Literary Analysis: Orwell's Animal Farm and Kipling's 'If—'

Rudyard Kipling's "If—" (A Stanza)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you will be a Man, my son!

Analyzing George Orwell's Animal Farm

The novel serves as an allegory for the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Character Parallels and Symbolism

1. Mr. Jones: Symbolizes governments that fail to rule their people effectively. He was the owner of the farm and was unable to look after his animals.
2. The Pigs: Represent the Bolsheviks of Russia. They are the highest in the animal society structure and possess the highest level of intelligence. The pigs supervise all the inferior animals. They symbolize the Communist Party and the friends of Stalin.
3. Old Major: Is compared to Lenin, who inspired the communist revolution and then died.
4. Napoleon: Represents Stalin. Orwell believed that although socialism is good as an ideal, it can never be successfully adopted due to human nature. At first, he is a good leader, but then he is corrupted by power. Stalin also forgot about equality and lived in luxury while the peasants worked as slaves.
5. Snowball: Represents Trotsky, who was exiled by Stalin from Russia to Mexico because Stalin feared his leadership as a communist.
6. Squealer: Is a manipulator and a persuader. He represents the propaganda machine (like the newspapers of the time), trying to convince the animals of Napoleon's government policies.
7. Mollie: Opposes the new government and represents the bourgeoisie or those who fled Russia due to poverty and loss of privilege.
8. The Dogs: They cannot speak for themselves and help Napoleon maintain power, representing the police or secret service.
9. Boxer: He was the hardest-working animal who did everything for the revolution. He symbolizes the poor working class (proletariat).
10. Benjamin: The old donkey who has lived and seen too much and knows by experience that "things will never change."
11. The Sheep: Represent the working class of unskilled laborers, easily manipulated by slogans.

Literary Technique: Satire Defined

Satire: A literary technique in which human vice is attacked through irony. Human vices are exposed to ridicule to produce change. It is a critical piece of writing done with humor so that humanity may improve.

English Grammar Essentials

Perfect Tense Conjugation

The perfect tenses are formed using the auxiliary verb "to have" plus the past participle of the main verb (e.g., eaten).

• Present Perfect: I have eaten / He has eaten
• Past Perfect: I had eaten / He had eaten
• Future Perfect: I will have eaten / He will have eaten

Understanding the Passive Voice

The passive voice shifts focus from the actor to the action or the recipient of the action.

Active Voice Example: I eat an apple.

Passive Voice Examples:

• I eat an apple / An apple is eaten by me (Present Simple Passive)
• I ate an apple / An apple was eaten by me (Past Simple Passive)
• I will eat an apple / An apple will be eaten by me (Future Simple Passive)