Animal Farm Characters

Review of theme vs. main idea

Remember, since the story is an allegory, each major character has a symbolic meaning and represents a historical individual or group. Orwell is very intentional in his characterization in order to show the parallels between the characters and the people they represent. 

Orwell uses direct and indirect characterization to give each animal a distinct personality.

For instance, if you were asked to identify the character who is vain and self-absorbed and loves being pampered, you would immediately connect these characteristics with Mollie, the white mare.

Define bourgeoisie and put the definition in the chat.

Mr. Jones represents Czar Nicholas II, autocrat of Russia. In Chapter II, Mr. Jones flees his farm, an action that represents the forced abdication of Nicholas II.

 The boar old Major represents Karl Marx, the German philosopher who wrote The Communist Manifesto. Marx dies before seeing his dream of a workers’ revolt come to pass. Similarly, old Major dies after passing on his dream to the other animals, three months before the animals’ rebellion.

Let's add the symbolic representation that we just identified for these characters in your character list!

In Chapter I, old Major delivers a very gripping, persuasive speech stirring the animals to pursue a rebellion against Man. After old Major dies, the other pigs turn old Major’s teachings into a belief system called Animalism.

the pigs begin to assume the leadership of Animal Farm following the rebellion. How do the pigs successfully persuade the other animals to follow them? The pigs are seen as the smartest of the animals. Napoleon and Snowball, both strong personalities, emerge as the two strongest leaders.

Squealer, is the mouthpiece for the pigs, and his role is to “explain” the pigs’ actions to the other animals. He speaks very persuasively and is said to be able to “turn black into white.”

Answer the final 3 questions for Lesson 3 and submit in PLP. (Questions 38-40)

Write the summary for chapter 3 in the Chapters 2 & 3 Google Doc. TURN IN TODAY! Make sure your annotations are done and BOTH summaries are written for chapters 2 AND 3.