animal farm
novel genres
animal fable
a short story where it makes the animals the main chacters and gives them human like traits
allegory
story that can be interpreted as a hidden meaning
chapter summary
chapter 1
in the beginning of animal farm, Mr. Jones goes to bed. while he is asleep, the animals get together as old major says that they need to start a rebellion.
chapter 2
a few days after the rebellion, major dies. the animals are being lead under the pigs, Napoleon and snowball. the rebellion happens and Mr. Jones is thrown off the farm and the animals take control.
chapter 3
freed from the humans, the animals for long time work happily together and make the farm successful. they are well organized by attending weekly meetings where they make plans for the farm's future. towards the end of the chapter, the pigs start to keep the apples and milk for themselves
chapter 4
the rebellion spreads all over to the countryside and Mr. pilkington and Mr. Fredrick try to forcefully take back animal farm. led by snowball, the animals fight off the invaders and snowball is now a hero
chapter 5
Napoleon and snowball argue over farm policies and whether the windmill should be built on the farm or not. Napoleon gets dogs to chase snowball off the farm and he gets squealer to convince the animals that snowball was a criminal. the windmill is then built, but Napoleon takes credit for the idea
chapter 6
the animals workload increases every year when they start building the windmill. animals begin to start breaking commandments they were given when they threw the humans off the farm like trading with other farms and sleeping in beds
chapter 7
rumor has it that snowball is sleeping. so Napoleon orders a confession to those who know about snowball being on the farm. the animals that do confess are killed.
chapter 8
when Napoleon trades with Fredrick, the humans attack the farm and destroys the windmill. the pigs say they won when they find whiskey in the farm cellar and start drinking it. the animals said that drinking alcohol was against the 7 commandments, but the commandment reads " no animal shall drink alcohol to access
chapter 9
more things are being taken away from the animals accept for the pigs. few days later, boxer falls ill and he is take to a horse slaughterer, which is said to be a hospital truck
chapter 10
the animals lives get harder, accept for the pigs. Napoleon the rises on 2 feet and starts walking on 2 feet. the pigs start bringing whips to the farm, and they have meetings with humans only. when the animals look through the window, they didn't know who were the pigs and who were the humans
character symbolizations
benjamin
represents cynical intellectual who won't get involved in politics
boxer
represents the common worker because the believes he will get through by working harder and listening to leaders.
clover
represents the working class but to lazy to realize she is being exploited
Mr. Fredrick
represents Germany and its leader Hitler. he is ruthless, and after signing an agreement with Napoleon he attacks Animal Farm, and destroys the animals' windmill.
Mr. Jones
represents Nicholas ll, the last tsar before the communist took over
minimus
represents artist who are used for propaganda uses
mollie
represents people who lust for material and are blinded by their importance of freedom
moses
represents organized religion. He is accepted by the pigs because he takes the animals' minds off their troubles by preaching to them
muriel
represents a helper. she was called to read the commandments to the animals
Napoleon
represents Joseph Stalin, who became greedy of power and started to dictate the farm
old major
He represents Karl Marx, the German political philosopher who wrote, with Friedrich Engels, the Communist Manifesto. he then called hard workers to unite as the main class
Mr. pilkington
represents england
sheep
represent the "yes-man". always saying the same slogan all the time
snowball
represents historical figure of Leon Trotsky
squealer
represents a smooth talker
Mr. whymer
represents a negotiator
biblical motifs
represented by Moses, the raven, . The clergy is presented as a privileged class tolerated by those in power because of their ability to placate the masses with promises of rewards in the afterlife for suffering endured on Earth. Moses is afforded special treatment not available to the other animals. For example, he is the only animal not present at the meeting called by Old Major as the book opens
themes
language and meaning
god and religion
human rights
class conflicts
politics
truth and falsehood
why ralph cries
he cries for the animals that get slaughtered for confessing knowing about snowball