Animal
Farm
By George Orwell
a political satire
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
1
Animal Farm Revolution
= Russian Revolution
• Animal Farm Revolution
– Was supposed to make life
better for all, but . . .
• Life was worse at the end.
• The leaders became the
same as, or worse than the
other farmers (humans) they
rebelled against.
• Russian Revolution
– Was supposed to fix the
problems created by the
Czar, but . . .
• Life was even worse after
the revolution.
• Stalin made the Czar look
like a nice guy.
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Animalism = Communism
• Animalism
–
–
–
–
–
Taught by Old Major
No rich, but no poor
Better life for workers
All animals are equal
Everyone owns the
farm
• Communism
– Invented by Karl Marx
– All people are equal
– Government owns
everything
– People own the
government
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Joseph Stalin
• Stalin’s Five Year Plan was
an attempt to modernize
Soviet industry.
• Stalin’s government took
land from the people.
• When people refused to give
up their land, Stalin would use
the military or hold false trials
and have them executed.
• The government controlled
what people were allowed to
know and learn.
Joseph
Stalin
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Napoleon = Joseph Stalin
• Napoleon
–
–
Boar who leads the rebellion against
Farmer Jones
After the rebellion’s success, he
systematically begins to control all
aspects of the farm until he is an
undisputed tyrant.
• Joseph Stain
–
–
The communist dictator of the Soviet
Union from 1922-1953 who killed all
who opposed him.
He loved power and used the KGB
(secret police) to enforce his ruthless,
corrupt antics.
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Snowball = Leon Trotsky
• Snowball
– Boar who becomes one of the
rebellion’s most valuable leaders.
– After drawing complicated plans
for the construction of a windmill,
he is chased off of the farm
forever by Napoleon’s dogs and
thereafter used as a scapegoat for
the animals’ troubles.
• Leon Trotsky
– A pure communist leader who was
influenced by the teachings of Karl
Marx.
– He wanted to improve life for
people in Russia, but was driven
away by Lenin’s KGB.
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Old Major = Karl Marx
• Old Major
– An old boar whose speech about
the evils perpetrated by humans
rouses the animals into rebelling.
– His philosophy concerning the
tyranny of Man is named
Animalism.
– He teaches the animals the song
“Beasts of England”
– Dies before revolution
• Karl Marx
– The inventor of communism
– Wants to unite the working class
to overthrow the government.
– Dies before the Russian
Revolution
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Farmer Jones = Czar Nicholas II
• Farmer Jones
– The irresponsible owner of the
farm
– Lets his animals starve and beats
them with a whip
– Sometimes shows random
kindness
• Czar Nicholas II
– Weak Russian leader during the
early 1900s
– Often cruel and brutal to his
subjects
– Displays isolated kindness
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Squealer & Boxer
•
•
Squealer
– A big mouth pig who becomes Napoleon’s
mouthpiece. Throughout the novel, he displays
his ability to manipulate the animals’ thoughts
through the use of hollow, yet convincing
rhetoric.
– Represents the propaganda department that
worked to support Stalin’s image; the members
of the department would use lies to convince
the people to follow Stalin.
Boxer
– A dedicated but dimwitted horse who aids in
the building of the windmill but is sold to a glueboiler after collapsing from exhaustion.
– Represents the dedicated, but tricked
communist supporters of Stalin. Many stayed
loyal even after it was obvious Stalin was a
tyrant. Eventually they were betrayed, ignored,
and even killed by him.
Squealer
Boxer
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Jessie & Moses
• Jessie
– The farm's sheepdog, she keeps tabs
on the pigs and is among the first to
suspect that something is wrong at
Animal Farm.
• Moses
– A tame raven and sometimes-pet of
Jones who tells the animals stories
about a paradise called Sugarcandy
Mountain.
– Moses represents religion. Stalin used
religious principles to influence people
to work and to avoid revolt.
Jessie
Moses
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Chapter 1 Summary
• Mr. Jones, the owner of the “Manor Farm,” is shown to
be a drunk who does not always care well for the
animals on the farm.
• Old Major tells the other animals that they are treated
badly and should rebel.
• Major teaches the animals "Beasts of England," a song
which will become their revolutionary anthem.
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Chapter 2 Summary
• Old Major dies.
• Two of the pigs on the farm, Snowball and
Napoleon, continue the rebellion that Old Major
wanted.
• They call this new way of thinking Animalism.
• The Rebellion is successful.
• Snowball and Napoleon paint over the name of
the farm and call it “Animal Farm.”
• Snowball and Napoleon create seven laws for all
animals to live by.
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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.
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Chapter 3 Summary
• The pigs supervise while the other animals work
the farm.
• Boxer works harder than anyone and always
says, “I will work harder!”
• There is no work on Sunday. The animals hold
a meeting led by the pigs, Napoleon and
Snowball, who mostly debate and argue over
the rules of the farm.
• The seven commandments are simplified to
“Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad.”
• Napoleon takes Jesse’s puppies.
• The pigs take all the milk and apples for
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themselves.
Chapter 4 Summary
• Word of the animal rebellion has spread, much to the
anger of the human beings who have also heard of the
animal uprising.
• Mr. Jones and other local farmers try to retake the farm
but the Snowball, who has studied Julius Ceasar, leads
the other animals as they drive the humans off the farm.
• During the battle, Boxer almost kills a boy, and is very
upset about it. He says with his eyes full of tears: “I have
no wish to take life, not even human life.”
• Mollie, another horse, was found to have hidden in the
barn with her head in the hay during the fight.
• The battle was name the Battle of the Cowshed.
Snowball, who was injured, Boxer, and a sheep who was
killed were given military awards.
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Chapter 5 Summary
• Mollie goes missing from the farm. Later it is learned
that she left after being bribed by ribbons for her mane
(her hair) by neighboring farmer.
• The pigs’ power on the farm continues to grow.
Snowball and Napoleon argue over the usefulness of a
windmill and the need to amass military weapons.
• Napoleon uses the nine puppies, now ferocious dogs, to
attack and chase Snowball off the farm. He takes over
and rules the farm with complete control.
• Ultimately, Napoleon decides to build Snowball’s
windmill, but has Squealer run around and tell everyone
it was really his idea from the beginning.
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Chapter 6 Summary
• Over the next year, the animals work very hard on the
windmill. They even carry boulders across the farm to build it.
Boxer works harder than anyone, and it is hard on his health.
• The pigs move into the farm house and begin sleeping in the
beds, but they change the commandments to make it okay.
• The pigs hire a human, Mr. Whymper, to act as agent and
solicitor so they can begin trade with other local farms. The
other farmers hate Animal Farm even more because they are
successful.
• Napoleon announces that there will be voluntary work on
Sundays. However, if the animals choose not to work they
will loose food rations.
• The half-built windmill is knocked over in a wind storm.
Napoleon blames Snowball, and the animals start rebuilding
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right away.
Chapter 7 Summary
• Napoleon and Squealer claim that Snowball is
sabotaging the farm. Everything bad is blamed on
Snowball including the serious shortage of food. Some
animals, like Boxer, find it hard to believe and need a lot
of convincing.
• Four of the younger pigs who supported Snowball before
he left are brutally attacked and killed by Napoleon’s
dogs after being forced to confess their crimes of helping
Snowball. Some of the dogs try to attack Boxer but fail.
• The other animals are sad and upset over the deaths of
the pigs and are confused about the state of the
rebellion, but they convince themselves that things must
be better than before.
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Chapter 8 Summary
• After the execution of the pigs, some of the animals
go back to check the commandments, which have
now been changed to read, “No animal shall kill any
other animal without cause.”
• The animals work very hard and are always hungry,
but are given a long list of figures by Squealer which
supposedly show that there is more food than ever.
• Napoleon’s power grows as everything good is
delivered to his guidance. He grows suspicious,
however, and begins keeping guard dogs and having
others taste his food in case of poison.
• The windmill is finally complete after over a year!
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Chapter 8 Summary, continued
• Napoleon sells timber to Frederick though he had been
in negotiations with a different farmer. Frederick tricks
Napoleon with fake money.
• Frederick and his men attack the farm and destroy the
windmill.
• The animals are able to push the men off the farm with
casualties on both sides of the fight. Napoleon awards
himself a new military honor.
• The pigs celebrate by drinking cases of whiskey found in
the farm house. And Napoleon orders that barley (which
is used to make alcohol) be planted in the field.
• Squealer is caught in the barn after falling off a ladder
with paint. Later it is noticed that commandment in
regards to drinking alcohol is different.
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Chapter 9 Summary
• The animals begin re-building the windmill, led
by Boxer who is now injured but insistent on
finishing before he reaches the age of
retirement.
• The animals who work the farm are told that
there is more food than ever. However, they
remain hungry as the pigs get fatter and fatter.
Napoleon fathers 31 piglets and orders that a
school be built just for their education.
• Animal Farm is declared a republic and,
amazingly, Napoleon is elected president.
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Chapter 9 Summary, continued
• Boxer pushes himself too hard and collapses
one day working on the windmill. The animals
are told that a vet is being called but a glue
maker (some glue was made from horse parts)
arrives to take Boxer instead.
• Later, Squealer tells the animals that the vet had
just bought the van and that Boxer really did go
to the vet. But Boxer is never seen again.
• The following day after Boxer is taken, a delivery
man drops off a crate of whisky. The pigs drink
it and don’t get up until the following afternoon.
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Chapter 10 Summary
• Years go by and the animals lives are just the same:
hard work and little food. Yet, the pigs continue to
prosper. Many of the original members of the rebellion
are dead. Of the older animals none have been
permitted to retire.
• The farm has grown as the pigs have purchased
surrounding farms from the humans.
• A second windmill has been built.
• The pigs begin walking upright on their hind legs. Now,
the wall simply reads, "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL /
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN
OTHERS." Eventually, all the pigs begin carrying whips
and wearing Jones' clothes.
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Chapter 10 ~ Conclusion
• In the novel's final scene, Napoleon hosts a dinner for
the surrounding human farmers and the pigs in the farm
house.
• He outlines to them all the changes that will be made to
the farm (which basically will make it like it was before
the rebellion). His greatest change in policy, however, is
his announcement that Animal Farm will again be called
Manor Farm.
• The other animals watch through a window as the pigs,
walking upright and wearing clothing, drink and play
cards with the humans. An argument ensues over the
cards and the animals find it difficult to tell the difference
between the pigs and the humans.
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