Chapter Preview
 After Mr. Jones the farmer has gone to bed, drunk as usual,
the animals all sneak into the barn to hear a speech by Old
Major, the prized white boar. First the dogs arrive, then the
pigs, followed by the hens, sheep, cows, pigeons, ducks, and
so on. Among the animals are boxer and clover the carthorses, Murial the goat, Benjamin the donkey, Mollie the
white mare and the cat. Old Major tells them that he has
done a lot of thinking about the hardships animals face
(hard work, little food, eventually slaughtered), and he
expresses that all these hardships are due to humans.
Chapter Preview Cont’d
 He riles up the animals and gets them excited, telling
them that they will work to eventually overthrow the
human race and to remember that they are always
equal. He especially warns the animals to never adopt
any human habits, then he teaches them a song that
came to him in a dream. The song is about liberation
and is called “Beasts of England.” The animals all sing
it, but they wake Mr. Jones who grabs his gun and gets
up, so the animals scurry off to sleep.
Places
 The Barn
Items/Ideas to Know
 Greed
 The hardships humans force on animals is due to greed. Jones
callously slaughters animals once they are deemed useless.
 Principles of Animalism
 Humans are the enemy. All animals should overthrow humans.
Animals should never: live in houses, sleep in beds, wear clothes,
drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, etc. because these are all bad
habits of humans.
 Propoganda
 Old Major identifies humans as the enemy, attempts to unite
everyone against the common enemy, promises that their lives
will be better, suggests to overthrow humans, teaches them a
simple song to get them familiar with his ideas. Even though he
thinks he’s doing what’s best for all the animals, it’s still
propaganda
Quotes
 “Man is the only creature that consumes without
producing. He does not give mink, he does not lay
eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run
fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the
animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them
the bare minimum that will prevent them from
starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.”
 “All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.”
Chapter Preview
 Old major dies three nights later, and the pigs begin to
organize and prepare for the Rebellion that he had
predicted. Chief among them are Snowball, Napoleon,
and Squealer, who elaborate Old Major’s ideas into a
system of thought called Animalism. They teach this
to the other animals at a secret meeting late at night,
but the animals make points like: Mr. Jones feeds us. If
he were gone, we should starve to death,” and it is slow
work. Boxer and Clover are their two most devoted
members.
Chapter Preview Cont’d…
 Mr. Jones goes to a pub and gets so drunk that he doesn’t
come home until later one afternoon and passes out so he
doesn’t feed the animals. They become so hungry that they
get out of their shed and help themselves. When Mr. Jones
and his men start to whip the animals, they attack the
humans and drive them off the land. Mrs. Jones and Moses
sneak away. The pigs teach themselves to read and write and
come up with new laws for “Animal Farm.” The cows need
to be milked, so the pigs manage to milk them, but when
they animals return from their harvest, they notice that the
milk is gone…
Faces
 Moses
 Pet raven. Believes in a made up land called Sugarcandy
Mountain. Pigs work hard to make sure to persuade him
it doesn’t exist.
 Boxer and Clover
 Cart-horses. Devoted to one another and respected by
all.
Ideas/Items to Know
 Principles of Animalism
 Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer develop Old Major’s
ideas into Animalism. They determine specific
principles which they pass onto the other animals.
 Propoganda
 The pigs persuade the other animals to agree with their
principals. They end their meetings singing “Beasts of
England.” They take ideas like ribbons and sugar and
say that they are labels of slavery.
The Seven Commandments
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
Quotes
 “Mr. Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve
to death.”