Animal farm / George Orwell

Marginal vocabulary notes (in French and English) —
A comprehensive file to understand the work, its characters, major themes, and its context —
Quizzes to memorize the essentials in a playful manner —
Activities to improve in English, thanks to the text of an exceptional author —
Contains exercises in the form of quizzes. The work is accompanied by a downloadable pedagogical guide at belin-education.com.

Animal Farm" is a political allegory that satirizes the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Soviet Union. The story is set on a farm where the animals, led by the pigs, rebel against their human farmer, Mr. Jones, and establish their own government based on the idea that all animals are equal.

Initially, the rebellion is a success, and the animals enjoy a brief period of freedom and prosperity. However, the pigs, especially Napoleon and Snowball, gradually take control and establish themselves as the ruling class. They adopt the slogan "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," highlighting the hypocrisy and corruption of their leadership.

As the pigs become indistinguishable from the humans they overthrew, the other animals realize the betrayal of their ideals. The story illustrates how power can corrupt and how revolutions can be co-opted by those seeking their own interests.

In the end, the pigs fully align themselves with the humans, and the once-revolutionary principles are abandoned. The novel serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked power and the potential for corruption in political movements.