheInternational", the party song.

NAPOLEON: I'm a practical pig, a pig of few words. I believe thatthe future lies with the young. I have therefore made myselfresponsible for the education of the two puppies20. Mr. Jones'puppies. We must take care of the young.

BOXER: Napoleon is always right.SNOWBALL: Napoleon IS right - we must look after the young. But

I'm worried about the old. What about the old animals? Ipropose they be allowed to retire to a home of rest in theorchard21. The old have earned some peace.

NAPOLEON: Peace? This is wartime. We are surrounded byenemies. Everyone, old or young, must be trained in the use offire arms.

SNOWBALL: No! No! That would be behaving like men. I will neveragree to that. We must never behave like men.

ACT I SCENE 7 "THE BATTLE OF THE COWSHED22"

Jones and his men had decided to recapture the farm.The attack had long been expected by the animals and theywere all prepared. Snowball had studied an old book of JuliusCaesar's campaigns which he had found in the farmhouse. Hegave his orders quickly and in a couple of minutes, everyanimal was at his post.

SNOWBALL: No sentimentality, comrade! War is war. The onlygood human being is a dead human being.

15harvest: moisson16stalk: tiges17flagpole: drapeau18The Hoof and Horn:le sabot et la corne19the hammer and sickle: le marteau et la faucille20puppies: chiots21orchard: verger22cowshed: étable

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The Civil War between the reds (the new government)and the whites (supporters of the Tsar )

ACT I SCENE 8 "THE EXPULSION OF SNOWBALL"

By custom, it was now expected that the pigs should decide allquestions of farm policy. But their decisions still had to beratified by a majority vote. This arrangement would haveworked well enough if it had not been for the continualdisputes between Snowball and Napoleon. But of all theircontroversies, the most bitter was the one over the windmill23 -the windmill designed by Snowball.

NAPOLEON: Snowball, this windmill of yours is impossible.SNOWBALL: Difficult, comrade, not impossible. We will have to

gather stones for its walls, we will have to make sails, we willhave to buy dynamos. I believe all this can be accomplished inone year.

NAPOLEON: One year!SNOWBALL: It will supply our farm with electrical power.NAPOLEON: But you can't do everything at once, why can't you be

realistic?SNOWBALL: I am being realistic. So much labour24 will be saved

that you animals will only need to work three days a week. Doyou deny my ideas?

NAPOLEON: Yes, I deny your ideas!With the death of Lenin in 1924, a new leader, Stalin ,

emerged. Trotsky differed on many issues with Stalin. Hewas exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929 and later

murdered.ACT II SCENE 1: "THE WINDMILL"

NAPOLEON: Animals of Animal Farm. I have a briefannouncement, comrades.We must look to the future.Animalism will lead us to incredible achievements.No task is too great for Animalism.We are going to build a windmill!

ALL: What?CLOVER: But I thought that Napoleon was against the Windmill?SQUEALER: Napoleon was never actually opposed to the windmill.

The plan which Snowball drew was copied from some papersstolen from Napoleon. The windmill is actually Napoleon'sown creation. And it always was.

All that year the animals worked like slaves25 to till26 the fields.They also worked to build the windmill.But everything they did was for their own benefit and for thosewho would come after them, not for a pack of idle, thievinghuman beings.

The first Five-Year Plan in 1928, which called for rapidindustrialisation and collectivisation of agriculture.

23windmill: moulin à vent!24labour: peine25slaves: esclaves26to till : labourer

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ACT II SCENE 2: "THE PIGS BREAK RULES"

NAPOLEON: Comrades, I have decided on a new policy. From nowon, Animal Farm will engage in trade with neighbouring farms.

Militant Communism is abandoned and the neweconomic policy which restores some measure of private

enterprise is introduced.

MURIEL: Clover, Look!CLOVER: Why are the pigs going into the farmhouse?SQUEALER: It is absolutely necessary that we pigs, who are after

all the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to workin. It is also more suited to the dignity of the Leader to live ina house than a mere sty27.

ACT II SCENE 3: "THE HEN'S REVOLT"

By the autumn, the animals were tired and hungry.

NAPOLEON: The hens must surrender their eggs.HEN 1: But the clutches28 are ready for the spring sitting.HEN 2: It's murder if you take our eggs away now.HENS: We can't spare the eggs.SQUEALER: You must do your duty.HENS: No! No! No!

For five days the hens had held out. Finally theycapitulated and went back to their nesting boxes.Nine hens had died.

Ordinary Soviet citizens suffered from forced labour andfood shortages which were partly due to the harsh way

collectivisation was carried out. The hen's revolt stands forthe peasant's bitter resistance to collective farming, when

they burned their crops and slaughtered their animals.

27sty: porcherie28the clutches: les couvées

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Animal Farm: An Allegory of Revolution

Animal Farm is a beast-fable, a satiric form in which animals are used to representhuman vice and folly.

Orwell subtitled his book "A Fairy Story". Like fairy tales, the book can be read on thesimple level of plot and character. It is an entertaining witty tale of a farm whoseoppressed animals, capable of speech and reason, overcome a cruel master and setup a revolutionary government. They are betrayed by the evil power-hungry pigs,especially by their leader, Napoleon, and forced to return to their former servitude. Onlythe leadership has changed.

On another, more serious level, it is a political allegory, a symbolic tale, where all theevents and characters represent events and characters in Russian history between 1917and 1943. Orwell's deeper purpose is to teach a political lesson.

Orwell used actual historical events to construct his story, but rearranged them to fit hisplot. Manor Farm is Russia, Mr Jones the Tsar, the pigs the Bolsheviks who led therevolution. The human represent the ruling class, the animals the workers and thepeasants. Old Major, the white boar who inspires the rebellion in the first chapter, standsfor a combination of Marx, the chief theorist, and Lenin, the actual leader. Orwellmakes Old Major a character whose motives are pure and idealistic, to emphasise thepositive goals of the revolution, and makes him die before the rebellion itself. Inactuality Lenin died in 1924, well after the revolution, after having set-up the machineryof political terror, which Stalin took over. The power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky(represented in the book by Napoleon and Snowball) happened after Lenin's death,not immediately after the revolution, as Orwell's account suggests.

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Animal Farm: The AnimalsOLD MAJOR: The old pig, provides the political philosophy on which Animal farm isfounded. Men, he tells the animals, are the only enemies. They steal all the animalsproduce and make the animals work entirely for human profits. Get rid of men andearth will become a heaven for animals.

"What is the nature of this life of ours?We are born, we are given just enough food to keep the breath inour bodies and the very instant that our usefulness has come toan end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty. Man is our onlyenemy".

MOLLIE: The foolish pretty white mare who is quite incapable of serious thinking andwhose only idea of life is to be fed and wear ribbons.

"But Mr. Jones feeds us.If he were gone we should starve to death.So we have to be loyal".

SNOWBALL Succeeds Major as an intelligent leader. He is dedicated to the revolution.He is not only a good thinker but a good general. He is defeated in the battle forleadership by Napoleon and is eventually chased into exile.

"A spectre is haunting England: the spectre of Animalism.Animalism will lead us to the life of plenty.Everything that we produce, we shall own - collectively."

NAPOLEON: Wholly committed to seizing and keeping power, and does so in the wayof totalitarian leaders as we have seen them in Europe. He keeps his power bypropaganda, false information and opinions which are spread about for him bySquealer.

"We'll be past voting, comrades, when our stomachs are empty. I'm a plain pig, apractical pig, and I say this. The great need at the moment is to increase foodproduction. If we waste time on windmills, we'll starve to death".

SQUEALER: He is Public Relations Officer for Napoleon. It is Squealer's business to keepthe animals in order by finding out what they are thinking and changing their thoughtswhen necessary.

"Comrades! You do not imagine, I hope that we pigs are taking the milk in a spiritof selfishness and privilege? Milk is absolutely necessary to the well-being of pigs.It is for your sake that we drink the milk".

BOXER: He is the big, powerful farm horse who represents the simple, honest, strong anddevoted worker. Boxer has few brains and he simplifies all problems into the need ofworking still harder for the cause he believes in.

"Comrades. I have had time to think things over and I think I have a solution. WhatComrade Napoleon is offering us is real leadership.He is a practical pig, a pig of few words. Let's do what he says. Agreed?"

CLOVER: The stout motherly mare. Like Boxer, she is hardworking, patient, always kindand solicitous on behalf of others. She remains faithful to the principles of Animalism asshe knows nothing else and knows of no other solution.

"The food tastes better, because it's our food. We grew it ourselves and it's notgiven to us by a mean and grudging master".

MURIEL: The white goat. She is the intellectual character. She can read and sees what isgoing on more clearly than most people.

"If there's no more debate, there's no more Animal Farm".

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Animal Farm: the songs

BEASTS OF ENGLAND

BEASTS29 OF ENGLAND! BEASTS OF IRELAND!BEASTS OF LAND AND SEA AND SKIES!HEAR THE HOOFBEATS30 OF TOMORROW!SEE THE GOLDEN FUTURE RISE!

NOW THE DAY OF BEASTS IS COMING,TYRANT MAN SHALL LOSE HIS THRONEAND THE SHINING FIELDS OF ENGLANDSHALL BE TROD BY BEASTS ALONE.BEASTS OF ENGLAND!BEASTS OF IRELAND!BEASTS OF LAND AND SEA AND SKIES!HEAR THE HOOFBEATS OF TOMORROW!SEE THE GOLDEN FUTURE RISE!

29beasts: bête30hoofbeats: battements de sabot

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SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAINThe pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract thereligious stories put about by Moses, Mr. Jones' tame raven.

MOSES: (liturgically): Believe me brethren. It's there, up in the sky!(singing) BEYOND THE FENCES31 OF THIS LIFETHERE LIES A WONDROUS HILLAND ALL GOOD CREATURES WHEN THEY DIEGO THERE TO GRAZE THEIR FILL.

CHORUS: ON SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAINNO LABOURING IS DONE.BESIDE A MILKY FOUNTAINTHE BEASTS LIE IN THE SUN.

MOSES: ON SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAINYOU'LL FIND THE TREACLE LAKE32LUMP SUGAR BEYOND COUNTINGAND FIELDS OF LINSEED CAKE.SO FEAR NO MORE THE KNACKER'S YARDNOR DREAD THE ABATTOIR,BUT WORK TODAY SO YOU MAY JOINTHAT SUGAR CANDY CHOIR.

CHORUS: ON SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAINYOU'LL FIND THE TREACLE ....

SNOWBALL, SQUEALER and NAPOLEON: (singing)THERE'S NO SUCH PLACE AS SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN,NO SWEET BY-AND-BY.THERE'S NO SUCH PLACE AS SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN,SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN IS A LIE, LIE, LIE, LIE!SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN IS A LIE!

SQUEALER: THERE'S NO SUCH PLACE AS SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN,ANIMALS ARE SLAUGHTERED AND THENCONVERTED INTO PORK OR MUTTON PIESWHICH ARE GOBBLED DOWN THE THROATS OF MEN.

SNOWBALL: SQUEALER and NAPOLEON:THERE'S NO SUCH PLACE AS SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN,WHEN YOU DIE YOU DIE.THERE'S NO SUCH PLACE AS SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN,SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN IS A LIE. LIE, LIE, LIE!SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN IS A LIE!IS A MOUNTAINOUS, MOUNTAINOUS, MOUNTAINOUS LIE!

31fences: clôtures32treacle lake: lac de mélasse

13THE HENS' REVOLT

HENS: WE CAN'T SPARE THE EGGS.

SQUEALER: YOU MUST DO YOUR DUTY?

HENS: WE CAN'T SPARE THE EGGSCAN'T YOU SEE WE'RE BROODY,

SQUEALER: WE MUST HAVE THE EGGSWE MUST PAY OUR WAY NOW.

HENS: IT'S MURDER, IF YOU TRY.TO TAKE AWAY OUR EGGS NOW.

SQUEALER: CONSIDER ECONOMICS -THE EGGS HAVE GOT TO GO.

HENS: CONSIDER OUR UNBORN CHICKS33.

SQUEALER: WE MUST HAVE THE EGGS.

HENS: NO! NO!TILL EACH EGG HAS THE RIGHTTO BECOME A HENTHERE'LL BE NO MORE EGGSTO BE SOLD TO MEN,THERE'LL BE NO MORE EGGS AT ALL.LET THE EGGS RAIN DOWNFROM THE HENHOUSE34 SKY.LET THE EGG SHELLS SMASHLET THE EGG YOLKS DRY.TILL EACH EGG HAS THE RIGHTTO BECOME A HENTHERE'LL BE NO MORE EGGSTO BE SOLD TO MEN.THERE'LL BE NO EGGS AT ALL.LET THE EGGS RAIN DOWNFROM THE HENHOUSE SKYLET THE EGG SHELLS SMASHLET THE EGG YOLKS DRY.

NAPOLEON: OUR FEATHERED COMRADES, IT APPEARS,HAVE LOST ALL SENSE OF REASONAND THEIR REACTIONARY ACTSARE TANTAMOUNT TO TREASON

TO TURN THEM BACK TO SANITYAND SAVE THEM FROM SELF SLAUGHTERI ORDER THAT THE HENS SHALL BEDEPRIVED OF FOOD AND WATER

33chicks: poussins34henhouse: poulailler

14A NOTHING SONG

ANIMALS : (singing) SAY WHAT YOU THINKBUT THE BEST THING TO THINKIS NOTHING -THAT'S EXCELLENT THINKING.

EAT WHAT YOU LIKEBUT THE BEST FOOD TO LIKEIS NOTHING -IT'S NOT ON THE RATION.

DO WHAT YOU WANTBUT THE BEST THING TO DOIS NOTHING -AND MIND HOW YOU DO IT.

FEEL WHAT YOU LIKEBUT THE BEST THING TO FEELIS NOTHING.

THIS ISN'T WHAT WE WANTEDCLOVER & MURIEL:

THIS ISN'T WHAT WE WANTEDTHIS ISN'T WHAT WE MEANTWHEN OUR GREAT REBELLION BEGAN.WE HOPED TO MAKE A FARM WHEREALL ANIMALS WERE FREEOF HUNGER, WHIPS AND MAN.

NAPOLEON & SQUEALER:YOU MUST BE STRONG TO GROW ANIMALISMRAKE OUT THE STONESRIP OUT THE WEEDS.WE'LL REAP THE HARVEST OF ANIMALISMMARCHING WHEREVERNAPOLEON LEADS.MARCHING WHEREVERNAPOLEON LEADS.FOR THIS IS WHAT WE WANTEDYES, THIS IS WHAT WE MEANT(Repeated together.)WHEN OUR GREAT REBELLION BEGAN

Napoleon and Squealer marching around the farm turning the marchinto a goose step.

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ALLEGORY - FABLE - PARABLEallegory- a poem, play, picture, etc. in which the apparent meaning of the charactersand events is used to symbolise a moral or spiritual meaning.

fable- a short moral story, especially one with animals as characters.

parable- a short story that uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical situation.

All of the above have been used to describe or classify George Orwell's AnimalFarm. Orwell himself called it a 'fairy story.' It is a unique and unusual book--an animalstory written for adults. As a fable it uses animal characters to make a point abouthuman behaviour. As a parable it illustrates an underlying meaning. And as anallegory it can be read and enjoyed for its surface meaning as well as for its moresignificant underlying meaning.The beast fable is not only a device that allows Orwell's serious message to beintelligible on two levels; the use of animal to represent man is basic to his whole theme.We can readily grasp that animals are oppressed and feel it is wrong to exploit themand betray their trust.Orwell counts on our common assumption about particular species.The sheep and their bleating are perfect metaphors for a gullible public, ever ready toaccept policies and repeat rumours as truth.We commonly believe pigs are greedy and savage, even to the point of devouringtheir young.Orwell wanted his central figure to typify the modern dictator whose lust for power ispathological and inhuman.

ANIMAL FARM: IMPORTANT ISSUES RAISED WHICH ARE STILL RELEVANT

I. UTOPIAS AND IDEALISM

A utopia is a perfect world. The animals thought they were creating one when theyoverthrew Jones and took over the farm. The aim of most-if not all-revolutions is tocreate a better society, the search for a better life.Ideals of equality among different races and equitable sharing of work and wealth areamong those that can be found among the animals at the start of Animal Farm.

George Orwell was an idealist, or perhaps more accurately, a "breaker of idols"without contriving practical substitutes. His idealism was one that had a way of staringfacts in the face in a realistic matter-of-fact way which often resulted in pessimism. Hehated materialism, was against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism. One of his favourite words was decency: a feeling for honesty and truth, linked witha search for freedom (especially political, social and intellectual freedom).

Speaking about Charles Dickens, Orwell said: His whole message is one that at first glance looks like an enormous platitude: If manwould behave decently the world would be decent.

Again, in 1943 Orwell wrote in an essay: Either power politics must yield to common decency, or the world must go spirallingdown into a nightmare, of which we can already catch some dim glimpses.

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II. MEDIA AND TRUTH

The animals cannot make sense of the changes that happen, often cannot decidewhat to do because they have no means of knowing what the truth is. And what theyare told by the "porte-parole" Squealer at times seems to go contrary to what theyremember. Any government which controls the media (and all education) will be able tocontrol history, since our knowledge of what has happened in the past is dependent onwhat we are told and what we read. Our memories are not reliable enough. But howdo we know what "really" happened?

In Nineteen Eighty-Four Orwell states: Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

Technical advances in this century have made communication efficient,instantaneous and global. Satellite telecommunications leave no area of our worldisolated, no event unnoticed. Computers store, transmit, calculate, sort out informationon anything--and anyone. Cyberspace is becoming the ultimate communication --subject of intense interest and rapid expansion. The search for truth by the media has lead to ethical questions about the right toprivacy of the individual, about too quick information, which is only partial (oreventually erroneous!) and detrimental to an individual or group. But how do we know that the "truth" we are given IS "the whole truth and nothing butthe truth"? Any hint of tying to "control" the truth is rejected as manipulation yet if it isout of control what can we do? How independent, free, unbiased are the variousmedia which can potentially influence the minds of millions?

III. PRIVILEGE AND POWER

The animals in Animal Farm can soon be divided into two groups--the "haves" andthe "have nots." On the one side are the pigs (and to a lesser extent the dogs) and onthe other, are the rest of the animals on the farm. Almost imperceptibly thebenevolent, sympathetic and wise image of Old Major changes into the sickeningcruelty, injustice and tyranny of Napoleon. Orwell's clear and prophetic insight into the nature of naked aggressive power, andthe cynicism of its wielders is seen in his handling of the pig characters. The fact thatthe world for many is harsh and brutal is because fundamental decency and loyaltyhas been deliberately (usually politically) banished or exploited by seekers of power.This is the fate of the other animals on the farm. Orwell never deluded himself: hence his discomfort at the political and socialtendencies of the totalitarian (and advertising) age, which is based largely onexploitation and power tactics.