Summary of Animal Farm by George Orwell

  Summary: 

                   Animal Farm 

At Manor Farm in England, Farmer Jones swills whiskey and abuses his animals—including pigs, chickens, ducks, sheep, goats, horses, and dogs. One evening, Old Major, a wise pig who is dying, sows the seeds of revolution. He tells his barnyard comrades that they can enjoy peace and prosperity, every animal sharing equally in the benefits of the farm, if they overthrow Jones and run the farm themselves. The old pig even teaches them a rallying song: ―Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,/ Beasts of every land and clime,/ Hearken to my joyful tidings / Of the golden future time. / Soon or late the day is coming,/ Tyrant Man shall be o’erthrown, / And the fruitful fields of England / Shall be trod by beasts alone.‖

  Days later, after Old Major dies, the animals plot the rebellion, led by the most intelligent among them, the pigs—in particular, Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer. The government system they design is called “animalism.” While the planning continues, Farmer Jones goes on a drunken binge and neglects to feed the animals. On the second day of his drinking bout, they break into the feed stores and attack and drive off Jones, his wife, and his workers. At the entrance of the farm, they put up a new sign. In bold letters, it says "Animal Farm." 

Seven commandments:

  The revolution has succeeded. A new day has dawned. Napoleon and Snowball then present the seven commandments that make up their constitution:

 1) Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 

2) Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 

3) No animal shall wear clothes. 

4) No animal shall sleep in a bed. 

5) No animal shall drink alcohol. 

6) No animal shall kill another animal. 

7) All animals are created equal.

  All goes well. Only Benjamin, a donkey, and Mollie, a mare, seem dissatisfied. Benjamin, an old cynic, believes nothing will really change. Mollie, a mare who pulled Mr. Jones’s buggy, yearns for the attention— and the sugar cubes—she received from human beings. One day, she leaves Animal Farm to work for a man who feeds her sugar to pull his cart. The rest of the animals enthusiastically embrace the new order. Boxer, a cart horse, adopts a slogan: “I will work harder.‖ Special committees—including The Egg Production Committee for Chickens and The Clean Tails League for Cows—form to improve the animals’ way of life. The animals also design and raise their own flag and take the time to explain and simplify the rules for animals with low intelligence, such as the sheep. Animals at other farms hear about Animal Farm and are heartened. 

 After a time, the pigs reserve the apple crop and the cows’ milk for themselves, claiming they need the provisions to replenish the enormous energy they expend in setting policy and managing the day-to-day operation of the farm. 

  When Farmer Jones attempts to reclaim the farm with the help of men from neighboring farms, the animals drive him off in the Battle of the Cowshed. Boxer and Snowball earn medals of valor. 

  Just when the animals think nothing can go wrong, Napoleon and Snowball quarrel over policy, including Snowball’s proposal to construct a windmill to provide energy. 

 Napoleon then unleashes on Snowball a pack of nine vicious dogs—the offspring of two other dogs, Bluebell and Jessie—which he trained from puppyhood. They chase Snowball off the farm, leaving Napoleon in control, with Squealer as his fawning propagandist. A pig named Minimus composes propagandistic rallying songs and poems. Thereafter, Napoleon keeps the attack dogs at his side to intimidate malcontents and keep order. Napoleon then dissolves the animal committees, saying the pigs will do all the thinking. Surprisingly, he decides to go ahead with the windmill project that Snowball had proposed. He also engages a human, Mr. Whymper, to obtain nails and other human-made products that the animals need to carry out projects and maintain the farm. 

 When a storm topples the windmill, Napoleon blames Snowball, saying he had sneaked back onto the farm and sabotaged it. He sets a bounty for his capture and executes animals accused of conspiring with Snowball. 

 Under Napoleon, hours are long and hard and work becomes drudgery. The pigs move into Jones’s house, altering the fourth commandment of the constitution to say that ―No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.‖ They drink beer and whiskey and conduct trade with humans. Squealer justifies these and other forbidden activities by amending the constitution again and again. A poem extolling Napoleon appears on the side of the barn. 

 While the pigs live in luxury, the other animals work their paws and hoofs to the bone as they till the fields and rebuild the windmill, all the while barely getting enough to eat. To raise capital, Napoleon sells timber to the operator of the neighboring Pinch field Farm, Mr. Frederick, who pays with counterfeit bank notes. When Napoleon realizes he has been duped, he pronounces a death sentence on Frederick. Frederick then attacks the farm, blowing up the second windmill, but the animals repel his forces in a fierce battle in which Boxer suffers debilitating injuries. 

 After his health declines and he falls on the job, Boxer disappears from the farm. Squealer says he died in peace in a hospital, a true and loyal animalist to the end. In truth, Napoleon sold Boxer to a glue factory for money to buy whiskey. 

 In time, the pigs become more and more like the humans they overthrew, walking upright on two legs, wearing clothes, and even entertaining humans at dinners. Eventually, the seven commandment—―All animals are created equal‖—becomes “All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal.‖