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First, let’s dispel the quesiton you may be asking. Yes, this book is about Animals on a Farm…sort of.

However, if you learn anything about literature from us here at CPA, please learn this: Literature is rarely only about literal things. Literature goes so much deeper – literature is all about the themes; what we can learn about humanity, the world, or ourselves from it. So yes, it’s about animals, and so much more!

To set the stage I just want to share a little bit about the author

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British author George Orwell was born in 1903 in the then British colony of India. His father worked for the Indian Civil Service as an opium agent.

In 1922 Orwell became a police officer in India (specifically, the now country of Burma). Dissatisfied with the treatment of the Burmese people there, he quit in 1927 and went to London where he become a writer.

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In 1937, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, acting on his very strong socialist ideals. He was shot in the throat and barely escaped the country with his life. Many of his friends were killed there.

With this experience, he wrote for several newspapers and magazines. He was also working on novels that he thought would expose the Stalinist communist government to the common people.

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He completed Animal Farm in 1944, but publishers refused to print it until after WWII in 1946.

His most famous book 1984 was published in 1948.

He died in 1950 of tuberculosis.

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