GUV:So, we are looking at the plot for George Orwell’s Animal Farm, team. So starting off, this is an allegorical novel so.
PC GREEN:Guess who’s lost already? Quick clue. S’me. Allegorical Guv?
GUV:Allegorical is a story in which the characters and/or events represent particular ideas that relate to morals, religion, or, in this case, politics.
Yeah? No. Write this down Green. Orwell wrote the book as a commentary on his views on the Russian Revolution.
SHANEThat’s why there are such clear links to some of the actual political figures involved in the events of 1917. Like Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin.
PC GREEN:So is it just about the Russian Revolution then?
SHANE:No, it's got a wider significance than that. It’s about the ‘politics of power’, which is still relevant when you look at the politics of today.
PC BENNETT: Yeah, I was gonna say that.A drunk Mr Jones grumbles as he stumbles, using the Manor
Farm sign to keep his balance, leaving the gate wide open.
GUV:We’re at Manor Farm and despite Farmer Jones being his usual drunken self, there’s a buzz about the place because Old Major has organised the animals first ever meeting.
Through the open gate comes Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer.
A regal old Pig, Old Major, sits on a raised platform. Sat around him are Boxer the Cart Horse, Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer the pigs…
GUV:They all congregate inside the barn to listen to Old Major who’s described - well a lot like me in a way.
PC GREEN: Like a big fat old pig?
GUV: “Highly regarded” and having a “wise and benevolent appearance”.
OLD MAJOR:Comrades, our lives are miserable, laborious and short. Pigs nod emphatically.
GUV:Old Major describes life for an animal as one of misery and exploitation.
OLD MAJOR:But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. Even you, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker.
PC GREEN:That’s all well and good but a pig’s talking and none of you seem to think that’s weird.
PC BENNETT:It’s an allegory, like Guv said!
SHANE:Old Major’s role has been likened to Lenin’s role in the Russian Revolution…
PC GREEN:Oh but like ‘man’ instead of ‘capitalists’?
PC BENNETT: SHH!
SHANE: Yep.
OLD MAJOR:An animal must never kill another animal. All animals are equal!
All the animals cheer.
GUV:Unfortunately, Major died after that and Farmer Jones’s neglectful treatment of them just continued. But the pigs made sure that Old Major’s ideas about Animalism went ahead…
Mr Jones runs out through the gate terrified with Boxer, Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer at his heels.
GUV:…and a revolt was organised.
Squealer paints the sign to say ‘Animal Farm’.
PC GREEN:So it’s a success after all?
GUV: The seven commandments to be adhered to in the revolt were written up on the barn door. Snowball makes sure the animals understand.
SNOWBALL:These will act as a permanent reminder of our rules.
CHICKEN:Makes me wish I could read.
SNOWBALL:Come, I’ll teach you.
GUV:Now by working together the animals succeed far better than man ever did, yeah? The farm is a success and they enjoy a plentiful harvest.
PC BENNETT:Are the pigs pulling their weight?
GUV :Now it would appear the pigs didn’t actually work, but more, directed.
Tired Boxer goes to drink some milk, but the bucket’s empty.
GUV:After a hard day bringing in the harvest, the animals returned to the farm to find no milk or apples.
PC GREEN:Bet they kick up a stink?
GUV (reading from book):
“So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples should be reserved for the pigs alone.” It’s also worth noting that Napoleon took the puppies away to be educated in private too.
PC GREEN:Why’s he taken the dogs?
GUV:Make a note of it, Green, might be relevant later.
Because of their success, the animals try to spread the revolutionary ideas of Animal Farm across the countryside
All the animals sit round captivated by Snowball. Napoleon scoffs at Snowball and then does a sinister wolf whistle.
SNOWBALL:We need this windmill. For its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages. For one, it will allow us to do less work. We will only need to work three days a week…
GUV:Despite their achievements, Napoleon and Snowball do not see eye to eye.
GUV:Napoleon sets the dogs on Snowball, and they’re all big and vicious now and Snowball’s forced off his land.
PC GREEN:So that’s why he took the puppies? He’s creating an army! So Napoleon, like Stalin, is using military force eg, his loyal attack-y dogs, to intimidate the other animals, ie, the general population.
GUV:Indeed. And to consolidate his power.
SHANE:So or all Old Major’s ideas and the animals hard work, Napoleon’s creating a totalitarian state with a dictator in place once again?
GUV:Very good Shhaa… Sean?
Napoleon sits on the platform Old Major delivered his speech.
NAPOLEON:In future, all questions relating to the workings of the farm will be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by myself.
GUV:Orwell actually uses the words “like slaves” to describe how hard everybody’s working. Boxer in particular, and it’s around this time that Napoleon decides to 1, trade with humans and 2, sleep in the farmhouse, in the beds.
PC BENNETT:Eh? But the commandments saiy he shouldn’t do that…
Squealer is working on the Commandments. 4 reads: No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.
PC BENNETT: He’s changing them to suit his needs!
PC GREEN:If I didn’t know better, I would say they were becoming more like ‘man’.
GUV:Napoleon holds a ‘show trial’, accusing everyone who thinks Snowball was right, of ludicrous crimes - which they admit to out of fear, and the accused animals are executed.
SHANE:“And above all, no animal must ever tyrannize over his own kind.”
Squealer doctors the commandments on the barn, they now read: No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.
GUV: Not long after that, Boxer collapses in the quarry.
Gasps from team.
Boxer with bandaged hoof stands by a man in a shirt saying Horse Slaughtering. He hands Napoleon a box of whiskey, then he roughly grabs Boxer and begins dragging him away.
BOXER:Thank you Mr vet man!
Horse screams from screen. The team look horrified.
PC BENNETT:It’s what Old Major predicted but he meant Mr Jones would be the one to do it, not a fellow animal.
PC GREEN:
I’m so sad right now.
GUV:As you should be, this is the emotional climax, the ultimate betrayal of a hard worker.
The commandments have been replaced with: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN
OTHERS. Squealer walks away on two legs.
PC GREEN: TWO LEGS LOOK! “Two legs bad”?
The pigs wear clothes, walk on two legs and sit round drinking with humans.
GUV:The farm is richer than ever but the animals are working harder than ever and seeing far less rewards.
PC GREEN: I keep thinking back at Major’s first speech.
GUV:The animals look in through the farmhouse window and they can no longer tell the difference between pig and man.
PC BENNETT: So it’s gone full circle?
PC GREEN:Remind me never to be in a position of power.
PC BENNETT:I shouldn’t worry about that Green.
GUV:Exactly. No danger of that happening, Green.
PC BENNETT: We’re all really thick here
GUV:I’ve actually put you in for a demotion.
PC GREEN: Oh thank you…
The plot of Animal Farm by George Orwell is explored using a mixture of a police case conference-style discussion, interspersed with short video sequences of plot re-enactment from the novel.
The police officers discuss the plot with the support of a ‘case wall’ with photographic depictions of the key characters and a TV screen to show some of the dramatized moments from the novel.
As the police officers discuss the ‘case’, they explore the developing plot and use quotations from the text to support their developing understanding of the events in the novel.
This is from the series: LIT P.D
Teacher Notes
This film could be used to summarise the events of the novel as a revision activity.
After a first, initial reading, students could watch the sequence in order to gain a fuller understanding of the main events and the shape of the novel as a whole.
Curriculum Notes
This short film is suitable for teaching English literature at GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 5 and Higher in Scotland.
Animal Farm - Themes. video
An overview of some of the main themes in Animal Farm by George Orwell.
Anita and Me - Plot. video
An overview of the plot of Anita and Me by Meera Syal.
Anita and Me - Themes. video
An overview of some of the main themes in Anita and Me by Meera Syal.
Anita and Me - Characters. video
An overview of some of the main characters in Anita and Me by Meera Syal.
The Woman in Black - Plot. video
An overview of the plot of The Woman in Black by Susan Hill.
The Woman in Black - Themes. video
An overview of some of the key themes in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The Woman in Black - Characters. video
An overview of some of the main characters in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill.
Never Let Me Go - Plot. video
An overview of the plot of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Never Let Me Go - Themes. video
An overview of some of the main themes in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Never Let Me Go - Characters. video
An overview of some of the main characters in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Animal Farm - Plot. video
A plot overview of Animal Farm through a mixture of police interviews and re-enactments.
