2. PLOT SUMMARY
A group of animals live on the Manor Farm of Mr. Jones. One
day Old Major, a prize-winning boar gathers all the
animals in the barn. He reveals to them a dream he has
had the night before in which animals live alone on the
farm and aren’t under the control of human beings. He
declares that a rebellion should one day come and
teaches the animals a song called “Beasts of England”.
The day of the rebellion comes and all animals
successfully force Mr. Jones to leave the Farm. The pigs
Napoleon and Snowball become leaders of the animals.
They manage to create their own society with rules,
inscribed on the barn wall, and establish a principle called
Animalism. Boxer, a cart-horse, is the strongest and the
most hard-working animal on the farm who has a maxim of
his own – I will work harder. Mr. Jones makes an attempt
to recapture the farm but the animals win the so-called
“Battle of the cowshed”. Then Snowball decides that
animals should build a Windmill. Napoleon opposes the
idea at first but then his dogs attack Snowball and it turns
out that the idea had actually been his own. The Windmill
is build and rebuilt many times until it is finally dynamited
by the humans in a battle with the animals. Suddenly
animals start having contacts with humans and other
farms. They gradually become similar to human beings. In
the end the other animals can’t tell pigs from humans.
3. MAIN CHARACTERS
Napoleon - The pig who emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion.
Snowball - The pig who challenges Napoleon for control of Animal Farm after the
Rebellion.
Boxer - The cart-horse whose incredible strength, dedication, and loyalty play a key role
in the early prosperity of Animal Farm and the later completion of the windmill
Squealer - The pig who spreads Napoleon’s propaganda among the other animals.
Old Major - The prize-winning boar whose vision of a socialist utopia serves as the
inspiration for the Rebellion.
4. THEMES AND MOTIFS
The book is popularly known as a
critique of the history of the
Russian Revolution. Animal
Farm allegorizes the rise to
power of Joseph Stalin. The
struggle for preeminence
between Leon Trotsky and
Stalin emerges in the rivalry
between the pigs and Snowball.
Animal farm is filled with songs,
poems and slogans. They serve
as a propaganda, one of the
major conduits of social control.
5. CONFLICTS
In the very beginning of the book the
main conflict seems to be between
the “hard-working animals” and the
“tyrannical human beings”. But in
the developed plot we start to
notice an internal conflict between
all animals on the Manor farm.
Which secretly reveals signs of
discrimination. “The Comrades” are
divided on “brainworkers” and
“working class animals”. An often
happening is the pigs to somehow
succeed in persuading rebel
animals in their mutual equality.
That should certainly be considered
as the main conflict which goes
through the whole storyline.
6. SYMBOLS
Animal Farm stands for human society- no matter whether it’s communistic,
democratic or socialistic. It possesses the internal structure of a nation, with a
government (the pigs), a police force or army (the dogs), a working class (the
other animals), and state holidays and rituals. The Barn is a symbol of the
collective memory of a modern nation. The great windmill symbolizes the pigs’
manipulation of the other animals for their own gain
7. PERSONAL REVIEW
When I first saw the title of this book I expected that it would something like
a fable or even a parable which would describe a human society where
people acted like beasts. After I have read the first chapter of the book I
was a little bit… let’s say shocked. Talking animals – that seemed
absolutely peculiar to me. Of course I have read many ‘childish’ books
about talking animals. Thinking for a moment that I couldn’t have
started to read a book similar to those I’ve read in my childhood I read
the rest of the book. I quickly followed the author’s thoughts and
managed to catch his main idea. The telltale thing in it was the book
cover on which was written the year of writing that book. Animal farm
was a curious storyline but I won't assert that it's a compelling book. I
personally am not fond of such types of books. To me criminalistic
novels are the best. In my opinion, Arthur Conan Doyles's book “The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” is one of the world's top criminal
stories
