Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Animal Farm combines political satire with an animal fable. What did you think of this combination of genres? Which elements of the novel most interested you?

2. How does the political and social criticism in Animal Farm compare to the messages of George Orwell’s famous dystopian novel, 1984? What other striking similarities and differences do you observe between these two classics?

3. Consider other novels about Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent regime of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, such as Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow and Ruta Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray. How does Orwell’s approach to historical events in Animal Farm compare with these other authors’ approaches?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. At the start of the novel, Major has a beautiful dream of a utopia, but his vision is never realized. Do you think a true utopian society is possible? Why or why not?

2. Although the pigs profess ideals of equality at first, they soon fall to