Animal Farm
George Orwell

(11/26/21-11/26/21)

JN:

     (For now, I’m going to tell the story as it is on the surface. I’ll include some subtext here and there but not a full analysis of the meaning of each thing. That, however, can be extrapolated from this) Mr. Jones, of Manor Farm, finished his tidings for the day and went to bed. Unbeknownst to him, Old Major, an old but prized boar, called a meeting involving all of the animals of the farm. The pigs, horses, dogs, hens, pigeons, cows, and sheep were all there. After everyone gathered, Old Major told the group of the purpose of the meeting: rebellion. For too long have the animals been slaves to man and for too long have they not retaliated. Old Major spoke of a revolt to take back the profits of their labors and allow them to be truly free instead of under the greedy man’s shoe. In order for this to work, all of the animals had to share this sentiment, even the rats, much to the dogs’ displeasure, and pin their hatred on man. With the crowd being unanimously invigorated and riled up, Old Major taught them a song that most of the animals learned quickly. The uproar, however, caused Mr. Jones to be woken in his slumber and put a prompt ending to the meeting.

     Several days later, Old Major perished, and several pigs, being the smartest of the animals, took up the torch. The leaders, Napoleon and Snowball, and the best orator, Squealer, held meetings and planned for a rebellion they didn’t think they would be alive to see. They taught Animalism, the pig’s version of Old Major's teachings, to all who were interested and formed a coalition of sorts among the animals. Boxer and Clover, two horses, were the most prominent supporters of it.

     As the weeks rolled by, Mr. Jones began to drink more after a failed lawsuit. With the drinking came forgetfulness, including forgetting to feed the animals. Eventually, this got to the point where the cows broke into the feeding storage and feasted until Mr. Jones noticed. Calling over his workers, Mr. Jones whipped the animals to get them into order, but instead of obeying, the cows revolted. As the cows and the other animals that came to investigate the commotion attacked Mr. Jones and his men, they successfully frightened him enough to leave his property to the animals. The initial shock of freedom from man quickly turned to elation, and the animals raced around the property in a victory lap. They went into Mr. Jones's house, threw away everything that Mr. Jones used to mistreat them, and then constructed seven commandments, the basis of Animal Farm (roll credits). These commandments, which formed the basis of Animalism, involved equating man to enemy and animal to friend, avoiding man’s conventions such as wearing clothes, using beds, and drinking alcohol, and asserting that all animals were equal and thus animals couldn’t kill other animals. After everyone rejoiced and feasted, the work began.

     For the next few days, the pigs oversaw the rest of the animals’ work, which in unwavering happiness, produced the largest harvest the farm had ever seen. The animals worked their hardest, except for the cat, and got to keep their spoils from that work (their main grievance). Only the old donkey, Benjamin, worked the same amount and didn’t care for nor against the rebellion.

     Each Sunday, the animals attended a meeting consisting mostly of pigs putting forth talking points and a good bit of Snowball and Napoleon debating. At these meetings, the pigs hoisted a flag in preparation for the end of the human race and sang the same song that Old Major taught them, the “Beasts of England.” Over time, the pigs created committees to oversee certain farm activities, such as keeping track of egg and milk production. They also all became literate and taught other animals to read. The dogs and smarter animals grasped it to a good degree and the less intelligent animals learned the simple letters. Despite this discrepancy in intellectual ability, all that mattered was that they ascribed to the same motto: animal good, man bad.

     The first bit of resentment towards the pigs  from the other animals came from a decree that would give the pigs special foods not given to the rest of the animals. Squealer justified this by saying that the extra food was needed for the pigs’ intelligence and the other animals accepted his explanation (for how could they out-logic someone smarter than them). 

     (Now to Mr. Jones) After fleeing, Mr. Jones visited various bars and told fellow farmers about what happened to his farm. Neighboring farm owners Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick began telling their animals about how bad things were at Animal Farm (propaganda), but every farmer in the area could sense the tensions rising within their own farms. All of this was caused by Snowball and Napoleon sending pigeons to carry their message and song throughout. With his stories, Mr. Jones managed to convince some fellow farmers to help him retake his farm. Wielding a gun and many sticks, they approached the property. Already cognisant of this ploy, Snowball had set up defense procedures and immediately everyone got into position once word arrived that the farmers were soon to arrive. First, the farmers were pelted by pigeons and geese. Then, Snowball, the sheep, and Benjamin charged the group before retreating, telling the rest of the animals to commence the last defensive tactic. This involved the rest of the animals closing in on the group from one side while Snowball's group turned around and joined on the other side. Mr. Jones only managed to get a single shot off, hitting a sheep. While this happened, Boxer struck a young man in the head with his legs. Seeing this, the rest of the farmers retreated and left Animal Farm alone.

     Boxer mourned the man he struck but Snowball reminded him that such was the way of war. With everything settled, they held a memorial for the sheep that perished and called the battle the Battle of the Cowshed. For some time, all was well. Mollie left Animal Farm in favor of a farm where she ate sugar despite having an owner (for her, bliss was better than a rebellion wrought with anxiety). Debates continued to occur on Sunday and Snowball and Napoleon continued to fight in every aspect, particularly regarding the creation of a windmill. With winter approaching, Snowball advocated for its creation so that they could utilize electricity and wouldn’t have to work as much or as hard. Just because (seems familiar?), Napoleon advocated against it and proposed gathering more food to survive the winter. Half of the animals joined Napoleon, and the rest joined Snowball. Only Benjamin stayed out of it and knew that it wouldn’t matter either way (he’s happy to watch it all from the fence). 

     On the day when the animals gathered to vote - as even though the pigs put forth the ideas, all of the animals voted on them - Napoleon started off by explaining his reason before sitting down. This left the stage for Snowball to give an impassioned speech about the progress they could make, and by the reaction of the audience, he knew he would win. Suddenly, however, Napoleon yelled and several dogs, coming from a litter that Napoleon had taken away from their parents, came storming in and chased Snowball out of the farm. With no other contenders, Napoleon assumed the role of sole leader and changed all of the rules. Instead of a democratic vote, Napoleon headed a group of pigs that made all decisions. Once a week during their group meeting, Napoleon simply handed out orders to all of the other animals. Strangely enough as well, Napoleon ordered for the windmill to be built after all. Napoleon ended up using the plans that Snowball had constructed and told the animals that they would have to work much harder and receive less food going forward. When several animals posed their suspicions as to why Napoleon changed his mind about the windmill, Squealer settled their doubts by asserting that Snowball stole Napoleon's windmill plan. The only way for Napoleon to save the farm was to act against Snowball and saying he didn’t support the plan. (Now, I know this wouldn’t make much sense, but Squealer successfully persuaded the animals nonetheless).

     Over the next year, the animals worked tirelessly yet kept their content demeanor. Napoleon constantly shifted the rules to make it more comfortable for himself and other pigs, and Squealer did the PR work to squash any cry of unfairness. These rules included allowing the pigs to now sleep inside and sleep on beds, both of which were specifically forbidden during Animal Farm’s conception. Napoleon changed the commandments to exclude sheets, not beds, and Squealer convinced everyone that sleeping inside Mr. Jones's house was never an actual rule. Napoleon began trading with fellow farms via a human messenger for any necessities for the farm and the windmill. Speaking of the windmill, During autumn of the following year, after a year of work, the windmill was nearly halfway done, many thanks to Boxer's steadfast persistent work that outshone all other animals. One day in November, a violent storm flattened the windmill, horrifying all of the animals the following morning. 

     Napolean blamed the ruins on Snowball (an invisible scapegoat) and vowed to take revenge by showing Snowball that they could rebuild the windmill even faster and work even harder. The winter proved to be tough, though, and little progress was made on the windmill. Starvation became a reality and problems could be seen throughout Animal Farm. Despite these problems, Napoleon insisted to the outside world that they thrived as well as they ever had, even with the collapse of the windmill (more propaganda). To help with the food shortage, Napoleon ordered the hens to give up eggs to trade for food. This caused an outcry among the hens that led to the strike of all the hens that didn’t end until several died. The situation further worsened, and Napoleon again placed the blame on Snowball. A conspiracy then grew that involved Snowball working with Mr. Jones the entire time and plaguing the farm with his every step. Naturally, Snowball's alleged betrayal dumbfounded everyone and even Boxer questioned whether this was true, but just as Squealer had done before, he convinced them by citing Napoleon's superior intelligence. 

     Several days later, Napoleon called a meeting with all the animals and once they all gathered, sent his dogs on several of the pigs. Soon enough, they were all confessing to helping Snowball with conspiring against Napoleon and were butchered on the spot. Three hens, a goose, and a sheep confessed (somewhat forcibly) as well and faced similar fates. Afterward, Boxer, Clover, and the rest of the animals, excluding Napoleon, Squealer, and his dogs, huddled together and mournfully sang the Beasts of England for even though they knew this place still beat living under Mr. Jones's rule, it didn’t match what they imagined. For the first time in a long time, animals were killed (another rule broken) and it seemed the farm lost its morals. While they sang, Squealer approached the group and told them that Napoleon had enacted a rule that forbade the singing of the Beasts of England, for Napoleon deemed it no longer necessary as the rebellion ended and a superior society was built. When Clover went to check on the commandments, she saw that now it read that animals couldn’t kill other animals without cause and figured she simply misremembered it. 

     Over the following year, the animals worked harder than ever on the windmill, making the walls twice as thick, and received the same amount of food as under Mr. Jones. Napoleon was hardly seen in the public eye anymore and Squealer dictated all of the orders of their leader. The animals glorified Napoleon and gave him credit for every success and they even named the near-completed windmill after him. During this time, Napoleon underwent negotiations with Mr. Frederick and Mr. Pilkington, painting whichever one he disliked at the time as evil, a harborer of Snowball, and deserving of death (this changed between farmers). Eventually, Napoleon chose to sell them to Mr. Frederick, but instead of receiving supplies in return, he received money, learning too late that it was fake. To further harm the farm, Mr. Frederick attacked it - this time with more guns. Once they arrived on the property, Napoleon and the rest of the animals fled into the shelter. Benjamin stayed outside and emotionlessly watched as the men exploded their windmill. This enraged the animals enough to come out and chase the men off their property. Despite the destruction of the windmill, numerous casualties, and multiple deaths, Squealer saw the battle as a victory, which meant the rest of the animals did too. Boxer especially was saddened by the destruction of the windmill, knowing that his age was getting to him and not sure if he had the energy to construct another one, especially since the battle had injured him. 

     While the animals stayed outside and morale was low, the pigs partied inside, this time with alcohol. They drank the night away and sang songs. They drank so much that the following day, Squealer presumed Napoleon to be dead and as a last wish said that anyone who drank alcohol should be executed. However, this changed when Napoleon's condition improved, and now instead of the commandment forbidding alcohol, it forbade alcohol in excess. True to his values, Boxer kept working despite his split hoof and pain, which he only confided in Clover about. He planned to retire soon, as was initially discussed in the commencement of Animal Farm but would wait until it was truly necessary. As another winter came in, Napoleon reduced the animals’ rations and kept up the external impression that the establishment still thrived. The pigs received special treatment and were regarded as a superior class (breaking the final rule of All Animals are Equal), being given extra food, the ability to wear clothes, less work, and respect from the other animals. Similarly, Napoleon issued for a school to be constructed for the education of piglets. Throughout all of this, Napoleon ruined Snowball's name beyond repair.

     One day while Boxer worked, rumors circulated that he had fallen and it seemed that Benjamin and Clover's worries about Boxer working too much had come true. Squealer heard about this and arrived at the scene, telling them that Boxer was to be sent to the local vet to receive the best care. When the van eventually came several days later to retrieve him, Benjamin shouted at all the animals to see what was on the side of the van. To any literate animal, it could be seen that this grim reaper of a van was taking Boxer to his death. Horror spread through the farm and Clover ran to the van, telling Boxer to get out, but he was too weak to break out. A couple of days later, news spread that Boxer had died with Squealer by his side. Napoleon hosted a memorial for Boxer and put to rest the rumors circulating about the reality of the van and where Napoleon sent him. No one questioned that as no one questioned the pigs when they received a large container of whiskey.

     As years came and went, much of the rebellion had long been forgotten and only a few, including Clover, Benjamin, Napoleon, and Squealer, remained. Many more creatures roamed the farm and prosperity was as high as ever, except most of the creatures were pigs and dogs now and they did little of the actual work. The windmill was finished, but instead for producing electricity, Napoleon used it to mill corn, making him a hefty profit. Other than Benjamin, the animals still believed that their lives improved compared to under Mr. Jones given that Squealer constantly gave statistics (obviously fabricated ones. The three types of lies: “lies, damned lies, and statistics”). 

     One day, Clover came upon a frightening scene: Squealer, now extremely fat, walking on his hind legs and whipping sheep. Not long after, she watched as other pigs followed his lead (I imagine them to look like the pigs from Angry Birds). The sheep bleated in protest, repeating the 2 legs bad, 4 legs good rule that Animal Farm was founded upon. Clover went back to the farm and asked Benjamin to read the 7 commandments to her. He agreed and read the commandment, as only one remained: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (Pretty much the whole subtext of the book since humans are animals too). From then on, the pigs walked, wore clothes, and had telephones. One day, Clover watched as Napoleon and several other pigs invited several farmers into Mr. Jones's home and after lots of talking and partying, the farmers congratulated Napoleon on his efficiency with his farm’s long hours and few complaints, and they wanted to copy his farming techniques. As toasts went around the table, Napoleon officially changed the name of his farm from Animal Farm back to Manor Farm (the original name). As Clover watched this from outside, she saw how after some time, the farmers' and pigs’ faces blended until she couldn’t tell which was which. (Thanks for reading! Naturally, analysis can be done on each part but hopefully I laid it out so the analysis is very straightforward. For example, obviously, Napoleon turns himself into a dictator and uses his superiority to enact a totalitarian rule. With that being said, remember there is no utopia!)