Why is 

Animal Farm an allegory?

In allegory is a story in which the events and characters stand for something besides themselves.
The characters and events of Animal Farm represent the real people and events of the Russian
Revolution and its aftermath. Orwell wrote Animal Farm because he wanted to tell the true story
of the Russian Revolution in a way anyone could understand, even if they didn’t know all the
historical details. However, Animal Farm is not only an allegory of Russian history. The novella
also makes a broader argument about political power and oppression in general.

What is Animalism?

Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer develop Old Major’s idea that animals have a right to freedom
and equality into “a complete system of thought” (Chapter 2) which they call Animalism. The
central beliefs of Animalism are expressed in the Seven Commandments, painted on the wall of
the big barn.

How does Napoleon seize power?

Napoleon trains a litter of puppies to be loyal to him: when they are fully grown, he uses the
dogs to chase Snowball, his main rival, off the farm. Napoleon justifies his takeover by telling
the other animals that Snowball was a traitor secretly working for the human farmers. Squealer
makes confusing and manipulative arguments to convince most of the animals that Napoleon is
telling the truth, while fear of Napoleon’s dogs keeps any doubters from speaking out.

What does Boxer represent?

Within Animal Farm’s allegory of Soviet history, Boxer represents the Russian working class.
Boxer does most of the work on the farm, and his strength and size give him a great deal of
power. However, he is illiterate and trusting, which makes it easy for the pigs to trick him into
submitting to their leadership. Orwell believed that something similar had happened to the
Russian working class during the Soviet Revolution: the workers were powerful, and did all the
work in the Soviet Union, but they were tricked and betrayed by Russian intellectuals.

How does Mr. Frederick trick Napoleon?

Mr. Frederick agrees to pay a high price for Animal Farm’s timber, and encourages Napoleon to
insult Mr. Pilkington. Knowing that the animals are not familiar with money, Frederick pays for
the timber in forged banknotes. When the forgery is discovered, Frederick attacks Animal Farm
and destroys the windmill. The insulted Mr. Pilkington refuses to help the animals defend their
farm. This sequence of events roughly parallels the relations between Stalin’s Soviet Union
(Napoleon), Nazi Germany (Frederick), and the United Kingdom (Pilkington) during the Second
World War.
Why does Mollie leave Animal Farm?

Mollie leaves Animal Farm because she has never fully embraced its new way of life, and she
instead prefers the benefits of being owned by humans. Of all the animals, Mollie has not risen to
the demands of Animalism. She sneaks sugar and ribbons, shirks her duties, shows up late to
work, and maintains contact with humans. After she leaves Animal Farm, the pigeons see her in
town, pulling a dogcart while a human strokes her nose and feeds her sugar. These details show
that Mollie chooses to sacrifice her liberty for comfort.

Why does Snowball want to build a windmill?

Snowball wants to build a windmill so it can power a machine to create electricity on the farm.
Electricity will improve the animals’ comfort by supplying light and heat in their stalls. The
electricity also will be used to power numerous machines that can perform the work the animals
must do, providing them with more leisure time. With the windmill in operation, all the animals
will have more time to relax and to “improve their minds with reading and conversation.”

What is Snowball’s role at the Battle of the Cowshed?

Snowball is a hero at the Battle of the Cowshed, bravely leading the animals’ defensive
operations to decisive victory over Mr. Jones, who tries to retake the farm. Employing what he
learned from a book on war campaigns, Snowball launches a series of sham attacks designed to
lull the farmers into thinking they’ve won, which end with the farmers running for their lives.
After Snowball flees the farm, however, Napoleon and Squealer slowly distort this history.
Squealer questions Snowball’s role and motives, suggests Snowball was a traitor, and eventually
states that Snowball “had been openly fighting on Jones’s side” and “had actually been the leader
of the human forces[.]”

Does Snowball ever return to Animal Farm after Napoleon’s dogs chase him away?

Snowball never appears to return to Animal Farm. Squealer, however, claims that Snowball
sneaks back onto the farm to commit sabotage. For example, when the first windmill falls down,
Squealer claims that Snowball “has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of
nearly a year.” Within a short time, “[w]henever anything went wrong [on the farm] it became
usual to attribute it to Snowball.” In actuality, no one ever sees Snowball again once he leaves
the farm.

Why do the animals confess to being traitors?

While Orwell doesn’t explain why the animals confess to crimes they didn’t commit, readers can
infer that the four pigs who are the first to be executed are terrified of the dogs and believe that if
they do as Napoleon asks, he will spare their lives—after all, the Commandments stipulate that
no animal should harm another. More puzzling might be the hens and the sheep’s confessions
since they have seen exactly how Napoleon treats so-called traitors. However, the hens are
among the least intelligent animals, so they may lack capacity to process the events. Similarly,
the sheep have already proved themselves to be followers with little ability to think or question
for themselves.

Why does Napoleon blame Snowball for everything that goes wrong on the farm?

Napoleon, aided by Squealer, uses Snowball as a scapegoat, which means that when something
goes wrong, he blames Snowball. As Snowball is not present, Snowball can’t defend himself and
reveal falsehoods in the accusations, essentially creating a situation in which all of Napoleon’s
statements regarding Snowball are simply accepted as truth. This tactic means that Napoleon
does not need to take responsibility for mistakes and misdeeds, and it also allows him to continue
to receive the animals’ support and respect even when calamity occurs, as when the windmill
collapses. Further, by casting Snowball in the role of the enemy, Napoleon ensures that his rival
will never be able to return to the farm and challenge his leadership.

How is the windmill destroyed?

The windmill is actually destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout the course of Animal
Farm. The first windmill collapses in a storm, and the second windmill is blown up during the
Battle of the Windmill. After the first windmill is destroyed, which Napoleon blames on
Snowball’s sabotage, the animals begin reconstruction and make the walls much thicker. After
the second windmill is fully built, Frederick attacks Animal Farm and takes down the structure
with blasting powder. Undeterred, the animals begin rebuilding the windmill the next day.
Why does Napoleon change the Seven Commandments?

Over time, Napoleon changes all of the Seven Commandments, which were created to keep the
animals humble and on equal footing, to allow the pigs to enjoy prohibited privileges and
comforts. For instance, when the pigs move into the farmhouse, Napoleon amends the
commandment about not sleeping in a bed to read, “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.”
Napoleon changes other commandments as well so the pigs can wear clothes, drink alcohol, and
even kill other animals. By the end of the book, the original commandments have been reduced
to one statement that encapsulates the authoritarian nature of the farm: “ALL ANIMALS ARE
EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.”
What does Boxer’s death represent?

Boxer’s death represents the exploitation of the working classes as well as the death of the
idealism that led to the establishment of Animal Farm. Before his death, Boxer is Napoleon’s
most loyal supporter, abusing his body in service to the farm and the windmill. Once he weakens
and is no longer useful, the pigs don’t reward him with the promised peaceful retirement but sell
him to a glue factory. Ironically, this fate is what Old Major predicted for Boxer under Mr.
Jones’s ownership: “You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power,
Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the
foxhounds.” Instead of bringing about equality among animals, Napoleon has created a society in
which the pigs have taken the place of the humans in their corruption and self-interest.
How does Squealer manipulate the animals so the pigs can better control them?

A persuasive speaker, Squealer uses language to make the other animals disbelieve what they
have seen with their own eyes and to believe the lies he tells them. Sometimes Squealer
encourages the animals to question their own recollections, such as when Napoleon violates the
prohibition against trade: “Is it written down anywhere?” Squealer asks, causing the animals to
be certain they are mistaken. Squealer explains why actions that appear to benefit the pigs
actually help all the animals. When the pigs move into the farmhouse despite an earlier ban, he
declares, “It was absolutely necessary . . . that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should
have a quiet place to work in.” Squealer’s disingenuous and manipulative speech succeeds in
making the animals distrust their own experiences.

Themes

Corruption
Animal Farm demonstrates the idea that power always corrupts. The novella’s heavy use of
foreshadowing, especially in the opening chapter, creates the sense that the events of the story
are unavoidable. Not only is Napoleon’s rise to power inevitable, the novella strongly suggests
that any other possible ruler would have been just as bad as Napoleon. Although Napoleon is
more power-hungry than Snowball, plenty of evidence exists to suggest that Snowball would
have been just as corrupt a ruler. Before his expulsion, Snowball goes along with the pigs’ theft
of milk and apples, and the disastrous windmill is his idea. Even Old Major is not incorruptible.
Despite his belief that “all animals are equal,” (Chapter 1) he lectures the other animals from a
raised platform, suggesting he may actually view himself as above the other animals on the farm.
In the novel’s final image the pigs become indistinguishable from human farmers, which
hammers home the idea that power inevitably has the same effect on anyone who wields it.

The Failure Of Intellect

Animal Farm is deeply skeptical about the value of intellectual activity. The pigs are identified
as the most intelligent animals, but their intelligence rarely produces anything of value. Instead,
the pigs use their intelligence to manipulate and abuse the other animals. The novella identifies
several other ways in which intelligence fails to be useful or good. Benjamin is literate, but he
refuses to read, suggesting that intelligence is worthless without the moral sense to engage in
politics and the courage to act. The dogs are nearly as literate as the pigs, but they are “not
interested in reading anything except the Seven Commandments” (Chapter 3). The dogs’ use of
their intelligence suggests that intellect is useless—even harmful—when it is combined with a
personality that prefers to obey orders rather than question them.
The Exploitation Of Animals By Humans
As well as being an allegory of the ways human exploit and oppress one another, Animal
Farm also makes a more literal argument: humans exploit and oppress animals. While the
animals’ rebellion is mostly comic in tone, it ends on a serious and touching note, when the
animals “wipe out the last traces of Jones’s hated reign. The harness-room at the end of the
stables was broken open; the bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel knives with which Mr.
Jones had been used to castrate the pigs and lambs, were all flung down the well” (Chapter 2).
The novella also suggests that there is a real connection, as well as an allegorical one, between
the exploitation of animals and the exploitation of human workers. Mr. Pilkington jokes to
Napoleon: “If you have your lower animals to contend with […] we have our lower classes!”
(Chapter 10). From the point of view of the ruling class, animals and workers are the same.

The Societal Tendency Toward Class Stratification

Animal Farm offers commentary on the development of class tyranny and the human tendency to
maintain and reestablish class structures even in societies that allegedly stand for total equality.
The novella illustrates how classes that are initially unified in the face of a common enemy, as
the animals are against the humans, may become internally divided when that enemy is
eliminated. The expulsion of Mr. Jones creates a power vacuum, and it is only so long before the
next oppressor assumes totalitarian control.
The natural division between intellectual and physical labor quickly comes to express itself as a
new set of class divisions, with the “brainworkers” (as the pigs claim to be) using their superior
intelligence to manipulate society to their own benefit. Orwell never clarifies in Animal
Farm whether this negative state of affairs constitutes an inherent aspect of society or merely an
outcome contingent on the integrity of a society’s intelligentsia. In either case, the novella points
to the force of this tendency toward class stratification in many communities and the threat that it
poses to democracy and freedom.

Point of View
Literary Devices Point of View
Animal Farm is told from a collective limited third-person point of view sometimes known as
“village voice.” The narrator knows everything the animals see, say, know and do as a group.
The narrator does not know what the pigs say and do when they are apart from the other animals,
and we rarely see the action through the eyes of individual animals. Occasionally, the reader is
granted brief glimpses of an animal’s individual point of view, most often Clover’s, because
Clover and Boxer are the heart of the animal group.
The collective point of view focuses our sympathy on the hopes and fears the animals share as a
political unit or class, rather than individual characters. The collective point of view also shows
how easily collective memory can be manipulated. Individual animals might remember what
really happened at the Battle of the Cowshed, but because readers don’t have access to individual
points of view, they can’t know for certain. Instead, readers only know what the animals say they
remember. When the pigs make it dangerous to tell the truth, then the false version of the Battle
is accepted, even by the narrator, as the “true” collective memory, and it no longer matters
whether individual animals remember something different.

he collective point of view also creates deep ironies in Animal Farm. While the story is told from
the simple, trusting point of view of the animals, the reader is consistently reminded that their
perspective is very limited. The effect can be comic, chilling, or sad, and sometimes all three at
once. For instance, when Napoleon takes the cows’ milk for the pigs, all the readers are told is
that when the animals “came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared”
(Chapter 2). The irony here comes from the gap between what the animals see—that the milk is
missing—and what the reader sees: that Napoleon has taken it.
The animals’ trust is heartbreaking, because we see how easily they will be betrayed. Their trust
is also chilling—the reader can see that the pigs’ treachery is going to deepen. Animal Farm’s
irony serves a direct political purpose. By emphasizing the gap between what the Farm’s
inhabitants see going on and what the readers see as outsiders, the book invites readers to look at
their own society with outsiders’ eyes.

Tone
Literary Devices Tone
The tone of Animal Farm is initially playful and lighthearted, but it becomes bitter as the story
unfolds. The story begins with a tone suggesting the reader is embarking on a superficially silly
story about ridiculous humans and talking animals. The description of both the humans and
animals suggests a bemused, detached attitude toward the story. Orwell anthropomorphizes the
animals, which is to say he not only gives them the ability to speak, but gives them human
qualities and concerns. For example, Clover the horse “never quite got her figure back after her
fourth foal” (Chapter 1). The concern with physical appearance makes Clover seem like a foolish
woman.
However, as Napoleon’s regime worsens, chilling notes creep in. This bitterness is all the more
striking because it is embedded in an otherwise playful story. The progression from playfulness
to disturbing bitterness warns readers that however cozy life seems, society can easily collapse
into horror and bloodshed. At the same time, by making a silly, playful, fun story out of the
horrifying events of Stalin’s Terror, the novella also makes fun of Stalin, suggesting that
ultimately the Soviet dictator is as laughable as a talking pig.

Foreshadowing
Literary Devices Foreshadowing
Animal Farm makes heavy use of foreshadowing. Most of the plot’s main events are
foreshadowed in the opening chapter. This foreshadowing emphasizes the inevitability of what
happens, suggesting that violent revolution is doomed to fail, and that power always
corrupts. Animal Farm’s foreshadowing also serves to place particular emphasis on the events
Orwell saw as central to the failure of the Russian Revolution, and revolutions generally. The
events most heavily foreshadowed are the different stages of the farm’s collapse into violence.
Executions
Napoleon’s decision to execute other animals is foreshadowed in Chapter 1, when Old Major
says: “You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives
out at the block within a year.” This prophecy comes true, but instead of being killed by Mr.
Jones on the butcher’s “block,” the porkers are killed on Napoleon’s orders on the executioner’s
“block.” By using an example of Mr. Jones’s cruelty to foreshadow Napoleon’s, the novella
argues that the two regimes, human and pig, are essentially the same.
Boxer’s Death
Boxer’s death is foreshadowed in Chapter 7, when Napoleon’s dogs “go quite mad” and attack
Boxer. Although Boxer is unharmed, this incident foreshadows Napoleon’s decision to have
Boxer killed. Boxer’s death is also foreshadowed by the novella’s many references to the pasture
that will be set apart for retired animals. As the pigs’ treachery unfolds, it becomes clear to the
reader that the retirement pasture will never exist. As a result, every reference to Boxer’s
retirement becomes an ironic foreshadowing of his betrayal and death. When Boxer himself
looks forward to retiring, he is unwittingly foreshadowing that Napoleon will betray him, which
emphasizes the cruelty of Napoleon’s deception.

Napoleon’s treachery
Animal Farm strongly foreshadows that Napoleon and the other pigs will betray the ideals of the
rebellion. From the beginning of the novella, the pigs take control of Old Major’s ideas and twist
them into new shapes: first “Animalism,” then the simplistic slogan of the sheep: “Four legs
good, two legs bad.” The manipulation of Old Major’s ideas foreshadows the ultimate betrayal of
the rebellion’s goals, when the commandments of Animalism are replaced by the slogan: “All
animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Chapter 10).

Napoleon’s treachery begins with small deceptions, like taking all the cows’ milk for the pigs,
which foreshadow the bigger deceptions to come, such as the lie that Boxer has been taken to
hospital. Napoleon’s dogs are threatening from the moment they appear, which foreshadows
their role in the violent oppression that follows.

Metaphors

But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end.

In this metaphor, Old Major compares the fate of all farm animals to a “cruel
knife,” suggesting that the farmer will kill all of them no matter how hard they work or how
valuable they think they are to the farm.  

Chapter II
“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?” 
In this metaphor, Snowball compares the decorative ribbons that Mr. Jones plaits into Mollie’s
mane to a badge marking her as a slave; after the Rebellion, Snowball throws these ribbons onto
the fire and burns them along with other objects that remind the animals of “Jones’s hated
reign.” 

Chapter V

 then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’s hated
reign.  

In this metaphor, the narrator compares the ousted Farmer Jones to a tyrant king overthrown by

his subjects.  
then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’s hated
reign.  

In this metaphor, the narrator compares the ousted Farmer Jones to a tyrant king overthrown by

his subjects.  

Chapter V
A fat red-faced man in check breeches and gaiters, who looked like a publican, was
stroking her nose and feeding her with sugar. 
In this simile, the narrator compares the man feeding Mollie sugar to a bartender (publican),
suggesting that his kindnesses appeal to her vices.  

In glowing sentences he painted a picture of Animal Farm as it might be when

sordid labour was lifted from the animals’ backs.  
In this metaphor, the narrator compares Snowball’s rhetorical skill to that of a painter whose
words become vivid pictures for his listeners. 

Though not yet full-grown, they were huge dogs, and as fierce-looking as wolves. 
In this simile, the narrator compares the puppies reared by Napoleon to ferocious wolves. 

In January there came bitterly hard weather. The earth was like iron and nothing could be
done in the fields.  

his simile compares the hardness of the frozen soil to that of iron, suggesting that it was

impossible to plow during the winter.   

Chapter VI
All that year the animals worked like slaves. 
In this simile, the narrator likens the animals of Animal Farm to slaves, an ironic comparison
because the animals believed that they had actually been slaves to Mr. Jones before the
Rebellion.  

Chapter VIII
Friend of fatherless! 
Fountain of happiness! 
In his obsequious poem “Comrade Napoleon,” Minimus fawningly calls Napoleon a “friend of
the fatherless” and “fountain of happiness,” suggesting that the farm’s ruthless leader is actually
an endless source of compassion and kindness

This time they did not heed the cruel pellets that swept over them like hail. 
When Mr. Frederick’s men attack the farm, the narrator compares their bullets to a hailstorm.  

Allusions
Literary Devices Allusions
Chapter I
Historical/Political

The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks,
twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was
arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail
which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into
white.
This is an allusion to Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, which was a pamphlet published in
1848 that calls upon the workers of the world to unite to overthrow the capitalists and seize the
means of production.

Historical/Political
[“]Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we
could become rich and free.[”]
The character of Old Major, who is the speaker, is an allusion to both Karl Marx (1818–1883),
the German political economist and philosopher who believed the history of the world was class
struggle, and Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), who was a leader of the Russian Revolution and a
proponent of the economic system of socialism.

Historical/Political

SN PLUS 1
[“]What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the
human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion![”]
The Rebellion is an allusion to the Russian Revolution of 1917, when the Russian people
overthrew the royal ruling family.

Historical/Literary
Bright will shine the fields of England, Purer shall its waters be, Sweeter yet shall blow its
breezes On the day that sets us free.
The song “Beasts of England,” from which this stanza comes, is an allusion to both “The
Internationale,” a socialist anthem written in the late 1800s, and “Men of England,” a poem
written in the 1800s by Percy Bysshe Shelley about the exploitation of workers.

Chapter II
Historical/Political
The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks,
twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was
arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail
which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into
white.
The character of Squealer is an allusion to Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), a government
leader and a protégé of Joseph Stalin (1878–1953). Squealer may also be an allusion to Pravda,
the Soviet newspaper that Stalin used to disseminate propaganda.

Historical
“And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?” asked Mollie. “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 character of Mollie is an allusion to the bourgeoisie, or upper-middle class in Russia at the
time of the Revolution.

Religious

The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven.
Moses, who was Mr. Jones’s especial pet, was a spy and a talebearer, but he was also a clever
talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy
Mountain, to which all animals went when they died.

The character of Moses is an allusion to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Historical

In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had
fallen on evil days. He had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit, and had
taken to drinking more than was good for him. . . . His men were idle and dishonest, the fields
were full of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the animals
were underfed.
The character of Mr. Jones is an allusion to Czar Nicolas II (1868–1918), the royal ruler of
Russia who oversaw famines and shortages of supplies and who was overthrown by the forces of
the Russian Revolution. Mr. Jones could also be an allusion to capitalists in general.

Chapter III

Historical
Boxer with his tremendous muscles always pulled them through. . . . From morning to night he
was pushing and pulling, always at the spot where the work was hardest. He . . . would put in
some volunteer labour at whatever seemed to be most needed, before the regular day’s work
began. His answer to every problem, every setback, was “I will work harder!”—which he had
adopted as his personal motto.
The character of Boxer is an allusion to the Russian proletariat, or the working class.

Historical/Political
The flag was green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the hoof
and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race
had been finally overthrown.
This an allusion to the hammer and sickle flag adopted by the Communists after the Russian
Revolution, which became the flag of the Soviet Union.

Chapter IV
Historical/Political
Every day Snowball and Napoleon sent out flights of pigeons whose instructions were to mingle
with the animals on neighbouring farms, tell them the story of the Rebellion, and teach them the
tune of Beasts of England.
This is an allusion to the practice of the Communist International (known as the Comintern) to
attempt to export communism after the Russian Revolution.

Historical/Political
[T]he owners of the two farms which adjoined Animal Farm were on permanently bad terms.
One of them . . . Foxwood, was a large, neglected, old-fashioned farm . . . [i]ts owner, Mr.
Pilkington, was an easy-going gentleman farmer . . . The other farm . . . Pinchfield, was smaller
and better kept. Its owner was a Mr. Frederick, a tough, shrewd man . . . These two disliked each
other so much that it was difficult for them to come to any agreement[.]
Foxwood is an allusion to England, and the character of Mr. Pilkington is an allusion to Winston
Churchill (1874–1965), the prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.
Foxwood and Mr. Pilkington also represent the western Allies, including the United States, in
World War II. Pinchfield is an allusion to Germany, and the character of Mr. Frederick is an
allusion to Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), the leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.

Historical
Jones and all his men, with half a dozen others from Foxwood and Pinchfield, had entered the
five-barred gate and were coming up the cart-track that led to the farm. They were all carrying
sticks, except Jones, who was marching ahead with a gun in his hands. Obviously they were
going to attempt the recapture of the farm.
This attack, which the animals called the Battle of the Cowshed, is an allusion to the Russian
Civil War (1917–1922), when forces supporting the monarchy, backed by several western
capitalist nations, attempted to recapture Russia and remove the revolutionaries, who were then
led by Vladimir Lenin, from power.

Chapter V
Historical
At the Meetings Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches, but Napoleon
was better at canvassing support for himself in between times. He was especially successful with
the sheep. Of late the sheep had taken to bleating “Four legs good, two legs bad” both in and out
of season, and they often interrupted the Meeting with this.
The characters of the sheep, who are easily led and not terribly bright, are an allusion to the
Russian citizens who too readily believed the propaganda spread by Joseph Stalin and his
supporters.

Historical
After surveying the ground, Snowball declared that this was just the place for a windmill, which
could be made to operate a dynamo and supply the farm with electrical power. This would light
the stalls and warm them in winter . . . [The animals] listened in astonishment while Snowball
conjured up pictures of fantastic machines which would do their work for them while they
grazed at their ease in the fields or improved their minds with reading and conversation.
The windmill is an allusion to the Five-Year Plans, which Stalin first launched in 1928. The
Five-Year Plans improved the Soviet Union’s economy through industrialization, but peasants on
the farm saw little benefit and even experienced famines.

Historical
In glowing sentences [Snowball] painted a picture of Animal Farm as it might be when sordid
labour was lifted from the animals’ backs . . . Electricity, he said, could operate threshing
machines, ploughs, harrows, rollers, and reapers and binders, besides supplying every stall with
its own electric light, hot and cold water, and an electric heater. By the time he had finished
speaking, there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go.
The character of Snowball is an allusion to Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), who emerged as a leader
of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War as well as Joseph Stalin’s rival for power in the new
government that formed afterward.

Historical/Political
Napoleon . . . uttered a high-pitched whimper . . . and nine enormous dogs . . . dashed straight for
Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws. In a
moment he was out of the door and they were after him . . . One of them all but closed his jaws
on Snowball’s tail, but Snowball whisked it free just in time. Then he put on an extra spurt and,
with a few inches to spare, slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more.
This is an allusion to Joseph Stalin’s expulsion of Leon Trotsky from the Soviet Union in 1929,
following power struggles between the political rivals. Trotsky fled to Mexico, where he was
later assassinated by an agent of Stalin.

Historical/Political
In a moment the dogs came bounding back. At first no one had been able to imagine where these
creatures came from, but the problem was soon solved: they were the puppies whom Napoleon
had taken away from their mothers and reared privately. Though not yet full-grown, they were
huge dogs, and as fierce-looking as wolves. They kept close to Napoleon.
The dogs are an allusion to the Soviet secret police (NKVD), which played a key role in
suppressing and even executing Joseph Stalin’s political opponents.

Historical/Political
[Napoleon] announced that from now on the Sunday-morning Meetings would come to an end.
They were unnecessary, he said, and wasted time. In future all questions relating to the working
of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself. These
would meet in private and afterwards communicate their decisions to the others
The character of Napoleon is an allusion to Joseph Stalin, who assumed leadership of the Soviet
Union in 1924 and became a powerful dictator who ruled until 1953. The name is also an
allusion to Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), a military officer who rose to power during the
French Revolution and then named himself emperor of France in 1804 and oversaw a new
constitution that made him a dictator for life.
Historical
The skull of old Major, now clean of flesh, had been disinterred from the orchard and set up on a
stump at the foot of the flagstaff, beside the gun. After the hoisting of the flag, the animals were
required to file past the skull in a reverent manner before entering the barn.
This is an allusion to the public display of Vladimir Lenin’s body, following his death in 1924, in
Moscow’s Red Square.

Historical
Napoleon, with Squealer and another pig named Minimus, who had a remarkable gift for
composing songs and poems, sat on the front of the raised platform, with the nine young dogs
forming a semicircle round them, and the other pigs sitting behind.
The character of Minimus is an allusion to the Russian writer Maxim Gorky (1868–1936), whose
work was used to promote the Soviet agenda.

Chapter VI
Historical
[Boxer’s] two slogans, “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right,” seemed to him a
sufficient answer to all problems.
The slogan “I will work harder” is an allusion to the same phrase uttered by laborer Jurgis
Rudkus in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), a novel that highlights capitalism’s exploitation
of workers. The slogan “Napoleon is always right” is an allusion to the slogan “Mussolini is
always right” (“Il Duce ha sempre ragione”), which was propaganda that promoted cult-like
obedience to Italian leader Benito Mussolini (1883–1945), who ruled from 1922 through 1945 as
a fascist dictator.

Chapter VII
Historical/Political
The four pigs waited, trembling, with guilt written on every line of their countenances. Napoleon
now called upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had protested
when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings. . . . [T]hey confessed that they had been secretly
in touch with Snowball ever since his expulsion, that they had collaborated with him in
destroying the windmill, and that they had entered into an agreement with him to hand over
Animal Farm to Mr. Frederick.
This is an allusion to the Moscow trials, public trials held between 1936 and 1938 that were part
of the Great Purge when Joseph Stalin’s opponents were forced to confess, often falsely, to
crimes against the state.

Historical/Political
When [the four pigs] had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and
in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess. . . .
And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying
before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood[.]
This is an allusion to the Great Purge, which took place from 1936 to 1938, when the Soviet
government ordered hundreds of thousands of Joseph Stalin’s political opponents executed or
sent to labor camps, often after being forced to falsely confess to crimes against the state.
Historical/Political
So Beasts of England was heard no more. In its place Minimus, the poet, had composed another
song which began: Animal Farm, Animal Farm, Never through me shalt thou come to harm! and
this was sung every Sunday morning after the hoisting of the flag. But somehow neither the
words nor the tune ever seemed to the animals to come up to Beasts of England.
This is an allusion to Joseph Stalin’s replacement of the Soviet national anthem, “The
Internationale,” which glorified socialism, with the “The Hymn of the Soviet Union,” which
emphasized loyalty to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union.

Chapter VIII
Historical/Political
They were struck dumb with surprise when Napoleon announced that he had sold the pile of
timber to Frederick. Tomorrow Frederick’s wagons would arrive and begin carting it away.
Throughout the whole period of his seeming friendship with Pilkington, Napoleon had really
been in secret agreement with Frederick.
This is an allusion to the secret non-aggression pact (1939) between the Soviet Union and
Germany; both countries promised not to attack one another and also divvied up the nations
between them so each could gain more land and influence.

Historical
It was a savage, bitter battle. The men fired again and again, and, when the animals got to close
quarters, lashed out with their sticks and their heavy boots. A cow, three sheep, and two geese
were killed, and nearly everyone was wounded. . . . But the men did not go unscathed either. . . .
They saw that they were in danger of being surrounded . . . and the next moment the cowardly
enemy was running for dear life.
The Battle of the Windmill is an allusion to World War II and possibly the Battle of Stalingrad
(1942–1943), from which the Soviets emerged victorious over the Germans and maintained
control of the city of Stalingrad.

Chapter IX
Historical/Religious
In the middle of the summer Moses the raven suddenly reappeared on the farm, after an absence
of several years. He was quite unchanged, still did no work, and talked in the same strain as ever
about Sugarcandy Mountain. . . . A thing that was difficult to determine was the attitude of the
pigs towards Moses. They all declared contemptuously that his stories about Sugarcandy
Mountain were lies, and yet they allowed him to remain on the farm, not working, with an
allowance of a gill of beer a day.
This is an allusion to Joseph Stalin’s encouragement of the Russian Orthodox Church to
reemerge during World War II, following its ban in 1922.

Chapter X
Historical/Political
It was a source of great satisfaction to him, [Mr. Pilkington] said—and, he was sure, to all others
present—to feel that a long period of mistrust and misunderstanding had now come to an end.
There had been a time . . . when the respected proprietors of Animal Farm had been regarded, he
would not say with hostility, but perhaps with a certain measure of misgiving, by their human
neighbours. . . . But all such doubts were now dispelled.
The meeting between Mr. Pilkington, the neighboring farmers, and the pigs is an allusion to the
Tehran Conference (1943), during which the leaders of the United Kingdom, the United States,
and the Soviet Union met in an effort to defeat Germany, end World War II, and map out a
postwar world.

Historical
Napoleon, was only now for the first time announcing it—that the name “Animal Farm” had
been abolished. Henceforward the farm was to be known as “The Manor Farm”—which, he
believed, was its correct and original name.
This is an allusion to when Joseph Stalin changed the name of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red
Army to the Soviet Army.

Genre
Literary Devices Genre
Animal Farm is an animal fable—or beast fable—because it uses animal characters to make a
concise, forceful argument about human morality and politics. Throughout European history,
writers from Aesop to Jean de la Fontaine have used animal fables as a way of criticizing their
own societies under the cover of a “harmless” story about animals. For example,
Aesop’s Fables are simple stories about creatures such as mice, geese, and frogs. The stories end
with clear moral lessons that are applicable to daily life.
By drawing on the animal fable’s tradition of social criticism, Animal Farm critiques Orwell’s
own English society as well as Soviet totalitarianism. Traditionally, fables rarely include more
than one human character, but Orwell subverts this convention. By including several human
farmers in his fable, Orwell reminds his readers that the exploitation and oppression of animals is
not just a literary metaphor for the exploitation and oppression of human beings. The
exploitation of animals really happens and relies on the same process as the exploitation of
humans.
Setting
Literary Devices Setting
The Manor Farm—later called Animal Farm—is a small, independent farm somewhere in the
English countryside. The name “Manor Farm” tells us that it was once owned by a local
aristocrat, the lord of the manor. However, the farm has since come into the hands of Mr. Jones,
an unsuccessful, lazy, drunken farmer. Within the novella’s allegory, the Manor Farm represents
Russia and also the countries of Europe more generally: places once ruled by aristocrats, now
ruled by capitalists, and ripe for a Communist revolution. However, the Englishness of the
Manor Farm is also important. Small, independent farms are a treasured part of the British
national self-image, emblems of the coziness and tranquility of English political life. By
imagining such a farm undergoing a revolution, Animal Farm suggests that the corruption and
bloodshed of Stalinism is much closer to home than British readers may realize.

Antagonist
Literary Devices Antagonist
The animals’ antagonist is the corrupting reality of political power. This abstract idea is
embodied by the different characters who wield power at different times. At first, the corruption
of political power is embodied in the cruel, lazy Mr. Jones. When Mr. Jones is defeated, the
Farm’s new rulers, the pigs, gradually come to embody the reality of political power. Now it is
the pigs who oppose the animals, in exactly the same way as Jones did, by exploiting and
oppressing them. From the beginning of the novella, the animals’ defeat by the power embodied
in the pigs is heavily foreshadowed. Much of the novella’s drama arises from the question of
whether, and when, the animals will recognize that their true antagonist is not humans or pigs but
power itself. The moment of reckoning comes in the novel’s final scene, when the animals see
that the pigs and the humans are exactly alike, because they are equally corrupted by political
power.

Protagonist
Literary Devices Protagonist
The animals, as a group, are the protagonists of Animal Farm. Their goal is to achieve the vision
set out by Old Major: equality and freedom for all animals. This goal brings them into conflict
with the reality of political power. First they must confront power by rebelling against Mr. Jones.
Later they must confront power in a more subtle and dangerous form: the manipulation and
deceit of the pigs. While the animals defeat Mr. Jones easily, they are completely fooled by the
pigs. By the time the animals recognize that the pigs are stopping them achieving their goal, it is
too late. The pigs are in a position to kill any animals who continue to fight for their goal. By the
end of the novella, the animals cannot even sing “Beasts of England,” the song that expressed
their dream of equality and freedom. In the story’s last moments, the animals finally realize what
they have been up against. By defeating their human farmer, they have not defeated the reality of
political power. They have only exchanged one set of rulers for another, identical set.

Animal Farm
Animal Farm, known at the beginning and the end of the novel as the Manor Farm, symbolizes
Russia and the Soviet Union under Communist Party rule. But more generally, Animal Farm
stands for any human society, be it capitalist, socialist, fascist, or communist. It possesses the
internal structure of a nation, with a government (the pigs), a police force or army (the dogs), a
working class (the other animals), and state holidays and rituals. Its location amid a number of
hostile neighboring farms supports its symbolism as a political entity with diplomatic concerns.

The Barn
The barn at Animal Farm, on whose outside walls the pigs paint the Seven Commandments and,
later, their revisions, represents the collective memory of a modern nation. The many scenes in
which the ruling-class pigs alter the principles of Animalism and in which the working-class
animals puzzle over but accept these changes represent the way an institution in power can revise
a community’s concept of history to bolster its control. If the working class believes history to lie
on the side of their oppressors, they are less likely to question oppressive practices. Moreover,
the oppressors, by revising their nation’s conception of its origins and development, gain control
of the nation’s very identity, and the oppressed soon come to depend upon the authorities for
their communal sense of self.
he Windmill
The great windmill symbolizes the pigs’ manipulation of the other animals for their own gain.
Despite the immediacy of the need for food and warmth, the pigs exploit Boxer and the other
common animals by making them undertake backbreaking labor to build the windmill, which
will ultimately earn the pigs more money and thus increase their power. The pigs’ declaration
that Snowball is responsible for the windmill’s first collapse constitutes psychological
manipulation, as it prevents the common animals from doubting the pigs’ abilities and unites
them against a supposed enemy. The ultimate conversion of the windmill to commercial use is
one more sign of the pigs’ betrayal of their fellow animals. From an allegorical point of view, the
windmill represents the enormous modernization projects undertaken in Soviet Russia after the
Russian Revolution.

Animal Farm Chapter Four Questions

Directions: Answer each in a complete sentence. Use textual evidence to
support your response.
1. What do Snowball and Napoleon do to encourage the spread of
Animalism?
Snowball and Napoleon encourage the spread of Anim
alism by sending “out flights of pigeons whose instructions were to mingle with the animals on
neighboring farms” (Orwell, 54).
2. Who are Frederick and Pilkington?
Frederick and Pilkington are the owners of the farms that reside on each side
of Animal Farm.
3. In what ways do the humanstry and stop the spread of Animalism?
The humans try and stop the spread of Animalism by stating “the animals
there practiced cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes,
and had females in common” (Orwell, 55). They were basically trying to spread lies so that the
animals would not want to rebel.
4. Where does Snowball get his ideas for defending Animal Farm?
Snowballgets his ideas for defending Animal Farm by studying “an old
book of Julius Caesar’s campaigns” (Orwell, 57).
5. Describe how the animals are able to successfully defend the farm against
the humans.
The animals are able to successfully defend the farm against the humans by
working togetherand strategically planning their defenses.
6. Which animals are injured or killed during the battle?
During the battle, Snowball is injured and one sheep is killed.
7. How do the animals celebrate their victory?
The animals celebrate their victory by reassembling “in the wildest excitement, each recounting
his own exploits in the battle” (Orwell, 59). They also hoisted the flag and sung Beasts of
England
.
8. What part does Napoleon play duringthe Battle of the Cowshed? What do
you think this says about him?
During the Battle of the Cowshed, Napoleon was not present whatsoever. His lack of presence
shows that Napoleon does not care for the well-being of everyone and does not share in the
defense of the farm.

Animal FarmTermsTo Know

Fable
One of the oldest literary forms (much, much older than the novel or the short story), a brief tale
that is conveys a clear moral or message. Typically involves animals that are personified.
Allegory
A figurative work in which a surface story contains a secondary, symbolic or metaphorical
meaning. The characters and events of the surface story symbolize events, historical figures or
human characteristics that the writer wishes the reader to reflect on. Allegory is typically used to
teach moral or ethical lessons but is sometimes used for satiric or political purposes.
Satire
A device based on criticism of people and society through ridicule. The writer critiques human
nature, an institution or an event by laughing scornfully at themand being witty enough to allow
the reader to laugh, also.
Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and several other techniques are almost always present.
Totalitarianism
A form of government with a strong central ruler that attempts to control individuals by means of
terrorism, censorship, and propaganda. The individual is considered a servant of the state and is
allowed almost no freedom of choice or expression.
Propaganda
The attempt to influence others by deliberately spreading ideas and rumors that will benefit one
group.
Republic
A form of government in which the citizens elect representatives to manage thengovernment.
The people give their elected representatives authority to maintain power for specific terms of
office. In some republics, the leader may be so powerful that the people only have limited
control.

About the Author...

George Orwell (1903-1950)
Biographical Notes
Orwell was born in India, but primarily grew up in England and is considered a British writer.
His real name is Eric Blair; he chose Orwell as a pseudonym.
1922-1927: Moved to live in Burma (Southeast Asia) and served in the administration of the
Indian Imperial Police. He resigned because of a growing dislike of British imperialism.
Orwell hated totalitarianism, and he was critical of communism, which emerged following the
Russian Revolution.
He wrote the satire, Animal Farm (published in 1946) which made Orwell prosperous.
His other world wide success was Nineteen Eighty-Four (written in 1948), but it wasn’t popular
until after his death in 1950 of Tuberculosis.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is where we get the term “Big Brother” when there seems to be an all
-seeing, all-controlling leader who is always watching.
Orwell’s Purpose in Animal FarmOrwell’s Rules for Writing
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive voice where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday
English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. From Politics and the
English Language
. Why did Orwell write Animal Farm?
“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or
indirectly, against totalitarianism...Animal Farmwas the first book in which I tried,
with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic
purpose into one whole.”
From “Why I Write” (1947)

Critical EssaysAnimal Farmand the Russian Revolution One of Orwell’s goals in writing Animal
Farm was to portray the Russian (or Bolshevik) Revolution of 1917 as one that resulted in a
government more oppressive, totalitarian, and deadly than the one itoverthrew. Many of the
characters and events of Orwell’s novel parallel those of the Russian Revolution: In short, Manor
Farm is a model of Russia, and Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon represent the dominant
figures of the Russian Revolution.
Mr. Jones is modeled on Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918), the last
Russian emperor. His rule (1894–1917) was marked by his insistence
that he was the uncontestable ruler of the nation. During his reign, the
Russian people experienced terrible poverty and upheaval, marked by
the Bloody Sunday massacre in 1905 when unarmed protesters
demanding social reforms were shot down by the army near Nicholas’
palace. As the animals under Jones lead lives of hunger and want, the
lives of millions of Russians worsened during Nicholas’ reign. When Russia entered World War
I and subsequently lost more men than any country in any previous war, the outraged and
desperate people began a series of strikes and mutinies that signaled the end of Tsarist control.
When his own generals withdrew their support of him, Nicholas abdicated his throne in the
hopes of avoiding an all-out civil war—but the civil war arrived in the form of the Bolshevik
Revolution, when Nicholas, like Jones, was removed from his place of rule and then died shortly
thereafter.
Old Major is the animal version of V. I. Lenin (1870–1924), the leader
of the Bolshevik Party that seized control in the 1917 Revolution. As
old Major outlines the principles of Animalism, a theory holding that
all animals are equal and must revolt against their oppressors, Lenin
was inspired by Karl Marx’s theory of Communism, which urges the
“workers of the world” to unite against their economic oppressors. As
Animalism imagines a world where all animals share in the prosperity
of the farm, Communism argues that a “communal” way of life will
allow all people to live lives of economic equality. Old Major dies
before he can see the final results of the revolution, as Lenin did
before witnessing the ways in which his disciples carried on the work
of reform.
Old Major is absolute in his hatred of Man, as Lenin was uncompromising in his views: He is
widely believed to have been responsible for giving the order to kill Nicholas and his family after
the Bolsheviks had gained control. Lenin was responsible for changing Russia into the U.S.S.R.,
as old Major is responsible for transforming Manor Farm into Animal Farm. The U.S.S.R.’s flag
depicted a hammer and sickle—the tools of the rebelling workers—so the flag of Animal Farm
features a horn and hoof.One of Lenin’s allies was Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), another Marxist
thinker who participated in a number of revolutionary demonstrations and uprisings. His
counterpart in
Animal Farmis Snowball, who, like Trotsky, felt that a worldwide series of rebellions was
necessary to achieve the revolution’s ultimate aims. Snowball’s plans for the windmill and
programs reflect Trotsky’s intellectual character and ideas about the best ways to transform
Marx’s theories into practice. Trotsky was also the leader of Lenin’s Red Army, as Snowball
directs the army of animals that repel Jones.Eventually, Trotsky was exiled from the U.S.S.R.
and killed by the agents of Joseph Stalin (1979–1953), as Snowball is chased off of the farm by
Napoleon—Orwell’s stand-in for Stalin. Like Napoleon, Stalin was unconcerned with debates
and ideas. Instead, he valued power for its own sake and by 1927 had assumed complete control
of the Communist Party through acts of terror and brutality. Napoleon’s
dogs are like Stalin’s KGB, his secret police thathe used to eliminate
all opposition. As Napoleon gains control under the guise of improving the animals’ lives, Stalin
used a great deal of propaganda—symbolized by Squealer in the novel—to present himself as an
idealist working for change. His plan to build the windmill reflects Stalin’s Five Year Plan for
revitalizing the nation’s industry and agriculture. Stalin’s ordering Lenin’s body to be placed in
the shrine-
like Lenin’s
Tomb parallels Napoleon’s unearthing of old Major’s skull, and his
creation of the Order of the Green Banner parallels Stalin’s creation of
the Order of Lenin. Thanks, in part, to animals like Boxer (who
swallow whole all of their leader’s lies), Stalin became one of the
world’s most feared and brutal dictators.
Numerous events in the novel are based on ones that occurred during
Stalin’s rule. The Battle of the Cowshed parallels the Civil War that
occurred after the 1917 Revolution. Frederick represents Adolf Hitler
(1889–1945), who forged an alliance with Stalin in 1939—but who
then found himself fighting Stalin’s army in 1941. Frederick seems
like an ally of Napoleon’s, but his forged banknotes reveal his true
character. The confessions and executions of the animals reflect the
various purges and “show trials” that Stalin conducted to rid himself of any possible threat of
dissention. In 1921, the sailors at the Kronshdadt military base unsuccessfully rebelled against
Communist rule, as the hens attempt to rebel against Napoleon. The Battle of the Windmill
reflects the U.S.S.R.’s involvement in World War II specifically the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943,
when Stalin’s forces defeated Hitler’s (as Napoleon’s defeat Frederick). Finally, the card game at
the novel’s end parallels the Tehran Conference (November
28–December 1, 1943), where Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin
D. Roosevelt met to discuss the ways to forge a lasting peace after the
War a peace that Orwell mocks by having Napoleon and Pilkington
flatter each other and then betray their duplicitous natures by cheating
in the card game.

Major Themes of Animal Farm

 Satire is loosely defined as art that ridicules a specific topic in order to

provoke readers into changing their opinion of it. By attacking what they see as human folly,
satirists usually imply their own opinions on how the thing being attacked can be remedied.
Perhaps the most famous work of British satire is Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels(1726),
where the inhabitants of the different lands Gulliver visits embody what Swift saw as the
prominent
vices and corruptions of his time. As a child, Orwell discovered and devoured Swift’s novel,
which became one of his favorite books. Like Gulliver’s Travels,
Animal Farm is a satirical novel in which Orwell, like Swift, attacks what he
saw as some of the prominent follies of his time. These various satirical targets comprise the
major themes of Orwell’s novel.
The Nature of Tyrants Broadly speaking, Animal Farm satirizes politicians, specifically their
rhetoric, ability to manipulate others, and insatiable lust for power. Despite his seemingly
altruistic motives, Napoleon is presented as the epitome of a power-hungry individual who
masks all of his actions with the excuse that they are done for the betterment of the farm. His
stealing
the milk and apples, for example, is explained by the lie that these foods have nutrients essential
to pigs, who need these nutrients to carry on their managerial work. His running Snowball off the
farm is explained by the lie that Snowball was actually a traitor, working for Jones and that the
farm will fare better without him. Each time that Napoleon and the other pigs wish to break one
of the Seven Commandments, they legitimize their transgressions by changing the
Commandment’s original language. Whenever the farm suffers a setback, Napoleon blames
Snowball’s treachery which the reader, of course, knows is untrue. Napoleon’s walking on two
legs, wearing a derby hat, and toasting Pilkington reflect the degree to which he (and the other
pigs) completely disregard the plights of the other animals in favor of satisfying their own
cravings for power. Thus, the dominant theme of Animal Farmis the tendency for those who
espouse the most virtuous ideas to become the worst enemies of the people whose lives they are
claiming to improve.

The Role of the Populace

Orwell, however, does not imply that Napoleon is the only cause for
Animal Farm’s decline. He also satirizes the different kinds of people
whose attitudes allow rulers like Napoleon to succeed. Mollie, whose
only concerns are materialistic, is like people who are so self centered
that they lack any political sense or understanding of what is happening around them. Apolitical
people like Mollie who care nothing for justice or equality offer no resistance to tyrants like
Napoleon.
Boxer is likened to the kind of blindly devoted citizen whose reliance on slogans (“Napoleon is
always right”) prevents him from examining in more detail his own situation: Although Boxer is
a sympathetic character, his ignorance is almost infuriating, and Orwell suggests that this
unquestioning ignorance allows rulers like Napoleon to grow stronger. Even Benjamin, the
donkey, contributes to Napoleon’s rise, because his only stand on what is occurring is a cynical
dismissal of the facts: Although he is correct in stating that “Life would go on as it had always
gone on that is, badly,” he, too,
does nothing to stop the pigs’ ascension or even raise the other animals’ awareness of what is
happening. His only action is to warn Boxer of his impending death at the knacker’s but this is
futile as it occurs too late to do Boxer any good.
Religion and Tyranny
Another theme of Orwell’s novel that also strikes a satiric note is the
idea of religion being the “opium of the people” (as Karl Marx famously wrote). Moses the
raven’s talk of Sugarcandy Mountain originally annoys many of the animals, since Moses,
known as a “teller of tales,” seems an unreliable source. At this point, the animals are still
hopeful for a better future and therefore dismiss Moses’ stories of a paradise elsewhere. As their
lives worsen, however, the animals begin to believe him, because “Their lives now, they
reasoned, were hungry and laborious; Was it not right and just that a better world should exist
somewhere else?” Here, Orwell mocks the
futile dreaming of a better place that clearly does not exist. The pigs allow Moses to stay on the
farm and even encourage his presence by rewarding him with beer because they know that his
stories of

Sugarcandy Mountain will keep the animals docile: As long as

there is somebetter world somewhere even after death the animals will trudge through this one.
Thus Orwell implies that religious devotion—viewed by many as a noble character trait—can
actually distort the ways in which one thinks of his or her life on earth.
False Allegiance
A final noteworthy (and again, satiric) theme is the way in which people proclaim their
allegiance to each other, only to betray their true intentions at a later time. Directly related to the
idea that the rulers of the rebellion (the pigs) eventually betray the ideals for which they
presumably fought, this theme is dramatized in a number of relationships involving the novel’s
human characters. Pilkington and Frederick, for example, only listen to Jones in the Red Lion
because
they secretly hope to gain something from their neighbor’s misery.
Similarly, Frederick’s buying the firewood from Napoleon seems to form an alliance that is
shattered when the pig learns of Frederick’s forged banknotes. The novel’s final scene
demonstrates that, despite all the friendly talk and flattery that passes between Pilkington and
Napoleon, each is still trying to cheat the other (as seen when both play the ace of spades
simultaneously). Of course, only one of the two is technicallycheating, but Orwell does not
indicate which one because such a fact is unimportant: The “friendly” game of cards is a
facade that hides each ruler’s desire to destroy the other.
Thus, as Swift used fantastic places to explore the themes of political
corruption in the eighteenth
century, so Orwell does with
his
own
fantastic setting to satirize the twentieth. According to Orwell, rulers
such as Napoleon will continue to grow in number
—
and in power
—
unless people become more politically aware and more wary of these
leader’s “noble”
ideals.

How does the description of the first appearance of Old Major in Chapter 1 of Animal
Farm reflect his importance to the farm, the animals, and the rebellion?
When the animals go to hear Old Major's speech, his first and only living appearance in the
novel, he is "ensconced" on a bed of straw, which in turn sits on a raised platform at the front of
the large barn. This position is reminiscent of a ruler's throne, giving Old Major power and
importance from the start. The narrator describes him with words such as "wise and benevolent"
and "majestic-looking." The scene is designed to emphasize these qualities. Furthermore his bed
sits directly under a lantern that shines directly upon him, another highlight of Old Major's
importance, resembling a spotlight or perhaps a halo. It is an idealized image of the old boar
known in his show days as "Willingdon Beauty." This name references the village near the farm
and gives Old Major a strong connection not only to his own farm but also to the entire region,
while his current name reveals his high rank on the farm.

What does Benjamin mean in Animal Farm Chapter 1 when he says instead of a tail to keep flies
away he "would sooner have had no tail and no flies"?
As the oldest animal on the farm, even older than Old Major, Benjamin has a world-weariness
and cynicism that color his entire approach to life on the farm. He never laughs and sees little in
the world around him that brings him joy, with the possible exception of his close friendship
with Boxer. He shows the stubbornness that is stereotypically associated with donkeys in his
refusal to see the bright side of any situation, as in his observation that it would be better to have
no tail at all than a tail to keep flies away. He is willing to give up an important physical part of
himself rather than make a physical effort, meaning he would rather wish away a problem than
try to find a solution to it. As a result he limits his participation in the events that unfold during
and after the rebellion and interacts little with the other animals.

What sort of world is presented in "Beasts of England," the anthem of rebellion presented
in Animal Farm, Chapter 1, and why is this song important to the animals?
"Beasts of England" presents an idealized vision of a world without humans, in which animals
are free. The early verses of the song use descriptors that look forward to a "golden future time"
filled with "fruitful fields." In the world of the song there is no brutality toward the animals, who
no longer wear harnesses or nose rings used to lead them around and no longer face the whip if
they don't obey. In its later verses the song describes a world free of pollution, with sweeter
breezes and purer waters, which mildly paints humanity as a problem for the environment at
large, not just the animals. For Old Major this song is a memory from his own youth, recalling
the innocence of that simpler, happier time, an innocence he hopes all animals can share in the
future. The song also gives the animals a concrete vision for what their rebellion can and should
accomplish, something for them to work toward. Singing it together becomes their first small act
of rebellion, as they wake Mr. Jones from his sleep with the sound, and it continues to be a
rallying point of hope for the animals during and after their revolt.

What are the differences that emerge between Snowball and Napoleon as they are introduced
in Animal Farm Chapter 2?
After the rebellion, as the pigs assume leadership roles on the farm, Snowball and Napoleon
emerge as the leaders among the pigs, but the two have drastically different styles and priorities.
Their differences lead to extended debates between them at the animals' weekly meetings. Theirs
is a classic brains-versus-brawn dichotomy. Snowball's strength derives from his intellect, his
sociability, and his skill at making speeches. His physical characteristics are not notable, and he
is perceived as having less "depth of character" than Napoleon. Napoleon's apparent depth may
come from the fact that he speaks much less than Snowball, which implies greater
thoughtfulness. He is the only boar on the farm, which means he is the only male pig who has
not been castrated. He has a reproductive power that the other pigs lack, and his physical strength
and "fierce" appearance likely contribute to his reputation for getting his own way.

 Napoleon Snowball Deception Corruption
What aspects She may be foolish and pretty, but her only job is to look pretty and wear ribbons
in her hair when she pulls Jones's carriage out in public. She likes the ribbons. She likes the
attention and the cubes of Mollie and her resistance to Animalism in Animal Farm Chapter 2
reveal a weakness in Animalism (and by extension, communism) as a philosophy and way of
life?
Mollie is described as "foolish and pretty" when she is first introduced in Chapter 1. She has
problems almost immediately following the rebellion because the rebellion does not really bring
her any benefits. Unlike the other animals, Mollie enjoys a relatively good life with Mr. Jones in
charge. of sugar Mr. Jones gives her as treats, but all those advantages disappear from her life
when the rebellion comes. In espousing equality for all animals, Animalism does not consider the
possibility that some of the animals may experience loss of status and material benefits after the
rebellion. The system does not really have a way to address these losses. It simply tells Mollie
she has to get on board with Animalism without giving her strong reasons or motivation to do so.
As a result Mollie never buys into Animalism the way the others do.

 Mollie Mr. Jones Corruption
After the rebellion in Animal Farm Chapter 2 what is the animals' first act after their victory, and
why is this first act important to them?
After the humans have been expelled from the farm, the first thing the animals do is break into
the harness room and destroy all the tools they find there. They destroy the bits that have been
placed in their mouths and the rings that have been painfully inserted into their noses to lead
them around the farm and village. This action is highly symbolic because the animals lead
themselves now. They also destroy the tools used to castrate the pigs and the whips used to
control all of them, implements that have caused them pain in the past. They are now free of the
physical abuses they have suffered. Even seemingly innocuous items such as feed bags and hair
ribbons are destroyed on the grounds that they are degrading. By destroying all the items the
farmers have used against them for so long, the animals claim control over their own bodies and
affirm their dignity, perhaps the most important goal of the rebellion.

 Idealism
What is potentially dangerous about Boxer's and Clover's total loyalty to the pigs, as presented
in Animal Farm Chapter 2?
As the leaders of the rebellion, the pigs are certainly entitled to a measure of devotion from the
other animals, but Boxer's and Clover's devotion to the pigs is absolute. From the very start of
the new regime Boxer and Clover "would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake (no
bits or reins were needed in these days, of course) and tramp steadily round and round the field
with a pig walking behind." However, this total devotion is only appropriate if the pigs'
intentions are totally positive, which is a dangerous assumption for any citizens, animal or
human, to make of their leaders. Boxer's and Clover's unquestioning allegiance to the pigs is
especially hazardous, though, because they hold positions of leadership in their own right. The
animals look up to Boxer and Clover because they are respectable and popular. Their kindness
toward and care of the other animals inspire trust, so when the two pass along the pigs' messages,
the other animals accept what Boxer and Clover say as blindly as the horses have accepted these
ideas from the pigs. This hierarchy illustrates how the blind following of leaders can evolve,
which, again, only works if the leaders have completely good intentions, which is rarely the case.

 Boxer Clover Deception Corruption Idealism
What bits of evidence in Animal Farm Chapter 2 illustrate how the pigs' intentions after the
rebellion may not be in the best interests of all the animals?
It is impossible to overstate how much the ability to read and write gives the pigs an advantage
over the other animals. They are the ones who write the Seven Commandments on the barn wall,
but their ability to do so means they have the ability to rewrite the commandments as well. They
can put anything they want up on the wall, even now, and the animals will not be any wiser. An
advantage this absolute is ripe for exploitation. That exploitation begins at the end of the chapter
with the mystery of the disappearing milk. The cows need to be milked before the animals go to
the fields. The animals are naturally attracted to the rich milk sitting in the pails afterward and
express the hope that they might share in these spoils. Mr. Jones sometimes mixed milk into the
animals' mash, so it is reasonable for them to think that under the new, improved system they
might be entitled to milk. As a sign of things to come, though, Napoleon physically inserts
himself between the animals and the milk pails, telling them not to worry about the milk, that it
will "be attended to." It is clear from this action that Napoleon intends for the pigs to take the
milk for themselves, and this outcome is confirmed in the following chapter. Even Mr. Jones
sometimes shared the milk with the animals, but the pigs do not, so this incident provides an
ominous indication of the way life will be under the new leadership.