ORIENTATION - The farm (Manor Farm) – setting How the animals are being treated unjustly Mr Jones – the farm owner Old major and his ideas for the rebellion The other animals (an informal hierarchy) Beasts of England song COMPLICATION - The removal of human influence so the animals can achieve equality and remove the unjust treatment they face - The issue is that the animals don’t like living/ working conditions - The animals also want freedom to have their own will and make their own decisions RISING ACTION/ SEQUENCE OF EVENTS - Mr Jones’ men don’t feed the animals which starts the rebellion - The animals successfully chase away the men and take control of the farm - Animalism is created and the commandments are made (the name of the farm changes to Animal Farm) - The animals prove that they can survive on their own by farming and completing all of the ‘human jobs’ - The pigs milk the cows and Napoleon takes the milk while the other animals complete the harvest - Snowball creates committees to teach the other animals how to read – they fail - Napoleon takes an interest in the puppies and takes them for ‘private’ education - Sunday meetings are established as well as Sunday being the day of ‘rest’. Snowball also creates a flag (green with a hoof and horn) - Snowball makes plans for if the humans decide to attack - Squealer’s role becomes more prominent as the ‘voice of convincing’ - The sheep are taught to recite ‘four legs good, two legs bad’ (this becomes the maxim of Animalism) - The Pigs send birds to spread the word of rebellion to other farms and teach the animals Beasts of England - Mr Jones and his men return to the farm – this becomes the Battle of the Cowshed - During the Battle of the Cowshed Snowball takes the lead and tells the animals what to do to win – A sheep dies during the battle and some of the animals are injured - It is noted that Mollie and Napoleon aren’t anywhere to be seen during the battle - One of the guns from Mr Jones’ men is placed at the bottom of the flagpole - Mollie leaves the farm – she enjoys human attention too much - Plans for the windmill are mentioned - Snowball and Napoleons difference in ideas starts to become more evident – there is a clear difference between the two pigs - The animals are on board with the windmill and seem ready to follow/ listen to Snowball - During a debate of the windmill Napoleon reveals the dogs (were puppies) and they chase Snowball from the farm - Napoleon immediately takes control as leader and gets rids of Sunday Meetings and the animals ability to vote - Squealer shows loyalty to Napoleon - The animals are made to fear the dogs so they do not say anything in protest against Napoleon’s leadership - The animals begin building the windmill and following Napoleon’s leadership - Squealer becomes Napoleon’s voice, sharing his propaganda with the rest of the animals to convince them to follow Napoleon. He also convinces them that the farm is flourishing and they have more food that usual (even though the animals thought it was less) - Whenever something goes wrong on the farm, Snowball is immediately blamed. In contrast to this, whenever something goes right Napoleon is thanked. - The windmill falls down (Napoleon blames Snowball, the humans blame the thin walls) - The animals work on rebuilding the windmill - Napoleon decides to engage in trade with other farms to gain materials for the windmill as well as other items such as dog treats - Napoleon hires a human lawyer (Whymper) to assist with the trade with other farms - Napoleon with Squealer’s help, have the other animals convinced that what they knew about Snowball was all a lie. During the Battle of the Cowshed Snowball was only pretending to fight for the animals, but he was in fact on Jones’ side. Napoleon was the one giving orders and ensured the battle was successful. - Napoleon has Frederik and Pilkington pitted against each other in a bidding war for the pile of firewood the farm has - Frederik ends up buying the wood but giving counterfeit money - He and his men come to the farm to destroy the windmill. CLIMAX - The executions of the other animals for being in league with Snowball FALLING ACTION - After the execution one of the commandments is changed (No animal shall kill another animal without cause) - Boxer is attacked by the dogs during the execution but is strong enough to fight them off - Beasts of England is banned on the farm as it was the song of the rebellion and the rebellion is now over. - The pigs celebrate the end of the rebellion and the execution of ‘internal and external traitors’ by drinking alcohol. - Squealer is caught changing one of the commandments but the other animals don’t realise this is what they have caught him doing. (No animal shall drink alcohol to excess) - Napoleon is beginning to be treated more like royalty than just a leader (his bed is guarded at night and animals must bow to him as he walks passed) - Napoleon has Frederik and Pilkington pitted against each other in a bidding war for the pile of firewood the farm has - Frederik ends up buying the wood but giving counterfeit money - He and his men come to the farm to destroy the windmill. - The animals lost more in the destruction of the windmill but Frederik and the fight that ensued than they gained. Napoleon however, does not let the other animals know this - Rations were reduced for the other animals and they were losing weight and strength (emphasised through Boxer) - The pigs were gaining weight however - Animal Farm is made a Republic and Napoleon is made President without any protests - Boxer is injured by working too hard. The pigs say that Boxer will be taken to a hospital but a knackers van takes him away instead - Benjamin breaks his rule of not reading to read to the other animals what the van says - Squealer spins the tale after the fact saying that the van WAS the property of the knacker but was sold to the hospital - The pigs get a mysterious delivery of whiskey (no doubt paid for by the money they got for Boxer) - Squealer takes the sheep away and teaches them the new maxim (Four legs good, TWO legs better) RESOLUTION - The animals believe that things are better now that Jones is no longer in charge, however the audience know that this is not the case - The animals believe that they have achieved equality and better working conditions, however the pigs are clearly in charge and more superior. The animals also work more and are fed less, although they don’t know this. - The change of name back to the Manor Farm shows that the farm has come full circle and is back to being controlled as it was in the beginning, only now, it is under the pigs who are becoming indistinguishable from the humans.
