Animal Farm : chapter 1

1. Animal Farm: chapter 1 Mr Jones; Old Major; Moses; Boxer; Clover; 3 dogs: Bluebell, Jessie, Pincher; Muriel; Mollie; Benjamin; the cat; the sheep Who? Where? The Manor Farm – somewhere in the English countryside What? In this first chapter of the story, Mr Jones stumbles drunkenly after forgetting to secure Manor Farm. After the light are switched off the animals gather in the barn to hear a speech by Old Major (the prize Middlewhite boar) . In Old Major’s speech he says that if animals got rid of man, the could live free and happy lives, but everything would not change overnight. Animals needed to rebel against the unfair treatment by humans. • Old Major reminds the animals that • once humans have been defeated, • the animals should not adopt any of • the bad habits humans have: • not live in a house • not sleep in a bed • not wear clothes • not drink alcohol • not smoke tobacco • not touch/handle money • not engage in trade • not tyrannize other animals IMPORTANT FACTS: Animal names and characteristics Old Major then teaches the animals the song: Beasts of England which is about an ideal time in the future when all animals would be free of humans. “Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland beasts of every land and clime Hearken to my joyful tiding of the golden future time” The animals sing the song several times and are inspired to strive for their own freedom no matter how long it will take. The song is like an anthem of their future freedom.

2. Animal Farm: chapter 2 Mr Jones; Old Major; Napoleon; Snowball; Squealer; Mollie; Mr Jones & his men; all other animals Who? Where? The Manor Farm What? Old Major dies in his sleep. Animals prepare to fulfill his dream of “all animals being free and equal”. The most intelligent animals, the pigs, become leaders on the farm with Snowball and Napoleon in front. Along with Squealer they create the principals of Animalism. The animals start calling one another COMRADE to show equality. Mollie wants to keep her ribbons and sugar (luxuries), Snowball reminds her these things symbolize slavery to humans and are not allowed. Moses spreads tales of Sugar Candy Mountain – a place where animals go when they die, but the pigs convince the other animals it does not exist. The REBELLION happens earlier than expected: Mr Jones drinks too much after losing money – his men are lazy & don’t feed the animals one weekend. The animals break into the feed shed and when Mr Jones and his men try to discpline them, they fight back, The Animals chase the men off the Farm – Mrs Jones follows soon after. IMPORTANT FACTS: The Rebellion and the seven commandments Snowball changes the farm name to Animal Farm on the front gate. Snowball and Napoleon reduce the principles of Animalism to seven commandments, which are then painted on the barn wall: SEVEN COMMANDMENTS The pigs milk the cows and Napoleon tells the other animals the milk will be attended to. Animals go to the fields and start harvesting, upon their return the milk and apples have disappeared. Animals destroy last evidence of opression: whips, harnasses etc. “Beasts of England” is sung a few times. They agree to preserve the farmhouse as a museum – no animal must live there. Pigs teach themselves to read.

3. Animal Farm: chapter 3 Who? Snowball; the birds; Napoleon; Jessie & Bluebell; Squealer; Boxer Where? Animal Farm (previously known as Manor Farm) What? The pigs give orders and supervise the other animals in their work on the farm. They find ways to use human tools. Boxer adopts the phrase “I will work harder” as his personal motto. He does most of the heavy labour while Mollie and the cat hardly work at all and disappear whenever the work gets tough. New tradition: every Sunday the animals hold a flag-raising ceremony in the yard and sing “Beasts of England”. Snowball and Napoleon’s views always clash. IMPORTANT FACTS: Pigs run the farm and take privileges Napoleon takes Jessie & Bluebell’s nine puppies and says he will take care of their education himself. The pigs take all the milk and apples for themselves. Squealer convinces the animals that the pigs need it to do the brain work, otherwise Jones would come back. Snowball establishes committees for all animals, he tries to teach them to read and write. The committees are not successful but different animals learn to read according to their intelligence. Snowball realises the animals struggle to remember the seven commandments and reduces it to a single statement: FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD.

4. Animal Farm: chapter 4 Who? Napoleon; Snowball; Mr Pilkington; Mr Frederick; Mr Jones; Boxer; Mollie Where? Animal Farm – the fields, the cowshed What? News about the rebellion on Animal Farm spreads across half the country. Pigeons are sent by Snowball and Napoleon to tell other animals the story of the rebellion and the song “Beasts of England”. Mr Jones, and the other farmers become afraid when they realise they could all become victims of an Animal rebellion. Mr Jones, Mr Pilkington, Mr Frederick and their men decide to join forces to overthrow the new rulers of the farm. The animals, under the leadership of Snowball, plan a battle strategy. The animals break through the ranks of the humans. Snowball and Boxer bravely fight in front. During the battle Mollie hides, Napoleon is not mentioned, Snowball is wounded. Boxer thinks he killed one of the humans – a stable boy – and feels bad about it. IMPORTANT FACTS: Animalism in the outside world, the Battle of the Cowshed Boxer and Snowball are given medals of bravery and the decoration of: Animal Hero, First Class. Mr Jones’ gun is set at the foot of the flag pole – it is a symbol of military power. The battle will be commemorated on October 12 every year. The animals run around the farm in victory. They name the fight the Battle of the Cowshed, hoist the flag and sing “Beasts of England”. Snowball makes a speech in honour of a sheep that was killed in the battle.

5. Animal Farm: chapter 5 Mollie; Mr Pilkington; Snowball; Mr Jones; the dogs; Boxer, the ducks; Clover; Napoleon; the sheep; Benjamin; Squealer; Minimus; the hens Who? Where? Animal Farm – the barn, the fields What? Mollie breaks the rules of Animalism and allows humans to touch her. When Clover confronts her about this, Mollie leaves the farm and never comes back. During the winter months, the farm becomes Unproductive and the animals settle into meetings In the barn – the pigs are in charge of the meetings Napoleon & Snowball are the speakers. During the meetings Napoleon & Snowball dispute all suggestions as they always disagree. Snowball gains support through his speeches and Napoleon gets support between meetings on a one-to-one basis. IMPORTANT FACTS: The windmill – Snowball exiled, Napoleon’s rise to power Napoleon announces that the windmill will be built after all and he sends Squealer to spread the news that it was originally his idea to build it. He also gets Squealer to spread the rumour that Snowball was now out of the way and could not interfere in the further running of the farm. Boxer now also says: “Napoleon is always right” Snowball discovers the benefits of building a windmill on the farm and designs plans to build one. Napoleon disagrees that they need a windmill at all. A windmill will reduce work hours and increase productivity. A vote needs to be taken about building the windmill. After Snowball’s speech he gets the support, but Napoleon calls on his 9 dogs (the puppies he educated) to chase Snowball off the farm. With Snowball in exile, Napoleon takes over the leadership and makes many changes.

6. Animal Farm: chapter 6 Snowball; the pigs; the hens; Napoleon; the sheep; Muriel; Benjamin; Boxer; Clover; Squealer; Mr Whymper Who? Where? Animal Farm – the fields, the windmill, the farmhouse What? For the rest of the year the animals work at a high pace to complete the windmill and produce enough food for themselves at the same time. The animals receive no food at all unless they work on Sunday afternoons. They were manipulated by Squealer and Napoleon. That is why they took on the extra labour. Boxer committed himself to Animal Farm, doing the work of three horses, never complaining. The windmill project presents a number of difficulties – but they make plans to solve them. IMPORTANT FACTS: Human contact and trade, the windmill is destroyed A terrible storm destroys the windmill, because its walls are too thin, but Napoleon blames Snowball of doing it as a act of sabotage. He convinces the animals they must rebuild the windmill without delay. The other animals are shocked by the idea of trading with a human, Squealer manages to convince the animals that it is for their benefit. The pigs begin living in the farmhouse, they also violate some of the seven commandments and Old Major’s wishes to not be like the humans. The animals believe they suffer no more than they had under Jones’ rule – even though they work harder and eat less. They are proud of maintaining the farm. Napoleon hires a human, Mr Whymper – a lawyer.

7. Animal Farm: chapter 7 Napoleon; Boxer; Clover; Squealer; Mr Pilkington; Mr Frederick; the 9 dogs; Muriel; Benjamin; the cows, sheep, geese and hens Who? Where? Animal Farm What? Snowball is rumoured to be hiding on Foxwood and then Pinchfield. Mr Frederick and Pilkington bid to buy a pile of timber left on Animal Farm. Squealer convinces the animals Snowball sold himself to Frederick and is planning on attacking Animnal farm. Snowball is also blamed for sabotaging things on the farm at night – but these things are simply the result of bad management on the part of the pigs. The animals rebuild the windmill with walls thicker than before. In January they fall short of food and rations for all animals (except pigs) are reduced. Napoleon negotiates a contract of 400 eggs a week through Mr Whymper. The hens rebel by destroying or hiding their eggs. Squealer tries to convince the animals that Snowball was on Jones’ side all along and has been a traitor from the start. Boxer refuses to believe this. IMPORTANT FACTS: Killings on the farm – Napoleon leads by force The other animals are extremely shocked. Never has any animal hurt another, let alone kill. They gather on the knoll near the wind- mill and softly sing “Beasts of England” which had been outlawed. Clover is saddened because this is not the freedom they had fought for in the rebellion. This was nothing like Old Major’s vision. Later Napoleon’s dogs seize four pigs and try to attack Boxer. He sees them coming and protects himself. A few animals confess to conspiring with Snowball and plotting against Napoleon. These animals are executed by the dogs. “Beasts of England” is replaced by a poem of Minimus called “Animal farm”. This new song is sung during the flag hoisting ceremonies. Minimus also composes poems about Napoleon which helps build his personality cult.

8. Animal Farm: chapter 8 Who? Napoleon; Squealer; Boxer; Minimus; Mr Frederick; Mr Pilkington Where? Animal Farm – the field, the windmill, the farmhouse What? The pigs teach the animals to hate Mr Frederick and Mr Pilkington, but the animals are shocked to hear that Mr Frederick buys the timber. He cheats Napoleon by paying with fake money – and Napoleon is furious when he finds out. The commandment: “No animal shall kill any other animal” is changed to “No animal shall kill any other animal without cause”. Mr Frederick and his men attack the farm with the purpose of destroying the windmill. They blow it up with explosives but the animals manage to chase them off. IMPORTANT FACTS: Trade, the battle of the Windmill and alcohol The commandment stating: “No animal shall drink alcohol” is changed to “ No animal shall drink alcohol to excess”. They find Squealer in the barn with a paintbrush. But don’t realise he changed it. The animals blame their poor ability to recall exactly what the commandments originally said and do not challenge the change. The Battle of the Windmill is also commemorated along with the Battle of the Cowshed. Napoleon now goes by several titles and the pigs continue to praise him. The pigs discover a case of whiskey in the basement of the farmhouse. They drink it all and the next morning Squealer announces that Napoleon may be dying – because they are unfamiliar with the effects of alcohol abuse.

9. Animal Farm: chapter 9 Who? Boxer; Clover; Benjamin; the dogs; Squealer; Napoleon; Moses; the sheep Where? Animal Farm What? The rule is established that animals must make way for Napoleon when he passes through. The pigs must wear green ribbons on their tails on Sundays. Pigs get barley at supper. Materials are bought for the building of a school room. The animals start rebuilding the windmill, but their energy and motivation is low. There is less food on the farm than when Jones was there. Squealer convinces them they are better off than when Jones was there and they are more free. Pigs get pints of beer. The farm is proclaimed a republic and Napoleon is elected as its president. Animals believe Snowball was on Jones’ side. Moses reappears on the farm and joins the pigs in the farmhouse. The animals are now working like slaves, but Moses still encourages them with talk of Sugar Candy Mountain – a place where they will be free live in comfort. IMPORTANT FACTS: No retirement – Napoleon doesn’t keep his word Boxer healed, but was unable to work as hard as before. He works towards retirement, but gets ill and is sold to the glue boiler. Benjamin reads the sign on the van and knows Boxer is going to be killed – warns the other animals but they are too late to save him. Squealer convinces the animals that Boxer died peacefully in an animal hospital. A memorial banquet is held in honour of Boxer, but only the pigs celebrate with food and drink. The money Napoleon got for selling Boxer is used to buy a crate of whiskey for the pigs.

10. Animal Farm: chapter 10 Who? Clover; Benjamin; Moses; Napoleon; Squealer; Mr Pilkington; the pigs Where? Animal Farm again becomes Manor Farm – the farm yard, the farmhouse What? Squealer says pigs and dogs do important work for the farm and therefore deserve better treatment. The animals accept this and carry on working hard. They still believe in the goals of the rebellion – that humans must be avoided and animals must be equal. Many animals have died and few remember the rebellion. The windmill is now used to mill corn for profit and it does not reduce the animals’ workload. Only the pigs, the dogs and Moses live comfortable lives with enough to eat. Squealer takes the sheep elsewhere and teaches them a new line to bleat: “Four legs good, two legs better.” Clover sees Squealer walk on two legs first, then the other pigs also do the same. Napoleon carries a whip in his trotter when he walks around the yard. The pigs look more and more like humans. IMPORTANT FACTS: Back to the beginning – everything is the same The pigs invite the neighbouring farmers. Mr Pilkington toasts Napoleon’s excellent management of the farm and getting better production with fewer food rations. He says they can all learn from Animal Farm. The animals on the farm will no longer pay homage Old Major, or call each other comrade, or raise the flag. Napoleon changes the farm’s name back to Manor Farm. The pigs and farmers play cards, drink, argue while the other animals peer through the window. They cannot see the difference between the pigs and the humans – the look and act the same. Benjamin reads the last commandment: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Napoleon starts wearing Mr Jones’ clothing, smoking a pipe, using the telephone.