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Old Major's speech in Animal Farm

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Objectifs

Découvrir un aspect de la thématique d'étude l'art du débat
Approfondir ses connaissances sur le roman de George Orwell, La Ferme des animaux

Points clés

La Ferme des animaux (Animal Farm) est un roman allégorique écrit par George Orwell, dans lequel un groupe d'animaux veut se rebeller contre le fermier considéré comme un oppresseur
Leur but est d'établir une nouvelle société où chacun serait libre et où l'égalité serait règle, ainsi qu'un système d'autogestion dans la ferme.
Le sanglier, Old Major, instille en eux l'esprit de révolution en leur tenant un discours emprunt d'idéaux socialistes. Cet animal est une combinaison de l'hommes politique russe Lénine et du sociologue et économiste allemand Marx.

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella written by George Orwell and published in 1945. It deals with a group of farm animals who want to create a new type of society where the animals would get rid of their terrible condition to be equal, free and happy at last. Consequently, they decide to rebel against Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, but the rebellion fails and ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the main villain of the farm.
Among the characters is Old Major, a wise aged exalted boar, who instills the principles of revolution in the farm.

1. The Character of Old Major

As we can easily understand as the story develops, Old Major is both a combination of Marx and Lenin. He is wise and learned but he is also well-respected on the farm. But he is old and he knows he is going to die. Therefore, he wants to pass on his knowledge and wisdom to the rest of the group. So he organizes a meeting and tells his friends what he has imagined for them as the situation on the farm cannot continue this way. Moreover, he has had a dream in which Man had disappeared and, as a consequence, the world was far better.

2. The Significance of Old Major's Speech

a. The Message

During his speech which takes place in the first chapter of the book, Old Major explains that animals are “miserable” and their life is “short” because Man has decided it. To him, Man is an animal who “consumes without producing”, he is also cruel and tyrannical. So, he must be overthrown for the sake of their democracy which he intends to establish:

Man is the only enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.

When Mr. Jones, the alcoholic farmer considered as the human oppressor, is overthrown they will be able to run the farm themselves.

b. The Anthem

To excite his audience, Old Major teaches them a song his mother used to sing when he was young, a song called Beasts of England. It is a revolutionary song as the following verses imply:

Soon or late the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be o'erthrown,
And the fruitful fields of England
Shall be trod by beasts alone.

The song, which corresponds to The Internationale, soon becomes their anthem. Now, they can envisage a rebellion.
By motivating his friends to take action and by developing socialist ideas, we can assimilate Old Major to Karl Marx and Vladimir Ilitch Lenin whose views greatly inspired their followers.

Marx and Lenin believed in a stateless, moneyless and classless society.
They condemned the alienation and exploitation of labor under capitalism because it was degrading, and they wanted the proletariat to rise up and seize the means of production from their capitalist masters.
They rejected fascism, imperialism, and capitalism.

c. The Organization of the Speech

We must acknowledge that Old Major’s speech is well organized as it is centered on five essential points:

The miserable life of the animals
The abundance of resources on the farm
The responsibility of Man for their condition
Rebelling against their oppressor is the solution
Animals must be unified to win

3. Conclusion

Old Major's speech is very important because it raises awareness about the animals’ condition on the farm. It is also of course educational and inspiring. Thanks to his speech, Old Major manages to instill the notion of rebellion in the minds of the other animals. For the first time, they become aware that Man is the real enemy and they the victims of his oppression. Old Major’s speech makes him the leader of the movement.

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