Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a satirical novella by George Orwell that uses animals on a farm to depict the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early Soviet Union. In the story, the animals overthrow their human farmer, Mr. Jones, and take over the farm, seeking to create an equal society where all animals share power and resources. However, as the pigs, especially Napoleon, gradually gain power, they become as corrupt and oppressive as the humans they replaced. The book explores themes of power, corruption, and the betrayal of ideals. 

Animal Farm Overview

The central conflict of Animal Farm arises when the animals' desire for freedom and equality is corrupted by the consolidation of political power amongst the pigs. The animals' original goal is expressed in the first chapter, in Old Major's teachings and especially in "Beasts of England," the song that becomes the anthem of Animal Farm. At the beginning of the novella, political power is embodied by the farmer, Mr. Jones, who indulges himself while the animals starve. The animals win easily when they rebel against Mr. Jones, and as a result they make the mistake of thinking they have overcome political power itself. In reality they have only overcome one of the forms that political power can take. By the end of Chapter 2, when Napoleon steals the cows' milk, the political power becomes embodied by the pigs.

Chapters 2 –7 trace the development of the pigs' power, and the other animals' growing awareness that they have not achieved their goal after all. The pigs—and Napoleon in particular—come to embody political power in three ways. First, they claim more and more of the farms' resources for themselves. They start by stealing milk and apples, then eventually sell animal products to buy human luxuries like whisky. Second, the pigs become more violent, introducing the dog police force and ordering executions. Third, the pigs claim the power to determine what truth is. Squealer changes the Commandments of Animalism and the story of the Battle of the Cowshed. Meanwhile, the animals slowly come to realize that their lives are no better than they were before the Rebellion.

The climax of the novella occurs in Chapter 7, when Napoleon decides to sell the hens' eggs. The hens finally recognize that the pigs are their antagonists, and they rebel. Their rebellion is brutally crushed and the hens are executed. Now, Boxer is the only character still clinging to the hope that freedom can be achieved. He has worked tirelessly to achieve this goal set forth by Old Major, which for Boxer is represented by his hope of one day retiring to a special pasture. However, when the time comes for Boxer to retire, he is sold and killed. Boxer's betrayal marks the moment in which political power—embodied in Napoleon and the pigs—completely defeats the animals. In Animal Farm's final pages, the animals watch the pigs dining with human farmers, and find they are unable to tell the difference between humans and pigs. The pigs have become one with the human farmers because both groups are equally corrupted by the reality of political power.

A brief explanation of the plot

Old Major, a prize-winning boar, gathers the animals of the Manor Farm for a meeting in the big barn. He tells them of a dream he has had in which all animals live together with no human beings to oppress or control them. He tells the animals that they must work toward such a paradise and teaches them a song called "Beasts of England," in which his dream vision is lyrically described. The animals greet Major's vision with great enthusiasm. When he dies only three nights after the meeting, three younger pigs—Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer—formulate his main principles into a philosophy called Animalism. Late one night, the animals manage to defeat the farmer Mr. Jones in a battle, running him off the land. They rename the property Animal Farm and dedicate themselves to achieving Major's dream. The cart-horse Boxer devotes himself to the cause with particular zeal, committing his great strength to the prosperity of the farm and adopting as a personal maxim the affirmation "I will work harder."

At first, Animal Farm prospers. Snowball works at teaching the animals to read, and Napoleon takes a group of young puppies to educate them in the principles of Animalism. When Mr. Jones reappears to take back his farm, the animals defeat him again, in what comes to be known as the Battle of the Cowshed, and take the farmer's abandoned gun as a token of their victory. As time passes, however, Napoleon and Snowball increasingly quibble over the future of the farm, and they begin to struggle with each other for power and influence among the other animals. Snowball concocts a scheme to build an electricity-generating windmill, but Napoleon solidly opposes the plan. At the meeting to vote on whether to take up the project, Snowball gives a passionate speech. Although Napoleon gives only a brief retort, he then makes a strange noise, and nine attack dogs—the puppies that Napoleon had confiscated in order to "educate"—burst into the barn and chase Snowball from the farm. Napoleon assumes leadership of Animal Farm and declares that there will be no more meetings. From that point on, he asserts, the pigs alone will make all of the decisions—for the good of every animal.

Napoleon now quickly changes his mind about the windmill, and the animals, especially Boxer, devote their efforts to completing it. One day, after a storm, the animals find the windmill toppled. The human farmers in the area declare smugly that the animals made the walls too thin, but Napoleon claims that Snowball returned to the farm to sabotage the windmill. He stages a great purge, during which various animals who have allegedly participated in Snowball's great conspiracy—meaning any animal who opposes Napoleon's uncontested leadership—meet instant death at the teeth of the attack dogs. With his leadership unquestioned (Boxer has taken up a second maxim, "Napoleon is always right"), Napoleon begins expanding his powers, rewriting history to make Snowball a villain. Napoleon also begins to act more and more like a human being—sleeping in a bed, drinking whisky, and engaging in trade with neighbouring farmers. The original Animalist principles strictly forbade such activities, but Squealer, Napoleon's propagandist, justifies every action to the other animals, convincing them that Napoleon is a great leader and is making things better for everyone—despite the fact that the common animals are cold, hungry, and overworked.

Mr. Frederick, a neighbouring farmer, cheats Napoleon in the purchase of some timber and then attacks the farm and dynamites the windmill, which had been rebuilt at great expense. After the demolition of the windmill, a pitched battle ensues, during which Boxer receives major wounds. The animals rout the farmers, but Boxer's injuries weaken him. When he later falls while working on the windmill, he senses that his time has nearly come. One day, Boxer is nowhere to be found. According to Squealer, Boxer has died in peace after having been taken to the hospital, praising the Rebellion with his last breath. In actuality, Napoleon has sold his most loyal and long-suffering worker to a glue maker in order to get money for whisky.

Years pass on Animal Farm, and the pigs become more and more like human beings—walking upright, carrying whips, and wearing clothes. Eventually, the seven principles of Animalism, known as the Seven Commandments and inscribed on the side of the barn, become reduced to a single principle reading "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Napoleon entertains a human farmer named Mr. Pilkington at a dinner and declares his intent to ally himself with the human farmers against the labouring classes of both the human and animal communities. He also changes the name of Animal Farm back to the Manor Farm, claiming that this title is the "correct" one. Looking in at the party of elites through the farmhouse window, the common animals can no longer tell which are the pigs and which are the human beings.