Animal Farm By George Orwell

1. Animal FarmBy George Orwell JD Walker

2. Plot Summery • Animal Farm begins with a very drunk Mr. Jones (owner of Manor Farm) doing a really crumby job of, you know, his job. The neglected animals listen to a wise old pig, old Major, who encourages them all to rebel and run the farm themselves. Above all, he says, everyone should be equal. Then he dies. The animals do rebel, and the pigs, being the smartest animals, naturally take the leadership role. There is some immediate conflict between two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon wants to sit around and be in charge of everything, while Snowball wants to teach the other animals and build a windmill. Napoleon uses nine ferocious and enormous dog to become the All Powerful Dominant Boss Leader Chief Pig. So Snowball is out of the picture, which is convenient for blaming everything on him.  The pigs exploit the other animals shamelessly, breaking all the rules that they had established after the Rebellion. Things fall apart: life on the farm gets worse and worse, the animals forget old Major’s original dream, and the pigs make some poor management decisions when dealing with the neighboring farms. The culminating miserable moment comes when the pigs send Boxer, a hardworking and loyal horse who is ready for retirement, to his death.

3. Liked • It was an entertaining story • Easy, quick read

4. Didn’t Like • The Pigs • Mr. Jones never gets his farm back

5. Protagonist • There is no clear central character in the novel, but Napoleon, the leader, is the figure who drives and ties together most of the action.

6. Antagonist • Mr. Jones • Napoleon • The Pigs

7. Settings • A Farm In England • Nothing is given to determine time

8. Theme • but all of them are expressions of the underlying tension between the exploited and exploiting classes and between the lofty ideals and harsh realities of socialism.

9. Conflicts • animals versus Mr. Jones • Snowball versus Napoleon • the common animals versus the pigs • Animal Farm versus the neighboring humans

10. Rising Action • The animals throw off their human oppressors and establish a socialist state called Animal Farm; the pigs, being the most intelligent animals in the group, take control of the planning and government of the farm; Snowball and Napoleon engage in ideological disputes and compete for power.

11. Climax • In Chapter V, Napoleon runs Snowball off the farm with his trained pack of dogs and declares that the power to make decisions for the farm will be exercised solely by the pigs.

12. Falling Action • Squealer emerges to justify Napoleon’s actions with skillful reinterpretations of Animalist principles; Napoleon continues to consolidate his power, eliminating his enemies and reinforcing his status as supreme leader; the common animals continue to obey the pigs, hoping for a better future.

13. Point Of View • The story is told from the point of view of the common animals of Animal Farm, though it refers to them in the third person plural as “they.”

14. Is It a Classic? • Yes, this book has been translated into seventy languages and sold millions of copies throughout the world • Made into an illustrated movie

15. Works Cited • http://books.google.com/books/about/Animal_farm.html?id=SGAZdjNfruYC