Animal Farm: Book vs. movie

Animal Farm Book vs. movie

My literary preference- Animal Farm

Although I liked all the books we read this semester, my favourite would be Animal Farm. For three reasons:

1. I like history and i liked the fact that this book is a historical reference to things we were learning at the same time in History class.

2. It was different than any book I've ever read.

3. Easy to understand and to analyze.

The danger of a naive working class

Because these animals are naive, they believe everything Napoleon says and are too ignorant to question or examine their situation. They are unable and unwilling to act against him, which allows them to suffer even more at the hands of Napoleon.

The danger of a naive working class

In Animal Farm, Orwell criticizes the figures of power in totalitarian governments. Napoleon and the pigs are ruthless tyrants who take control of the farm and slowly return it to the initial state of totalitarianism. However, Orwell does not imply that Napoleon is the only cause for the farm's failure. He also criticizes the people whose attitudes allow Napoleon to succeed.

• Boxer- "Napoleon is always right!"
• The sheep- "Four legs good, two legs bad"

Jessie

The character of Jessie is different in the movie and in the book,

Jessie

By: Arianna Colella

The book:

Type of animal and gender: Dog, female.

Role: One of the dogs who gives birth to the puppies Napoleon takes to "educate" and form a private army. Jessie is rarely mentioned in the book, she is a secondary character and a protagonist.

Characteristics: Like most animals on the farm, Jessie is overly loyal to the pigs and easily manipulated by them.

Historical reference: Jessie and the other two dogs, Bluebell and Pincher, could represent the peasants who were oppressed and whose children were indoctrinated and became part of and upholders of the regime in the Soviet Union.

The movie:

Role: Like in the book, Jessie is a female dog and a protagonist in the story that gives birth to the puppies. However, she is a main character. In the movie, she is the farm's sheepdog and serves as the narrator for the film.

Characteristics: Jessie is a strong and smart character, she is one of the first to question the pigs and leads some of the animals in escaping from the farm following Boxer's death. She is a faithful companion to boxer.

Historical reference: The peasants of the Soviet Union who realized that the government was lying and tried to do something about it.

Theme analysis

Differences

vs.

Differences

Timeline

The book: Moves forward chronologically from beginning to end; it shows how things become worse and worse on the farm, with no relief in sight.

The movie: Begins with a group of animals returning to the farm after the fall of Napoleon's empire and sets the entire film as a flashback.

How does this affect the overall tone of the story?

Differences

Perspective

The book: We are inside observers. We only see what the animals see and are told what the animals are told. We can only assume what the pigs are up to based on what is observed by the other animals and the explanations they are given by Squealer.

The movie: We are outside observers. We see everything that happens all over the farm, including among the pigs. From the very beginning, we are aware of Napoleon's schemes.

How does this affect our view of the story?

In this presentation, we will compare and contrast the novella Animal Farm to its cinematic adaptation.

From the beginning, we know that Napoleon's rule will end and some animals will survive.

Building of the windmill

The book: There are many details about the animal's tireless labour, mostly on the building of the windmill. We can feel their frustration when the windmill is destroyed twice after years of work, and as we see the pigs taking advantage of their labor.

The movie: The building of the windmill is not a big part of the story, There is a lack of details as to how long it takes them to build it, how the pigs manipulate them to keep working, and the windmill only gets destroyed once.

How does this difference affect the story?

Compare and Contrast

Character analysis

Similarities

Songs, poems and slogans

The use of songs, poems and slogans as propaganda for Napoleon is present in the movie and also in the book.

• "Beasts" of England".
• "Four legs good, two legs bad"
• Poems to praise Napoleon- in the book, Minimus makes odes and anthems, and in the movie, we see some geese singing a poem.

Corruption of the pigs:

The pigs' corruption and misuse of power was evident in both the book and the film. For example:

• The animals that work all day barely get any food, while the pigs spend their time eating and drinking.
• The pigs manipulate the 7 commandments to justify their behavior.

Principle of Animalism

In both the book and the movie, after the overthrow of Jones, the pigs reduce animalism into 7 commandments, based on the ideals of Old Major.