analytical essay animal farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell: Literary Analysis Essay

The significance of the novel’s title, the major themes emerging from the novel, important passages and their significance, the setting of the novel and its effects on the plot, the main characters and their motivations, important relationships among characters in the novel, the narrator of the story and impact of his perspective on the narration, the ending of the novel, recommendation of the novel, works cited.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is often discussed as an allegorical story having the features of the fable and satire. The significance of the novella’s title is in its satirical nature. An animal farm is traditionally discussed as a place where animals are bred by humans. The farms are usually named after the owner. However, Animal Farm is rather different. It is a place where animals are owners of the properties (Orwell 6). While referring to the meaning and significance of the phrase which is used for the title of the novella, it is important to emphasize the opposition between animals and humans as well as their differences.

The name “Animal Farm” is chosen by the characters in order to accentuate the meaning of this specific place where animals can rule instead of humans and without being exploited by them. However, the ownership of the farm by animals is a rather provocative idea. While focusing on the fact that the purpose of the novella is to present the political regime in the Soviet Union before World War II, it is possible to state that the title is significant because it stresses on the inhuman nature of Joseph Stalin’s regime.

Providing the title for the work, Orwell seems to ask the questions about the differences in the regime of the Soviet Union and irrational rule of animals at the farm. The satirical title is significant because the reader also starts asking questions about the political and social meaning of the work’s message and ideas. Using the metaphor in the title, Orwell draws the readers’ attention to the Animal Revolution as his allegory to demonstrate the results of the Russian Revolution of 1917. That is why, the title is significant to represent the double meaning of the story and stimulate the readers’ interpretation of the literal and allegorical aspects of the title’s meaning.

The major themes represented in the novella are the leadership and power in the Soviet Union, corruption, inequality, the role of an individual in the society, exploitation, and control. In his novella, Orwell discusses the power in the Soviet Union as unlimited and focused in the hands of the elite, as it is typical for the totalitarian governments. These leaders are allegorically described in the characters of pigs which are powerful, but selfish, brutal, and vicious.

The theme of corruption is discussed with the help of stating that the absolute power makes people corrupted or depraved because of receiving the unlimited resources. Thus, those pigs which were the leaders of the Animal Revolution betrayed their ideals and principles and chose to live in Manor’s house because of the convenience and extreme desire to satisfy their needs while ignoring the needs of the other working animals.

These animals chose to follow the principle “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (Orwell 112). Thus, Orwell also discusses the themes of inequality and the role of an individual in the society. In spite of the fact that the Animal Revolution was declared to be organized for the welfare of all animals, only the leaders received the real benefits. The same situation was observed in the Soviet Union. The social stratification and the division into rich and poor were not overcome, but these problems were hidden now.

The other significant themes discussed in the fable are exploitation and control supported by the leaders of the revolution. The pigs were satisfied with the work of hard-working animals, but any differences in the views could result in violent punishment. This allegory represents how Stalin chose to resolve the problems with dissenters. Thus, the institution of control in the Soviet Union was People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, and the guarantee of the pig’s control was dogs which were used to persecute dissenters.

The first passage that attracts the reader’s attention is Major’s speech about the role of a man in the world. Thus, Major states in his speech, “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing…Yet he is lord of all the animals” ( Orwell 6 ). Major notes that a man makes animals work, but he does not care about them and only “prevent them from starving” ( Orwell 6). Major persuades the animals that they are better than men, and they have to rebel while focusing on the threats of exploitation. This statement reflects the Socialists’ arguments declared during the Revolution period. However, the significance of the passage is in the fact that the pigs forget about their statements and ideals while receiving some power, and they begin to exploit the others.

In Chapter 3, the principles of the Socialists’ attitude to work and the belief of the poor men in the better future are reflected. The horse Boxer becomes the inspiration for each animal at the farm because he follows the principle “I will work harder!” (Orwell 25). This principle is actively followed by lower class animals, but it is also used by the pigs to exploit workers. The ideology prevents these animals from seeing the real situation at Animal Farm.

The expulsion of Snowball with the help of dogs can be discussed as the important allegorical description of the struggle between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky observed in the Soviet Union. Napoleon used any means to realize his goals. Thus, he even used dogs to fear Snowball and other animals, “there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws” (Orwell 48). Napoleon could not support his leadership with the other resources, and he used violence to state his high social position. This moment is symbolic to represent the deterioration of any Socialist principles declared at Animal Farm.

The next significant passage is about judging Snowball as a scapegoat. This moment is important to describe the reality of Animal Farm and make the reader think about the Soviet Union. Snowball was accused of any crime at the farm only because he did not support Napoleon. Thus, “If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it” (Orwell 66). This situation is the first step in persecution of ‘suspicious’ animals who were killed because of possible relations with Snowball. Thus, the authorities used all the cruel methods to justify and support their regime while violating the basic principles of their ideologies.

The setting of the novella is imaginary Manor Farm located in England. This place becomes the communal territories owned by the animals after the Animal Revolution. The time period associated with the described events is not stated clearly. Animal Farm becomes the place where animals live according to the principles of Animalism and equality of all the animals. These equal animals have the only enemy in men who previously exploited them (Orwell 4).

Concentrating on the allegorical meaning of the novella, it is possible to note that the setting of the story is the Soviet Union after the period of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and during the rule of Joseph Stalin. The setting can be considered as affecting the plot significantly because all the described events occur at Animal Farm where animals try to develop the communal way of life. This farm becomes the place where the pigs win the people and receive the power.

It is possible to state that the story could be told in a different setting, but the features of the fable can be lost because the main distinctive feature of the novella is its allegorical character. While putting the characters of the novella in the real-life setting, it is possible to discuss the moments from the history of the Soviet Union without using any allegories and metaphors in order to accentuate the dramatic features of the regime. That is why, this story about the corrupted leaders and exploited workers presented in a different setting can be discussed as ineffective to reveal the author’s main idea.

The main characters of the novella are Napoleon, Snowball, Boxer, Squealer, and Old Major. The character of Napoleon is based on the personality of Joseph Stalin. This ambitious pig tries to become a leader at Animal Farm after the death of Old Major. Napoleon uses all the means to achieve the goal, and these means are mostly persuasive speeches and unlimited violence. As a result, Napoleon can be described as a political tyrant.

The character of Snowball is based on the personality of Leon Trotsky, the main rival of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. Snowball is an idealist, and he also wants to become a leader at Animal Farm, but he fails because of avoiding the use of extremely violent means and because of basing only on clear reasoning. That is why, Napoleon makes Snowball to become a scapegoat in order to receive the opportunity to cope with the smart competitor.

Boxer is a cart-horse who represents the working class at Animal Farm. Boxer works hard in order to contribute to the farm’s intensive development. He is loyal, strong, naïve, and dedicated to the ideals of Animalism. Boxer can be discussed as motivated by the belief in the better future and achievements of the working animals.

Squealer is a pig who develops the active propaganda at Animal Farm in order to support Napoleon’s ideas and personality (Orwell 20). This pig speaks in a language that is understandable for other animals, and he is motivated by possible Napoleon’s appraisal.

Old Major is an old pig whose character is written basing on the personalities of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Old Major is rather wise, and he is focused on finding better ways for living at farm while avoiding the exploitation of the animals as the lower class (Orwell 3-4).

The character to whom it is possible to relate oneself is Boxer. This cart-horse is the appropriate choice because he discusses the hard work as the only way to build the better future, and he tries to inspire the others to do their best to create something good.

The novella is based on the description of the problematic relationships between Napoleon and Snowball. These pigs are rivals in their fight for leadership at Animal Farm. In spite of the fact that both Napoleon and Snowball orient to receiving the unlimited leadership and influence, the methods which they use to complete the goals are different. That is why, Napoleon who uses violence and fear becomes more powerful than Snowball who uses reasoning. Although Napoleon and Snowball start applying the ideals of Animalism to the regime at Animal Farm as a team, they need more leadership after the death of Old Major. These relations are typical for the ruling class where the fight for power is not only extreme but also prolonged.

The other type of relationships is described with references to workers Boxer and Benjamin. Orwell describes these animals’ relations the following way, “the two of them usually spent their Sundays together in the small paddock beyond the orchard, grazing side by side and never speaking” (Orwell 4). The horse and the donkey represent different visions and attitudes to the world and situation, but they live to support each other. Boxer can be described as more enthusiastic and positive while discussing the ideals of Animalism. Benjamin is more passive in spite of the fact that he understands the real situation at Animal Farm. Benjamin chooses not to do anything to fight cruelty of Napoleon’s regime. Thus, this character represents the visions of the majority in the Soviet Union.

The narrative point used in Animal Farm is third-person, and this point of view can be discussed as impersonal and omniscient because Orwell is not presented as a character in the work. First, it seems that the narrator’s perspective is limited, but then it can be found that readers know more than animals which are discussed in the story. Thus, the anonymous narrator not only retells the actions of the animals, but he also presents the motives and thoughts of such characters as Napoleon, Squealer, Boxer, and Benjamin (Orwell 3-14). As a result, this perspective can affect the way according to which the story is told and understood by the reader. The used approach helps accentuate the differences observed in the pigs’ words and their actions toward horses and other animals who work hard to support the commune.

The narrator can also be described as detached, and there are more opportunities for the author to present and develop the allegorical meaning of the novella while focusing on the real motivation of such characters as Napoleon and Squealer while comparing their words, thoughts, and actions with the activities of the other animals at the farm (Orwell 58-64). This point of view is effective to be used in the allegorical novella because the reader can understand all the hidden meanings of the described activities and words while referring to the narrator’s ironical remarks and hints. That is why, the choice of the perspective is rather appropriate to address the idea or message of this satirical story.

The ending of the novella can be discussed as appropriate to represent the result of corruption of the ideals and principles developed at Animal Farm. Thus, animals betrayed their ideals because of the benefits of working with their human enemies. However, the last scene demonstrates that animals and men have many features in common because of their focus on cheating, exploiting, and expanding only their own properties. The quarrel between animals’ leaders and people observed by the other animals through windows of the house reveals that “the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 118). Thus, Orwell effectively stresses on how tyrants can use the ideals against the lower classes and support their power with the methods used by the previous leaders.

Animal Farm should be recommended for reading to others because this allegorical novella is helpful to understand the nature of the totalitarian regimes which can be based on the effective ideals. Furthermore, the novella is interesting to help readers become detached from the historical reality associated with the Russian Revolution and look at the events from the other perspective. The satirical anti-utopian story makes the reader think about the true nature of many things observed in different types of the society. In his work, Orwell effectively discussed the threats of the totalitarian regimes which can be corrupted because of the aspects of the human nature. That is why, the novella can be actively recommended to the readers to look at the political events from the perspective of the satirical fable.

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1990. Print.

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Bibliography

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A Summary and Analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Animal Farm is, after Nineteen Eighty-Four , George Orwell’s most famous book. Published in 1945, the novella (at under 100 pages, it’s too short to be called a full-blown ‘novel’) tells the story of how a group of animals on a farm overthrow the farmer who puts them to work, and set up an equal society where all animals work and share the fruits of their labours.

However, as time goes on, it becomes clear that the society the animals have constructed is not equal at all. It’s well-known that the novella is an allegory for Communist Russia under Josef Stalin, who was leader of the Soviet Union when Orwell wrote the book. Before we dig deeper into the context and meaning of Animal Farm with some words of analysis, it might be worth refreshing our memories with a brief summary of the novella’s plot.

Animal Farm: plot summary

The novella opens with an old pig, named Major, addressing his fellow animals on Manor Farm. Major criticises Mr Jones, the farmer who owns Manor Farm, because he controls the animals, takes their produce (the hens’ eggs, the cows’ milk), but gives them little in return. Major tells the other animals that man, who walks on two feet unlike the animals who walk on four, is their enemy.

They sing a rousing song in favour of animals, ‘Beasts of England’. Old Major dies a few days later, but the other animals have been inspired by his message.

Two pigs in particular, Snowball and Napoleon, rouse the other animals to take action against Mr Jones and seize the farm for themselves. They draw up seven commandments which all animals should abide by: among other things, these commandments forbid an animal to kill another animal, and include the mantra ‘four legs good, two legs bad’, because animals (who walk on four legs) are their friends while their two-legged human overlords are evil. (We have analysed this famous slogan here .)

The animals lead a rebellion against Mr Jones, whom they drive from the farm. They rename Manor Farm ‘Animal Farm’, and set about running things themselves, along the lines laid out in their seven commandments, where every animal is equal. But before long, it becomes clear that the pigs – especially Napoleon and Snowball – consider themselves special, requiring special treatment, as the leaders of the animals.

Nevertheless, when Mr Jones and some of the other farmers lead a raid to try to reclaim the farm, the animals work together to defend the farm and see off the men. A young farmhand is knocked unconscious, and initially feared dead.

Things begin to fall apart: Napoleon’s windmill, which he has instructed the animals to build, is vandalised and he accuses Snowball of sabotaging it. Snowball is banished from the farm. During winter, many of the animals are on the brink of starvation.

Napoleon engineers it so that when Mr Whymper, a man from a neighbouring farm with whom the pigs have started to trade (so the animals can acquire the materials they need to build the windmill), visits the farm, he overhears the animals giving a positive account of life on Animal Farm.

Without consulting the hens first, Napoleon organises a deal with Mr Whymper which involves giving him many of the hens’ eggs. They rebel against him, but he starves them into submission, although not before nine hens have died. Napoleon then announces that Snowball has been visiting the farm at night and destroying things.

Napoleon also claims that Snowball has been in league with Mr Jones all the time, and that even at the Battle of the Cowshed (as the animals are now referring to the farmers’ unsuccessful raid on the farm) Snowball was trying to sabotage the fight so that Jones won.

The animals are sceptical about this, because they all saw Snowball bravely fighting alongside them. Napoleon declares he has discovered ‘secret documents’ which prove Snowball was in league with their enemy.

Life on Animal Farm becomes harder for the animals, and Boxer, while labouring hard to complete the windmill, falls and injures his lung. The pigs arrange for him to be taken away and treated, but when the van arrives and takes him away, they realise too late that the van belongs to a man who slaughters horses, and that Napoleon has arranged for Boxer to be taken away to the knacker’s yard and killed.

Squealer lies to the animals, though, and when he announces Boxer’s death two days later, he pretends that the van had been bought by a veterinary surgeon who hadn’t yet painted over the old sign on the side of the van. The pigs take to wearing green ribbons and order in another crate of whisky for them to drink; they don’t share this with the other animals.

A few years pass, and some of the animals die, Napoleon and Squealer get fatter, and none of the animals is allowed to retire, as previously promised. The farm gets bigger and richer, but the luxuries the animals had been promised never materialised: they are told that the real pleasure is derived from hard work and frugal living.

Then, one day, the animals see Squealer up on his hind legs, walking on two legs like a human instead of on four like an animal.

The other pigs follow; and Clover and Benjamin discover that the seven commandments written on the barn wall have been rubbed off, to be replace by one single commandment: ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’ The pigs start installing radio and a telephone in the farmhouse, and subscribe to newspapers.

Finally, the pigs invite humans into the farm to drink with them, and announce a new partnership between the pigs and humans. Napoleon announces to his human guests that the name of the farm is reverting from Animal Farm to the original name, Manor Farm.

The other animals from the farm, observing this through the window, can no longer tell which are the pigs and which are the men, because Napoleon and the other pigs are behaving so much like men now.

Things have gone full circle: the pigs are no different from Mr Jones (indeed, are worse).

Animal Farm: analysis

First, a very brief history lesson, by way of context for Animal Farm . In 1917, the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, was overthrown by Communist revolutionaries.

These revolutionaries replaced the aristocratic rule which had been a feature of Russian society for centuries with a new political system: Communism, whereby everyone was equal. Everyone works, but everyone benefits equally from the results of that work. Josef Stalin became leader of Communist Russia, or the Soviet Union, in the early 1920s.

However, it soon became apparent that Stalin’s Communist regime wasn’t working: huge swathes of the population were working hard, but didn’t have enough food to survive. They were starving to death.

But Stalin and his politicians, who themselves were well-off, did nothing to combat this problem, and indeed actively contributed to it. But they told the people that things were much better since the Russian Revolution and the overthrow of the Tsar, than things had been before, under Nicholas II. The parallels with Orwell’s Animal Farm are crystal-clear.

Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution and the formation of a Communist regime in Russia (as the Soviet Union). We offer a fuller definition of allegory in a separate post, but the key thing is that, although it was subtitled A Fairy Story , Orwell’s novella is far from being a straightforward tale for children. It’s also political allegory, and even satire.

The cleverness of Orwell’s approach is that he manages to infuse his story with this political meaning while also telling an engaging tale about greed, corruption, and ‘society’ in a more general sense.

One of the commonest techniques used in both Stalinist Russia and in Animal Farm is what’s known as ‘gaslighting’ (meaning to manipulate someone by psychological means so they begin to doubt their own sanity; the term is derived from the film adaptation of Gaslight , a play by Patrick Hamilton).

For instance, when Napoleon and the other pigs take to eating their meals and sleeping in the beds in the house at Animal Farm, Clover is convinced this goes against one of the seven commandments the animals drew up at the beginning of their revolution.

But one of the pigs has altered the commandment (‘No animal shall sleep in a bed’), adding the words ‘ with sheets ’ to the end of it. Napoleon and the other pigs have rewritten history, but they then convince Clover that she is the one who is mistaken, and that she’s misremembered what the wording of the commandment was.

Another example of this technique – which is a prominent feature of many totalitarian regimes, namely keep the masses ignorant as they’re easier to manipulate that way – is when Napoleon claims that Snowball has been in league with Mr Jones all along. When the animals question this, based on all of the evidence to the contrary, Napoleon and Squealer declare they have ‘secret documents’ which prove it.

But the other animals can’t read them, so they have to take his word for it. Squealer’s lie about the van that comes to take Boxer away (he claims it’s going to the vet, but it’s clear that Boxer is really being taken away to be slaughtered) is another such example.

Communist propaganda

Much as Stalin did in Communist Russia, Napoleon actively rewrites history , and manages to convince the animals that certain things never happened or that they are mistaken about something. This is a feature that has become more and more prominent in political society, even in non-totalitarian ones: witness our modern era of ‘fake news’ and media spin where it becomes difficult to ascertain what is true any more.

The pigs also convince the other animals that they deserve to eat the apples themselves because they work so hard to keep things running, and that they will have an extra hour in bed in the mornings. In other words, they begin to become the very thing they sought to overthrow: they become like man.

They also undo the mantra that ‘all animals are equal’, since the pigs clearly think they’re not like the other animals and deserve special treatment. Whenever the other animals question them, one question always succeeds in putting an end to further questioning: do they want to see Jones back running the farm? As the obvious answer is ‘no’, the pigs continue to get away with doing what they want.

Squealer is Napoleon’s propagandist, ensuring that the decisions Napoleon makes are ‘spun’ so that the other animals will accept them and carry on working hard.

And we can draw a pretty clear line between many of the major characters in Animal Farm and key figures of the Russian Revolution and Stalinist Russia. Napoleon, the leader of the animals, is Joseph Stalin; Old Major , whose speech rouses the animals to revolution, partly represents Vladimir Lenin, who spearheaded the Russian Revolution of 1917 (although he is also a representative of Karl Marx , whose ideas inspired the Revolution); Snowball, who falls out with Napoleon and is banished from the farm, represents Leon Trotsky, who was involved in the Revolution but later went to live in exile in Mexico.

Squealer, meanwhile, is based on Molotov (after whom the Molotov cocktail was named); Molotov was Stalin’s protégé, much as Squealer is encouraged by Napoleon to serve as Napoleon’s right-hand (or right-hoof?) man (pig).

Publication

Animal Farm very nearly didn’t make it into print at all. First, not long after Orwell completed the first draft in February 1944, his flat on Mortimer Crescent in London was bombed in June, and he feared the typescript had been destroyed. Orwell later found it in the rubble.

Then, Orwell had difficulty finding a publisher. T. S. Eliot, at Faber and Faber, rejected it because he feared that it was the wrong sort of political message for the time.

The novella was eventually published the following year, in 1945, and its relevance – as political satire, as animal fable, and as one of Orwell’s two great works of fiction – shows no signs of abating.

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Animal Farm

George orwell, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on George Orwell's Animal Farm . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Animal Farm: Introduction

Animal farm: plot summary, animal farm: detailed summary & analysis, animal farm: themes, animal farm: quotes, animal farm: characters, animal farm: symbols, animal farm: theme wheel, brief biography of george orwell.

Historical Context of Animal Farm

Other books related to animal farm.

• Full Title: Animal Farm
• When Written: 1944-45
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1945
• Literary Period: Modernism
• Genre: Allegorical Novel
• Setting: A farm somewhere in England in the first half of the 20th century
• Climax: The pigs appear standing upright and the sheep bleat, “Four legs good, two legs better!”
• Antagonist: Napoleon specifically, but the pigs and the dogs as groups are all antagonists.
• Point of View: Third Person

Extra Credit for Animal Farm

Tough Crowd. Though Animal Farm eventually made Orwell famous, three publishers in England and several American publishing houses rejected the novel at first. One of the English editors to reject the novel was the famous poet T.S. Eliot, who was an editor at the Faber & Faber publishing house. One American editor, meanwhile, told Orwell that it was “impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”

Red Scare. Orwell didn’t just write literature that condemned the Communist state of the USSR. He did everything he could, from writing editorials to compiling lists of men he knew were Soviet spies, to combat the willful blindness of many intellectuals in the West to USSR atrocities.

Animal Farm

Introduction to animal farm ‎.

One of the best novels for children and adults alike, Animal Farm , is stated to be an allegorical novellet by George Orwell . It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1945. Since then it has been published every year and also has been part of the middle school teaching curriculum, mesmerizing the generations. Set in the background of the animal rebellion on an animal farm, the storyline reflects the cleverness of the clever animals leading the other simpletons and guiding them to victory with the allusion of freedom and happy life. Animal farm is also known as symbolic writing for Russia during the revolution in 1917 and the Soviet nation under the communist rule, and how the common people were affected by it. The novel created ripples for attacking capitalists and the communist regime, in other words, totalitarian states and propagandist approach of the statecraft.

Summary of Animal Farm

The story begins with animals on Mr. Jones’ Manor Farm who are fed up with his maltreatment and rise to rebellion after an old pig, Old Major. The Old Major narrates to them his dream of freedom and liberating from the cruelty of men. He also coins a slogan for them that four legs are good and two legs are bad. However, he does not live long to see the revolution. Later, Snowball and Napoleon, two clever pigs, lead the animals and when Jones and his men come to teach the animals a lesson, the animals beat them out of the far, making them flee for their lives. The pigs take charge of the affairs on the farm and issue seven commandments for animals’ rights and protection.

Following the success, the animals start harvesting and cultivation, with weekly meetings to debate on the policy matters. The pigs become administrators and assign duties to all the animals. However, Napoleon, the clever and astute pig, becomes the head, who does what he wants for himself. He also resorts to propaganda against his enemies and in his own praise. Therefore, Squealer is employed for this specific task. Although Jones and his men try to win the farm back, animals fight back ferociously. This is called the Battle of the Cowshed in which they are victorious. Soon the winter takes hold of the farm, while the only mare, Mollie, also flees. Snowball, on the other hand, devises innovative plans for a windmill installation and electricity generation. However, Napoleon opposes him for such schemes. Both go against each other and soon Napoleon, the astute one, uses the dogs to chase him out of the farm. Later, Squealer and Napoleon use his escape as the source of all evils on the animal farm.

While the work on windmill and harvest continues around the year, Boxer, the strong horse, proves very useful. Jones, also, seems to lose interest in taking back the farm, while Napoleon takes full charge of the animal form. However, his lust for power increases day by day. Seeing the shortage of grain, he issues a mandate to the animals to eat less than before. All the setbacks on the farm projects are attributed to Snowball or Mollie, while the pigs enjoy life in luxury on one or the other excuse. Soon Napoleon engages himself in timber selling and doing business with the neighboring farms. Despite attacks from the neighboring form owner, the animals win once again but lose their windmill. Boxer, though, tries to gird up his loins but feels that he is now old and cannot work. Napoleon, seeing the opportunity, sells him to a knacker to be butchered and make useful things from his bones. However, animals are told that he has been sent to a vet for treatment. The pigs also take charge of the commandments and start changing them one by one to suit their purpose. Life for animals continues to become harsh. Soon they see that their motto is changed to “ All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” When the other animals see that the pigs have started living separate from them, they see that they have also started meeting the human beings of the neighboring farm and drinking. When the novel ends, the animals are at loss to distinguish between human beings and pigs when all of them are drinking in the barn.

Major Themes in Animal Farm

• Leadership and Corruption: Leadership and its corruption is the major theme of the novel as depicted through Napoleon and his propaganda minister, Squealer. Although in the beginning, he shares power with Snowball, the most creative one, but later, he turns to Squealer and proves devious by making Snowball run away and using every mishap to demonize him. He also starts doing what human beings are supposed to do, using his power. By the end of the novel, he proves as exploitative as Mr. Jones in the name of leadership.
• Control on Mentally Weak: The novel also shows that the people with sharp minds control the people having weak minds, or who do not want to think and work hard. The pigs, who are mentally sharp, take control of the revolution. Even among them, Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer prove leaders and compete with each other whereas the most devious and deceptive, Napoleon wins and Snowball flees to save his life. Napoleon, then, uses all the pigs to exploit other animals and enjoys life himself.
• Lies and Deceit: Animal Farm shows that politics is the game of lies and deceits. Although Old Major is sincere and his experience is honest, his successors do not prove sincere and honest like him. Napoleon, specifically, spreads so much lies and deceits about Snowball and Mollie that other animals lose the verve and memory of the revolution.
• Rules and Order: Animal Farm also shows that rules and order suit the upper class that exploits them and change them whenever the time is suitable, or whenever they do not suit them. The animals are amazed at the speed that pigs change the rules and Squealer changes the order. Even the main slogan of all animals are equal change by the end to all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
• Foolishness and Folly: The novel, Animal Farm, shows that foolishness and folly cost dearly whether shown by an animal or a human being. Had Mr. Jones been clever and wise, he would have made arrangements to keep animal satisfied. The folly of the pigs and other animals of using only a few leaders without any check also cost them dearly.
• Dreams and Hopes: The novel also shows dreams of the animals for freedom, their subsequent hopes, and plans. Hens, horses, pigs, and other animals have various dreams. They dream of being equal to each other and even adopt the slogan of the Old Major. However, when they see the end of their revolution where pigs and human beings enjoying together, their hopes and dreams dashed to the ground.
• Cunning and Cleverness: Cunningness and cleverness in the novel are shown through the character of Napoleon and Squealer. The first one is deceptively cunning in wielding power and using it, while the second is dexterous in propaganda. Therefore, both make Snowball run away and use this power to their own end.
• Violence: The novel shows that every revolution and power usurpation involves violence. When the animals rise up to the rebellion, they resort to violence and change the status quo of Mr. Jones’ ownership. They again face violence when the neighboring people try to capture the farm. Also, when Snowball leaves the farm, there was fear of violence as the fierce dogs were chasing him.
• Propaganda : The use of propaganda to wield power has been shown through the character of Squealer. He not only paints black to white and vice versa but also distorts the very spirit of the revolution by changing the commandments one by one.

Major Characters in Animal Farm

• Napoleon : Napoleon is an important character in that he is the mainstay of the revolution following the Old Major, after his death. Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin. He comes into power along with Snowball’s support to lead the rebellion. However, he is quite clever and cunning when it comes to usurping powers. A taciturn but tactician, Napoleon leads the pigs and other animals to believe that he is the true leader after making Snowball flee and chased by fierce dogs. He is a strategist who knows the mob psychology and power of propaganda. That is why he uses Squealer for his purpose. He even uses a simpleton like Boxer and sells him to a knacker by the end and yet shows that he has sent him to a vet for treatment.
• Old Major: Old Major is another significant character on account of his importance as being the doctrinaire of the animal farm. He represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, who starts the animals to gain consciousness about the exploitation by humans, and how to rise up against it. His final speech shows him a dignified character who leaves the stage as soon the revolution is set in motion. Despite his absence and lack of direction by his successors, his words resonate until the end of the novel.
• Snowball: The second important leader of the pig community and animals is Snowball. Snowball represents Leon Trotsky. He is a creative, motivated as well as an intelligent person, whose ingenuity lies in developing things and preparing plans. With the help of Napoleon, he forms seven commandments, prepares the plan of a windmill, and also develops plans for its work. However, Napoleon soon realizes that Snowball could outwit him. Therefore, he makes him an outlaw. He sends dogs to chase him out of the farm on the pretext of helping enemies.
• Squealer: A very clever and eloquent fellow, Squealer joins hands with Napoleon to drive out Snowball from the animal farm and enjoy the life of luxury while leading the gullible animals. He represents Vyacheslav Molotov knowns as a protégé of Joseph Stalin. He is the cleverest one among all the pigs, the reason that he can write and read. He also writes the commandments and other rules and changes them when the time comes. However, he ensures to inform the animals about the changes and their reasons.
• Boxer: Boxer is the toughest and hard horse on the animal farm who sets examples of the blind following and hardworking people. He is also representative of Alexey Stakhanov, a hard-working and passionate role model of the lesser-known Stakhanovite movement. He is always found working very hard and getting up early than other animals. However, when he is unable to perform the duties, Napoleon and Squealer make a deal with a knacker to sell him.
• Jones: The representative of most upper-class citizens in the Soviet Union. Mr. Jones is a lazy and drunk landlord who merely seeks his own interests fulfilled, leaving others to go to dogs. The animals hate him for his cruelty and drive him out of the farm when he does not mend his ways. His repeated tries to subdue animals fail badly.
• Clover: A beautiful mare and Boxer’s friend, Clover is a kindhearted animal who sees the violations of the rules but does not take courage to explain it to others. She is the representative of the innocent animals who does not interfere in the statecraft.
• Pilkington: Owner of the other form, he feels a threat of the revolt on his own farm. Although his farm is quite small, he tries to win Jones to keep his animals away from rebellion.
• Frederick: The owner of the neighboring farm, the Pinchfield Farm, Mr. Frederick is a shrewd fellow who knows the legality of the land and issues of the landowners. He tries to purchase the animal farm from Mr. Jones, but once seeing the ferocity of the animals, backs out of his deal.
• Benjamin: The cynical donkey, Benjamin, has seen through his mind’s eyes that the situation after Mr. Jones would not change. Therefore, he always comments that life will be bad whether the farm is under Mr. Jones or Napoleon and pigs.

Writing Style of Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a very simple novelette written in a formal as well as informal style . The formal style is shown through terse and succinct prose , while informal style creeps in when the animals talk to each other or when the Old Major addresses the animal. The simplicity of language shows its tones changing according to the setting of the novel, from ironic to sarcastic and from simple to rhetorical. However, by the end of the novel, this tone becomes highly ironic.

Analysis of Literary Devices in Animal Farm  

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the rise of animals and their fall like their previous condition. However, it comprises the rising action that is the successful rebellion of the animals culminating into the establishment of the Animal Farm and then the falling action that demonstrates the deteriorating circumstances of the animals.
• Alliteration : Animal Farm shows many examples of the use of alliteration in its songs.

Cows and horses, geese and turkeys, All must toil for freedom’s sake. Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken well and spread my tidings Of the golden future time. (Chapter-1)

The above lines taken from the first chapter show the use of alliteration that means the use of consonant sounds in quick succession in a line. For example, the /f/ sound is seen in 2 nd line.

• Allegory : Animal Farm is an allegory in that it shows how animals bring a revolution to set up a utopia dreamed by their old teacher, Old Major, but then it proves as futile as the efforts of human beings. Therefore, it shows the setup of a state and its working as shown through the animal story and then the elite class enjoying at the expense of the lower classes.
• Antagonist : Although it seems that Snowball is the antagonist for the animals on the farm, in a real sense, it is Napoleon and Squealer, who are antagonists, for Snowball flees to save his life, while they are still there to rule the animals and are involved in subverting the very structure of the farm that the animals have dreamed to set up.
• Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel, Animal Farm. For example, Old Major represents Karl Marx, while Snowball is the allusion of Leon Trotsky, the intellectual, who was chased out of the farm. Napoleon alludes to the character of Joseph Stalin, while Squealer alludes to Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Hitler.
• Anaphora : The novel, Animal Farm, also shows the use of anaphora as given below.

No animal shall wear clothes. No animal shall sleep in a bed. No animal shall drink alcohol. No animal shall kill any other animal. (Chapter-II)

The phrase “No animal shall…” is repeated in the beginning of these three commandments, showing a good use of anaphora.

• Conflict : There are two types of conflicts in the novel, Animal Farm. The first one is the external conflict that is going on between the animals and Mr. Jones. The internal conflict goes into the minds of the different animals about the changing behavior of the pigs about eating and drinking.
• Characters: Animal Farm presents both flat as well as round characters . Old Major, Boxer, and Benjamin are flat characters who do not show any change in them throughout the storyline. However, Snowball, Squealer, and Napoleon are round characters who change with the events of the story.
• Climax : Although it seems that climax is the success of the revolution, it is not the case; actually, the climax occurs when Napoleon accuses Snowball of every problem arising on the farm.
• Fable : Animal Farm shows the type of fable in which animals take part as if they are human beings. Old Major, Napoleon, Boxer, Benjamin, and other pigs debate the revolution and take part in it as if they are human beings.
• Foreshadowing : The first example of foreshadowing in Animal Farm occurs with the entry of Mr. Jones in the very first chapter where it is shown that he “was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes,” a foreboding that something sinister is going to happen. Shortly after that, the old Major speaks to the animals to make them prepare for the revolution.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs when Squealer is engaged in stating things and attributing them to Snowball. Old Major is also engaged in hyperbole that all bad things are occurring due to man and that man is always the enemy of the animals.
• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses.
• “At one end of the big barn, on a sort of raised platform, Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw, under a lantern which hung from a beam. He was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but he was still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tusks had never been cut.” (Chapter-I)
• There were shoutings, bangings on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials. The source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington had each played an ace of spades simultaneously. (Chapter-X)

Both of these passages show the use of the sense of sound, hearing, touch, and sight in an effective way.

• Metaphor : Animal Farm shows good use of various metaphors such as the entire novel is a metaphor of the Russian for that matter of the Cuban Revolution. The names also refer to different personalities in a metaphorical manner. Gun, flag, milk, cowshed and even the animal farm is a metaphor.
• Mood : The novel, Animal Farm, shows a serious mood in the beginning but it suddenly charges up when the revolution takes place and becomes cheerful and light when the animal wins. However, it turns to darkly comic when the pigs transformed into the old masters.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, Animal Farm, are the corroboration of songs and chants with the idea of revolution and then the ensuing rituals such as the flag march and parades.
• Narrator : The novel, Animal Farm, has been narrated by a third-person narrator . It is also called an omniscient narrator, who happens to be the author himself, as he can see things from all perspectives .
• Protagonist : Snowball and the Old Major are two main protagonists of Animal Farm, as they lay the foundations of the revolution.
• Paradox : Animal Farm shows the use of paradox in its amusing way. The statement, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” is a paradox where to illogical concepts have been bound together.
• Rhetorical Questions : The play shows good use of rhetorical questions at several places. For example,
• “Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours?” (Chapter-I)
• “But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it?” (Chapter-I)
• “Why should we care what happens after we are dead?” or “If this Rebellion is to happen anyway, what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?” (Chapter-I)

These examples show the use of rhetorical questions mostly posed by the Old Major in Animal Farm. They are not supposed to elicit answers from the animals. They are rather supposed to make them aware of the existing realities.

• Theme : It is a central idea that the novelist or the writer wants to stress upon. The novel, Animal Farm is a critique of the revolutions such as the Russian Revolution or the Cuban Revolution. It also shows violence, human nature, and the use of deception.
• Setting : The setting of the novel, Animal Farm, is the farm where the rebellion takes place and where the animals set up their own government.
• Simile : The novel, Animal Farm, shows good use of various similes.For example,
• It was decided to set the gun up at the foot of the Flagstaff, like a piece of artillery (Chapter-IV)
• The earth was like iron, and nothing could be done in the fields. (Chapter-V)
• All that year the animals worked like slaves. (Chapter-VI)

The first simile compares the gun to a piece of artillery, in the second example, the earth is compared to the hot iron, and in the third one, animals are compared to slaves.

• Symbol : Animal Farm, the barn, the windmill , and the gun are symbols of different gadgets that the animals place value to show that they have brought a revolution and that the common people are always oppressed under any type of regime.
• Verbal Irony : The novel shows verbal irony through some of its commandments such as “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” This is an irony that equality shows through its use with “more.”

Related posts:

• Animal Farm Characters
• Animal Farm Quotes
• Bought The Farm
• All Animals are Equal
• 1984 Themes
• 1984 Quotes
• George Orwell
• Literary Writing Style of George Orwell

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• Animal Farm

Background of the Novella

Animal Farm was written by George Orwell from 1943-1945. It was published in 1945 in England and in 1946 in The United States. It sold more than 600,000 copies of this book  in The United States .

George Orwell wrote this novel to warn the people against the impacts and perils of Stalinism and totalitarian government.  This novel got published at the end of World War II. The book is an allegory and all the characters symbolize different historical characters. The original title of this allegorical novella was Animal Farm: A Fairy Tale. But when it was published in the United States, the subtitle A Fairy Tale was dropped.

This novel won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996. It is included in the 100 best English language novels from 1923 to 2005 by Time Magazine. It is at 46 th number in The Big Read poll by BBC and at 31 st on Modern Library List of Best 20 th Century Novels. It is also chosen for inclusion in the Great Books of the Western World.

 About the idea of the book, Orwell wrote that 

“I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat. ”

Animal Farm deals with the group of animals who assume responsibility for the homestead they live on. The animals get tired of Mr. Jones who remains their master, so they attack him and expel him out of the farm.

When they are liberated from the dictator Jones, life on the homestead is useful for some time and there is a promise for a more joyful eventual fate of less work, better training and more nourishment. However, conflict arises as Napoleon and Snowball battle for the leadership of animals on the homestead. Napoleon holds onto power forcibly and winds up abusing the animals similarly as Farmer Jones does. The story closes with the pigs acting and dressing like the people which the animals expel from the farm.

Setting of the Novella

The Manor Farm is the setting of the novel. This farm is later called the Animal Farm. It is located somewhere in the English countryside. It is a small but an independent farm. The name of the farm suggests that it once belonged to the lord of the manor who might have been an aristocrat.

But at the start of the novel, the farm is under the control of drunkard lazy Mr. Jones. The Manor Farm also symbolizes Russia and some of the European countries which are now under the control of capitalists and the scenario is well set for a revolution of Communism. This farm also stands for the bloodshed and corruption of the Stalin era.

Historical Background

In 1917, two progressive upsets shock the world and Russia.  Russian monarchy is overthrown and the USSR is established which becomes the very first state that follows the principles of Communism.

Throughout the following 30 years, the Soviet government slips into an authoritarian system that controls communist thoughts of correspondence among the average workers to persecute its relatives and look after force. Animal Farm is a purposeful anecdote of the Russian Revolution and the Communist Soviet Union. Huge numbers of the animal characters in Animal Farm have direct relationships to figures or establishments in the Soviet Union.

Animal Farm Summary

Chapter 1 summary.

Mr. Jones is the owner of the animal farm. Mr. Jones is heavily drunk and he hardly makes it to bed. As he goes towards the bed, the animals start to make noise and bustle because they are to hold a grand meeting on the farm. The agenda of the meeting is to have a discussion about the strange dream of the Old Major. The animals are slowly showing up in the barn.

Three dogs arrive which include Jessie, Bluebell and Pincher. Afterwards, hens, pigs, cows, sheep, and the horses; Clover and Boxer come as well.  The donkey Benjamin and the goat Muriel do come as well. So many more animals arrive as well and Old Major starts the aim of the meeting by addressing all of them as Comrades. He wants to impart his knowledge because he thinks he is going to die soon. He thinks that animals are not free and they live in slavery and misery.

He thinks that they are not free because they are being subjugated by human beings. He thinks that human beings rob and plunder all the animals and when the animals are left with nothing to present to human beings, humans kill them or slaughter them. He also announces that the way to free life is that they need to start a rebellion movement.

He then asks all of them to vote whether they should go into the rebellion or not and the majority of them want freedom. He then shares his dream that the state of happiness for animals can be achieved once the man is eliminated.

Chapter 2 Summary

After the meeting, Old Major dies but the major thing he does is that he unites all the animals. After his death, animals start their preparation for the rebellion. Pigs are assigned the responsibility to gather the animals and teach them about the rebellion.

Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer start teaching the animals about the concept of Old Major which is Animalism. They expound the ideas of animalism to all the people. At the start, animals have mixed reactions towards the concept of Animalism; some think that the system would work while those who are on the side of Mr. Jones think that this system might not work. Slowly and gradually the animals start getting to the concept of Animalism.

In the meanwhile, Mr. Jones suffers economic losses and he gets engaged in excessive drinking. This loss of control provides the animals an opportunity to chalk out their plan of rebellion in a good way. One day, Mr. Jones is highly drunk and he is unable to feed the animals. So animals rush to the shelter and eat whatever is present. Mr. Jones and his men come to beat animals and they beat all the animals very hard. The animals attack the men and they all flee from the barn.

All the animals remove the boundaries of the farm and change the name of the from the Manor Farm to Animal Farm. The animals sleep well that night and believe that a good life is ahead of them.

They also reveal that the concept of Animalism has some basic tenants and they are:

•     Creatures that walk on two legs are our enemies.
•     Creatures with wings or four legs are friends.
•     Animals would not wear clothes like human beings.
•     They will not use beds for sleeping.
•     Animals would not drink alcohol.
•     Animals would not commit the killing of animals.
•     Animals of all sorts are equal.

Then they decide to harvest and start harvesting.

Chapter 3 Summary

The pigs supervise the harvest and the harvest is more successful than that of Mr. Jones although these animals do not have the tools for harvest. Animals start enjoying this life of freedom. All the animals work to their capacity on Animal Farm. Boxer is the one who works harder than the rest of the animals because he is big and strong. In Animalism, all the animals share their responsibilities and they seem satisfied with the system.

The day of  rest is Sunday. There is another meeting in which the flag of Animalism is raised. In the next meeting, they decide and plan the working schedules for the week.

The pigs help in making a room for study where trade is studied. Some Committees are made including The Clean Tails League, Re-Education Committee, and Egg Production Committee. But the committees are unable to produce the results. The animals do not have good intelligence and are unable to remember the seven features of Animalism so one basic commandment is made for them and it is “four legs good and two legs bad.”

Slowly, the pigs take control of the farms. For example, the pigs claim right over the ripe apples first. Pigs want more milk and apples for their brain because they are the ones who plan for anything. The animals want to stop these pigs but they are afraid that Mr. Jones might return if they are not united and they believe that they are united because of the pigs.

Chapter 4 Summary

Summer arrives and the word of the rebellion reaches the surrounding farms as well. Mr. Jones also informs the other farmers about his miseries and the rebellion of the animals. The farmers do not like each other but they are afraid that the same rebellions might take place in their respective farms as well so they all unite together to fight the animals. Some of the farmers advertise the news on their farm that the animals of the Animal Farm are starving because they do not have food. They think that such news would discourage the animals from rebelling. But the animals get the news that the word of the farmer is not true so the farmers then spread the news that the animals of the Animal Farm have turned out to be cannibals.

Animals of the other farms also start disobeying their owner and here and there they beat their owners. After some time, Mr. Jones gathers people to take possession of the Animal Farm. The animals are now trained for the war. The men attack with full strength but animals stand and defeat the men. Boxer and Snowball stand out as their heroes. Animals call the war the Battle of the Cowshed. They also give some honors to the animals as Boxer and Snowball are conferred upon ‘Animal Hero of First Class’ while the dead sheep is conferred the honor of Animal Hero of Second class, posthumously. They also decide to celebrate the anniversary of the battle every year on 12 th October.

Chapter 5 Summary

In the winter, the animals feel that Mollie is not performing the assigned duties. Mollie is also sympathetic towards humans and usually talks to humans at the borders of Animal Farm. It is also noted that Mollies has sugar and ribbon stash. After some time, Mollies disappears from the farm.

The weather becomes harsh in January and the animals hold many meetings to make some policies. They agree that the policies will be made by Pigs. In these meetings, Napoleon and Snowball come in contrary positions and they usually disagree with each other. Some of the animals support Napoleon, while others start supporting Snowball.

Over the issue of the windmill, both these animals develop a staunch conflict. Snowball designates the land where there will be a windmill that will provide the electricity to the farm and Snowball also makes the plan for it but Napoleon urinated on the documents of the plan.

Snowball suggests that animals will be able to complete the windmill in a year but Napoleon thinks that all the animals might die in one year if they do not focus on the production of food.  Some of the animals start chanting for the windmill, while the other chant for food production. Benjamin is the only animal who thinks that both plans are beneficial for animals.

There is preparation for another possible attack by the humans and Napoleon and Snowball again come in a debate. Napoleon is of the view to train the animals to use firearms while Snowball thinks other animals should be brought as well.

The blueprint for the windmill is completed and the majority decides for it but in the meanwhile, Napoleon brings nine dogs that chase Snowball but he manages to escape the farm. This gives an opportunity to Napoleon and he announces that on Sunday there will be a meeting.

In the meeting, the animals are not allowed and the pigs decide the schedule for the next week. Napoleon starts dictating all the other animals and decides that he will not only complete the windmill but will also carry out other welfare plans for the animals too.

Chapter 6 Summary

These animals start working to build the windmill and they work for sixty hours every week.  In the month of August, Napoleon announces that the animals may choose to come and work on Sundays for the windmill. He also declares that coming on Sunday is a choice of the animals but if they do not come they will get reduced rations.

The building work for the windmill is in full swing but there comes a shortage of materials on the farm and the animals are unable to produce these materials on the farm. They start thinking about the possible solutions and Napoleon comes up with the solution that the farm animals would trade with the farms of the neighborhood and sell some eggs of the hens. In the process of this trade, the animals have to make contact with human beings and this is contrary to the commandments of Animalism. The animals grow uneasy over the issue but Napoleon assures them that there will be no contact with human beings and that it is only done for the welfare of the animals. He then announces that on behalf of the animals of the farm a solicitor Mr. Whymper will work as an agent between the animals of the farm and the people of the town.

Slowly and gradually, the people of the town start accepting the existence of the Animal Farm although they do not like it. The pigs again come into the farm and the animals are uneasy with them but Squealer satisfies them that the pigs’ plan for the animals  He also convinces the animals that Napoleon being their master must live in the house rather than living with them.

One night, the windmill gets destroyed by the wind and there are some footprints of the pigs. Napoleon announces that this destruction is brought by Snowball.  He announces that Snowball must be brought to the farm for the death sentence and whoever brings him will be awarded honor.

Chapter 7 Summary

In the winter, the animals start working on the windmill again. They also face the scarcity of food but the plan that they will not allow humans to know about their misery because humans want the Animal Farm to fail. Due to the shortage of food, many of the animals do not eat and they remain hungry.

Napoleon does not appear in public frequently. He then makes a contract to sell around four hundred eggs every week.  The hens disagree with the decision but Napoleon stops their food and announces that whoever provides hens with the food will be given the death sentence. Hens surrender soon because in the span of a few days nine hens die in the farm.

The news is spread on the farm that Snowball comes to the farm at night and creates mischief. Napoleon announces to look for the traces of Snowball and to smell the smell of Snowball in the farm. News is also spread that Snowball has taken a position with the animals to take over the animal farm. Squealer tells the animals that Snowball is on the side of Mr. Jones and he has been on the side of Mr. Jones in the battle of Cowshed.

After a few days Napoleon orders for the assembly. He is wearing the awards of the battles. Some of the pigs have opposed the ideas of Napoleon and the dogs of Napoleon drag them out from the crowd. The pigs are forced to tell the animals of their activities and they confess that they are plotting with Snowball to take over the farm. They also confess that they have destroyed the windmill with the help of Snowball. Napoleon orders to kill the pigs and similarly some other animals are killed too. After the assembly, the animals are terrified and the Squealer comes to announce that the anthem of the Animal Farm is replaced with the new anthem by Napoleon.

Chapter 8 Summary

The animals grow uneasy over the matter that the animal farm is very much different than the one which Old Major advocated. Napoleon does not come to meet the public and the animals are forced to call Napoleon ‘our leader.’ The animals are made to believe that all the success and the development of the farm is due to Napoleon. Poems over the glories of Napoleon are also composed in the farm. Napoleon wants to sell the timber and the negotiations are carried on with Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick. 

In summer, some hens are punished to death because of their plotting against the life of Napoleon. Thus the security of Napoleon increases. Napoleon sells the timber to Mr. Pilkington.

Another misfortune strikes the farm and the fields of wheat turn out as weeds. The windmill completes in the due course of time. The windmill is named Napoleon Mill. Napoleon then announces that he has a deal with Frederick of selling the timber. He also announces that he does not have a deal with Pilkington. He further announces that he told the animals about the deal with Pilkington because he wanted to raise the bid price. He also says that he is going to use the cash for purchasing machinery for the windmill.

He demands that the animals would investigate the note and it is found that the notes are unreal. He sentences death penalty for Frederick by boiling him alive. He then sends a word for Pilkington for a deal but he refuses. Frederick comes with his men and destroys the Windmill. The animals chase the attackers.  

The victory is named as the battle of the windmill. Napoleon titles himself as the Order of the Green Banner. One day, Pigs find Whiskey and after a few days, the squealer announces that Napoleon is about to die. His last words are that no one should drink alcohol. In the span of a few days, Napoleon is saved and he announces that they are going to make drinks.

Chapter 9 Summary

The winter comes and the ration of the animals is given to them in lower quantity but dogs and pigs are given the full quantity. Napoleon parents thirty-one pigs on the farm and decides to make a school for them. He announces that pigs are superior to other animals and they should be paid due respect. The pigs bloom in the farm and for the rest of the animals, the times are hard with low food and forced for more production. The end of the winter brings another announcement from Napoleon that the pigs will be given beer in their ration too and more than half of the drink would be taken by Napoleon.

In the month of April, Napoleon is elected as the president and the Animal Farm becomes the republic. One day, Boxer falls ill with the work and asks for his retirement. Napoleon announces that he will be sent to the hospital. A van with a man comes and takes Boxer. The animals get happy that Boxer will be alright soon but Benjamin tells them that the van has written letters which say that the van belongs to the doctor who sells the flesh and bones of the horses. The animals try to help Boxer but are unable to.

After a few days, it is announced that Boxer died in the hospital. Squealer tells them that the doctor has bought the van from the horse slaughterer but has not painted it yet. Napoleon announces that Boxer is going to be awarded. The night of the ceremony comes and animals learn that pigs have bought crates of whiskeys.

Chapter 10 Summary

The animals of the rebellion slowly die. Mr. Jones also dies in his home. Napoleon has grown fat. The farm becomes big because Napoleon purchases land. He also buys machinery for the farm. The windmill is used for milling the corn and they do not make electricity. There is no retirement for old animals. He also makes the animal build another windmill for electricity.

The dogs and pigs continue their life of luxury. The pigs buy telephones and have a magazine subscription. Animals start wearing human clothing. Humans are invited to the farm and the bad relations are finished. They start cooperating and trade with the humans and the visits of humans increase on-farm. Napoleon makes the animals work more and more. He gives them less food. The humans and pigs usually play poker games and they usually fight each other and there seems no differentiation between because the name  of the farm is replaced with The Manor Farm again.

Animal Farm Characters Analysis

He is a white boar. He is given the name of Willingdon Beauty by Mr. Jones. He is a wise character in the novel. For this intelligence, he is respected by all the animals of Jones` farm.

He is the senior among all the animals and is twelve years old. It is he who starts the course of action by calling a meeting at the very start of the novel. He gives the idea of Animalism to the animals of the farm so that they could spend a better life if freedom.

After his death, he is revered and his skull is placed with the flag of Animalism. He symbolizes Karl Marx. Karl Marx is the father of Marxist view and he states that the class division where the Bourgeoisies control the means of production and make the proletariat class work tirelessly should confront the revolution and reach the state of Communism where there will be equality for all.

He also represents Vladimir Lenin. He is the founding author of the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union formation. After his death, Stalin and Trotsky developed a conflict for a leadership position and in the novel, it is shown through Napoleon and Snowball.

He is the leader of Animal Farm. He is one among the pigs. He is the only Berkshire Boar present on the farm. He is a true politician and makes the way for the expelling of Snowball.

He then takes over the animal farm. He time and again changes his commitments and decisions for his own benefits. He gives special privileges to pigs and dogs. Once he takes control of the farm, he goes against the commandments of animalism and starts wearing human clothes and eats in the dishes. He slowly goes away from public and does not mingle himself with the public.

He is the leader who is corrupt and feeds on the production of his subjects providing them nothing of benefit. For Orwell, Napoleon represents Napoleon Bonaparte. In the novel, the pig Napoleon represents Stalin because he also changed his policies and orders frequently.

Benjamin is the donkey in this novel. He is the oldest of the animals that are living on the farm. He shows stubbornness. He is the only animal beside pigs that can read.

In addition to this, he is an intelligent animal. He is very unfriendly throughout the novel but has a strong affiliation with Boxer. He remains the same before and after a period of Rebellion. He helps the animals on the farm to learn and write. He shows that life is hard but one needs to find ways to pass this life.

Benjamin also stands for Orwell himself because Orwell too remained pessimistic due to the political scenario and the totalitarian governments.

Boxer is the male horse that lives on the farm. He is the tallest and strongest of the animals on the farm. His appearance is not very good and his intelligence, too, is of the second class but he is respected for his strength and valor.

After the rebellion, he works more than the other animals. He becomes a supporter of Napoleon because he thinks that he needs to serve fellow animals. For the sake of the betterment of Animal Farm, he works hard and tirelessly.

He believes Napoleon blindly and when Squealer tells him that Napoleon has informed him that Snowball helped humans in the battle of Cowshed, he believes it directly although he knows that it is not the truth.

In the battle of Windmill, Boxer gets injured. He wants retirement. Squealer comes and announces that Napoleon is sending Boxer to hospital for treatment but instead he sells him to a horse slaughterer for profit. The money is then used by the pigs for drinking alcohol.

Boxer is an allegorical representation of the working class or the proletariats in human society. Although they have the strength and power to serve the bourgeoisie yet they lack the mental capabilities which make them understand that they can stand for their own rights.

This class of people does not understand the actual tactics of the propagandist governments and they suffer throughout their lives.

There are nine dogs which are parented by Napoleon. These are the same dogs that Napoleon makes to catch Snowball. These dogs are given special privileges along with the pigs.

In winters, when the ration of the animals is reduced and they starve because of the shortage of food, these dogs enjoy full food and luxuries of life. They are the main weapons of Napoleon and he uses them to tear apart the animals which are sentenced to death. These dogs are made the characters in this novel because they symbolize the agencies like KGB and NKVD.

Frederick is the owner of Pinchfield. Pinchfield is a small farm in the surroundings of the Manor Farm. He has a good business and is usually busy with legal issues. He makes a deal with Napoleon for the purchasing of timber but he cheats the animals by giving them unreal notes of banks.

Frederick symbolizes Adolf Hitler. This deal of timber also shows the non-aggression pact of Nazi-Soviet governments. His deceiving of the animals shows his betrayal of the Soviet government by launching an invasion in Soviet. The stories that are coming from the farm of Frederick portray that the Nazi government of Hitler is going to come hard on the people.

He is the owner of the animal farm. When he is the owner of the farm the name of the farm is The Manor Farm. He is a drunkard. Due to his habit of drinking, he does not feed the animals of the farm well so animals overthrow him by starting a rebellion movement against him. Animals defeat him in the battle and take his farm and gun. He tries to take the farm but is defeated again.

He then goes to another part of the country and dies there. He symbolizes a government that is flawed and corrupt. This sort of government gives way to revolutions and rebellions.

Pilkington owns the Foxwood Farm which is located near the Manor Farm. He is a good man and has great interest in his own lands. He marks the end of human-animal hostility and wants to make good cooperation between humans and animals.

He represents the allies. These allied countries traded with Soviet Union till World War II. But these allied countries remain reluctant at the start of the war to enter into it and in the novel, it is shown that Pilkington does not save the animals when Frederick and his men attack the animal farm.

In the end, the poker game between Pilkington and Napoleon represents the struggle for power in the Cold War era.

He is also a leader in the pigs. He is a young pig. He is an intelligent character but the only shortcoming in his character is that he does not have political depth which Napoleon possesses.

He symbolizes Leon Trotsky. Snowball aims to work for the betterment of the animal farm. He comes up with the plan of a windmill, which he thinks would prove very beneficial for the animals of the animal farm.

But before the windmill is built, Napoleon expels him from the animal farm. He then does not come to the animal farm but all those bad things which happen on the animal farm are associated with Snowball through Napoleon’s propagandist team of pigs. He is also accused of the idea that he is plotting against the animal farm to take revenge. Napoleon uses tactics of fear through the name of Snowball and takes complete control of the farm.

He is a poker pig. He is endowed with the art of arguments. He is known to be a person who can turn black into white and vice versa.

He acts as an agent of Napoleon. He brings the orders of Napoleon to the animals. He lies frequently to the animals and makes them forget the history by changing the history and modifying the events according to the wishes of Napoleon. He is a true propagandist in a totalitarian government.

He is a solicitor and works as an agent for the animals to make deals with the surrounding farms and human beings. He takes his commission from Napoleon. He makes visits to the animal farm on every Monday. He does not bother himself with injustices of the animal farm rather he is interested in his commission.

He is a sort of person who portrays the countries that made trade and deals with the Soviet Union but did not attempt to look into the cruelties of the government towards its subjects.

Themes in Animal Farm

Education used for oppression.

From the start of the novel, the readers are informed about the role of education in stratifying the population of Animal Farm. After the death of Major, the pigs being the clever animals assume the assignment of activating the animals.

In the start, the pigs are faithful to animals and to the progressive reason. They interpret Major’s vision of Animals loyally in the Seven Commandments. But soon they start oppressing the animals with their education and intelligence. When the pigs get the opportunity to get something material that they need, they desert their ethics and utilize their better keenness and information to mislead animals of the farms.

The pigs do not provide good opportunities for other animals to get education and knowledge. They instruct themselves from the books of the children to write and read. They are clever to the extent that they destroy the books once they read them.

This results in the fact that other animals do not learn anything. When pigs are accepted as a class of educated animals they start exploiting other animals.

For instance, they know that the animals are unable to read so they change the commandments of Animalism whenever they want to remold them according to their need. The pigs employ their proficiency to take in exchanges from manuals, which give them an open door for financial specialization. They are satisfied with the job of the intellectual elite, the pigs avoid physical work.

This shows that they are also opportunists. The education and the intelligence of pigs permit them to subdue the rest of the animals of the farm. At the end of the book, the readers witness Napoleon’s arrangements for the education of a new generation of pigs so that they could continue to subdue the animals of the farm.

Violence as a tool of Suppression

In Animal Farm, Orwell reprimands the manners in which the tyrants use fear and viciousness to subdue their subjects. Savagery is one element from which the animals want to get rid and thus they prepare for the Rebellion.

The fact is that Mr. Jones makes the animals work more and he kills them as well whenever he wants to. When the pigs start controlling the animals the way Jones did it, they get to the real help of fear and brutality. They exploit this information to their full potential benefit. The preeminent case of brutality and dread in the novel is an example of open executions.

The executions represent the Great Purge and the Red Terror, yet they stand for the maltreatment of intensity. For instance, they are like the open executions of Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The death penalty for crooks is a fervently discussed issue. Executing lawbreakers like Napoleon is another issue. The executions symbolize the Trails of Moscow which Stalin arranged to make the people afraid. The traitors were forced to confess so that they could be executed.

In the novel, Napoleon forces the animals to confess so that he could execute them. Orwell’s utilization of the moral story sorts him well in the execution scene. Execution with weapons is a vicious and appalling act. However, numerous individuals have become desensitized to it. Orwell’s symbolic killers, the dog that murders savagely depicts the wicked and inevitably bestial side of execution.

Fear is brought through propaganda and dangers. Every time the animals set out to scrutinize a part of Napoleon’s system, Squealer compromises them with the return of Mr. Jones. This means threatening the animals since it would mean another fight, and the defeat of the fight would bring about their previous life under the control of Mr. Jones.

The return of Mr. Jones is a serious risk because it kills the interests of animals in questioning. The other significant case of dread strategies in the novel is the danger of Snowball and his colleagues. Napoleon uses Snowball`s return as the cause of fear because he makes them believe that his return is dangerous. Snowball is a more awful danger than Jones since Jones is at any rate securely out of Animal Farm. Snowball is demonstrated to be sneaking along the boundaries of Animal Farm.

Napoleon’s open examination of Snowball’s whereabouts concretes the fear of the animals for the dangerous impact of Snowball.

Class Stratification

The animal farm is corrosive satire not only at the corruption in the era of Stalin but it also holds a mirror to the human tendency and inclination towards class the development of class stratification and the bad impacts of class division.

The novel sheds light on the fact the various animals representing various classes are one against the enemy but once the peril of elimination and enemy is eliminated, the unity of the classes goes away and they start dividing themselves into different groups.

Once Mr. Jones is removed from the leadership of the farm, a run for leadership is shown among the animals of the farm and Napoleon being the main manipulator becomes the leader to exploit all the animals. The animals divide themselves as the working class and the other class who control the working class. The pigs are classified into the class that holds all the privileges and the rest of the animals on the farm constitute the working class and they work tirelessly. This class is given no proper food and shelter while the pigs enjoy every luxury of the farm.

Through this novella, Orwell highlights the fact that it is the tendency of Humans that they have divided themselves into groups and classes because they cannot remain in freedom. They want to get subjugated by another class and it is happening throughout the world.

Naive Working Class and its dangers

The novels present both the classes very powerfully and meticulously: the controlling class and the oppressive class. The novel does not present the perspective of any particular but it portrays the panoramic view of all the characters. It is in fact narrated through the perspective of every ordinary animal.

The animals that are hardworking and loyal gives Orwell an opportunity to highlight that oppression does not only through the control tactics of the upper class but through the naivetés of the suppressed class.  The oppression happens because this oppressed class is not educated and not informed and this lack of knowledge causes the oppression and opportunity to the control class to suppress the oppressed. 

Boxer states that Napoleon is always right and this is a clear indication which gives Napoleon more strength and power to subdue this class of animal. This novel manifests that the inability of the oppressed increases the suffering of this class because they are unable to make progress in order to free themselves from the tyrant and cruel masters.

The Failure of Intellect

Animal Farm is profoundly doubtful about the estimation of scholarly movement. The pigs are distinguished as the canniest creatures. However, their insight rarely delivers anything of significant worth.

Rather, the pigs utilize their insight to control and misuse different creatures. The novella recognizes a few different manners by which knowledge neglects to be valuable or acceptable. Benjamin is educated, yet he will not peruse, proposing that knowledge is useless without the ethical sense to take part in governmental issues and the fearlessness to act. The dogs are almost as proficient as the pigs.

However, they are not keen on pursuing anything aside from the Seven Commandments. The dogs’ utilization of their insight recommends that acumen is pointless when it is joined with a character that likes to obey orders as opposed to addressing them.

Animal Exploitation by Humans

Animal Farm makes progressively strict contention like people abuse and mistreats animals. While the creatures’ resistance is generally funny in tone, it finishes on a genuine and touching note, when the creatures clear out the last hints of Jones’ loathed rule.

The outfit room toward the end of the stables was torn open; the bits, the nose-rings, the pooch chains, the barbarous blades with which Mr. Jones had been utilized to mutilate the pigs and sheep, were completely flung down the well.

The novella proposes that there is a genuine association between the abuse of creatures and the misuse of human specialists. Mr. Pilkington jokes to Napoleon that on the off chance that you have your lower creatures to fight with we have our lower classes. From the perspective of the decision class, creatures and laborers are the equivalents.

Animal Farm Analysis

Stalinism satirized.

This novel is a satire of extremist governments of totalitarian governments in their numerous pretenses. Orwell formed this book for an explicit reason: to stand as a cautionary tale of warning against Stalinism.

Therefore, he was unable to publish this book because the Allies were helping out the Soviet Union. Although the book got ready for publishing yet Orwell could not get any publisher for the book to publish it. The characters of this novel portray some authentic figures and various groups of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. The Major stands for Karl Marx, the Boxer for the workers, Napoleon stands for Joseph Stalin, Frederick for Adolf Hitler, and Snowball stands for Leon Trotsky.

The similarity of the incidents of this novel and event in the history of Soviet is unquestionable. For instance, Napoleon and Snowball conflict is an immediate reference to that of Stalin and Trotsky’s. The agreement of trade between Napoleon and Frederick and then breaking it represents a non-aggression pact between Nazi and Soviets before World War II. The Battle of the Windmill shows World War II.

Regardless of this fantasy story composed for satirizing some of the events Soviet history Orwell is less concerned about other events of history. For instance, the killing in Chapter VII associates the Great Purge and the Red Terror. The executions are the representation of these events. Squealer’s declarations that the executions have finished the Rebellion associate them to the time of the Red Terror.

Orwell leaves some vagueness in the characters of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed. These obscurities in the events help the audience concentrate the satire focused on Stalinism and the dangers of the totalitarian government.

Napoleon Analyzed

From the initial points in the novella, Napoleon rises as a person who is always in search of opportunities for corruption.  Napoleon never makes a solitary commitment by participating actively in the Revolution, not to the definition of its belief system, not to the grisly battle that it requires, not to the new society’s underlying endeavors to build up itself. He never shows enthusiasm for the quality of Animal Farm itself, just in the quality of his control over it.

Therefore, the main venture he embraces with excitement is the preparation of a litter of little dogs. He doesn’t teach them so that the dog could benefit themselves or to benefit all the animals of the farm but he teaches them for his own advantages. They become Napoleon`s private armed force for the sake of controlling the animals of the farm.

In spite of the fact that he straightforwardly demonstrates Joseph Stalin, Napoleon symbolizes the political dictators that have risen all through the history of mankind and with specific recurrence during the twentieth century. He is not the French Napoleon in the novel but he matches all the features of Napoleon Bonaparte who sells all the democratic commandments and this is the same which Napoleon of Animal Farm does, in order to control the animals of the farm.

One by one, he changes all the seven commandments of Animalism for his own benefits. It is a demonstration of Orwell’s intense political insight that Napoleon can without much of a stretch represent any of the extraordinary despots and political rascals in world history, even the individuals who emerged after Animal Farm was composed. In the conduct of Napoleon and his partners in crime, one can identify the lying and tormenting strategies of authoritarian pioneers, for example, Mao, Josip Tito, Augusto Pinochet, Pol Pot and Milosevic are treated in a very corrosive manner.

Some Animals are more equal than others

In Animal Farm various types of animals have various capacities and intelligence levels. The dogs and the pigs are the best because of their education, while Boxer and a large portion of different creatures are not educated and they do not have intelligence.

These varying degrees of training are reflected in the chain of command that in the long run rises on Animal Farm. The dogs and the pigs on top, Boxer and the other animals lower than pigs and dogs. One understanding of the divergence in insight among creatures is that a few animal varieties, for example, pigs are bound to govern, while the lower creatures are bound to endure. In the event that this phenomenon is accepted, at that point class divisions arise in the novella.

Animal Farm demonstrates that the intelligence of the pigs is not the main tool through which they control the other animals of the farm because pigs do not produce anything that is beneficial for the animals of the farms.

Snowball’s greatest thought is the plan of building the windmill but it makes the animals lose several years for building it. The intelligence of the pigs used to exploit the lower creatures. Squealer utilizes his aptitude with words to give tricky clarifications for Napoleon’s falsehoods. Napoleon exhibits knowledge in preparing his dogs for security and this proves to be the only time when Napoleon shows his knowledge.

Simultaneously, Muriel and Benjamin are as proficient as the pigs yet never accomplish any force whatsoever. The lack of political force of Muriel and Benjamin proposes that it isn’t the knowledge of the pigs which gives them at the highest point of the chain of command, but it is their education with the mix of their manipulative power that gives them the highest ranks.

Animal Farm recommends that the genuine wellspring of intensity on the Farm might be Boxer. He is the person who fights the human farmer very bravely and defeats them exhibits that  Boxer could devastate the dogs of Napoleon. So the idea that some animals are more equal than the others is the unity of dogs and pigs in terms of their knowledge and manipulative power that gives them the autonomy of the farm.

Power Corrupts

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is reverberated all through Animal Farm. This novel shows that the battle for power is profoundly established in debasement. This is demonstrated by depicting that power can’t be achieved without it. Whenever a person achieves power and he tastes the power, he craves more and more power which creates a sense of superiority and manipulation of others in such a person.

These thoughts inalienably demonstrate that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely because power once achieved finds its sources of corruption itself.

The very first thing, Animal Farm shows that force can’t be accomplished without defilement. The characters that are aggressive and hungry for power are reflected through their utilization of corrupt intentions to raise their status.

In Animal Farm, we see this via Snowball’s persuasiveness in convincing the animals for the windmill but Napoleon stands up and nine dogs run straight to chase Snowball.

Through this utilization of striking symbolism, we see that Napoleon is making sure about force by dispensing his opposition through fierce methods instead of really substantiating himself as the more fitting competitor. Snowball is the predominant speaker and convinces the animals with his discourse for the windmill but Napoleon resorts to brutality to affirm his strength, demonstrating that force can’t be accomplished without defilement.

The need for debasement to accomplish power in Animal Farm is observed when the animals look outside where pigs play games with humans, they look at pigs and then at humans again they look at humans and then at pigs but there seems no difference in them.

Through the reiteration, we see that with regards to achieving power, the pigs are similarly overbearing as the people and that defilement is a typical factor between all figures hungry for power, including pigs and human beings. Subsequently, Animal Farm shows that force can’t be accomplished without debasement so power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Besides, the novel confirms that once power is tasted, the individual or organization pines for additional feel for more power. Force can’t be accomplished without debasement, so to gain more power would require higher defilement. Since they keep on longing for power that is more than they already have, defilement would increment until they effectively arrive at supreme force and outright debasement.

In Animal Farm, it is made a rule that pigs should be given respect and path when they meet the other animals on the way. Furthermore, all pigs, on Sundays, have the luxury to wear wearing green stripes on their tails. George Orwell delineates that as their control over the farm expands, the pigs become narrow-minded and make rules for personal benefits because they are hungry for power to have a higher status. This is also witnessed in the novel when the pigs announce that they are to live in the house of humans and wear clothes like humans. This is a clear indication of their show of status on Animal Farm.

Failure of the Farm

The social differences and class divisions in The Animal Farm cause its downfall. The pigs take the superior position on the farm because they are educated while the other animals are on the lower position because of their illiteracy. The classes have a difference in education which makes pigs thinkers while the other animals become the workers.

With an atmosphere of division into classes, the farm has to fail because there is weakness in the atmosphere of the farm as it lacks unity and equality. There is a very large group of animals and they are supposed to be stronger but the division of the animals makes them vulnerable and the plot of this novel showcases the class differences in the society of this farm.

“I will work hard” is one of the sayings that the animals usually chant. In spite of the fact that this statement is short, it says a great deal regarding the legislature of The Animal Farm. It depicts the residents of the farm as the regular workers buckling down for their administration. The animals work hard until they are unable to continue the work in the same fashion.

At the point when Old Major talks about the rebellion in the farm, he tells Boxer that the day his incredible muscles lose their capacity to work, Jones is going to offer him to the slaughter. This clarifies the functioning of The Animal Farm. Pigs who are the upper class bring an idea to the farm and the lower class of working animals are supposed to complete the idea.

While the pigs are blessed with the food, drinks and luxury, the rest of the animals are hand to mouth on the farm.  When the animals come to a stage of life where they are of no use, the pigs sell them and enjoy the whiskeys over the money received.

A case of class division in Animal Farm is seen in the issue of apples and milk. The pigs claim that the milk and apples should be stored for them only because they plan the functioning of the farm. When the animals want to protest Squealer says that the pigs do not like milk and apples but they are eating them because they want to remain healthy for the sake of the animals because they are only animals who are educated and can help the farm move ahead.

The pigs lie to the other animals and manipulate the innocent animals because they want to have these luxuries and at the same time they want to make the animals believe that pigs belong to the higher class. This clearly shows the air corruption and class division taking its roots in the animal farm.

Once Snowball is exiled from the farm by the political strategies and then the violent attack of Napoleon through his dogs, certain negative narratives are made after Snowball.  The news is spread that Snowball visits the farm frequently to make things wrong for the animal farm. 

It is accepted that Snowball has offered himself to Pinchfield farms and is trying to take revenge by taking control of the animal farm. Squealer and his allies make the animals believe that Snowball is a traitor. Squealer convinces the animals that Snowball is on the side of the humans and he has cheated them in the Battle of Cowshed by acting on the signals of Mr. Jones. By this announcement, the privileged class exploits the lower class by targeting their weakness. This propaganda is also harmful to the reign of Napoleon towards the end.

After the publicly killing of four pigs, three sheep, three hens, and a goose, the residents of the animal farm realize that something is going wrong with the sixth commandments.  They come to know that the sixth commandment of Animalism is changed from No Animal shall kill any other animal to no animal shall kill any other animals without a cause. 

The animals do not remember these two words at the end of the sixth commandment but when they read it they believe that Napoleon does not go in contradiction to the commandments of Animalism. This is another case of the propaganda of Napoleon which conveyed to degenerate the psyches of the lower class animals.

Thus, this shows that the animal farm which is established to function as a unit of equal animals and the motive of the rebellion is to make all the animals equal by giving them equality is foreshadowed by class differences. The leaders, pigs, exploit the working class, animals, for their personal gains. This makes Animal Farm a failed state.

Propaganda as a tool for exploitation

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a moral story for the Russian Revolution. In this novel, the pigs take control through numerous propagandist methods.

Under the reign of Stalin in Russia, the government abused general society through the compelling utilization of publicity, making the lives of the masses miserable. Individuals in communist states are defenseless against administrative control since they surrender individual belongings and individual opportunities, following their leaders blindly who exploit them.

Thus, in Orwell’s Animal Farm where animals take control of the far and set their own state in function. Napoleon, a pig, and his main propagandist, Squealer, subdue the animals completely. The use of propaganda by various characters reflects Russia in the reign of Stalin’s imperious guideline.

Both these take control through various techniques with the help of propaganda. Orwell`s focal message is that in a communist state the masses are controlled and this gives them the power to manipulate these masses.

In this novel, the characters chant various slogans to embed messages into the brains and hearts of the animals of the farm. The use of slogans by propagandists is to spellbind and motivate the crowd.

Napoleon uses these slogans to overwhelm the contentions made by Snowball or to change the subject when animals of the farm start to scrutinize his authenticity. Squealer deliberately makes the sheep intrude in Snowball’s discourses at various times in the contention with this apparent animalist trademark.

Although the sheep perform well, they are not aware that Squealer is manipulating them, too. With this example, Orwell exhibits that slogans are effective and dangerous instruments to manipulate the lower classes by the superior class. The slogans of Squealer go deep into the heart of Boxer, who frequently murmurs ground-breaking slogans to persuade himself and his friends. His avocation, that, if friend Napoleon said something, it must be valid, represents how a powerful figure is followed by the followers.

Generally, he turns into Squealer`s pawn. Since Squealer can’t reach everywhere anytime, he abuses Boxer’s numbness and reliability to certify Napoleon’s concern for animals of the farm. Fighter does this subliminally; he controls the animals for Napoleon without being aware of it. Through this Orwell suggests that the use of slogans by characters without any resistance spread the ideas very quickly.

In Animal Farm, Orwell utilizes Napoleon and Squealer to show another viable propagandist procedure: speaking to fear. This dread convinces the majority to follow the instructions of the pigs.

This fear is more openly spread on the farm by the dogs of Napoleon. At the point when Napoleon needs to remove Snowball, he takes help of the dogs. These dogs then bark on the animals that are planning to show any sort of resistance. This use of force is successful to control the animals to follow the leadership of Napoleon. Squealer uses progressively incendiary types of speaking to control these animals on the farm.

At the point when the condition requires a milder methodology, Squealer utilizes mental dread. Squealer abuses the animals through the fear of Jones that life remained miserable in his leadership. He makes the animals believe that if they do not follow Napoleon, Jones might return. Thus this threat of fear gives more power to pigs in the novel.

Orwell’s allegorical story Animal farm for the Russian Revolution shows how the viable utilization of propaganda empowers the hazardous control of the majority. In communism, everything is in control of government so the masses are vulnerable to the moves and instincts of governments. These classes who exploit: use propaganda to exploit the masses.

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Animal Farm

By george orwell, animal farm essay questions.

How is Animal Farm a satire of Stalinism or generally of totalitarianism?

Answer: A good way to answer this question is to pick a specific example of totalitarianism in any country, historical or current, and explain how the ideas Orwell puts forth in Animal Farm apply to it. Go back and forth between the historical facts and the events of the novel. Note the actions of the leaders, the mechanisms of fear and power, and the reactions of the people over time.

Elucidate the symbolism inherent in the characters' names.

Answer: The symbolism ranges from the obvious to the more cryptic. Compare Napoleon with the historical Frenchman and Moses with the figure from the Bible. Take Snowball as representative of something that grows larger and more forceful. Squealer has something to do with the spoken word. Boxer suggests strength. Make sure to consider each character at various stages of the story and to use specific examples from the text.

What does the narrator do, or fail to do, that makes the story's message possible?

Answer: The narrator lets the story tell itself to a large degree by relating what is said and done without moralization and reflection. The narrator speaks from the perspective of the animals other than the pigs, a kind of observer who can point out the significant details without interfering. The reader then can draw his own conclusions about the symbolism, concordance with historical events, and the awfulness of the events themselves.

What does the windmill represent?

Answer: The windmill's symbolic meaning changes during the course of the novel and means different things to different characters. It is to be for electricity but ends up being for economic production. As it is built, it is a locus of work without benefit and a medium of the pigs' power. For the humans, it is a dangerous symbol of the growing power of the farm. Consider also the relationship between the windmill and the biblical Tower of Babel.

What role does the written word play in Animal Farm ?

Answer: Literacy is a source of power and a vehicle for propaganda. Some examples to consider are the Seven Commandments, "Beasts of England," the child's book, the manuals, the magazines, and the horse-slaughterer's van.

Examine the Seven Commandments and the way they change during the course of the novel from Old Major's death to the banquet Napoleon holds with the farmers.

Answer: The commandments begin as democratic ideals of equality and fraternity in a common animal identity, but they end in inequality when some animals are "more equal" than others. As the pigs take more control and assume their own liberties, they unilaterally change the commandments to fit their own desires. Consider especially the interactions between Clover, Muriel, and Squealer surrounding the Seven Commandments, determining how easy it is to change the fundamental rules of society on the farm, where most of the animals can do no better than to remember that four legs are good and two legs are bad.

Would Animal Farm be more effective as a nonfiction political treatise about the same subject?

Answer: Given the success of the novel, it is hard to see why Orwell might have chosen a different genre for his message. A nonfiction account would have had to work more accurately with the history, while Orwell's fiction has the benefit of ordering and shaping events in order to make the points as clear as possible from a theoretical and symbolic point of view. A political treatise could be more effective in treating the details and theoretical understandings at greater length and with more nuances, but the readership and audience for such a work would therefore become quite different as well, so the general population would be less likely to hear Orwell's warnings.

Can we perceive much of Orwell himself in the novel?

Answer: Orwell seems to be most like the narrator, who tells the story from the perspective of experience with the events related. We know from Orwell's history that he was a champion of the working class and did not much like the idea of being in a role where he had to exercise power to control people under him. Orwell seems to be a realist about the prospects for the socialist ideals he otherwise would promote.

Compare Animal Farm with Orwell's other famous novel, 1984 .

Answer: Consider the ways in which both novels are allegories with a political message against the evils of state control and totalitarianism. How does totalitarian control affect the illiterate versus those who are educated and wish to exercise their human rights? Compare the political regimes in the two novels. Does the relative anonymity of the leaders affect the reactions of the people?

Pick a classic fairy tale or fable and examine it in comparison with Animal Farm .

Answer: A good way to answer such a question is to consider the function of animals as characters. For instance, each of the Three Little Pigs expresses a different approach to planning for the future and managing risk, which can lead to an analysis of how each character represents a moral or physical quality. In terms of narration, note the degree to which the narrator lets the characters speak in their own voices and lets the plot play out without editorializing. In terms of structure, consider how critical events shatter the calm (such as getting lost in the woods or encountering an enemy) and lead to a moral once some kind of order (for better or for worse) is restored.

Animal Farm Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Animal Farm is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Animal Farm contains mainly extremely effective scenes. Some are humorous or witty, others bitterly ironic or pessimistic . Which scene did you find most effective and memorable? why?

A seen that sticks with me is a terrifying one: I suppose that is why it has stayed with me for so long. The scene is when Boxer the horse. One afternoon, a van comes to take Boxer away. It has “lettering on its side and a sly-looking man in...

What is the relationship between Snowball and Napoleon?

Both Snowball and Napoleon are leaders. They see leadership in each other. Napoleon sees Snowball's loyalty to the animals as a threat to his dictatorship. While Snowball works for the good of the farm, Napoleon works only for his own interests.

Essay question is : Power cannot be used for good.it can only be used for keeping power. Agree or disagree in relation to animal farm

Unfortunately we cannot write essays for you on this furum. Check out The Inevitability of Totalitarianism at the GradeSaver link below:

Study Guide for Animal Farm

Animal Farm study guide contains a biography of George Orwell, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Animal Farm
• Animal Farm Summary
• Animal Farm Video
• Character List

Essays for Animal Farm

Animal Farm essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Animal Farm by George Orwell.

• Bit and Spur Shall Rust Forever: Hollow Symbols in George Orwell's Animal Farm
• Consent to Destruction: the Phases of Fraternity and Separation in Animal Farm
• Character Textual Response - Benjamin
• Non vi, sed verbo (Not by force, but by the word)
• Comparison of Values: Animal Farm and V for Vendetta

Lesson Plan for Animal Farm

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Animal Farm
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Animal Farm Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Animal Farm

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Analytical Essay Guide

Analytical Essay Writing

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

How to Write an Analytical Essay - Step-by-Step Guide

By: Dorothy M.

Reviewed By: Chris H.

Published on: Nov 12, 2019

An analytical essay is a common assignment that high school and college students often need to do. It is the most difficult type of essay that requires a thorough investigation of a topic and its substantial analysis.

Are you having difficulty writing a good analytical essay?

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to write an analytical essay.

This blog will help you understand the core basics of an analytical essay. Once you are done reading it, you will be ready to write your essay easily.

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What is an Analytical Essay?

According to an analytical essay definition, ‘it is a piece of writing in which the writer analyzes, interprets and critiques a work of art, situation, issue, or a particular event.’ Such essays aim to break down a topic into several subparts and dissect and analyze them in detail and find out the main points.

Analytical essay writing significantly differs from other types of essays. High school students often confuse this type of essay with argumentative essays. However, there is a sharp contrast between them.

The main goal of an analytical essay is to analyze the main topic and convince the reader about your viewpoint. On the contrary, an argumentative essay aims to present a claim about the topic and prove it written with evidence.

How to Start an Analytical Essay?

To write a good analytical essay, you must first spend your time planning for it. Let’s take a look at what the prewriting stage looks like.

• Find the Focus

Students can write an analysis essay on a literary work, a film or a play, or even an issue or problem faced by society.

So the first step is figuring out the core focus of your essay and presenting relevant facts. The evidence can be collected from a novel or film, or it could be the findings of your research that back up your point of view.

• Choose Your Topic

You can only start writing your essay once you have a topic in mind. Most professors like to assign a topic themselves; however, if you are allowed to pick the topic yourself, you have an edge.

You can go with the idea that you are passionate about and find interesting. It will make researching and writing the essay itself a fun and simple process for you.

• Form a Thesis Statement

Once you have chosen the topic for your essay, the next step is crafting the analytical essay thesis statement. A thesis statement is the basis of your overall essay.

The purpose of a thesis statement is to inform the readers about the purpose of your essay and the rhetorical question discussed throughout the paper.

• Find Supporting Evidence

The next step is finding evidence that supports your argument. You can opt for primary or secondary sources, depending on the requirements of your assignment. Look for evidence that is authentic yet persuasive and directly related to the thesis to support your claim. Use transition words to create proper linkage in the provided information.

• Add Contextual Evidence

Besides adding facts and evidence from credible and relevant sources, you should add quotes and paraphrased passages from the text. In an analytical essay example on a book, it is necessary to add phrases and quotes from the text as the main evidence. Reading the text from books or credible sources will help you collect relevant examples.

Adding textual examples build credibility as the reader would know that you know your work inside out. It will also help you support your thesis statement and the main claim of the essay.

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How to Write an Analytical Essay?

Analytical writing can prove to be a difficult task for students but certainly not impossible. To learn how to write an analytical essay step-by-step, follow the guidelines given below.

The goal of analytical essay topics and essays is to explain a topic in detail. It aims to increase the reader’s understanding.

Create an Analytical Essay Outline Worksheet

The first step to write a compelling and strong analytical essay is to craft a detailed outline worksheet for your essay. Preparing a good and detailed outline will help you in focusing on the main topic.

The outline includes the following key sections:

• Introduction

1. Write an Impressive Analytical Essay Introduction

The essay introduction aims to provide the reader with basic background information on the issue. An introduction section starts with a hook, an interesting and engaging fact or statement. Consider it first and probably the last chance to impress your readers.

The introduction should be exciting and leave the reader wanting to know more. However, be specific and keep everything brief. Do not overwhelm your readers with tons of information, and keep the details for the latter part of the essay.

2. Write a Concise Thesis Statement

The thesis statement comes after the introduction, and it is usually a one or two-liner. It is the core essence of the entire essay, and this is why it should be brief and to the point. It is usually written at the end of the introduction and is a small section.

To make it impressive, mention the main theme of the essay briefly.

3. Write Analytical Essay Body Paragraphs

The body of any essay is the main part that consists of the flesh of the essay. Writing an analytical essay, the number of body paragraphs varies, depending upon the complexity of the topic.

Generally, each paragraph comprises a topic sentence, analysis of the original text, and evidence from the text that proves your opinion. Use this opportunity to compare and contrast different views about the topic and then present your perspective.

Please remember that each paragraph must present a single idea or topic. Do not try to add multiple ideas into a single paragraph.

4. Write Analytical Essay Conclusion

Want to know how to conclude an analysis paper strongly?

Writing a conclusion has the same importance as the introductory paragraph. Use the conclusion to prove how and why your point of view was correct. Summarize all the main points, bring the discussion closer, and restate the thesis in a global context.

However, don’t introduce new ideas at this stage. It will only confuse your reader further. Explain the importance of the issue and your stance on it to the reader.

How to Perfect Your Analytical Essay?

Once you have finished the writing process, the next step is to perfect your draft. To do so, you must practice the following techniques.

• Make it Error-Free

If your essay tackles an important issue and presents a solid argument, but at the same time, if it has grammatical or spelling errors, then it won’t come across as a well-written piece of writing.

Before the final submission, make sure that your essay is completely error-free. Check for spelling and grammar and make sure that everything is in line with your analytical essay structure.

Make it your habit to get rid of any mistakes before handing in your paper. You can do this easily by using spelling and grammar check software.

• Read the Essay Out Loud

It may sound weird, but reading the paper aloud will help you identify your paper’s shortcomings. When writing, you may not be able to identify any complex or vague words and phrases. Reading it out loud will help you in picking such words and rectifying them before submission.

Reading it this way will also help you notice the readability of your text. In case something is not falling in place, you can change it at this stage.

• Make Sure that You Have Added All the Necessary Details

Every assignment has specific guidelines and requirements, and as a student, you need to follow all of them. Some details include the analytical essay format, the required number of references, the required number of pages and words, etc. Other details include the correct mentioning of the characters’ names and location, as mentioned in the novel, or your chosen subject.

• Ask a Friend or Sibling to Read it For You

Sometimes we miss minor mistakes and errors, and it is natural. This is why having someone else read it for you will help you in rectifying those mistakes. Ask your friend or a sibling to read it for you and point out structural or any other types of errors.

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Analytical Essay Examples

To help you further, we have added some interesting analytical essay examples and essay samples here. You can download them and use them as a guide for your essay writing process.

ANALYTICAL ESSAY OUTLINE TEMPLATE (PDF)

ANALYTICAL ESSAY EXAMPLE (PDF)

Analytical Essay Topics

The range of analytical essay topics is almost limitless. You can write an analytical essay on topics as wide-ranging as the arts, political movements, social phenomena, scientific methods of discoveries, and current events.

To help you choose a topic for your essay, we have presented some topic ideas below:

• How does fashion influence the lives of teenagers?
• Do you think that footballers are overrated in terms of pay? If yes, then why?
• Can you imagine a world without technology? Prove your arguments with strong evidence.
• Express your views on having school uniforms mandatory. Provide strong arguments and proof.
• The voting age in the US should be revised. Agreed?
• Analyze ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and the theme of fate.
• Explain and analyze different literary terms.
• Discuss and analyze the theme of Ambition in the play ‘Macbeth.’
• Analyze the role of different female characters in ‘Hamlet.’
• Analyze Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ and discuss the themes of white supremacy and black slavery in the book
• Analyze the concept of ‘Power Corrupts’ in Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus.’
• Identify and analyze different symbols in Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot.’
• How does the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ discuss the era of the Great Depression?
• Discuss the elements of fantasy and reality in the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’
• Analyze the various symbols in the play ‘The Glass Menagerie.’
• Is higher education directly related to a higher quality of life?
• Are high school and college exams necessary?
• Is peer pressure affecting students today?
• Analyze the latest presidential speech.
• Analyze the differences between identical twins.

If you don’t consider yourself a good writer or you simply don’t have time to complete your assignments, then we have the solution for you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of an analytical essay.

An analytical essay is a type of writing where the author explains an idea, describes a process or analyzes the text. It differs from summary in that it focuses on critical analysis instead of just retelling what happened without explanation.

What is the difference between an essay and an analysis?

The sole difference is in the definition and the way both of these are conducted. An analysis could be both verbal and written while an essay could be in written form only.

What is an analytical paragraph?

An analytical paragraph writes down and explains a topic by breaking down the information given in charts, clues, outlines, and other material.

Is academic writing analytical?

Not always but most of the time, academic writing is analytical. It breaks down and analyzes a subject and explains it in detail.

What is analysis in simple terms?

An analysis is the breaking down of a theme, a topic, or an idea to understand it in a better manner.

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Dorothy M. is an experienced freelance writer with over five years of experience in the field. She has a wide client base, and her customers keep returning to her because of her great personalized writing. Dorothy takes care to understand her clients' needs and writes content that engages them and impresses their instructors or readers.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Animal Farm — Character Analysis: Snowball in George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Character Analysis: Snowball in George Orwell's Animal Farm

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“Animal Farm” by George Orwell – Analytical Essay

“Animal Farm” Analytical Essay ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell is a very interesting allegory about the Russian revolution which took place in 1917. In the beginning of the novel, the animals are ruled by their farmer Mr. Jones, a tyrant who neglected and overworked them. After the animal’s successful rebellion, their thoughts become so clouded with fantasies and dreams, and they are manipulated by the pigs to such an extent that they forget about the days when they were ruled by Mr.

Jones, and they don’t see the reality of what is happening to their “equal society”. The reality was that the pigs “with their superior knowledge” took advantage of the other animals, and instead of establishing an egalitarian society, they replaced the tyranny of man with an even worse form of oppression and exploitation. Orwell clearly shows that: “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. On Manor Farm, “the life of an animal is misery and slavery” because of the poor conditions which Mr. Jones provides the animals to live in.

Every animal is born to a life of labour, little food, and when they are no longer of use to their farmer, they will eventually be slaughtered with the utmost cruelty: “No animal escapes the cruel knife in the end”. They are forced to work long hours every day, only to have their produce taken from them by Mr. Jones, and to be given “the bare minimum” in return for their labour. Most of the animals just saw it as their way of life, but Old Major, the oldest and wisest animal on the farm, was able to see the need for change in their lifestyle.

He realized that “man is the only real enemy” that the animals had and that “all the habits of man are evil”, so he knew that for the animals to live well and free, they would have to “toil for freedom’s sake” and overthrow “Jones’s hated reign”. When the animals heard of the proposed revolution when “tyrant man shall be o’erthrown”, they started telling stories about the rebellion and “the golden future time” in which all of the animals would possess “riches more than mind can picture”.

• Commandments In Animal Farm

They dreamed of a world where every animal would be treated equally, and they would all be free to do whatever they wanted without having to fear for their own safety. The animals heads were soon filled with thoughts of “more for everyone to eat”, a small amount of work, lights and heaters in every stall to help them through the winter, and other wonderful fantasies. Old Major taught the animals a song called ‘Beasts of England’ which described their dreams of what life would be like after the revolution, and gave the animals a sense of hope and pride in themselves whenever they sang it.

It became sort of a tradition for the animals to sing it together, so that they felt united and would hopefully never forget the true purpose of the rebellion. One day, Mr. Jones went for a

drink at the Red Lion “without bothering to feed the animals”. They were left starving throughout the night and finally decided that they’d had enough of being neglected: “At last they could stand it no longer”, so they smashed the door of the store shed down to access all the food inside. When Mr. Jones and his men tried to chase them out with their whips, all of the animals simultaneously attacked them and chased him out of the farm. Before they knew what was happening, the rebellion had been carried through”. They had suddenly achieved their goal to live in a world where “cruel whips no more shall crack”, a world without the tyranny of man. To celebrate their victory, the animals made sure they “destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr. Jones”. After the rebellion was carried out, the animal’s first impressions of a life without man met almost all of their expectations and more. The animals were able to help themselves to double rations of food from the store shed, which showed them that there was “food in abundance” without Mr.

Jones running the farm, and they took some time to relax for once. “Every animal down to the humblest, worked at turning the hay and gathering it”, even the smaller animals like the ducks and hens chipped in by doing whatever they could to help. The pigs implemented the idea to run the farm on a communistic basis where all animals would be equal and each animal would work to their own capacity, and the Manor Farm was replaced with “the name Animal Farm”. Everything had turned out so perfectly, and it seemed that the animals would live in peace for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, this idea of a utopian society quickly faded when the animals fell under a dictatorship of pigs, who were the most intelligent and idle of all the animals on the farm. The pigs knew that when they took power of the farm, they were going against the seventh commandment of Animalism: “All animals are equal”, but they also knew that “with their superior knowledge, it was natural that they should assume the leadership”, and the most cunning of all the pigs called Napoleon, abused this fact to manipulate the animals and gain absolute power over all of them.

The first signs of Napoleon’s opportunism, could be seen when he discovered the orphan puppies in the farmhouse, and hid them away so that he could “make himself responsible for their education”, and raise them in secret. Napoleon was smart enough to constantly think ahead, and in this case with the dogs, he predicted that he would need a way to enforce his power once he gained it, so he planned to use them as bodyguards when they were older and more obedient.

Napoleon continued to plan his means of obtaining power, and he took a pig named Squealer by his side who was a brilliant speaker and was said to be able to “turn black into white”, to aid him in the manipulation of the animals and

to clear up any suspicions or protests that they had. These actions may have seemed insignificant at the time, but Napoleon was in fact taking the smaller steps which finally would lead to much larger things.

With the aim of turning the animal’s dreams into reality, Snowball, one of the more creative and intelligent pigs, drew the “plans for a windmill” which was to be built to run electricity which “would light the stalls and warm them in the winter”, and possibly to run machines “which would do the animal’s work for them while they grazed at ease in the fields”. At first Napoleon opposed this idea, as he felt that too much time would be used to build the windmill, when they should really “increase food production” to prevent starvation.

These arguments went for on for some time, and eventually the animals agreed to have an election, the candidates being Napoleon and Snowball, as to who the leader of the farm would be. When Snowball had the animals hanging onto his every word, and “there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go”, Napoleon was forced to resort to his backup plan, which was to set his “huge dogs” which were “as fierce-looking as wolves” on Snowball to kill him in order to ensure his leadership and power over the animals. To show the true level of dominance hat he had over the others, he ordered his dogs to slaughter every animal on the spot who confessed to committing harmful acts aimed to sabotage the rebellion and the farm. Napoleon did this to guarantee that he had eliminated any competition, and to reduce the chance of any animals gathering enough courage to oppose him. To the animal’s surprise, Napoleon suddenly changed his mind and decided to build the windmill, because it was supposedly “his own creation” in the first place, but Snowball had stolen the plans “from among Napoleon’s papers” and claimed them as his own.

Squealer explained that Napoleon had simply pretended to oppose the idea, “as a manoeuvre to get rid of Snowball”, but in reality Napoleons actions had a much more important purpose – to ensure that he got praised for the results of the windmill and would be seen as a hero amongst the animals, and to distract the animals from Napoleon’s manipulation and true intentions, by making them work extremely hard on the windmill so that it would be their main focus.

From then on, Napoleon used Snowball as a scapegoat to cover up all the mistakes which the pigs made, or to explain any misfortune which occurred on the farm, as he convinced the animals that Snowball had managed to escape the jaws of the ferocious dogs. This helped Napoleon a lot, because whenever something bad happened, the animals were extremely determined to work harder so as to show the “traitorous” Snowball that they couldn’t be defeated so easily.

Most of the animals were to stupid and naive to think for themselves or voice their own opinions, but if anyone did protest or express their

suspicions about anything, Squealer always “spoke so persuasively” to make them believe whatever Napoleon wanted them to, and Napoleon’s fierce dogs “growled so threateningly, that the animals accepted his explanation without any further questions”.

Some of the more educated animals were troubled by Napoleon’s actions, and even though they were able to think of the right arguments against him, they were kept in line by his personal army, which he had successfully developed to keep the class system in effect and to enforce the laws which he created to benefit the pigs. But with all the power that Napoleon had gained, he still wanted more, and he started to abuse this ower to such an extent that he began to tyrannize and exploit the animals even more than Mr. Jones had before the revolution. Old Major had once stated that “man is the only creature that consumes without producing”, so “only get rid of man, and the produce of our labour would be our own”. But the pigs started to force the animals to work hard, and then did what Mr. Jones had once done by taking most of what the animals worked for, to use for their own benefit.

It turned out that the animals still weren’t working “for themselves”, and they actually had to do harder labour than they did prior to the revolution. Part of Napoleon’s well thought out propaganda machine, was to convince the animals that there was less of a workload on the farm: “they worked shorter hours”, and that there was a dramatic increase in food production and distribution, even though “food was even shorter”, and “all rations were reduced except those of the pigs and the dogs”.

Since “the days of Jones… had almost faded out of their memories”, the animals had “nothing with which they could compare their present lives with”, and were forced to believe all the stories that the pigs were carving into their brains, like “Squealer’s lists of figures”, and as a result they were unable to see what was happening to their once respected laws of Animalism.

There are many signs which indicate that the pigs are becoming more and more like humans, which can be seen through their behaviour and actions, especially that of “Comrade Napoleon”, who constantly defied and altered the regulations of the initial rebellion and Animalism. Squealer was ordered to rewrite the laws of Animalism to suit the needs and wants of the pigs, which allowed them to do as they pleased without having to worry about the other animals protesting or finding the pigs guilty of acting against Old Major’s initial dreams of rebellion.

The pigs were led into the farmhouse to live in the luxury that Mr. Jones once had, by Napoleon, who went a step further by ordering his dinner from the “Crown Derby dinner service”, which was much better quality than the average oats and hay which the other animals were given, and drinking “a pint of beer daily”. After this, “it did not seem strange” to the animals, when the pigs were seen

wearing Mr. Jones’s clothes which they found in the farmhouse and walking on their hind legs after much practice.

The world which the animals had once dreamt of, in which “cruel whips no more shall crack”, was lost forever when the pigs who supervised work on the farm “all carried whips in their trotters”. Despite all of this, the animal’s pride in being the only animals in England to run their own farm and their fear of Mr. Jones returning to power, plus the effects of Napoleon’s powerful and effective propaganda machine, led them to believe in the illusion of freedom which the pigs had conjured in order to keep the animals obedient and faithful, while they manipulated and used them to their advantage.

Eventually it came to a point where the pigs felt that they were as equal, or even superior to the humans, and they were confident enough to invite a few of the “neighbouring farmers… to make a tour of inspection” on the farm. After fighting so hard during the revolution to rid the farm of man, they had gladly welcomed the ones, who were once considered as “their only enemy”, back onto the farm as friends.

The animals were never able to succeed in their attempt to create a world in which all animals were equal, and “it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer – except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs”. This is pretty much summed up in the statement which the pigs changed the Seven Commandments of Animalism to: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. The pig’s opportunism and greed for power, eventually transformed them into everything that the rebellion had once fought to get rid of, as they adopt the vices of man.

The irony in the words among the animals’ song of rebellion “Beasts of England’, is obvious as they stated that “Tyrant man will be o’erthrown”, but in the end the pigs represented a worse form of man who exploited the animals and brought greater oppression on them than there was during “Jones’s hated reign”. Orwell’s key message in the novel, is that there can never be a world in which everyone is truly equal, due to the corruption of power. There is a famous saying: “With great power, comes great responsibility”, but the temptation to abuse this power is what causes one – in this case, the pigs – to become selfish and corrupt.

More about Animal Farm

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