Animal Farm
By: Camille Toups
Novel Genres
Allegory:
Animal Fable:
Satire:
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
1. Mr. Jones is introduced to the story as an alcoholic.
2. Old Major gives speech about animalism.3. The animals sing "Beasts of England".
4. Mr. Jones think that a fox has gotten into the barn, so he shoots.
Chapter 2
2. Moses tells of Sugarcandy Mountain, which is the place where animals go when they die.
3. Mr. Jones forget to feed the animals, so the animals drive Mr. Jones off of the farm.
4. The animals get back to work.
Chapter 3
2. The pigs teach themselves how to read and write.
3. Jessie and Bluebell give birth to puppies.
4. The pigs think that they should be the only animals who eat the apples and drink the milk because they are the smart ones on the farm, and they should eat better because of this.
Chapter 4
2. In the beginning of fall, a flight of pigeons tell the animals that Mr. Jones is returning to the farm along with some other men.
3. The animals ambush the men. Boxer unintentionally kills a stable boy, and feels guilty, even though he is a human.
4. The animals keep Mr. Jones' gun and agree to only shoot only on 2 special occasions one a year.
Chapter 5
2. Snowball wants to build a windmill for the farm.
3. Snowball was holding a meeting, when Napoleon called for the guard dogs. The dogs chased Snowball off the farm.
4. Napoleon then says he thinks building a windmill was a good idea.
Chapter 6
2. They start building the windmill at the end of summer.
3. Napoleon hired a human, Mr. Whymper, to help get the supplies needed for the construction of the windmill.
4. The pigs start breaking the 7 commandments. Clover said that no animals can sleep in beds that have sheets.
5. The windmill has been destroyed by the storm.
Chapter 7
2. Napoleon says that in order to have enough food, the hens must sell 400 eggs per week.
3. The hens rebel, and 9 of them are killed by Napoleon.
4. Napoleon gathers a meeting, and orders those who have been talking with snowball were to have their throats ripped out. Four pigs and the rest of the hens who rebelled were killed.
5. Squealer tells the animals are no longer allowed to sing "Beasts of England"
Chapter 8
2. The animals learn that Mr, Frederick is the buyer of the timber.
3. The 2nd windmill is finished, but blown to ashes by Mr. Frederick's men.
4. The commandment that read that "No animal shall drink alcohol" has changed to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess".
Chapter 9
2. Napoleon wants to build a school for his piglets even though there is almost no money left.
3. In April, the government declares Animal Farm a republic.
4. Boxer dies after collapsing while pulling stone for the new windmill.
5. Animals murmur that the pigs are going to buy another crate of whiskey instead of food for the other animals.
Chapter 10
2. The pigs learn how to stand and walk on their 2 legs, just like humans.
3. Name is changed back to Manor Farm instead of Animal Farm.
4. Animals start to realize that they can no longer tell the difference between the humans and the pigs.
Characters and Symbolism
Snowball:
-great speaker, and gets excited about rebelling
-symbolizes Leon Trotsky, the founding leader of the Red Army
Napoleon:
-quiet, and manipulative
-symbolizes the French military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte
Old Major:
-the wisest animal on the farm
-tired of man's greed
-symbolizes Karl Marx, the German Philosopher
Mollie:
-pretty, vain, gets too close to humans
-symbolizes the middle class of society
Benjamin:
-wise donkey who sits back and laughs at the other animals
-symbolizes all of the smart people
Boxer:
-very strong, and hardworking
-symbolizes the hardworking people of society
Moses:
-tells animals about "Sugarcandy Mountain"
-symbolizes the Russian Orthodox Church
Squealer:
-tells the animals lies, and sugar-coats a lot of things
-he symbolizes Vyacheslav Molotov, the German Soviet politician
Muriel:
-is a symbol for all of the elders of the society
Mr. Jones:
-alcoholic who forgets to feed the animals
-symbolizes the last Tsar of Russia
Mr. Frederick:
-tough and shrewd
-A symbol for Hitler
Mr. Pilkington:
-gentleman, and easy going
-A symbol for the West (of U.S. and U.K.)
Mr. Whymper:
-a sly-looking lawyer, and only cares about money
-Mr. Whymper symbolizes all of the who helped the Soviet union
Sheep:
-they go with the crowd
-symbolize people who are part of a crowd instead of being away from the crowd
Dogs
-symbolize Stalin's police force
Ducklings
-symbolize the lower class, since they are hardly mentioned in the novel
Motifs
Songs
-When the animals are no longer allowed to sing "Beasts of England" it shows they are going back to the type of leadership when Mr. Jones was in charge of the farm.
Rituals
-Another example of a ritual was the poems, which allowed the pigs to keep their powers. Thee rituals are symbols of propaganda of the Soviet Union and the essays Communist Russia.
Themes
The Corruption of Socialist Ideals in the Soviet Union
-The happenings match events in the history of Russian communism, and several of the animal characters are based on actual Russian leaders
The Societal Tendency towards Class Stratification
-It shows internal structure of our rulers and government (the pigs), army (the dogs), and middle class (the other animals)
The Danger of a Naive Working Class
The Abuse of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse of Power
-An example is when they pigs gradually change the idea of socialist revolution to justify their behavior and keep the other animals in the dark