Plot summary
Old
Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, calls the animals on the farm for a
meeting, where he compares the humans to parasites and
teaches the animals a revolutionary song, "Beasts
of England".
When Major dies three days later, two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and turn his dream
into a philosophy. The animals revolt and drive the
drunken and irresponsible Mr. Jones from the farm, renaming it
"Animal Farm".
The Seven Commandments of Animalism are written on the wall of a barn. The
most important is the seventh, "All
animals are equal." All the animals work, but the workhorse, Boxer, does more than others and adopts the maxim —
"I will work harder."
Snowball attempts to teach the animals reading and writing; food is
plentiful; and the farm runs smoothly. The pigs elevate themselves to positions
of leadership and set aside special food items ostensibly for their personal
health. Napoleon takes the pups from the farm dogs and trains them privately.
When Mr. Jones tries retaking the farm, the animals defeat him at what they
call the "Battle of the Cowshed".
Napoleon and Snowball struggle for leadership. When Snowball announces his idea
for a windmill,
Napoleon opposes it. Snowball makes a speech in favour of the windmill,
whereupon Napoleon has his dogs chase Snowball away. In Snowball's absence,
Napoleon declares himself leader and makes changes. Meetings will no longer be
held and instead a committee of pigs will run the farm.
Using a young pig named Squealer as a mouthpiece, Napoleon
announces that Snowball stole the idea for the windmill from him. The animals
work harder with the promise of easier lives with the windmill. After a violent
storm, the animals find the windmill annihilated. Napoleon and Squealer
convince the animals that Snowball destroyed the windmill, although the scorn
of the neighbouring farmers suggests the windmill's walls were too thin. Once
Snowball becomes a scapegoat, Napoleon begins purging
the farm, killing animals he accuses of consorting with Snowball. Meanwhile,
Boxer takes up a second maxim: "Napoleon
is always right."
Napoleon abuses his powers, making life harder for the animals; the pigs
impose more control while reserving privileges for themselves. The pigs rewrite
history, villainising Snowball and glorifying Napoleon. Squealer justifies
every statement Napoleon makes, even the pigs' alteration of the Seven
Commandments of Animalism. "No animal shall sleep in beds" is changed
to "No animal shall sleep in beds
with sheets" when the pigs are discovered to have been sleeping in the
old farmhouse. "No animal shall drink alcohol" is changed to "No animal shall drink alcohol to
excess" when the pigs discover the farmer's whisky. "Beasts
of England"
is banned as inappropriate, as according to Napoleon the dream of Animal Farm
has been realised. It is replaced by an anthem glorifying Napoleon, who appears
to be adopting the lifestyle of a man. The animals, though cold, starving, and
overworked, remain convinced through psychological conditioning that they are
better off than they were when ruled by Mr. Jones. Squealer abuses the animals'
poor memories and invents numbers to show their improvement.
Mr. Frederick, one of the neighbouring
farmers, swindles Napoleon by buying old wood with forged money, and then
attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up the restored
windmill. Though the animals win the battle, they do so at
great cost, as many, including Boxer, are wounded. Boxer continues working harder
and harder, until he collapses while working on the windmill. Napoleon sends
for a van to take Boxer to the veterinarian, explaining that better care can be
given there. Benjamin the donkey, who "could read as well as any
pig",[5]
notices that the van belongs to "Alfred
Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler", and attempts to mount a
rescue; but the animals' attempts are futile. Squealer reports that the van was
purchased by the hospital and the writing from the previous owner had not been
repainted. He recounts a tale of Boxer's death in the hands of the best medical
care. Shortly after Boxer's death, it is revealed that the pigs have purchased
more whisky.
Years pass, and the pigs
learn to walk upright, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments
are reduced to a single phrase: "All animals are equal, but some animals
are more equal than others." Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and the
humans of the area, who congratulate Napoleon on having the hardest-working
animals in the country on the least feed. Napoleon announces an alliance with
the humans, against the labouring classes of both "worlds". He
abolishes practices and traditions related to the Revolution, and reverts the
name of the farm to "Manor
Farm".
The animals, overhearing the conversation, notice that the faces of the
pigs have begun changing. During a poker match, an argument breaks out between
Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington when they both play the Ace of
Spades, and the animals realise that the faces of the pigs look like the
faces of humans and no one can tell the difference between them.
Animalism
"Seven Commandments" redirects here. For
the Noahide code, see Seven Laws of Noah.
The pigs Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer adapt Old Major's
ideas into an actual philosophy, which they formally name
Animalism. Soon after, Napoleon and Squealer indulge in the vices of humans (drinking
alcohol, sleeping in beds, trading). Squealer is employed to alter the Seven
Commandments to account for his humanisation, which represents the Soviet
government's tweaking of communist theory to make it more a reformation of
capitalism than a replacement.
The Seven Commandments are laws that were supposed to keep order and ensure
elementary Animalism within Animal Farm. The
Seven Commandments were designed to unite the animals together against the
humans and prevent animals from following the humans' evil habits. Since
not all of the animals can remember them, they are boiled down into one basic
statement: "Four legs good, two
legs bad!" (with wings counting as legs for this purpose, Snowball
arguing that wings count as legs as they are objects of propulsion rather than
manipulation), which the sheep constantly repeat, distracting the crowd from
the lies of the pigs. The original commandments were:
- Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
- Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
- No animal shall wear clothes.
- No animal shall sleep in a bed.
- No animal shall drink alcohol.
- No animal shall kill any other animal.
- All animals are equal.
Later, Napoleon and his pigs are corrupted by the absolute power
they hold over the farm. To maintain their popularity with the other animals, Squealer secretly paints additions to some
commandments to benefit the pigs while keeping them free of accusations of
breaking the laws (such as "No animal shall drink alcohol" having
"to excess" appended to it and "No animal shall sleep in a
bed" with "with sheets" added to it). The changed commandments
are as follows, with the changes bolded:
- No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.
- No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.
- No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.
Eventually the laws are replaced with "All animals are equal, but
some animals are more equal than others", and "Four legs good,
two legs better!" as the pigs become more human.
Characters
Pigs
An aged prize Middle
White boar is the inspiration that fuels the Rebellion in the book. He is
an allegory of Karl Marx and Lenin, the founders of communism, in that he draws up the
principles of the revolution. His skull being put on revered public display
also resembles Lenin, whose embalmed body was put on display.[6][7]
"A large, rather
fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not
much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way",[8]
An allegory of Joseph Stalin,[6]
Napoleon is the main villain of Animal Farm. He begins to gradually
build up his power, using the dogs Jessie and Bluebell, whom he he took from
their parents as puppies and raised to be vicious dogs, as his secret
police. After driving Snowball off the farm, Napoleon usurps full power,
using false propaganda from Squealer and threats and intimidation from the dogs
to keep the other animals in line. Among other things, he gradually changes the
Commandments for his benefit. By the end of the book, Napoleon and his fellow
pigs have learned to walk upright and started to behave similarly to the humans
against whom they originally revolted.
In the first French version of Animal
Farm, Napoleon is called César, the French form of Caesar,[3]
although another translation has him as Napoléon.[9]
Napoleon's rival and original
head of the farm after Jones' overthrow. He is mainly based on Leon
Trotsky,[6]
but also combines elements from Vladimir
Lenin.[7]
He wins over most animals and gains their trust by leading a very successful
first harvest, but is driven out of the farm by Napoleon. Snowball genuinely
works for the good of the farm and the animals and devises plans to help the
animals achieve their vision of an egalitarian
utopia, but Napoleon and his dogs chase him from the farm, and Napoleon spreads
rumours to make him seem evil and corrupt and that he had secretly sabotaged
the animals' efforts to improve the farm.
A small white fat porker who
serves as Napoleon's right hand pig and minister of propaganda, holding a
position similar to that of Molotov.[6]
Squealer manipulates the language to excuse, justify, and extol all of
Napoleon's actions. Squealer limits debate by complicating it and he confuses
and disorients, making claims that the pigs need the extra luxury they are
taking in order to function properly, for example. However, when questions
persist, he usually uses the threat of the return of Mr Jones, the former owner
of the farm, to justify the pigs' privileges. Squealer uses statistics to
convince the animals that life is getting better and better. Most of the
animals have only dim memories of life before the revolution; therefore, they
are convinced. In the end, he is the first pig to walk on his hind legs.
Minimus
A poetic pig who writes the
second and third national anthems of Animal Farm after the singing of
"Beasts of England" is banned.
The Piglets
Hinted to be the children of
Napoleon (albeit not truly noted in the novel) and are the first generation of
animals actually subjugated to his idea of animal inequality.
The young pigs
Four pigs who complain about
Napoleon's takeover of the farm but are quickly silenced and later executed.
Pinkeye
A minor pig who is mentioned
only once; he is the pig that tastes Napoleon's food to make sure it is not
poisoned, in response to rumours about an assassination attempt on Napoleon.
Humans
The former owner of the farm,
Jones is a very heavy drinker and the animals revolt against him after he
drinks so much that he does not feed or take care of them. The attempt by Jones
and his farmhands to recapture the farm is foiled in the Battle of the Cowshed.
Frederick
The tough owner of Pinchfield, a
well-kept neighbouring farm. He buys wood from the animals for forged money and
later attacks them, destroying the windmill but being finally beaten in the
resulting Battle
of the Windmill. There are stories of him mistreating his own animals, such as
throwing dogs into a furnace. Pinchfield is noted as being smaller than
Pilkington's Foxwood farm but more efficiently run, and Frederick briefly enters into an
"alliance" with Napoleon by offering to buy wood from him but then
betrays the deal and mounts a bloody invasion of Animal Farm.
The easy-going but crafty owner
of Foxwood, a neighbouring farm overgrown with weeds, as described in the book.
At the end of the game, both Napoleon and Pilkington draw the Ace of Spades and
then begin fighting loudly. Foxwood is described as being much larger than
Pinchfield, but not as efficiently run.
Mr. Whymper
A man hired by Napoleon for the
public relations of Animal Farm to human society. Whymper is used as a
go-between to trade with human society for things the animals can't produce on
their own: at first this is a legitimate need because the animals can't
manufacture their own windmill components, but eventually Whymper is used to
procure luxuries like alcohol for the pigs.
Equines
Boxer is a loyal, kind,
dedicated, and respectable horse. He is physically the strongest animal on the
farm, but impressionable (a major theme in the book), which leaves him stating
"I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right" despite
the corruption.
Clover
Clover, a mare, is Boxer's
companion, constantly caring for him; she also acts as a matriarch of sorts for
the other horses and the other animals in general (such as the ducklings she
shelters with her forelegs and hooves during Old Major's speech).
Mollie
Mollie is a self-centred,
self-indulgent and vain young white mare whose sole enjoyments are wearing
ribbons in her mane, eating sugar cubes, and being pampered and groomed by humans.
She quickly leaves for another farm and is only once mentioned again.
Benjamin, a donkey, is one of
the longest-lived animals. He has the worst temper, but is also one of the
wisest animals on the farm, and is one of the few who can actually read. He is
able to "read as well as any pig."[10]
Benjamin is a very dedicated friend to Boxer, and does nothing to warn the
other animals of the pigs' corruption, which he secretly realises is steadily
unfolding. When asked if he was happier after the revolution than before it,
Benjamin remarks, "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a
dead donkey." He is sceptical and pessimistic, his most-often-made
statement being "Life will go on as it has always gone on – that is,
badly."[10]
Other animals
Muriel
A wise old goat who is friends
with all of the animals on the farm. She, like Benjamin and Snowball, is one of
the few animals on the farm who can read (with some difficulty as she has to
spell the words out first) and helps Clover discover that the Seven
Commandments have been continually changed.
The Puppies
Offspring of Jessie and
Bluebell, taken away from them by Napoleon at birth and reared by Napoleon to
be his security force. These dogs are trained to be vicious, going so far as to
rip many of the animals to shreds including the four young pigs, a sheep and
various hens. They attempt to do the same to Boxer, who halts one of the
puppies under his hoof. The puppy begs for mercy and through Napoleon's orders,
Boxer sets the puppy free.
Moses the Raven
An old crow who occasionally
visits the farm, regaling its denizens with tales of a wondrous place beyond
the clouds called Sugarcandy Mountain, where he avers that all animals go when
they die—but only if they work hard. He is interpreted as symbolising the
Russian Orthodox Church, with Sugarcandy
Mountain an allusion to
Heaven for the animals.[11]
He spends his time turning the animals' minds to thoughts of Sugarcandy Mountain
(rather than their work) and yet does no work himself. He feels unequal in
comparison to the other animals, so he leaves after the rebellion, for all animals
were supposed to be equal. However, much later in the novel he returns to the
farm and continues to proclaim the existence of Sugarcandy Mountain.
The other animals are confused by the pigs' attitude towards Moses; they
denounce his claims as nonsense, but allow him to remain on the farm. The pigs
do this to keep any doubting animals in line with the hope of a happy
afterlife, keeping their minds on Sugarcandy
Mountain and not on
possible uprisings. In the end, Moses is one of the few animals to remember The
Rebellion, along with Clover, Benjamin, and the pigs.
The Sheep
They show limited understanding
of the situations but nonetheless blindly support Napoleon's ideals. They are
regularly shown repeating the phrase "four legs good, two legs bad".
At the end of the novel, one of the Seven Commandments is changed after the
pigs learn to walk on two legs and their shout changes to "four legs good,
two legs better". They can be relied on by the pigs to shout down any
dissent from the others.
The Hens
The hens are among the first to
rebel against Napoleon: in response to their being forced to give more eggs,
they destroy their eggs instead of handing them to the higher powers (the
pigs), who want to sell them to humans. Napoleon then uses fear and starves them
until the pigs get what they want.
The Cows
Their milk is stolen by the
pigs, who learn to milk them, and is stirred into the pigs' mash every day
while the other animals are not given any such luxuries.
The Cat
Never seen to carry out any
work, the cat is absent for long periods, and is forgiven because her excuses
are so convincing and she "purred so affectionately that is was impossible
not to believe in her good intentions".[12]
She has no interest in the politics of the farm, and the only time she is
recorded as having participated in an election she was found to have actually
"voted on both sides".[12]
