Chapter One

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Chapter Preview

After Mr. Jones the farmer has gone to bed, drunk as usual, the animals all sneak into the barn to hear a speech by Old Major, the prized white boar. First the dogs arrive, then the pigs, followed by the hens, sheep, cows, pigeons, ducks, and so on. Among the animals are boxer and clover the cart-horses, Murial the goat, Benjamin the donkey, Mollie the white mare and the cat. Old Major tells them that he has done a lot of thinking about the hardships animals face (hard work, little food, eventually slaughtered), and he expresses that all these hardships are due to humans.

Chapter Preview Cont’d

He riles up the animals and gets them excited, telling them that they will work to eventually overthrow the human race and to remember that they are always equal. He especially warns the animals to never adopt any human habits, then he teaches them a song that came to him in a dream. The song is about liberation and is called “Beasts of England.” The animals all sing it, but they wake Mr. Jones who grabs his gun and gets up, so the animals scurry off to sleep.

Places

The Barn

Items/Ideas to Know

Greed The hardships humans force on animals is due to greed. Jones

callously slaughters animals once they are deemed useless.

Principles of Animalism Humans are the enemy. All animals should overthrow

humans. Animals should never: live in houses, sleep in beds, wear clothes, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, etc. because these are all bad habits of humans.

Propoganda Old Major identifies humans as the enemy, attempts to unite

everyone against the common enemy, promises that their lives will be better, suggests to overthrow humans, teaches them a simple song to get them familiar with his ideas. Even though he thinks he’s doing what’s best for all the animals, it’s still propaganda

Quotes

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give mink, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.”

“All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.”

Chapter Two

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Chapter Preview

Old major dies three nights later, and the pigs begin to organize and prepare for the Rebellion that he had predicted. Chief among them are Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer, who elaborate Old Major’s ideas into a system of thought called Animalism. They teach this to the other animals at a secret meeting late at night, but the animals make points like: Mr. Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death,” and it is slow work. Boxer and Clover are their two most devoted members.

Chapter Preview Cont’d…

Mr. Jones goes to a pub and gets so drunk that he doesn’t come home until later one afternoon and passes out so he doesn’t feed the animals. They become so hungry that they get out of their shed and help themselves. When Mr. Jones and his men start to whip the animals, they attack the humans and drive them off the land. Mrs. Jones and Moses sneak away. The pigs teach themselves to read and write and come up with new laws for “Animal Farm.” The cows need to be milked, so the pigs manage to milk them, but when they animals return from their harvest, they notice that the milk is gone…

Faces

Moses Pet raven. Believes in a made up land called

Sugarcandy Mountain. Pigs work hard to make sure to persuade him it doesn’t exist.

Boxer and Clover Cart-horses. Devoted to one another and

respected by all.

Ideas/Items to Know

Principles of Animalism Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer develop Old

Major’s ideas into Animalism. They determine specific principles which they pass onto the other animals.

Propoganda The pigs persuade the other animals to agree

with their principals. They end their meetings singing “Beasts of England.” They take ideas like ribbons and sugar and say that they are labels of slavery.

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.

Quotes

“Mr. Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death.”