Free Sample Essays > North American
A Child Called It
power corrupts absolutely is another theme of Animal Farm. When the animals seize control of the farm, the leaders are corrupted by their power. Allegorically, Orwell is ……….
MOOD
The mood varies from the comic to the tragic, with the overall mood being one of tension. The whole story is filled with irony and bitter sarcasm.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
GEORGE ORWELL
George Orwell was the pen name of an English writer, Eric Blair. He was born in Motihari, Bengal in India in 1903, the second child of an Anglo-Indian family. At the age of eight, he was sent to boarding school in England. After winning a scholarship, Orwell went to Eton, where he studied from 1917 to 1921 and was exposed to liberal and socialist ideas. From 1922 until 1927, he served in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma; he resigned because the climate affected his health and because he believed that the British rule in Burma was unjust. He returned to Europe to pursue a writing career and first lived in Paris and then London. At first he could not find a publisher for his works. As a result, he led a life of poverty, doing odd jobs to…….
LITERARY/HISTORICAL INFORMATION
It is important to realize that George Orvwell wrote Animal Farm on various levels:
As a Children's Story - The novel is a children's story in its own right because the author tried to parody the style of children's books. He wrote an animal story simple enough for a child, but added……….
As a Fable - Animal Farm is a fable in the sense that its characters are animals, each with his own personality and human characteristics. The animals think, meet, talk, act, obey, disobey, aspire, fight…..
As a Political Satire - Animal Farm is also an example of a literary form known as 'Political Satire,' blending a critical attitude with wit and humor for the purpose of mocking or ridiculing the follies of man's political behavior and institutions. To be effective, satire must be terse and concise, to say a great………..
The novel meets all the requirements of a good satire because:
A. It is inspired by a personal grievance or a passion for reform, for Orwell's Spanish experience and anti-Stalin obsession inspired Animal Farm.
B. It is an attack on a group of persons or a social evil, for the book exposes Russian Communism and arouses hatred for despotic rulers, such as the superior class of pigs and dogs.
C. It is intended to ridicule, not abuse, though it is often bitter, for Orwell ridicules the 'short memory' of the animals, who quickly forget what has happened to them in the immediate past and begin ……….
CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH NOTES
CHAPTER 1
Summary
In the opening chapter of the book, Mr. Jones of Manor Farm is shown as a careless, irresponsible farm owner who cares more for a glass of beer than for his animals and the farm. He is often drunk, and his ensuing negligence causes the farm animals to protest and rebel [next page]