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English 9 12/5/14

Your copy of Animal Farm. Make sure your name is clearly written on the front cover.

Please turn in….

uto·pia1: an imaginary and indefinitely remote

place 2 : a place of ideal perfection especially

in laws, government, and social conditions

3: an impractical scheme for social improvement

Synonyms: Camelot, Cockaigne, Eden, Elysium, empyrean, fantasyland, heaven, lotusland, never-never land, New Jerusalem, nirvana, promised land, Shangri-la, paradise, Zion ( Sion)

Everybody has their idea of utopia.

The key elements are peace and equality.

Beyond that, the setting could be anything…

In Animal Farm by George Orwell, utopia is seen as a farm where all the animals are share the work and prosperity equally.

Utopia in Animal FarmThe definition of utopia is “no place.” A

utopia is an ideal society in which the social, political, and economic evils afflicting human kind have been wiped out. This is an idea displayed in communist governments.

In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, Old Major’s ideas of a utopia are changed because of Napoleon’s bad leadership. Old Major explains his dreams and ideas to all the animals before he dies.

Communism evolved from the idea that workers have rights and should enjoy an equal say in the government. These ideas were developed by Karl Marx.

Communism was brought to Russia by Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Russian Revolution and a Marxist believer.

Lenin lead the Russian Revolution, urging Russians to rise as one, to work together for peace and prosperity.

The people responded, the government was overthrown, and communism came to power.

The idea was that everyone would work together for “the greater good” and share the wealth.

Joseph Stalin, who succeeded Lenin, had a different concept of sharing power. He shared it all … with himself.

Stalin’s idea of utopia included ridding himself of everyone who opposed him, including his chief rival for power, Leon Trotsky, an intellectual and Marxist purist, whom Stalin exiled.

Considering what happened to millions of others who opposed Stalin, Trotsky got off easy.

Thus the idea of utopia twisted into the reality of a dystopia.

• dys·to·pia• Definitions • 1: an imaginary place where people lead

dehumanized and often fearful lives • 2: anti-utopia

Marx’s ideal of the people having the power twisted into the Red Terror, the most destructive political movement in history.

But at time, the rest of the world didn’t know.

Actually, at this time, the concept of Communism was growing in popularity across Europe.

This filled writer George Orwell with dread. He was convinced Communism had a dark side, and he was driven to find a way to demonstrate this to the public before countries like his native England embraced this form of government.

So he wrote Animal Farm, A Fable.

Just like the Russian Revolution, Animal Farm begins with a rise of the “workers” to overthrow the evil authority…

….and create a utopia where “all animals are created equal” on the farm.

And, just like the Russian Revolution, the utopia mutated, as some began to accumulate rather than share power.

Ultimately, one element of the farm (the pigs) became so like the “evil humans” they replaced that they were indistinguishable from those they opposed.

Orwell’s warning:Orwell believed communism was corrupt and

dangerous. His warning to Europeans considering the adoption of communism as their form of government was an old saying: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Research the following:Give details about utopias, and examples from

movies/books/shows. Give details about dystopias, and examples

from movies/books/shows. Create EITHER a utopia or dystopia of your own.

What would it be like? You may do this with a partner. Include the following:Rules of the societyRules of the individualConsequences for breaking rules

Utopia/Dystopia Research