Animal Farm is George Orwell's satire on equality, where all barnyard animals live free from their human

masters' tyranny. Inspired to rebel by Major, an old boar, animals on Mr. Jones' Manor arm embra!e "nimalism and stage a revolution to a!hieve an idealisti! state of justi!e and progress. " power#hungry pig, $apoleon, be!omes a totalitarian di!tator who leads the "nimal arm into %"ll "nimals "re &qual ' (ut )ome "re More &qual *han Others% oppression. Written by: George Orwell Type of Work: novel Genres: politi!al satire+ allegory First Published: "ugust ,-, ,./0 Setting: Mr. Jones' Manor arm Main Characters: Old Major+ )nowball+ $apoleon+ )quealer+ (o1er+ Mollie+ (enjamin+ Moses+ Jones+ rederi!2+ 3il2ington Major Thematic Topics: animalism+ mob rule+ virtue+ religion as a drug+ distortion of reality+ death+ false allegian!e+ politi!al !orruption Motifs: rebellion+ power+ !ommunism Major Symbols: 4old 5ar+ the barn+ the windmill *he three most important aspe!ts of Animal Farm6

Animal Farm is an allegory, whi!h is a story in whi!h !on!rete and spe!ifi! !hara!ters and situations stand for other !hara!ters and situations so as to ma2e a point about them. *he main a!tion of Animal Farm stands for the 7ussian 7evolution of ,.,- and the early years of the )oviet 8nion. "nimalism is really !ommunism. Manor arm is allegori!al of 7ussia, and the farmer Mr. Jones is the 7ussian 49ar. Old Major stands for either :arl Mar1 or ;ladimir <enin, and the pig named )nowball represents the intelle!tual revolutionary <eon *rots2y. $apoleon stands for )talin, while the dogs are his se!ret poli!e. *he horse (o1er stands in for the proletariat, or wor2ing !lass. *he setting of Animal Farm is a dystopia, whi!h is an imagined world that is far worse than our own, as opposed to a utopia, whi!h is an ideal pla!e or state. Other dystopian novels in!lude "ldous =u1ley's Brave New World, 7ay (radbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Orwell's own 1984. *he most famous line from the boo2 is %"ll animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.% *his line is emblemati! of the !hanges that George Orwell believed followed the ,.,- 4ommunist 7evolution in 7ussia. 7ather than eliminating the !apitalist !lass system it was intended to overthrow, the revolution merely repla!ed it with another hierar!hy. *he line is also typi!al of Orwell's belief that those in power usually manipulate language to their own benefit.

One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones' Manor arm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, des!ribe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the animals > inspired by his philosophy of "nimalism > plot a rebellion against Jones. *wo pigs, )nowball and $apoleon, prove themselves important figures and planners of this dangerous enterprise. 5hen Jones forgets to feed the animals, the revolution o!!urs, and Jones and his men are !hased off the farm. Manor arm is renamed "nimal arm, and the )even 4ommandments of "nimalism are painted on the barn wall. Initially, the rebellion is a su!!ess6 *he animals !omplete the harvest and meet every )unday to debate farm poli!y. *he pigs, be!ause of their intelligen!e, be!ome the supervisors of the farm. $apoleon, however, proves to be a power#hungry leader who steals the !ows' mil2 and a number of apples to feed himself and the other pigs. =e also enlists the servi!es of )quealer, a pig with the ability to persuade the other animals that the pigs are always moral and !orre!t in their de!isions. <ater that fall, Jones and his men return to "nimal arm and attempt to reta2e it. *han2s to the ta!ti!s of )nowball, the animals defeat Jones in what thereafter be!omes 2nown as *he (attle of the 4owshed. 5inter arrives, and Mollie, a vain horse !on!erned only with ribbons and sugar, is lured off the farm by another human. )nowball begins drawing plans for a windmill, whi!h will provide ele!tri!ity and thereby give the animals more leisure time, but $apoleon vehemently opposes su!h a plan on the grounds that building the windmill will allow them less time for produ!ing food. On the )unday that the pigs offer the windmill to the animals for a vote, $apoleon summons a pa!2 of fero!ious dogs, who !hase )nowball off the farm forever. $apoleon announ!es that there will be no further debates+ he also tells them that the windmill will be built after all and lies that it was his own idea, stolen by )nowball. or the rest of the novel, $apoleon uses )nowball as a s!apegoat on whom he blames all of the animals' hardships. Mu!h of the ne1t year is spent building the windmill. (o1er, an in!redibly strong horse, proves himself to be the most valuable animal in this endeavor. Jones, meanwhile, forsa2es the farm and moves to another part of the !ounty. 4ontrary to the prin!iples of "nimalism, $apoleon hires a soli!itor and begins trading with neighboring farms. 5hen a storm topples the half#finished windmill, $apoleon predi!tably blames )nowball and orders the animals to begin rebuilding it. $apoleon's lust for power in!reases to the point where he be!omes a totalitarian di!tator, for!ing %!onfessions% from inno!ent animals and having the dogs 2ill them in front of the entire farm. =e and the pigs move into Jones' house and begin sleeping in beds ?whi!h )quealer e1!uses with his brand of twisted logi!@. *he animals re!eive less and less food, while the pigs grow fatter. "fter the windmill is !ompleted in "ugust, $apoleon sells a pile of timber to Jones+ rederi!2, a neighboring farmer who pays for it with forged ban2notes. rederi!2 and his men atta!2 the farm and e1plode the windmill but are eventually defeated. "s more of the )even 4ommandments of "nimalism are bro2en by the pigs, the language of the 4ommandments is revised6 or e1ample, after the pigs be!ome drun2 one night, the 4ommandment, %$o animals shall drin2 al!ohol% is !hanged to, %$o animal shall drin2 al!ohol to e1!ess.%

(o1er again offers his strength to help build a new windmill, but when he !ollapses, e1hausted, $apoleon sells the devoted horse to a 2na!2er ?a glue#boiler@. )quealer tells the indignant animals that (o1er was a!tually ta2en to a veterinarian and died a pea!eful death in a hospital > a tale the animals believe. Bears pass and "nimal arm e1pands its boundaries after $apoleon pur!hases two fields from another neighboring farmer, 3il2ington. <ife for all the animals ?e1!ept the pigs@ is harsh. &ventually, the pigs begin wal2ing on their hind legs and ta2e on many other qualities of their former human oppressors. *he )even 4ommandments are redu!ed to a single law6 %"ll "nimals "re &qual ' (ut )ome "re More &qual *han Others.% *he novel ends with 3il2ington sharing drin2s with the pigs in Jones' house. $apoleon !hanges the name of the farm ba!2 to Manor arm and quarrels with 3il2ington during a !ard game in whi!h both of them try to play the a!e of spades. "s other animals wat!h the s!ene from outside the window, they !annot tell the pigs from the humans.

"s Orwell spent more and more time with the down#and#outs of &ngland, he be!ame !onvin!ed that the only remedy for the invidious problem of poverty lay in so!ialism, a politi!al and e!onomi! philosophy arguing that only when the state !ontrols the means of produ!tion and distribution will all members of a nation share its profits and rewards. 8nli2e !apitalism, the philosophy holding that a nation's means of produ!tion and distribution should be privately owned and !ontrolled, so!ialism argues that only government regulation of a nation's e!onomy !an !lose the gap between the ri!h and the poor. "lthough he was not a virulent anti#!apitalist, Orwell did thin2 that only with the gradual introdu!tion of so!ialist ideas and pra!ti!es into (ritish life would the poor eventually !ome to share in the fruits of their nation's prosperity. "s he e1plained in his 3refa!e to the 82rainian edition of Animal Farm, %I be!ame pro#)o!ialist more out of disgust with the way the poorer se!tion of the industrial wor2ers were oppressed and negle!ted than out of any theoreti!al admiration for a planned so!iety.% "fter fighting against fas!ism ?an oppressive system of government in whi!h the ruling party has !omplete e!onomi! !ontrol@ in the )panish 4ivil 5ar, Orwell dedi!ated himself to e1ploring politi!al questions in his writing. "s he e1plains in the essay %5hy I 5rite,% %&very line of serious wor2 I have written sin!e ,.CD has been written, dire!tly or indire!tly, against totalitarianism and for demo!rati! so!ialism.% =is detestation and fear of totalitarianism > an even more e1treme form of fas!ism in whi!h the ruling party has !omplete !ontrol over all aspe!ts of a people's lives > thus informed mu!h of his literary output. Orwell e1amined so!ialism in a number of his nonfi!tion wor2s but was prompted to write Animal Farm by what he saw as a prevalent > and false > belief that the 7ussian 7evolution of ,.,- was a step toward so!ialism for millions of poor and oppressed 7ussians. Orwell felt that )talin's brutal rise to power was not only barbari!, but a betrayal of the so!ialist prin!iples for whi!h <enin, *rots2y, and he had presumably revolted. In hindsight, this seems obvious, but in the world of 5orld 5ar II &urope, su!h an atta!2 on 7ussia was willingly stifled by many (ritish leftists who wanted to believe that 7ussia was indeed moving toward a true union of so!ialist

republi!s. *he fa!t that 7ussia was > li2e &ngland > fighting =itler also made Orwell's position more unpalatable to leftist thin2ers. )till, he felt that the 8.).).7. was not progressing toward so!ialism but totalitarianism6 %I was stru!2 by !lear signs of its transformation into a hierar!hi!al so!iety, in whi!h the rulers have no more reason to give up their power than any ruling !lass.% 4onvin!ed that %a destru!tion of the )oviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the )o!ialist movement,% Orwell began thin2ing about how he !ould best !ommuni!ate his opinions on so!ialism and )talin. =is thoughts were ignited when he happened to see a village boy whipping a !art# horse. "t that moment, Orwell re!eived the inspiration he needed to formulate his ideas into Animal Farm6 %It stru!2 me that if only su!h animals be!ame aware of their strength we would have no power over them, and that men e1ploit animals% as the government in a totalitarian state e1ploits the !ommon people. $ow Orwell had a plan for his novel whi!h would both argue the need for a true so!ialist government and warn the world of the ways in whi!h so!ialist ideas threatened the will of these in power who wish to !ontrol other people. =is boo2 would demonstrate the ways in whi!h > despite all of their so!ialist propaganda > the leaders of the 7ussian 7evolution ?espe!ially )talin@ had !reated in a system even worse than its previous one and sound an alarm to all &nglish readers about the dangers of believing in the )oviet myth. ? or a more detailed e1amination of how the events of the novel parallel those of the 7ussian 7evolution, see the 4riti!al &ssays.@ "fter a number of reje!tions from publishers, the novel was finally a!!epted by the small publishing firm of )e!2er and 5arburg and proved to be a tremendous su!!ess, both in &ngland and the 8nited )tates. "fter Nineteen Eighty Four, another novel that portrays life under an oppressive government, Animal Farm is Orwell's most renowned wor2. Of !ourse, the novel's meaning is not rooted solely in its portrayal of the 7ussian 7evolution. *he novel as2s its readers to e1amine the ways in whi!h politi!al leaders with seemingly noble and altruisti! motives !an betray the very ideals in whi!h they ostensibly believe, as well as the ways in whi!h !ertain members of a nation !an ele!t themselves to positions of great power and abuse their fellow !iti9ens, all under the guise of assisting them. *he novel also presents the subtle ways in whi!h a group of !iti9ens > of a farm or a nation > !an be eventually led by the nose into a terrible life ruled by a totalitarian regime. In %5hy I 5rite,% Orwell des!ribes Animal Farm as %the first boo2 in whi!h I tried, with full !ons!iousness of what I was doing, to fuse politi!al purpose and artisti! purpose into one whole.% =is politi!al purpose > presenting a model of so!ialism gone wrong > is found in the way that the novel's animals refle!t different 2inds of humans and their struggles for freedom and power. Orwell felt that a farm where %"ll "nimals "re &qual% would solve many so!ial and e!onomi! problems > but he also 2new that su!h a system would be diffi!ult to maintain, sin!e some animals would a!t on the prin!iple that %)ome "re More &qual *han Others.%