Back to: Animal Farm by George Orwell
A rebellion broke out in Manor Farm when Mr Jones (the owner of the farm) failed to feed the animals. The rebellion was instigated by Old Major, a couple of days before.
He declared that hatred against their human masters was the moral duty of all the animals and they must rebel as soon as possible and was proclaimed dead after some time. The cause of this hatred was believed to be Jones’ unfair treatment of the animals.
Mr Jones was thrown out of the farm as the animal took control of the farm. He made several attempts to recapture the farm but all in vain. All the rules and regulations of the farm were changed to suit the animals as they were very happy. But, they didn’t realise that what awaits them would turn their lives topsy-turvy.
The pigs of the farm (Napoleon and Snowball) took control of the animals. They each presented their vision but often contradicted each other. This lead to a rivalry between the two. Snowball was less of an extremist or the better of the two evils.
The name Manor Farm was changed to Animal Farm. A new ideology, “Animalism” was formed based on the teachings of Old Major. They were simplified into seven commandments (to ease the process of memorising them).
Napoleon could not digest Snowball’s idea of constructing a windmill and ousted him from the farm with the help of nine fierce dogs he isolated when they were born. He took control of the farm and the graph of happiness of animals on the farm started to plunge downwards. He appointed Squealer (another pig) as his spokesperson. Squealer manipulated the animals day and night in favour of Napoleon.
Napoleon introduced his draconian policies that included a reduction in the ration allowances of the animals and an increase in working hours while a lot of perks for the pigs only. No one dared to question him.
All the animals worked tirelessly to construct the windmill. The hard-workers were Boxer (a horse) and Clover (a mare). Other animals who gave their best were old Benjamin (a donkey), Muriel (a goat), Bluebell, Jessie and Pincher (dogs).
The windmill was destroyed because of heavy winds that blew but Napoleon blamed Snowball to distract the animals from protesting against his policies. He announced several trade agreements with adjoining farms (an act considered against the ideology of “Animalism’).
The work of the windmill was started again, all the animals worked with full zeal but humans invaded their farm and destroyed the windmill again. Boxer worked very hard to construct it again but collapsed one day due to his old age.
He was sold to a slaughterhouse on the pretext of being admitted to a hospital. Boxer was never seen again. Old Benjamin was very upset as he knew that they were bound for slavery (to their fellow animals if not to humans).
Lawlessness prevailed the Animal Farm, as the commandments formulated at the beginning of rebellion were changed according to the comfort of pigs. They indulged in lavish parties while the other animals starved. One day the seven commandments were replaced with only one commandment.
“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.”
A delegation of human beings came to Animal Farm. While they were in a meeting with the pigs, the animal sneaked from a window to see what was going on. Napoleon confessed that Animal Farm was just an enterprise jointly owned by the pigs. The animals after hearing this were greatly disappointed and could not differentiate between pigs and human beings.
