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After Mr. Jones, the farmer, goes to
bed drunk one night, the animals on his farm get together in the
big barn where the old prize boar called Old Major is going to
give a speech. Everyone except Moses, who is a tame
raven belonging to Mr. Jones, attends the speech. Old Major says
that he does not have long to live and then tells the farm
animals how appalling their lives are. Humans work them
incessantly, feed them only enough to keep breath in their
bodies, and then slaughter them mercilessly when they are no
longer useful. Old Major has had a dream of a world in which all
animals live free, without the tyranny of men; in his dream, all
the animals are happy, well-fed, and able to live with dignity.
He then urges the animals to do everything they can to make his
dream a reality, and advises them to overthrow the humans who
think that they own them; he says that the ways of man are evil,
and that once the humans have been defeated, the animals
are never to adopt any of their habits--they must never live in
a house, sleep in a bed, wear clothes, drink alcohol, smoke
tobacco, touch money, engage in trade, or tyrannize another
animal. |
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He teaches the animals a song called
"Beasts of England," which paints a dramatic picture of the
ideal animal community of Old Major's dream. The animals sing
several choruses of "Beasts of England" with great enthusiasm
until Mr. Jones, mistaking all the noise to be a fox in his
yard, fires a shot into the side of the barn. Then the animals
disperse and all is quiet again on the Manor Farm. |
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Old Major dies three nights later, and for three months the animals make secret preparations to take over Mr. Jones's control over the farm. The work of teaching and organizing falls to the pigs, who are the cleverest of the animals and the work of organizing the coup is entrusted to them, especially to two young boars named Napoleon and Snowball. Along with a silver- tongued pig named Squealer they formulate the principles of a philosophy called Animalism, the fundamentals of which they spread among the other animals. The animals call one another "Comrade," and take their problems to the pigs, who answer their questions about the impending Rebellion. For example: Mollie the vain carriage horse wonders whether she will be allowed to wear ribbons in her tail after the Rebellion. Snowball sternly reminds her that ribbons are symbols of slavery, and that they will be strictly forbidden. Mollie halfheartedly agrees. Moses the raven flies about spreading tales of a place called Sugarcandy Mountain, where animals go when they die and which is a place of great pleasure and plenty, where sugar grows from the hedges. The pigs dismiss his teachings as outright lies, and thanks to the slow-witted but loyal help of the cart-horses, Boxer and Clover they eventually manage to the animals ready for the revolution.
The Rebellion occurs much earlier, and is won much more easily, than anyone expected. One day Mr. Jones goes on a drunken binge and forgets to feed the animals or milk the cows. Unable to bear their hunger, the cows break into the food stores, where the animals begin to feed. Mr. Jones and his men discover them, and begin to whip them. This infuriates the animals who turn on the men, attack them, and easily drive them away from the farm. Overjoyed the animals’ survey their new farm, sing "Beasts of England" seven times from end to end, burn every unwanted human implement, and explore the farmhouse, where Mollie, until she is reprimanded, tries to stay. The group agrees to preserve the farmhouse as a museum, with the rule that no animal may ever sleep in it.
The pigs now reveal to the others that they have taught themselves how to read, and Snowball replaces the name of the farm from "Manor Farm" to "Animal Farm." Snowball and Napoleon have reduced the principles of Animalism to seven key commandments, which are written on the side of the big barn. The animals go to gather the harvest, but the cows, who have not been milked in some time, begin lowing loudly. The pigs milk them, and the animals observe the five pails of milk with wonder. Napoleon tells them not to worry about the milk; it will be seen to. Snowball leads the animals to the fields to begin harvesting. Napoleon lags behind, and when the animals return that evening, the milk has disappeared.
The summer passes joyfully with the animals harvesting the fields. The clever pigs think of ways for the animals to use the humans' tools and the powerful and hard working Boxer makes all their dreams possible with his dedication and strength. Only Old Benjamin the donkey, seems to feel that nothing much has changed since the animals began running the farm. Every Sunday, the animals have a
flag-raising ceremony (their flag is green, a symbol of the fields of England, and features a white hoof and horn to symbolize the animals) and a meeting where they make new policies for the common good of all the animals. But at every meeting Snowball and Napoleon seem to be constantly disagreeing with each other.
Snowball establishes a number of committees teach all the farm animals how to read. But he does not make much progress. Only some of the dogs & pigs are able to learn and most of the other animals never even complete learning the alphabet. Some of the animals are not able to memorize the Seven Commandments, so Snowball reduces them to one essential
commandment which according to him contains the most essential part of Animalism: "Four legs
good, two legs bad." At first this offends the birds, at least until they learn that their wings count as legs, but the other animals learn it easily, and the sheep begin to chant it at the slightest opportunity they get.
Click here for part 2 of the summary of
Animal Farm |
