B Y: S A C H I T H A N D R A M E E L

Animal
Farm
CHAPTER 1
B Y: G E O R G E O RW E L L
The setting of Animal Farm
The farm is set in England in a rural landscape between the Pilkington and Frederick farms,
which are thought to represent Capitalist government, specifically England and the United States,
and Nazi Germany, respectively. The farm setting helps illustrate how corruption increases with
power, especially in government.
Characters:
Napoleon Jessie

Snowball Bluebell

Old Major Boxer

Squeeler Clover

Boxer Benjamin

Mr. Jones Mollie

Moses
The people that the characters represent

Manor Farm is allegorical of Russia, and the farmer Mr. Jones is the Russian Czar. Old Major
stands for either Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin, and the pig named Snowball represents the
intellectual revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Napoleon stands for Stalin, while the dogs are his secret
police.
Summary
After Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, falls asleep in a drunken stupor, all of his animals
meet in the big barn at the request of old Major, a 12-year-old pig. Major delivers a rousing
political speech about the evils inflicted upon them by their human keepers and their need to
rebel against the tyranny of Man. After elaborating on the various ways that Man has exploited
and harmed the animals, Major mentions a strange dream of his in which he saw a vision of the
earth without humans. He then teaches the animals a song — "Beasts of England" — which they
sing repeatedly until they awaken Jones, who fires his gun from his bedroom window, thinking
there is a fox in the yard. Frightened by the shot, the animals disperse and go to sleep.