120spacer.gif (56 bytes) Animal Farm Questions

Questions by Chapter Clusters

Chapter 1-4 | Chapter 5-8 | Chapter 9-10

Chapters 1 – 4

  1. Describe at least three ways that Orwell introduces the tension between animals and humans
  2. "Beasts Of England" is an anthem. Like most anthems, it is a little true and mostly a polite fiction, based on the wanted-to-be-accepted mythology of the country. What are some of the myths that emerge in this anthem, and what eventually happens in the book to cause the anthem to be discarded by Napoleon? (A note about Anthems: Good examples in real life are "The Star Spangled Banner", the anthem of the USA and "Oh Canada". Each memorializes, in its own way, something that is the national nonsense … Canadians are told that this is their ‘native land’, which, for most, it is not, and the Americans maintain that a British drinking song, with re-built words, inspires them to be a country which professes to be the land of the free and home of the brave, which many people would take grave issue with. Either way, the anthems reflect what people want to believe, rather than what is actually true.)
  3. There’s no prophet like a dead prophet. Prepare a defense of this statement, and a refutation, with specific reference to Old Major, Karl Marx and V. I. Lenin. How would Napoleon react to this statement?
  4. "You don’t want Jones Back" becomes a sort of mantra-question to consolidate power in the hands of a new elite. How are the animals manipulated to accept the emergence of a new power structure? Refer specifically to the creation of a calendar of Celebrations, and the Cenotaph, with Jones’ gun.

 

Chapters 5 – 8

  1. Discuss how and why Snowball is disposable, in Napoleon’s eyes. Use words such as threat, group, consolidate and dictator in your answer.
  2. The Commandments begin to change, and "Beasts Of England" is banished in favour of Minimus’ poem "Comrade Napoleon". Squealer seems to make everything intelligible with his propagandistic speeches and hagiographical references to Comrade Napoleon. How is the pigs’ position consolidated as leaders of the farm in the vanguard of the Revolution?
  3. "I Will Work Harder" and "Napoleon Is Always Right" are Boxer’s mottoes. He indulges in tremendous self-sacrifice to help build Animal Farm. Compare Boxer to members of human society who use faith and belief to inspire themselves to achieve some goal. Of what use is formal organization to people in this sort of position? (Think about religious organizations, political parties, NGOs such as Greenpeace or unions.)
  4. Snowball is the Great Satan, the reason for everything that goes wrong. Discuss the advantages of a society, or a group, having an excuse such as Snowball to blame things on, and give at least 5 examples to shore up your argument.

 

Chapters 9 and 10

  1. Boxer is sold to the knacker by Napoleon. Why? (Write from Napoleon’s point of view only)
  2. At the end, the pigs become Jones. Animal Farm’s name reverts to Manor Farm. What has become of the revolution? Present reasons for your answer.

 

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