Animal Farm

by George Orwell, John Sutherland (Introduction)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Even if you read this in school, it's time to read it again. Under the cuddly guise of an animal society, the encroaching totalitarian state is not lost on the pigs and the hamsters of the world. It's an unexpectedly cautionary tale that's widely banned for a reason.

ANIMAL FARM was George Orwell's satirical shot at the then-new totalitarianism of the left. It is so accurate that no one has been able to do it better or more effectively, or even come close. Who can forget "All Animals Are Created Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others." By putting wisdom in the mouths of animals, Orwell uses an age-old artifice and proves again how the pen can be mightier than the sword.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781804179727
Publisher:	Flame Tree Publishing
Publication date:	02/10/2026
Series:	Essential Gothic, SF & Dark Fantasy
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192

About the Author

Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was an English writer. His work is characterized by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best-known for his dystopian social-commentary novel 1984 and his allegorical fairytale Animal Farm.

Table of Contents

	How to study	v
	How to use this guide	ix
	Key to icons	x
	Background	1
	The story of Animal Farm	5
	Who's who?	10
	The main animal characters	10
	The other animals	19
	The humans	21
	Themes	23
	How to get to the top	23
	How to tell lies	25
	The uses of literacy	28
	Down with "isms"	29
	Language, style and structure	32
	Just words?	32
	Do we laugh?	33
	The structure of the novel	34
	The use of repetition	35
	Commentary	37
Chapter 138
Chapter 241
Chapter 344
Chapter 448
Chapter 551
Chapter 655
Chapter 758
Chapter 862
Chapter 966
Chapter 1071
	Topics for discussion and brainstorming	77
	How to get an "A" in English Literature	79
	The exam essay	80
	Model answer and essay plans	81
	Glossary of literary terms	84
	Index	86

Editorial Reviews

Absolutely first-rate...comparable to Voltaire and Swift. -- The New Yorker

Edmund Wilson

Animal Farm remains our great satire on the darker face of modern history.”—Malcolm Bradbury

“As lucid as glass and quite as sharp…[Animal Farm] has the double meaning, the sharp edge, and the lucidity of Swift.”—Atlantic Monthly

“A wise, compassionate, and illuminating fable for our times.”—The New York Times

“Orwell has worked out his theme with a simplicity, a wit, and a dryness that are close to La Fontaine and Gay, and has written in a prose so plain and spare, so admirably proportioned to his purpose, that Animal Farm even seems very creditable if we compare it with Voltaire and Swift.”—Edmund Wilson, The New Yorker

“Orwell’s satire here is amply broad, cleverly conceived, and delightfully written.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“The book for everyone and Everyman, its brightness undimmed after fifty years.”—Ruth Rendell

From the Publisher

Animal Farm is a nearly perfect piece of writing, both an engaging story and an allegory that actually works.”

Amazon.com

Absolutely first-rate…comparable to Voltaire and Swift.”

New Yorker

There is a timeless, even transcendent quality to this little story.”

New York Times bestselling author Christopher Hitchens

A modern day fable, with modern implications in a deceiving simplicity…Orwell’s animals exist in their own right, with a narrative as individual as it is apt in political parody.”

Kirkus Reviews

A wise, compassionate, and illuminating fable of our times…The steadiness and lucidity of Orwell’s merciless wit are reminiscent of Anatole France and even of Swift.”

New York Times Book Review

Animal Farm ought to resonate because it’s about the beguiling lure of messages that tell you they have answers…A very pertinent book for protecting you against making the small concessions towards being cruel or unfair or accepting injustice.”

professor of media history at the University of We Jean Seaton