Animal Farm

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Book Information

Category
Fiction
Reader Personality Type
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 1990 (originally published in 1945)
Country
Curriculum
Social Studies Curriculum

"George Orwell’s famous satire of the Soviet Union, in which “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”--from the publisher

"Animal Farm is Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution -- an account of the bold struggle, initiated by the animals, that transforms Mr. Jones's Manor Farm into Animal Farm--a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. But are they?"--from the publisher

192 pages            9780151002177    Grades 9 and up (Ages 14 and up)

Keywords: Political fiction; Totalitarianism

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When the tyrannized and exploited beasts of Manor Farm overthrow the drunk who runs their lives and the land they live on, the animals are excitedly thrown into a world of shared labor and resources.  Everyone pitches in with equal zest and determination and for the first season, the new system works to perfection.  There is plenty of food to go around and satisfaction with their camaraderie.

Painted in white on the wall of the barn are the Seven Commandments that rule the newly organized society.  These include equality for all and a ban on clothes, beds, alcohol and killing any four-footed friend.  In these new times any two-legged creature has been designated as the enemy.

Slowly things begin to disintegrate.  The pigs determine to become the leaders of the farm because of their superior intelligence.  They adapt the commandments in their own self-interest and under the guise of being responsible for the welfare of all.  Eventually, the downtrodden beasts who began the revolution for the sake of all, find themselves back on the bottom and serving a powerful porcine set of rulers.

Orwell's disillusionment with Communism is explored throughout.

Keywords: Totalitarianism;

192 pages            9780151002177    Grades 9 and up (Ages 14 and up)

Recommended by:  Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com

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