Animal Farm — Summary and Analysis

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Overview

Animal Farm (1945) by George Orwell is an allegorical novella about the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. Animals overthrow their human farmer only to be exploited by a new ruling class of pigs.

Characters

• Old Major — An elderly pig who inspires the revolution. Represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.
• Napoleon — A Berkshire boar who becomes the dictator. Represents Joseph Stalin.
• Snowball — A pig who leads the revolution with Napoleon but is later exiled. Represents Leon Trotsky.
• Squealer — A pig who serves as Napoleon’s propagandist. Represents Soviet propaganda.
• Boxer — A loyal, powerful horse who works harder than anyone. Represents the exploited working class.
• Benjamin — A cynical donkey who sees through the pigs’ lies but does nothing.
• Mr. Jones — The drunken farmer the animals overthrow. Represents Tsar Nicholas II.

Summary

The Rebellion

Old Major gathers the animals and teaches them a song: “Beasts of England,” envisioning a world where animals are free from human exploitation. He dies soon after.

The animals, led by the pigs (the smartest animals), revolt against Mr. Jones and rename the farm “Animal Farm.” They establish Seven Commandments:

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 with sheets
5. No animal shall drink alcohol
6. No animal shall kill any other animal
7. All animals are equal

The Pig Rivalry

Napoleon and Snowball compete for leadership. Snowball plans to build a windmill for electricity. Napoleon opposes it. During a debate, Napoleon calls his dogs — raised as enforcers — who chase Snowball off the farm. Napoleon declares himself leader.

The Corruption

Napoleon gradually revises the Seven Commandments:

• The pigs sleep in beds → “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”
• The pigs drink alcohol → “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess”
• The pigs wear clothes and walk on two legs

Boxer, the loyal horse, works himself to exhaustion for the farm’s “good.” When he collapses, Napoleon sells him to the knacker (glue factory) instead of sending him to the veterinarian.

The Final Scene

The other animals cannot distinguish the pigs from the humans. The Seven Commandments have been reduced to one:

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

The pigs walk on two legs, wearing human clothes, drinking with neighboring farmers. The story ends with the animals looking from the pigs to the humans and being unable to tell the difference.

Major Themes

Power corrupts — The pigs begin the revolution with idealistic motives but become as oppressive as the humans they overthrew.

Propaganda — Squealer’s rhetoric keeps the animals in line, rewriting history and rationalizing every betrayal.

The exploited class — Boxer represents workers who are told their labor benefits everyone but are discarded when no longer useful.

Key Quotes

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

“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.”

Historical Parallels

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