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Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness
of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one
whole."
"Every line of serious
work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly,
against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism as I understand it."
-- George Orwell, "Why I Write"
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Animal Farm (1954) by Joy Batchelor and John Halas is Britain's first
animated feature film.
In 1999, the book by George Orwell was again filmed, this time for
television. Thanks to modern techniques it was possible to make a movie with
real people and animals.
To be honest, I prefer the 1954 movie.
Below is a number of assignments relating to Animal Farm, tot the book as
well as to the movie.
Assignment 1
The Ten (seven) Commandments
By their studies of the past three months the pigs
had succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments.
These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an
unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever
after. ...
The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that
could be read thirty yards away. They ran thus:
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol
6. No animal shall kill any other animal
7. All animals are equal.
Later on in the story they were changed to:
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets
5. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess
6. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause
7. All animals are equal. but some animals are more equal than others
Near the end of the story the sheep break into a deafening chorus of “Four legs
good, two legs better.” They went on for five minutes, during which the pigs
walked briefly around and then returned to the farmhouse.... Clover goes
to the gable wall and brings Benjamin with her. She asks Benjamin to read for
her what is on the gable wall. All the commandments are gone, and all that is
written there now is:
“All animals are equal, But some animals are more equal than others.”
Tasks
- Explain (shortly) the purpose of any commandment.
- Explain why the pigs changed the commandments
- In the end there was only one commandment left. Explain the reason why
the pigs did so and explain the meaning of the last commandment.
Assignment 2
The names of the animals
The names of the animals were choosen very consciously. Provide an explanation
or clarification on any of the following names:
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Mr. Jones
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Napoleon
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Snowball
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Squealer
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Moses, the crow
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Boxer
Assignment 3
At some point in the film the animals admit that they are guilty of
treason. Why do they declare themselves guilty of treason?
Assignment 4
You may summarize Orwell's criticism of communism in the most
famous phrase from the book:
“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN
OTHERS.”
Explain this phrase.
Assignment 5
Book/movie and historical reality
 The main characters in books and film are animals, with names like Napoleon and
Snowball. All these animals have a counterpart in reality. You can compare them,
to greater or lesser degree, with persons from the early period of the
history of the Soviet Union or in a single case with someone from the nineteenth
century.
Write down as much as possible historical counterparts on animals from books and/ or
film.
Assignment 6
causes and consequences
 If
you look into causes and consequences of a specific event, you always have to
ask certain
questions. Those questions are listed below. Look at the film 'Animal Farm'. Write a brief report on the causes and consequences of this event. Use,
to the extent possible, the following questions:
Causes
- Only rarely there will be one cause. So, look always for more then
obe cause.
- Not all causes are probably equally
important. So be aware of questions like: what causes are
important and what causes are less less important or what causes are of paramount importance and
which of secondary importance?
- What causes are long-term causes, and what causes are short-term causes.
- Look for norms, values and
interests of people as causes.
Consequences
- Some consequences of an event will be immediately visible, others reveal
themselves much later. What are direct and indirect consequences?
- What consequences are profound and what causes are less intrusive?
- Can you make a difference between intended and unintended consequences?
Assignment 7
1. The picture above is the cover of an edition of Animal
Farm. Argue whether you think this cover suits the book.
On the back of the book is stated: 'Animal Farm - the
history of a revolution that went wrong - is George Orwell's brilliant satire on
the corrupting influence of power.'
2. Explain how and why the revolution went wrong.
3. Explain the statement: 'the corrupting influence of
power.'
Assignment 8
Book and movie
The movie Animal Farm is not an exact copy of the book. Compare book and
movie and write down differences between movie and book.
The movie
See the
complete movie on YouTube
Websites
History webquests
Teaching of history in The Netherlands
The
teaching of history in The Netherlands.
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