# George Orwell - Animal Farm
I'm a 10th grader and this week I have to prepare 2 speeches for school. As I open source everything, I've decided to open source this too. Enjoy, I guess. This is my own interpretation and work, so may not work for your own use case. The "10th grader" figure is important in this case as to note that this may not be the highest quality speech, it's high-school level, if that even.
I left out the Lithuanian translation out of here as translation from this should be easy enough for people using this work. I don't want to include it as I don't want this post to be huge with repetitive information.
# Licensing
For educational purposes only you are free to use this speech (if you ever do) under CC0 - no rights reserved:
Speech about George Orwell's book "Animal Farm" by Ari Archer is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0?ref=ari.lt
For any other purposes than educational, you shall follow the licensing provided on this page's footer and metadata.
# Speech
Dear people,
Today, I stand here to not just to talk about a book - rather to explore philosophy, symbolism, and societal commentary scattered around its pages. The book in focus is the infamous "Animal Farm" by the influential English writer - George Orwell.
Before we deep dive into the book I'd like to take a moment to present the author of this book. George Orwell, born on June 25th of 1903, as Eric Arthur Blair, he later adopted his writer name as we know it today - George Orwell. Orwell was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His works are characterized by clarity, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, he's an outspoken port of democratic socialism. His masterpieces portray power as a keen eye for effects of poverty, a theme which echos throughout his books from his first book called "Down and Out in Paris and London", published in 1933.
"Animal Farm" is among the most celebrated of Orwell's creations, "Animal Farm" is a unique blend of political satire, dystopian fiction, and allegorical storytelling. It was published on August 17th of 1945, at a time where the world was still devastated by effects of World War II. Throughout the book, he managed to expose and criticize the corruption and brutal totalitarianism that come with absolute political power.
"Animal Farm" is a clever novel which uses animals to allegorically express the storyline to create a unique utopian society which slowly becomes a dystopian reality. It begins good, but then slowly deteriorates into a harsh, corrupt, and bitter state of governance, depicting a bitter reality of many political systems. The animals in the book do not merely represent themselves, but rather each has its real-world political history, this becomes clearer and clearer as you read into the very clear allegory that Orwell created in the storyline.
The pigs, who present the leaders of the rebellion, represent those who are in charge - the politicians. It's very clever, in my opinion, how the pigs are presented as the government, as pigs are known as this dirty and gross animal in many cultures. I feel like this not only represents the governing power in the book well, but also real-world governments and their actions. Many sources claim that The character of Napoleon, a large boar, can be seen as a representation of Joseph Stalin, a Soviet leader from the mid-1920s to his demise in 1953, a ruthless figure who forced policies such as collectivization and purges, consolidating power and transforming the Soviet Union into an industrialized but authoritarian state. The same sources also claim that Snowball, another pig, represents the political theorist Leon Trotsky, a prominent Marxist revolutionary who played a key role in the Russian Revolution, advocating for international socialism, and later becoming a vocal critic of Joseph Stalin's authoritarian control in 1920s to early 1930s.
Orwell's writing style applications and a stage of reality portrayed in the book, makes the readers think and relate to the real world around them. The book provides a critical examination of complexities and issues of any political system, which, even though formed with high ideals (how most political systems start), can quickly snowball into an authoritarian mess, poverty, centralized power, and manipulation (political propaganda?). Any political system can fall victim to corruption, inequality, and exploitation.
During the development of the storyline in the book, there were many portrayed inequalities (or as the pigs would call it "Some animals are more equal than others"), change of the 7 laws they made to create a society where the animals could live peacefully and happily to match the authoritarian leader's wants and privileges. I found one part funny in particular where the pigs changed the basic right of "All animals are equal" to "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" - this part stuck with me as a funny moment, showing how badly degraded and corrupt the political system there was.
In conclusion, "Animal Farm" By George Orwell is not just a book, it is a mirror reflecting our society's often masked artifacts. On its surface it may appear as a simple tale of farm animals, but beneath the surface it's a political satire representing a pungent society and leaders, commenting with that with on-point political critique.
Thank you for lending me your time and giving me the opportunity to share this amazing work by George Orwell with you today. Have a good rest of your day.
# Plan
- Greeting
- Not just a book (intro)
- Philosophy
- Symbolism
- Societal commentary
- Author
- Influential English writer
- Born on June 25th of 1903
- Real name - Eric Arthur Blair
- Later adopted his writer name - George Orwell
- English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic
- Works characterized by clarity, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, pro-democratic socialism
- Power to poverty, common theme
- Even from his first book - "Down and Out in Paris and London", published in 1933
- "Animal Farm" is one of the most celebrated works by him
- Unique blend of political satire, dystopian fiction, and allegorical storytelling
- published on August 17th of 1945
- People were still devastated by effects of World War II
- The storyline exposes and criticizes corruption and brutal totalitarianism
- "Animal Farm" is a clever allegorical novel with a unique storyline
- Unique utopian society which degrades into a dystopian reality
- Toxic state of governance
- Reality of many political systems
- The animals don't represent merely themselves
- Actual real-world political history
- Allegory: animals are not merely animals
- Pigs - politicians
- Pigs are viewed as dirty and gross in many cultures
- Accurate representation of real-world governments and
- Main pigs: Snowball and Napoleon
- Napoleon is believed to represent Joseph Stalin
- Soviet leader from the mid-1920s to his demise in 1953
- Ruthless figure who forced policies
- Collectivization and purges
- Consolidating power
- Transforming the Soviet Union into an industrialized but authoritarian state
- Snowball is believed to represent the political theorist Leon Trotsky
- Prominent Marxist revolutionary who played a key role in the Russian Revolution
- Advocating for international socialism
- Later becoming a vocal critic of Joseph Stalin's authoritarian control in 1920s to early 1930s
- Orwell's writing style and portrayed reality
- Makes the readers think of the real world around them
- Provides critical examination and complexities of any political system
- Political system formation
- Starts with high ideals
- Can quickly snowball into an authoritarian mess, poverty, centralized power, and manipulation (political propaganda?)
- Any political system can fall victim to corruption, inequality, and exploitation.
- Storyline: inequality (or as pigs would say - "others are more equal than others")
- They made 7 basic laws
- Who walks on two legs is an enemy
- Who walks on four legs or has wings is a friend
- No animal should wear clothes
- No animal shall lie in bed
- No animal shall drink alcohol
- No animal shall kill any other animal
- All animals are equal
- The pigs kept changing them to meet their privileges and wants
- Four legs is good, two is even better
- Who walks on four legs or has wings is a friend (not changed)
- Animals can wear clothes
- Pigs require a place to rest
- No animal shall drink alcohol without moderation
- No animal shall kill any other animal without a reason
- All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
- This stuck with me, funny - "more equal"
- Degradation
- Corruptness
- Authoritarianism
- Poverty
- Conclusion (outro)
- "Animal farm" is not just a book
- Mirror reflecting our society's often masked artifacts
- On the surface seems like a tale about
- Digging deeper into the creative work
- Political satire
- pungent society and leaders
- On-point political critique
- Goodbye
- Opportunity to share
- Have a good day