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Edexcel GCSE English Literature · Paper 1, Section B · Post-1914 British Play or Novel (40 marks)
Animal Farm is a novella - short, tightly structured, and allegorical. Every event maps onto the history of the Russian Revolution and Stalin's Soviet Union.
Old Major, the prize boar, delivers a speech calling on the animals to overthrow Mr Jones and establish an equal society. He teaches them the song 'Beasts of England.' Old Major dies three days later. The pigs - especially Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer - develop his ideas into a philosophy called Animalism. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, they rebel spontaneously, driving Jones and his men off the farm. The animals rename Manor Farm as 'Animal Farm' and the pigs paint the Seven Commandments on the barn wall.
The animals work together and the harvest is the best the farm has ever seen. The pigs take on a supervisory role, claiming they need the milk and apples for themselves because they are 'brain workers.' Snowball organises committees and teaches the animals to read. Napoleon takes no interest in committees but quietly takes nine puppies to educate privately. When Jones and neighbouring farmers attempt to recapture the farm, the animals fight them off at the Battle of the Cowshed. Snowball is hailed as a hero.
Snowball proposes building a windmill to modernise the farm. Napoleon opposes it. At the crucial debate, Napoleon unleashes his privately trained dogs, who chase Snowball off the farm. Napoleon abolishes meetings and declares that all decisions will be made by a committee of pigs. He then claims the windmill was his idea all along. Squealer rewrites history to portray Snowball as a traitor. The animals begin trading with humans through a solicitor, Mr Whymper. The pigs move into the farmhouse and sleep in beds. The windmill collapses in a storm, but Napoleon blames Snowball for its destruction.
Napoleon intensifies his reign of terror. Animals who confess to collaborating with Snowball are executed by the dogs. 'Beasts of England' is abolished. The commandments are altered - 'No animal shall kill any other animal' becomes 'No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.' Napoleon begins dealing with Frederick, a neighbouring farmer, who pays for timber with forged banknotes. Frederick then attacks the farm and destroys the windmill. The pigs discover a case of whisky and the commandment about alcohol is changed to 'No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.'
Boxer, the loyal workhorse, collapses from overwork. Napoleon claims to send him to a veterinary hospital, but the van that takes Boxer away is actually from the horse slaughterer - the pigs sell Boxer for whisky money. Squealer tells the animals Boxer died peacefully in hospital. Years pass. The pigs walk on two legs, wear clothes, and carry whips. Only one commandment remains: 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.' The pigs host a dinner party with neighbouring farmers. The other animals peer through the window and can no longer tell which are pigs and which are men.
A Berkshire boar who becomes the dictator of Animal Farm. He is not a great speaker or thinker but is ruthless, cunning, and power-hungry. He uses the dogs as his secret police, Squealer as his propagandist, and fear as his primary tool of control. He gradually takes on all the habits of the humans the animals originally rebelled against - living in the farmhouse, drinking whisky, walking on two legs. He represents the corruption of revolutionary ideals into totalitarian dictatorship.
An intelligent, eloquent pig who genuinely wants to improve the animals' lives. He organises committees, teaches literacy, and designs the windmill. He is brave at the Battle of the Cowshed. After Napoleon expels him using the dogs, Snowball becomes a scapegoat - blamed for everything that goes wrong on the farm. Squealer rewrites history to make Snowball a villain and traitor. He represents the idealistic revolutionary who is betrayed and erased by the dictator.
A small, fat pig who serves as Napoleon's propagandist. He has a remarkable ability to twist language and manipulate truth. He convinces the animals that the pigs deserve special privileges, that Snowball was always a traitor, and that conditions are improving when they are clearly worsening. He represents the power of propaganda to control a population - when facts are distorted, the people cannot resist tyranny.
An enormous, powerful cart-horse who is the most dedicated worker on the farm. His two mottos - 'I will work harder' and 'Napoleon is always right' - represent blind loyalty and unquestioning obedience. Despite his strength and devotion, he is ultimately betrayed when Napoleon sells him to the knacker for whisky money once he can no longer work. Boxer's fate is the novella's most devastating moment - it shows how totalitarian regimes exploit and discard the working class.
The prize-winning boar whose speech in Chapter 1 inspires the Rebellion. He articulates the vision of an equal society where animals are free from human exploitation. His philosophy is later codified as 'Animalism' (representing Marxism/Communism). Old Major dies before the revolution, so his ideas are corrupted by those who come after him. He represents the original revolutionary thinkers whose ideals are perverted by the leaders who seize power.
An old donkey who is the wisest animal on the farm but refuses to act. He can read as well as the pigs but never shares his knowledge. He sees through the pigs' lies but says nothing - 'Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey.' He only speaks out when Boxer is taken to the knacker, but by then it is too late. Benjamin represents those who see injustice but remain passive, showing that intelligence without action is useless.
The original owner of Manor Farm. He is a neglectful, drunken farmer who mistreats his animals. His failure to feed the animals triggers the Rebellion. He represents the incompetent and corrupt ruler whose mismanagement provokes revolution. After the Rebellion he tries to recapture the farm at the Battle of the Cowshed but fails. He eventually dies in an inebriates' home.
The sheep blindly repeat whatever slogans they are taught - first 'Four legs good, two legs bad,' then 'Four legs good, two legs better.' They drown out any dissent or debate with their chanting. They represent citizens who unthinkingly repeat propaganda and make it impossible for others to question authority.
The central theme of the novella. Orwell shows how power corrupts absolutely. The pigs begin as liberators fighting for equality but gradually become indistinguishable from the humans they replaced. Napoleon accumulates power through violence (the dogs), propaganda (Squealer), and the rewriting of history. The Seven Commandments are steadily altered to justify the pigs' privileges. The final image - pigs and men becoming indistinguishable - is Orwell's devastating conclusion: revolutions that concentrate power in a ruling elite inevitably reproduce the tyranny they overthrew.
Orwell demonstrates how language can be weaponised to control a population. Squealer manipulates statistics, rewrites history, and uses rhetorical questions ('Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?') to silence opposition. The Seven Commandments are quietly altered. 'Beasts of England' is abolished. Slogans ('Four legs good, two legs bad') replace thought. The animals' inability to read well enough to detect the changes leaves them powerless. Orwell warns that when a regime controls language and information, it controls reality itself.
The Rebellion is fought for equality, but a new class system quickly emerges. The pigs claim special privileges - first the milk and apples, then the farmhouse, beds, alcohol, and eventually human clothing. They justify their superiority by calling themselves 'brain workers.' The other animals work harder for less food while the pigs grow fat. Orwell shows that revolutions often replace one ruling class with another, especially when the working class (Boxer, the sheep) are too loyal, too exhausted, or too uneducated to challenge the new elite.
The pigs maintain power partly because the other animals lack education. The pigs can read and write fluently; most other animals cannot read beyond a few letters. This means they cannot detect changes to the Commandments or challenge Squealer's lies. Boxer responds to every problem with 'I will work harder' and 'Napoleon is always right' - hard work and blind faith replace critical thinking. Orwell argues that an uneducated population is vulnerable to exploitation and that education is essential to freedom.
Old Major's dream of an equal, free society is systematically betrayed by the pigs. Every principle of Animalism is broken: the pigs trade with humans, sleep in beds, drink alcohol, walk on two legs, and kill other animals. The dream of revolution - noble in its conception - is corrupted by the very leaders it empowers. Orwell is not arguing against revolution itself, but warning that without safeguards, accountability, and an educated populace, revolutions inevitably betray their original ideals.
Napoleon and Squealer repeatedly rewrite the past to serve the present. Snowball's heroism at the Battle of the Cowshed is erased and replaced with a narrative of treachery. The windmill - Snowball's idea - is attributed to Napoleon. The animals' memories are gaslit: 'Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?' Orwell, who witnessed Soviet propaganda firsthand, warns that those who control the past control the present - a theme he would explore further in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The Edexcel exam provides an extract, but you must also recall quotations from across the novella. Learn these quotes and practise embedding them into analytical paragraphs.
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"
- Narrator (Chapter 10)
The final, corrupted commandment. Orwell's most famous line - it captures the entire betrayal of the revolution in a single paradox. Equality has been twisted to justify totalitarian hierarchy.
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig... but already it was impossible to say which was which"
- Narrator (Chapter 10)
The novella's closing image. The pigs have become identical to the humans they overthrew. Orwell's devastating conclusion: the revolution has come full circle.
"Four legs good, two legs bad"
- The Sheep (Chapter 3)
Animalism reduced to a mindless slogan. The sheep repeat it to drown out debate. Orwell shows how propaganda simplifies complex ideas into tools of control.
"Four legs good, two legs better"
- The Sheep (Chapter 10)
The reversal of the original slogan when the pigs walk upright. The sheep adapt instantly, showing how propaganda can make people accept the exact opposite of what they once believed.
"I will work harder"
- Boxer (throughout)
Boxer's first motto. His response to every problem is more labour, never questioning the system. Orwell shows the tragedy of the loyal worker who is exploited precisely because of his devotion.
"Napoleon is always right"
- Boxer (throughout)
Boxer's second motto - blind faith in the leader replaces independent thought. This unquestioning loyalty ultimately leads to Boxer's death when Napoleon betrays him.
"Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?"
- Squealer (Chapter 3)
Squealer's most powerful propaganda technique - the appeal to fear. By invoking the threat of Jones's return, he silences all criticism of the pigs' privileges.
"He could turn black into white"
- Narrator about Squealer (Chapter 2)
Orwell's description of Squealer's persuasive power. Foreshadows how Squealer will rewrite history and make the animals accept obvious lies.
"All men are enemies. All animals are comrades"
- Old Major (Chapter 1)
Old Major's revolutionary principle. The simplicity of this binary worldview makes it easy to adopt but also easy to exploit - the pigs later become the 'men' they opposed.
"He carried a whip in his trotter"
- Narrator about Napoleon (Chapter 10)
Napoleon adopts Jones's instrument of oppression. The whip symbolises the complete reversal of the revolution - the liberator has become the oppressor.
"The milk and the windfall apples should be reserved for the pigs alone"
- Squealer (Chapter 3)
The first act of inequality after the Rebellion. Justified by Squealer as necessary for 'brain workers,' it sets the precedent for every future privilege the pigs take.
"Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey"
- Benjamin (Chapter 3)
Benjamin's cynical refusal to engage. He has seen enough to know that revolutions fail, but his passivity makes him complicit in the pigs' tyranny.
"The van was taking Boxer to the horse slaughterer's!"
- Benjamin (Chapter 9)
Benjamin finally speaks out - but too late. The most emotionally devastating moment in the novella. Boxer's loyalty is repaid with betrayal and death.
"Is it not crystal clear, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings?"
- Old Major (Chapter 1)
The ideological foundation of the Rebellion. Orwell shows how a legitimate grievance can be exploited by those who replace one tyranny with another.
"No animal shall sleep in a bed - with sheets"
- Altered Commandment (Chapter 6)
The first obvious alteration. The words 'with sheets' are added so the pigs can justify sleeping in the farmhouse beds. Demonstrates how the ruling class bends the rules to suit itself.
"Life would go on as it had always gone on - that is, badly"
- Benjamin (Chapter 5)
Benjamin's fatalism. He recognises that revolutions do not change the fundamental nature of power. Orwell uses him to voice scepticism about utopian promises.
"The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others"
- Narrator (Chapter 3)
The immediate emergence of a new ruling class. The pigs exploit their intelligence to avoid labour and claim superiority, mirroring the behaviour of the Communist Party elite.
"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing"
- Old Major (Chapter 1)
Old Major's critique of exploitation. Ironic because the pigs eventually consume without producing - becoming the very parasites Old Major warned against.
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella - every character, event, and setting represents a real historical counterpart. Understanding the allegory is essential for context marks.
The farm begins under Jones (the Tsar), is liberated through revolution, renamed (as Russia became the USSR), and ultimately returns to oppression under new masters. The renaming back to 'Manor Farm' at the end symbolises the revolution's complete failure.
Like Marx, Old Major provides the philosophical basis for revolution but dies before it happens. Like Lenin, he inspires the overthrow of the old regime. His ideas (Animalism) parallel Marxism/Communism.
Napoleon seizes power through force (the dogs/secret police), eliminates his rival Snowball (Trotsky), conducts purges (the executions in Chapter 7), uses propaganda (Squealer/Pravda), and builds a cult of personality.
Snowball is the intellectual idealist expelled by Napoleon, just as Trotsky was exiled by Stalin. Both are then demonised and blamed for all problems. The windmill debate mirrors the industrialisation debate between Stalin and Trotsky.
Squealer is the propaganda machine that makes the animals accept lies. He parallels the Soviet state newspaper Pravda and the broader apparatus of censorship and disinformation in the USSR.
Napoleon raises the dogs from puppies, training them for loyalty. They enforce his rule through violence and intimidation, just as Stalin used the secret police to crush dissent.
Boxer's immense labour and unquestioning loyalty represent the Soviet workers who built the nation but received nothing in return. His death at the knacker's mirrors how the regime discarded workers once they were no longer useful.
Jones's attempt to retake the farm parallels the White Army and Western intervention against the Bolsheviks after the 1917 Revolution.
Frederick (Pinchfield Farm) represents Hitler - the forged banknotes parallel the Nazi-Soviet Pact's betrayal. Pilkington (Foxwood Farm) represents Britain and the West. The final card game between Napoleon and Pilkington represents Cold War tensions.
The gradual alteration of the Commandments mirrors how Soviet leaders twisted Marxist principles to justify their own power and privilege.
Animal Farm is a direct allegory of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. In 1917, the Russian people overthrew Tsar Nicholas II. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and later Stalin, promised equality and workers' rights but instead created a totalitarian state. Orwell maps the novella's events precisely onto this history: Jones is the Tsar, Old Major is Marx/Lenin, Napoleon is Stalin, Snowball is Trotsky.
By the 1930s, Stalin had consolidated absolute power. He conducted purges (1936-38) in which millions were executed or sent to labour camps. He used propaganda, censorship, and a cult of personality to maintain control. He rewrote Soviet history to erase rivals like Trotsky. These events are directly mirrored in Chapters 7-10 of Animal Farm.
Orwell was a democratic socialist - he believed in equality and workers' rights but was fiercely opposed to totalitarianism. He fought in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and witnessed first-hand how the Soviet-backed communists betrayed their own allies. This experience convinced him that Stalinism was a betrayal of true socialist ideals, which became the central argument of Animal Farm.
Orwell struggled to publish Animal Farm because the USSR was Britain's ally during WWII. Publishers feared offending Stalin. The novella was rejected by multiple publishers, including by T.S. Eliot at Faber and Faber. It was finally published in August 1945, just as the war ended. The difficulty of publication itself illustrates Orwell's theme - that inconvenient truths about powerful allies are suppressed.
Although written during WWII, Animal Farm became hugely influential during the Cold War. It was used as anti-Soviet propaganda by Western governments. Orwell's warning, however, was broader than anti-communism - he was warning against all forms of totalitarianism, including the potential for Western democracies to suppress truth and manipulate their populations.
Orwell believed that political language was designed 'to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.' In his essay 'Politics and the English Language' (1946), he argued that corrupted language leads to corrupted thought. Animal Farm dramatises this idea - the pigs control the animals by controlling language itself: slogans, commandments, and Squealer's rhetoric.
You will be given an extract from Animal Farm, followed by a question that asks you to analyse the extract and then explore the theme or character across the whole novella.
Example Question 1
[Extract from Chapter 7 - the executions scene]
How does Orwell present the abuse of power in this extract and in the novella as a whole?
Example Question 2
[Extract from Chapter 3 - Squealer justifying the milk and apples]
How does Orwell present the role of propaganda in this extract and in the novella as a whole?
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Rights notice: While Animal Farm entered UK public domain in 2021, the Orwell estate (AM Heath) actively manages educational use. Quotations on this page are short fair-dealing extracts; longer engagement should use a school-licensed edition. Short quotations reproduced under the fair dealing provision of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (s.30) for the purpose of criticism, review and educational study. Animal Farm by George Orwell is published by Penguin Books.