ANIMAL FARM
CHAPTER 1-5
Chapter 1 - Old Major's speech --> to inspire the animals to rebel from Man, to obtain freedom Beasts of England song introduced--> tells animals what they're lives without Man would be like
Chapter 2 - Animals rebel against Jones --> without planning, because they were unfed the whole
day - Pigs come up with the 7 commandments based on Old Major's speech
Chapter 3 - Pigs reserve all the milk and apples for themselves --> start of inequality soon after
the rebellion
Chapter 4 - Battle of the Cowshed --> Mr Jones comes back to reclaim his farm. This time, due to
Snowball's plans, the animals are well prepared and are victorious
Chapter 5 - Windmill idea suggested by Snowball --> symbolises development and modernisation
of the farm. Beneficial because now they can get electricity, warmth, and storage space for their
harvest - Snowball is expelled --> this is the last we see of him in the novel. The path is clear for
Napoleon to be the unchallenged leader.
CHAPTER 6-10
Chapter 6 - the pigs engage in trade on behalf of the farm --> animals realise they cannot be self-sufficient and
have to depend on humans for some things --> going against commandment - the windmill collapses due to strong
wind, and the thin walls. - pigs start living in the farmhouse and sleep on beds --> going against commandments
Chapter 7 - Hen rebellion --> Napoleon wants their eggs to trade with humans for other items. - Execution of
animals who are thought to be plotting with Snowball to overthrow Napoleon - animals rebuild windmill
Chapter 8 - Frederick and his men attack the farm and destroy the windmill - Pigs drink alcohol --> going against
yet another commandment
Chapter 9 - animals start to rebuild the windmill - food is even more scarce but pigs still live in luxury - sale of
Boxer to horse- slaughterer - Napoleon is president and Moses returns
Chapter 10 - the Rebellion is a distant vague memory for most animals - change in commandments: 1. 4 legs good,
2 legs better! 2. All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others - ends with animals not being able
to differentiate pigs from humans
ANIMAL FARM = ALLEGORY
Animal Farm is an allegory, which is a story in which concrete and
specific characters and situations stand for other characters and
situations so as to make a point about them. The main action of
Animal Farm stand for the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early
years of the Soviet Union. Animalism is really communism.
Animalism is really communism. Manor Farm is allegorical of Russia,
and the farmer Mr. Jones is the Russian Czar. Old Major stands for
either Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin, and the pig named Snowball
represents the intellectual revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Napoleon
stands for Stalin, while the dogs are his secret police. The horse Boxer
stands in for the proletariat, or working class.
NAPOLEON
From the very beginning of the novel, Napoleon emerges as an utterly corrupt.
Though always present at the early meetings of the new state, Napoleon never
makes a single contribution to the revolution—not to the formulation of its
committees, the Battle of the Cowshed, or the attempts to establish itself. He never
shows interest in the strength of Animal Farm itself, only in the strength of his
power over it. Thus, the only project he undertakes with enthusiasm is the training
of a litter of puppies. He doesn’t educate them for their own good or for the good
of all, however, but rather for his own good: they become his own private army or
secret police, a violent means by which he imposes his will on others.
SNOWBALL
Snowball emerges as a committed leader who throws himself heart
and soul into the attempt to spread Animalism worldwide and to
improve Animal Farm’s infrastructure. His idealism, however, leads to
his downfall. Relying only on the force of his own logic and rhetorical
skill to gain his influence, he proves no match for Napoleon’s show of
brute force.
BOXER
Arguably the animal that suffers the most in the novel, Boxer represents
all of the best qualities of Animal Farm. He is dedicated, loyal, and a has
huge capacity for labour. However, he suffers from what Orwell saw as
the working class’s major weaknesses: a naïve trust in the good intention
and an inability to recognize even the most blatant forms of political
corruption. Exploited by the pigs as much or more than he had been by
Mr. Jones, Boxer’s pitiful death at a glue factory dramatically illustrates the
extent of the pigs’ betrayal.
SQUEALER
In Animal Farm, the persuasive pig Squealer abuses his skills to justify Napoleon’s actions and
policies by whatever means seem necessary. By simplifying language—as when he teaches the
sheep to bleat “Four legs good, two legs better!”—he limits the terms of debate. By complicating
language unnecessarily, he confuses and intimidates the uneducated, as when he explains that pigs,
who are the “brainworkers” of the farm, consume milk and apples not for pleasure, but for the
good of their comrades.
Squealer’s lack of conscience and unwavering loyalty to his leader, alongside his rhetorical skills,
make him the perfect propagandist for any tyranny. Squealer’s name also fits him well as to squeal
also means to betray, aptly evoking Squealer’s behaviour with regard to his fellow animals.
Old Major - The prize-winning boar whose vision of a socialist utopia serves
as the inspiration for the Rebellion. Three days after describing the vision and
teaching the animals the song “Beasts of England,” Major dies, leaving
Snowball and Napoleon to struggle for control of his legacy.
Clover - A good-hearted female cart-horse and Boxer’s close friend. Clover
often suspects the pigs of violating one or another of the Seven
Commandments, but she repeatedly blames herself for misremembering the
commandments.
Moses - The tame raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountain,
the paradise to which animals supposedly go when they die. Moses plays
only a small role in Animal Farm, but Orwell uses him to explore how
communism exploits religion as something with which to pacify the
oppressed.
Mollie - The vain, flighty mare who pulls Mr. Jones’s carriage. Mollie craves the
attention of human beings and loves being groomed and pampered. She has a difficult
time with her new life on Animal Farm, as she misses wearing ribbons in her mane and
eating sugar cubes. She represents the petit bourgeoisie that fled from Russia a few
years after the Russian Revolution.
Benjamin - The long-lived donkey who refuses to feel inspired by the Rebellion.
Benjamin firmly believes that life will remain unpleasant no matter who is in charge. Of
all of the animals on the farm, he alone comprehends the changes that take place, but
he seems either unwilling or unable to oppose the pigs.
Muriel - The white goat who reads the Seven Commandments to Clover whenever
Clover suspects the pigs of violating their prohibitions.
Jessie and Bluebell - Two dogs, each of whom gives birth early in the novel.
Napoleon takes the puppies in order to “educate” them.
Mr. Jones - The often drunk farmer who runs the Manor Farm before the animals
stage their Rebellion and establish Animal Farm. Mr. Jones is an unkind master who
indulges himself while his animals lack food; he thus represents Tsar Nicholas II,
whom the Russian Revolution ousted.
Mr. Frederick - The tough, shrewd operator of Pinchfield, a neighboring farm.
Based on Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr.
Frederick proves an untrustworthy neighbour.
Mr. Pilkington - The easygoing gentleman farmer who runs Foxwood, a
neighbouring farm. Mr. Frederick’s bitter enemy, Mr. Pilkington represents the
capitalist governments of England and the United States.
Mr. Whymper - The human solicitor whom Napoleon hires to represent Animal
Farm in human society. Mr. Whymper’s entry into the Animal Farm community
initiates contact between Animal Farm and human society, alarming the common
animals.
Why didn’t Animal Farm work? Who is at fault?
Paragraph 1:
Topic: Napoleon
Example: His is the leader and he only wanted power
Evidence: The nine puppies, did not fight in the Battle of the Cowshed, broke the 7
commandants and replaced Mr Jones.
Paragraph 2:
Topic: Squealer
Example: Uses his power/skill of persuasion to convince, lie and trick all the animals.
Evidence: Lied to the animals about Boxer, the windmill, Snowball and whenever something
went right it was thanks to Napoleon.
Paragraph 3:
Topic: Boxer
Example: If more animals were like him it would have worked but he had no power. He
believed in Animalism but was betrayed by his leaders.
Evidence: ‘I will work harder’ and ‘Napoleon is always right’ = He is willing to die for
Animal Farm.
QUOTES: CHAPTER 1
 Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the
root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.
 Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common
interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all
lies
 All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.
 Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever
kill any other animal. All animals are equal.
QUOTES: CHAPTER 2
 "Comrade," said Snowball, "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of
slavery. Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?"
 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: CHAPTER 3
 Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey
 We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of
this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare.
It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.
 The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too
obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the
windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened)
should be reserved for the pigs alone.
QUOTES: CHAPTER 4
 War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.
QUOTES: CHAPTER 5
 No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all
animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your
decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong
decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?
QUOTES: CHAPTER 6
 All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they
grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit
of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of
idle, thieving human beings.
 Afterwards Squealer made a round of the farm and set the animals' minds at rest. He
assured them that the resolution against engaging in trade and using money had never
been passed, or even suggested. It was pure imagination, probably traceable in the
beginning to lies circulated by Snowball.
 Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who
has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!
QUOTES: CHAPTER 7

Whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball. If a window was broken or a drain was
blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the storeshed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well.

If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right.

They were shaken and miserable. They did not know which was more shocking--the treachery of the animals who
had leagued themselves with Snowball, or the cruel retribution they had just witnessed.

As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. If she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have
been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow
of the human race. These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when
old Major first stirred them to rebellion.

Whatever happened she would remain faithful, work hard, carry out the orders that were given to her, and accept
the leadership of Napoleon. But still, it was not for this that she and all the other animals had hoped and toiled.
QUOTES: CHAPTER 8

"No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE." Somehow or other, the last two words had slipped out
of the animals' memory.

Squealer would talk with the tears rolling down his cheeks of Napoleon's wisdom the goodness of his heart, and the
deep love he bore to all animals everywhere, even and especially the unhappy animals who still lived in ignorance and
slavery on other farms. It had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every
stroke of good fortune.

Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an
overturned pot of white paint. The dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the
farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk. None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old
Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

But a few days later Muriel, reading over the Seven Commandments to herself, noticed that there was yet another of
them which the animals had remembered wrong. They had thought the Fifth Commandment was "No animal shall drink
alcohol," but there were two words that they had forgotten. Actually the Commandment read: "No animal shall drink
alcohol TO EXCESS."
QUOTES: CHAPTER 9
 For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of
rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a "readjustment," never as a "reduction"), but in
comparison with the days of Jones, the improvement was enormous.
 The animals believed every word of it. Truth to tell, Jones and all he stood for had
almost faded out of their memories. They knew that life nowadays was harsh and bare,
that they were often hungry and often cold, and that they were usually working when they
were not asleep. But doubtless it had been worse in the old days. They were glad to
believe so. Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that
made all the difference, as Squealer did not fail to point out.
QUOTES: CHAPTER 10
 Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making
the animals themselves any richer — except, of course, for the pigs and the
dogs.
 Four legs good, two legs better!
 ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
 The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and
from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.