Animal Farm by George Orwell
Plot Line
Exposition: Animals gather together in a barn on The Manor Farm in England after the farmer Mr. Jones went to bed so Old Major can talk to the animals about overthrowing humans, saying that humans are evil.
Rising Action:
- Animals sing Beasts of England
- Mr. Jones wakes up and shoots at the barn
- Old Major dies
- The animals have meetings about Animalism
- The animals overthrow Mr. Jones, who flees the farm
- The animals get rid of any offending items, like whips, ribbons, etc.
- The animals rename the farm “Animal Farm”
- The pigs paint the Seven Commandments of Animalism on the barn wall
- The animals harvest the fields by themselves
- The cows milk disappears
- The animals bring in the biggest harvest they ever had and all animals help
- Snowball makes a flag for Animalism
- Snowball creates committees for the animals, but they fail
- Snowball teaches the animals to read and write
- Napoleon takes nine newborn puppies “to evaluate them”
- Squealer tells the animals that the pigs get the apples and the milk because they are smarter animals and need it to run the farm
- Mr. Jones tells others about what happened at the farm
- Rumours of Animal Farm spread
- Mr. Jones gathers a group of men and returns to take back the farm
- The animals are prepared and they have three waves of attack
- Boxer is thought to have killed a boy, and one sheep dies
- The men are chased from the farm
- The animals go looking for Mollie, and while they are looking, the boy the animals thought Boxer killed runs off
- Snowball and Boxer get Animal Hero, First Class award while the sheep that died receives Animal Hero, Second Class
- Mollie leaves to neighboring farm
- Snowball and Napoleon argue a lot
- Snowball makes plans for a windmill
- Napoleon quietly objects
- At a meeting for the windmill plan, Napoleon has the dogs chase Snowball off of the farm during a debate
- Napoleon takes over and get rid of debates
- Squealer tells the other animals how Snowball was actually a criminal and had stolen the windmill plans from Napoleon
- Boxer adopts the motto, “Napoleon is always right”
- The animals begin building the windmill
- Boxer constantly pushes himself to work harder
- Napoleon makes a deal with Mr. Whymper to bring them supplies
- Animals believe that this is against their law, but Squealer convinces them otherwise
- The pigs begin sleeping in beds and sleeping in longer
- Squealer convinces the animals that they just can’t sleep on sheets
- There is a big storm that knocks over the windmill
- Napoleon blames Snowball, and he puts a bounty on Snowball’s head
- The animals are to rebuild the windmill and have to build during the winter, which is very hard
- Napoleon manipulates Mr. Whymper into thinking that they have a lot of food, so that Mr. Whymper will tell all the people on the outside
- Hens go into a strike when Napoleon tells them that they have to give up 400 eggs a week
- It is said that Snowball visits the farm every night and does things to the farm while he is there
- Squealer says that Snowball was in league with Mr. Jones the whole time
- The nine dogs kill many animals after they all confess to helping Snowball in one way or another
- The song “Beasts of England” is banned
- Napoleon increases his personal guard
- It is said that Snowball actually never got the Animal Hero award
- The windmill is finished and is named Napoleon Mill
- Napoleon says that Frederick’s farm is horrible, and the animals all constantly hate on it
- Napoleon ends up selling the farms timber to Frederick, and the animals instead hate Pilkington’s farm
- The animals find out that the money was forged, and Napoleon declares war on Frederick
Climax:
- Frederick and his men come to the farm and blow up the windmill
- The animals attack the men, and Boxer hurts one of his feet
- The pigs get drunk
- Squealer is caught changing one of the laws while his drunk, but the animals think nothing of it
- Boxer is very injured from the Battle of the Windmill
- A school house is to be built for the young pigs
- Food portions for the animals are continuously cut
- Boxer is injured badly, and is sent to the “veterinary” but is actually sent to a slaughter house
Falling Action:
- The animals all have a ceremony is Boxer’s honor
- The pigs get more whiskey
- Years pass, some animals die and more animals are brought into the farm
- The sheep are taken away for a few day with Squealer
- The sheep return with a new chant, “four legs good, two legs better”
- Pigs walk on two legs and wear clothes
- Neighboring humans tour the farm
- During dinner, Clover and the animals listen in to discussion
Resolution: Napoleon admits to manipulating the animals, and renames the farm “The Manor Farm” and Clover and the other animals witness the pigs become human-like
Characterization:
Napoleon is a round, dynamic character. We know a lot about him, from how he looks, to how he is power-hungry and unafraid to do anything to get what he wants, which is shown when he mercilessly kills many of the animals. Also, in the beginning of the book he does not show just how power-driven he is. It isn't until Napoleon uses the pigs to chase Snowball off the farm that you realize this. Then towards the end of the book, he changes and shows just how manipulative he is when he is talking at the dinner party, and changes into a human.
Squealer is a flat, stock character. The book tells us what he looks like, and we also know about how he can manipulate animals with words, but we don't know about him much more than that. Squealer doesn't change in the book, from the very beginning we witness his way with words when he convinces the animals that the pigs need the apples and milk, to the end when he gets the sheep to go with him to learn a new chant.
Snowball is a flat, stock character. We know what he looks like as well, and we also know he wants to better the farm with knowledge, but that is about it. Snowball's morals don't change, the whole book, while being slightly power-hungry, he just wants to make the lives of everyone on the farm easier and better. From creating the different commandments, to coming up with the idea to build a windmill, he just wants to make better lives for all, up until he is booted from the farm by Napoleon.
Boxer is a round, stock character. We know how old he is, how he is a very hard-worker, how is easily manipulated and is very loyal. He constantly works himself harder and harder than anyone else on the farm until he finally falls and is sent to the slaughterhouse. Since he is older, he remembers more of the past than the other animals, but all Squealer has to do to convince Boxer of something is tell him that Napoleon said it, and then Boxer instantly believes it. Boxer never changes, in the beginning he was a hard worker, with harvesting the fields, up until he could no longer work.
Picture Method
Predict- make a prediction on what's going to happen
Imagine- picturing what is happening
Clarify- does it make sense
Try- ask myself questions while reading
Use- relate to my life/things I've read (or watched)
Review- write a summary
Evaluate- essay "What does this book have to do with our world today?"
Imagine- picturing what is happening
Clarify- does it make sense
Try- ask myself questions while reading
Use- relate to my life/things I've read (or watched)
Review- write a summary
Evaluate- essay "What does this book have to do with our world today?"
Chapter 1
Predict:
- A bunch of animals are going to be main characters
- They will be able to talk
- They will overthrow the farmer
Clarify:
Old Major called all the animals together to talk about his dream; how man is the enemy and they do nothing for the animals. They keep all for themselves; he encourages them to overthrow man; they sing a song from Old Majors childhood; Mr. Jones wakes up.
- Mr. Jones=farmer
- Benevolent=well meaning and kindly
- Man is the enemy (humans=the czar and royalty)
- Who is Old Major?
- Why did Old Major call all of them together?
- What will the animals do?
- Animals singing is like a High School Musical sing where more and more people (animals) start singing along as they listen to the song
- I have woken up to animals (like Mr. Jones did)
- I have had weird dreams that relate to my current life like Old Major did
Old Major called all the animals together to talk about his dream; how man is the enemy and they do nothing for the animals. They keep all for themselves; he encourages them to overthrow man; they sing a song from Old Majors childhood; Mr. Jones wakes up.
Chapter 2
Predict:
- Old Major will die
- They will overthrow Mr. Jones
- One animal will rise up over farm
Clarify:
Old Major dies, Snowball, Squealer and Napoleon hold meetings for animalism. Animals take over, get rid of offending items, write 7 Commandments
- Pigs are the leaders
- Ribbons=badge of slavery
- Sugar Candy Mountain=heaven
- What will the 3 pigs do?
- How will they overthrow Mr. Jones?
- What will they do now that they have gotten rid of Mr. Jones?
- Some people that don't believe in religion will argue and listen to what people that do believe say, and although they understand they don't believe, just like
- Reminds me of a scene where a big, tough bully is running away screaming
- Like in a dystopian novel where they burn all the books when the animals get rid of human items
Old Major dies, Snowball, Squealer and Napoleon hold meetings for animalism. Animals take over, get rid of offending items, write 7 Commandments
Chapter 3
Predict:
- Pigs took milk
- Animals will complain
- One pig will be leader
I thought of cute little baby ducks when the book was talking about the books carrying hay in their mouths to help with the harvest
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This supposed to represent all the windblown apples that the pigs were keeping for themselves
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I thought of really adorable puppies when it talked about Napoleon taking away the nine puppies
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Clarify:
Biggest harvest ever is brought in. All animals work together. Some animals prove hard workers, others to be lazy. There is a ceremony every Sunday, and debates in the afternoon. Animals learn to read and write. Pigs explain why they took the milk and apples.
- Animalism=Communism
- Pigs are very clever
- Boxer is a hard worker
- How will animals react to missing milk?
- How many animals will be literate?
- How well will the committees work?
- Snowball and Napoleon are constantly at odds like Lincoln and Douglas were
- At first it is hard to learn to read and write
- Mollie is like the Aphrodite kids in Percy Jackson, doesn't like to do anything to get dirty
Biggest harvest ever is brought in. All animals work together. Some animals prove hard workers, others to be lazy. There is a ceremony every Sunday, and debates in the afternoon. Animals learn to read and write. Pigs explain why they took the milk and apples.
Chapter 4
Predict:
- Napoleon will take over
- Snowball will be more favorable
- More animals will begin to protest
Clarify:
Mr. Jones gathers men to take back the farm, but the animals have a strategy and overtake them. One animal is killed, and one human is severely injured. The animals call the battle The Battle of Cowshed.
- Neighboring farms don't get along
- Ignominious= deserving or causing public disgrace or shame
- Boy was actually alive, he pretended to be dead
- Will other farms revolt?
- What will happen if the men attempt to retake the farm?
- What will the animals do when they attack?
- In Percy Jackson a boy that was injured ran away when no one was looking
- In the book, rumors spread quickly, just like in high school
- At the first sight of conflict, the fainthearted generally disappear (like Mollie)
Mr. Jones gathers men to take back the farm, but the animals have a strategy and overtake them. One animal is killed, and one human is severely injured. The animals call the battle The Battle of Cowshed.
Chapter 5
Predict:
- More animals will overthrow their own farms
- Mollie will run off
- Pups will be Napoleon's minions
Clarify:
Mollie runs away to neighboring farm. Snowball and Napoleon begin to fight about everything. Snowball makes plans for a windmill. Napoleon quietly opposes. At the debate, Napoleon has the nine dogs chase Snowball off the property, and Napoleon takes over.
- How will the animals get supplies?!
- Snowball is the enemy
- Why is Napoleon supporting the windmill?
- How did Mollie leave?
- What will the animals think of the windmill idea?
- What is Napoleon planning?
- Like the scene in Hunger Games in District 11 where one person does something that sets off guards and is "gotten rid of"
- Napoleon is like Hitler
- The sheep are a lot like the seagulls in Finding Nemo
Mollie runs away to neighboring farm. Snowball and Napoleon begin to fight about everything. Snowball makes plans for a windmill. Napoleon quietly opposes. At the debate, Napoleon has the nine dogs chase Snowball off the property, and Napoleon takes over.
Chapter 6
Predict:
- Snowball will come back
- Other farms will rebel
- Windmill will fall through
Clarify:
Work begins on the windmill. Napoleon has a man to get them supplies. Animals think stuff goes their laws, but pigs change it so it doesn't. Pigs sleep in beds and sleep in later. Big storm knocks down the windmill. Napoleon declares a bounty on Snowballs head, blames him.
- How don't they know about the windmill falling because of storm?
- Pigs are like a higher race
- yoke=wooden thing that attaches animals to a plow or cart they pull
- How are the animals happy?
- How long will Boxer live?
- How will they build in the winter?
- Egyptians built the pyramids kind of like how they are building the pyramids
- Pigs are like leaders in a dystopian novel
- Napoleon is like the Red Queen (slaughtering many without letting them explain)
Work begins on the windmill. Napoleon has a man to get them supplies. Animals think stuff goes their laws, but pigs change it so it doesn't. Pigs sleep in beds and sleep in later. Big storm knocks down the windmill. Napoleon declares a bounty on Snowballs head, blames him.
Chapter 7
Predict:
- Boxer will die
- Snowball will die
- Windmill fail
Clarify:
Try:
Winter makes building hard. Hens are ordered to surrender 400 eggs a week, so they go on strike. It is said that Snowball visits the farm every night. Napoleon claims to smell Snowball all over the farm. Napoleon says that Snowball sold himself to Pinchfield farm. Napoleon has the dogs kill animals that confess to helping Snowball. Beasts of England is banned, and a new song is written.
- Snowball had many spies that were willing to confess?
- Beasts of England outlawed because Napoleon was worried it would cause another rebellion
- Snowball=Jones spy
Try:
- Why would all those animals confess so specifically?
- What will happen to the farm?
- Will any other animals leave?
- Like in the Hunger Games: animals volunteering themselves for death
- Napoleon and the nine dogs is like Stalin and the Secret Police
- Napoleon's like Hitler, he scares people into doing nothing
Winter makes building hard. Hens are ordered to surrender 400 eggs a week, so they go on strike. It is said that Snowball visits the farm every night. Napoleon claims to smell Snowball all over the farm. Napoleon says that Snowball sold himself to Pinchfield farm. Napoleon has the dogs kill animals that confess to helping Snowball. Beasts of England is banned, and a new song is written.
Chapter 8
Predict:
- Boxer will die
- Animals will find out about Napoleon's lies
- Snowball will come back
I thought of the scene from Hunger Games with the Nightlock berries when a gander committed suicide after admitting to plotting to kill Napoleon
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When the animals had to walk around the windmill I thought of circus animals walking around a tent
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This supposed to represent when the animals are being shot at during the Battle of the Windmill
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Clarify:
Poem about Napoleon is written. Mr. Frederick/Pinchfield Farm is said to be horrible, the animals hate that farm. The windmill is finished and named Napoleon Mill. Napoleon ends up selling the timber to Frederick, and goes back on everything he said, saying it was all rumours. Napoleon finds out from Mr. Whymper that the money was forged, and declares war on them. Frederick and men come to attack, and blow up the windmill. The animals charge the men, and the men run off. Squealer convinces the animals the won, and the battle is called Battle of the Windmill. The pigs get drunk, and Squealer is caught changing the law on drinking alcohol. Napoleon is said to be dying, and alcohol is now allowed.
- How do the animals not realize that Napoleon is constantly lying to them?
- Napoleon is a dictator
- "All good things are caused by Napoleon"
- When are pigs changing the Commandments?
- What is Napoleon up to?
- How are the pigs able paint elaborately?
- The pigs are hiding stuff from the animals like parents do from a child; not well, but the child is still oblivious
- Their history is becoming legend-like; they are unsure of what really happened
- Napoleon is like a God; all good things that happen are because of him
Poem about Napoleon is written. Mr. Frederick/Pinchfield Farm is said to be horrible, the animals hate that farm. The windmill is finished and named Napoleon Mill. Napoleon ends up selling the timber to Frederick, and goes back on everything he said, saying it was all rumours. Napoleon finds out from Mr. Whymper that the money was forged, and declares war on them. Frederick and men come to attack, and blow up the windmill. The animals charge the men, and the men run off. Squealer convinces the animals the won, and the battle is called Battle of the Windmill. The pigs get drunk, and Squealer is caught changing the law on drinking alcohol. Napoleon is said to be dying, and alcohol is now allowed.
Chapter 9
Predict:
- Boxer will die
- Snowball will return
- Squealer and Napoleon will die
Clarify:
Boxer is injured and nearing retirement age. School house is to be built for young pigs. Portions keep being cut. Boxer is badly injured, and he is to be sent to veterinarian hospital, but is actually sent to a slaughterhouse. Pigs have ceremony in Boxer's honor. Pigs buy more whisky.
- Boxer is sick
- Animals don't remember Jones' rule
- Napoleon sold Boxer to a Slaughter House to buy whiskey
- What will happen to Boxer?
- Will the animals be able to save Boxer?
- When will the animals understand what is happening?
- Boxer is like Jamie in A Walk to Remember- even though she is sick, Jamie still helped people
- Napoleon is like Queen Marie Antoinette- doesn't want to give the people food
- Squealer is like the media, always able to convince people/animals of things that aren't true
Boxer is injured and nearing retirement age. School house is to be built for young pigs. Portions keep being cut. Boxer is badly injured, and he is to be sent to veterinarian hospital, but is actually sent to a slaughterhouse. Pigs have ceremony in Boxer's honor. Pigs buy more whisky.
Chapter 10
Predict:
- Snowball will return
- Truth will be revealed to the animals
- Napoleon and Squealer will die
Clarify:
Years pass, mill is finished. Some animals have died off, they brought in more. Sheep are taken away for a few days, and when they come back the pigs are wearing clothes and walk on two legs. The sheep have a new chant, "four legs good, two legs better." Neighbors visit and tour the farmhouse. Clover and other farm animals listen into the dinner party and witness pigs turning human-like.
- Taciturn-reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little
- Napoleon convinced the animals that if they work harder they will be happier
- Pigs become human-like
- What else will the pigs suppress?
- Had this same thing happened before?
- What happened to Snowball?
- The pigs walking on two legs reminded me of when I would make my dog go up on two legs and we would "dance."
Years pass, mill is finished. Some animals have died off, they brought in more. Sheep are taken away for a few days, and when they come back the pigs are wearing clothes and walk on two legs. The sheep have a new chant, "four legs good, two legs better." Neighbors visit and tour the farmhouse. Clover and other farm animals listen into the dinner party and witness pigs turning human-like.
Themes:
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. This is shown in the book whenever the Commandments are changed to fit the pigs wants. As the other animals are not considered as important as the pigs they are unable to also reap the benefits as the pigs, like sleeping in beds, and drinking alcohol.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The pigs, and more specifically Napoleon, are given complete control of the farm very quickly after getting rid of Jones. At first the pigs share power between them, but after a small amount of time, Snowball is gotten rid of, and Napoleon takes complete charge. Napoleon is soon addressed as Comrade Napoleon, and is given many new titles and credit to all good things. He then changes laws so that they appease him. After many years of exploiting the farm, the animals finally understand but it is too late.
The naive will get exploited. This theme is evident when the pigs manipulate the sheep so that whenever something the pigs don't like, the sheep will start chanting and it would halt any unwanted activity. Also, the pigs manipulate all the animals on the farm by changing parts of the Commandments so that they are able to do things that give them more power, which results in them being able to have absolute power of the farm.
Motifs:
Violence is a recurring theme because it is in almost every chapter. Back when Jones still had control of the farm, he would whip the animals. When the animals scared off Jones and his men, they used violence to run them off. Also when humans would come to the farm to attack, the animals would counter-attack and both times someone was seriously injured. Then when under Napoleon's rule, if he didn't like an animal, or if he didn't like what they did, he would set his guard dogs on them, and his dogs were ferocious.
Power-driven is a recurring theme because many the main characters were at least slightly power-driven. Jones barely fed the animals, and he worked them all hard, so he could get as much out of them as he could. Then once he was overthrown, the pigs Snowball and Napoleon took over as the leaders of the farm. They both used the weakness of the newly-freed farm to gain what they wanted, although Napoleon was undoubtedly more power-driven than Snowball, as Snowball wanted to teach all the animals to read write, while Napoleon did not so that he would be able to manipulate the animals.
Cunning is a recurring theme because it is a trait that some of the main characters had and constantly expressed. Squealer was very cunning with words, he always knew how to get the animals to do or believe what he wanted. Most of the time he just had to mention going back under Jones' rule or Snowball doing something for the animals to believe and go with what he was saying. However, Napoleon was definitely the most cunning character of the book. He was cunning in the way he took over the farm, by chasing Snowball out of the farm and then saying Snowball was a criminal. Also, he was cunning with how he manipulated the laws, just adding parts so that it abided to his will.
Symbols:
The windmill represents different things to different characters in the book. For the animals, the windmill represents hope for a better, easier future. For the pigs, the windmill represents their manipulation of the other animals. It was built three different times, so it made it so the animals were too busy to think about rebelling, and when they were finally finished the third time, they would not be able to remember their lives under Mr. Jones' rule, so they would not think of rebelling from the pigs.
Animal Farm mostly represents Russia. It is supposed to represent how Russia changed from Russia, to the Soviet Union (or Animal Farm) and then back to Russia (or The Manor Farm) but Animal Farm can also represent any human society. It represents how humans leaders become power-hungry and abuse their powers.
Tone:
The whole book the author was objective and kind of cynical about everything. He would say what the pigs were planning, but then he would point out all the flaws. Also, he would always say exactly how things went, like he said there was a big storm, and that the windmill was knocked over. Then he said that Napoleon blamed it on Snowball, while we knew the truth. The way Orwell wrote, I just constantly felt like he was saying to the pigs, "You are stupid if you think that will work."
Mood:
The beginning of the book after the rebellion is kind of cheerful and ambitious. The animals are all very happy and excited for what will happen. However, about halfway through the book once food sources decrease, mistreatment of the animals increase, and the pigs take more power, the mood changes to sadness. The animals that are oblivious stay happy, but the animals like Boxer, Clover and Benjamin all become sad and depressed about what is happening, even if they don't show it. At the very end of the book the I felt the misery of the animals. They realized that they had been misled and used, and that Napoleon and the other pigs never really believed in Animalism.