William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was one of the greatest poets of the 20th century and a central figure in both Irish and modernist literature. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Yeats was deeply influenced by Irish mythology, folklore, and the political struggles of his country. He co-founded the Abbey Theatre and playedContinue Reading
The plot structure of George Orwell’s Animal Farm is fairly simple and straightforward. The first few chapters are concerned with the rising action: the animals’ rebel and seizure of the farm, Snowball and Napoleon’s quarrel for leadership, expulsion of Snowball, and Napoleon becoming the dictatorial leader. The climax is reachedContinue Reading
The Seven Commandments – written on the barn wall – are the basic principles of animalism and described originally as “unalterable laws” by which the animals were to live. They were meant to keep the animals equal and to ensure that all animals were true to their own nature. OverContinue Reading
Old Major is a character in the book Animal Farm. He was an award winning elderly and well-respected Middle White boar. He was twelve years of age, and had 400 piglets. He had given inspiration to the other pigs about the fair rules on the farm once the farmers wereContinue Reading
“Beasts of England” is the song that Old Major teaches to the other animals in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. He claims that his parents sang it to him when he was young, although they only remembered the first three words. The song is instrumental in firing up the other animalsContinue Reading
In Animal Farm, George Orwell shows how the public can be influenced by the words, slogans and propaganda through rhetorical skills and the means for manipulation of the language. The public in a totalitarian society is deceived by the dominant ideology through the effective use of the language. Several charactersContinue Reading
Animal Farm is an allegory, which is a story in which concrete and specific characters and situations stand for other characters and situations so as to make a point about them. The main action of Animal Farm stands for the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of theContinue Reading
George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair (1903–1950), was a British writer, journalist, and critic, renowned for his sharp insight into politics, totalitarianism, and social injustice. Orwell’s works remain influential for their clarity of language, moral seriousness, and political relevance. Born in British India and educated in England,Continue Reading
A satire is a work which uses humour, irony or wit to highlight the vices, follies and pretensions of individuals, institutions, communities or ideas. Animal Farm satirises the breakdown of political ideology and the misuse of power in the ingenious form of a beast fable. The major players are animalsContinue Reading
A dystopian novel is one in which an author creates a world that is a total nightmare to live in. A utopia is a perfect world, a dystopia is the opposite. In Animal Farm, Napoleon creates a world that is not exactly the worst possible, but pretty close for theContinue Reading
