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GCSE English Literature - Revision Notes
George Orwell's 1945 allegorical novella. Chapter summaries, character analysis, themes, allegory mapping, 25+ key quotations, the Seven Commandments, context, and essay planning.
Old Major, the prize-winning boar, gathers the animals of Manor Farm in the barn to share his vision. He tells them that their lives are 'miserable, laborious, and short' because Man exploits them. He teaches them the song 'Beasts of England', which envisions a future without human oppression. Old Major's speech inspires the animals with dreams of revolution. Mr Jones, the drunken farmer, fires his shotgun to silence them, but the seed of rebellion has been planted.
Old Major dies three days later. The pigs, recognised as the most intelligent animals, begin organising. Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer develop Old Major's ideas into a philosophical system called Animalism. After Jones forgets to feed them, the animals spontaneously revolt and drive the humans off the farm. They rename it Animal Farm and paint the Seven Commandments on the barn wall. The pigs secretly keep the milk and apples for themselves, justified by Squealer's argument that the pigs need brain food to manage the farm effectively.
The animals work the harvest with great enthusiasm, and the farm is more productive than ever. Boxer adopts the motto 'I will work harder'. The pigs do not work but supervise and take on an educational role. Snowball organises committees; Napoleon focuses on educating the young, taking nine puppies from their mothers to train privately. Squealer justifies the pigs' privileges repeatedly. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single slogan for the less intelligent animals: 'Four legs good, two legs bad.'
News of the rebellion spreads to neighbouring farms. Mr Jones, with the help of Mr Frederick and Mr Pilkington, attempts to retake Animal Farm. Snowball leads the defence brilliantly, having studied Julius Caesar's military campaigns. The animals win what becomes known as the Battle of the Cowshed. Snowball is wounded and later awarded 'Animal Hero, First Class'. Boxer believes he has killed a stable-boy and is distraught (though the boy is later found to be alive). Mollie, the vain mare, is found hiding during the battle.
Mollie defects to a neighbouring farm, attracted by ribbons and sugar. The central conflict between Snowball and Napoleon intensifies. Snowball proposes building a windmill to generate electricity and modernise the farm; Napoleon opposes it. At the decisive debate, Napoleon signals his secretly trained dogs, who chase Snowball off the farm. Napoleon abolishes the Sunday meetings and announces that all decisions will now be made by a committee of pigs. Squealer tells the animals that Snowball was a traitor all along. Napoleon then adopts the windmill plan as his own.
The animals work sixty-hour weeks to build the windmill. Napoleon announces that Animal Farm will begin trading with neighbouring farms, despite the original resolution against human contact. The pigs move into the farmhouse and sleep in beds. When Clover asks Muriel to read her the Fourth Commandment, it says 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.' A storm destroys the half-built windmill. Napoleon blames Snowball for its destruction, claiming he sneaked back to sabotage it.
The winter is harsh and food is scarce. Napoleon begins selling eggs to buy grain, enraging the hens, who rebel by smashing their eggs. Napoleon starves them into submission; several die. Napoleon holds a show trial in which animals confess to being in league with Snowball and are executed by the dogs. The slaughter shocks the remaining animals. Boxer's response is 'The solution, as I see it, is to work harder.' 'Beasts of England' is abolished and replaced by a song Minimus has composed, beginning 'Animal Farm, Animal Farm'.
The Sixth Commandment now reads 'No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE.' Napoleon is increasingly isolated, referred to as 'our Leader, Comrade Napoleon'. He negotiates the sale of timber to Mr Frederick, who pays in forged banknotes. Frederick then attacks Animal Farm and blows up the windmill with explosives. The animals fight back and win, but at great cost. The pigs celebrate by drinking whisky found in the farmhouse. The commandment about alcohol is altered to 'No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.'
Rations are reduced for all animals except the pigs and dogs. Boxer, now ageing and exhausted, continues to work towards his dream of retirement. When he collapses, Squealer announces that Boxer will be sent to a veterinary hospital. A van arrives labelled 'Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler'. Benjamin reads the sign and raises the alarm, but it is too late. Squealer later claims the van had been bought from the slaughterer and not yet repainted, and that Boxer died peacefully in hospital. The pigs use the money from Boxer's sale to buy whisky.
Years pass. Most animals who remember the revolution are dead. The pigs learn to walk on two legs. The sheep are retrained to bleat 'Four legs good, two legs better!' The Seven Commandments are replaced with a single commandment: 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.' The pigs wear clothes, carry whips, and entertain human farmers. In the final scene, the animals watch through the farmhouse window as the pigs and humans play cards. They look from pig to man, and from man to pig, and 'it was impossible to say which was which.'