Animal Farm

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1. Mr. Jones

Word had gone round during the

day that old Major, the prize Middle White
boar, had had a strange dream
on the previous night and wished to
communicate it to the other animals.
It had been agreed that they should all meet
in the big barn as soon as
Mr. Jones was safely out of the way.

2. Old Major

All the animals were now present except

Moses, the tame raven, who slept
on a perch behind the back door. When
Major saw that they had all made
themselves comfortable and were waiting
attentively, he cleared his throat
and began:
"Comrades, you have heard already about
the strange dream that I had last
night. But I will come to the dream later. I
have something else to say
first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall
be with you for many months
longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to
pass on to you such wisdom
as I have acquired. I have had a long life, I
have had much time for
thought as I lay alone in my stall, and I
think I may say that I
understand the nature of life on this earth
as well as any animal now
living. It is about this that I wish to speak
to you.

Describe what your primary source quote

does to support your theme.
What does it explain to the reader about your
analysis?
Why is it important for the reader to
understand your character and this quote?
Throughout the day animals were passing
around the word that Major had a dream.
Major is someone obviously important
withholding high power. Major was being
talked about all over the barn simply
because he had a dream.
In order to understand the rest of Animal
Farm readers must understand that
animals had their way of communicating
and Old Major was a wise, and respected
boar.
Using the power of language Major starts
a revolution. He talks to the other animals
about the life he desires for the animals.
The animals only wished to be free from
humans once Major addressed his
concerns. The animals were completely
fine with how they were living until it
was brought to their attention with
concerns from one person.
It is important for the readers to
comprehend this quote because he gives
intricate detail about the freedom he
yearns for. He craves the freedom for not
only himself, but also for his comrades.

3. Snowball
and
Squealer

4. The pigs

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

It was very neatly written, and except that

friend was written friend
and one of the Ss was the wrong way
round, the spelling was correct all
the way through. Snowball read it aloud for
the benefit of the others. All
the animals nodded in complete agreement,
and the cleverer ones at once
began to learn the Commandments by
heart.
The pigs did not actually work, but
directed and supervised the
others. With their superior knowledge it
was natural that they should
assume the leadership.

5. The animals

Here, in the evenings, they studied

blacksmithing, carpentering, and other
necessary arts from books which they had
brought out of the farmhouse.

6. Animals

The reading and writing classes, however,

were a great success. By the

The animals knew how to read and write

with a few mishaps. They used their
knowledge to come up with the Seven
Commandments.
The commandments were basically a way
of living. Giving intricate details about
what would be accepted and what
wouldnt be accepted.
It is important for the readers to know that
the animals did indeed have the
knowledge of a human. Not as wise as a
30 year old, but not as uneducated as an
infant.

The pigs were in obvious reason more

advanced than the other animals. Using
their power of knowledge to gain total
power.
Given that the 7th commandment states
that all animals are equal, but not that
long after the commandments were
written the pigs felt their knowledge
makes them the superior beings.
Readers should know that the pigs
quickly reversed Majors wishes. The
animals went along with it because not
having a leader was out of the norm. It
was the same way of living only they
werent ruled by a human.
They used what they had in order to
advance their knowledge.
Regardless of what knowledge they
already have, the animals strived to gain
more.
It is important for the readers to know that
the animals took on knowledge like their
lives depend upon it. The capability to
read and was due to the resources they
acquired from the farmhouse.
The animals worked hard. Not all worked
equally as hard as the next, but they all

autumn almost every animal on the farm

was literate in some degree.

7. Snowball

8. The birds

As for the pigs, they could already read

and write perfectly. The dogs
learned to read fairly well, but were not
interested in reading anything
except the Seven Commandments. Muriel,
the goat, could read somewhat
better than the dogs, and sometimes used to
read to the others in the
evenings from scraps of newspaper which
she found on the rubbish heap.
None of the other animals on the farm
could get further than the letter A.
It was also found that the stupider animals,
such as the sheep, hens, and
ducks, were unable to learn the Seven
Commandments by heart. After much
thought Snowball declared that the Seven
Commandments could in effect be
reduced to a single maxim, namely: Four
legs good, two legs bad. This,
he said, contained the essential principle of
Animalism. Whoever had
thoroughly grasped it would be safe from
human influences. The birds at
first objected, since it seemed to them that
they also had two legs, but
Snowball proved to them that this was not
so.
The birds did not understand Snowballs
long words, but they accepted his
explanation, and all the humbler animals
set to work to learn the new
maxim by heart. FOUR LEGS GOOD,
TWO LEGS BAD, was inscribed on the
end
wall of the barn, above the Seven
Commandments and in bigger letters When
they had once got it by heart, the sheep
developed a great liking for this
maxim, and often as they lay in the field
they would all start bleating
Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs
good, two legs bad! and keep it
up for hours on end, never growing tired of

worked hard in order for their knowledge

to grow.
The pigs could read and write in a more
advanced way then the other animals and
did nothing except use that as an
advantage.
It is important that readers know what
each animal is capable of.

Snowball adjusted the seven

commandments to help the less educated
animals. Snowball acted as a leader.
Clover was the only one who learned the
entire alphabet, but he was not able to put
letters together to form words. It just was
not one of his capabilities.
Readers should know that Snowball made
it easier for the other animals always
helping the less educated. Snowball took
the 7 commandments seriously treating all
animals equal.

The birds were not the only reasons for

adjusting the seven commandments, but
they were a reason for the final decision.
Birds walk on two legs and the new
adjustment was, Four legs good, two
legs bad. The birds felt as if that applied
to them.
It is important for the readers to know that
the birds although were not as educated as
the other animals, but still got a say so as
to what the adjustment to the seven
commandments looked like.

9. Napoleon

it.
Napoleon took no interest in Snowballs
committees. He said that the
education of the young was more important
than anything that could be done
for those who were already grown up.

10. Pigeons

By the late summer the news of what had

happened on Animal Farm had spread
across half the county. Every day Snowball
and Napoleon sent out flights
of pigeons whose instructions were to
mingle with the animals on
neighboring farms, tell them the story of
the Rebellion, and teach them
the tune of Beasts of England.

Napoleon took upon himself to educate

the young, or at least thats what he told
the other. He felt it was his responsibility
to give the young an education that the
old could no longer gain.
Napoleon went against Snowballs plan to
better the older animals. He felt as if it
was useless to teach the older rather than
the younger.
The readers should know that Napoleon
not only had a plan to educate the young
animals in his own way rather than the
way he and the other animals were taught.
The pigeons were responsible for
spreading the word around half the
country about what the animals have
achieved.
Spreading the word was a way of telling
the other animals what they could be
capable of if they rebellion from humans
a priority.
The readers should know how seriously
these animals felt about their
achievement. Being able to expand on
their own without the help of humans.