Animal Farm (originally Animal Farm: A Fairy Story) is a satirical, allegorical, dystopian novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It follows the mistreated anthropomorphized farm animals of Manor Farm as they rebel against their human master, and hope to create a utopian society. However, the rebellion is hijacked and betrayed, and under the dictatorship of the pigs, the farm ends up in a dystopian state nearly identical to what it had been before.
According to Orwell, Animal Farm was inspired by events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, a period when Russia lived under the Marxist–Leninist ideology of Joseph Stalin. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Barcelona May Day conflicts between the POUM and Stalinist forces during the Spanish Civil War. In a letter to Yvonne Davet (a French writer), Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin (""), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946) wrote: "Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."
The original title of the novel was Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. American publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published in 1946. Other title variations include subtitles like "A Satire" and "A Contemporary Satire". Orwell suggested the title for the French translation, which abbreviates to "URSA", the Latin word for "bear", a symbol of Russia. It also played on the French name of the Soviet Union, .
Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, when the United Kingdom was in its wartime alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and the British intelligentsia held Stalin in high esteem, which Orwell hated. The manuscript was initially rejected by several British and American publishers, including one of Orwell's own, Victor Gollancz, which delayed its publication. It became a great commercial success when it did appear; international relations and public opinion had transformed as the wartime alliance gave way to the Cold War.
Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005); it also appeared at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels, and number 46 on the BBC's The Big Read poll. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996, and is included in the Great Books of the Western World selection.
Plot summary The animal populace of Manor Farm near Willingdon, England, is neglected at the hands of the irresponsible and alcoholic farmer Mr. Jones. One night, the exalted boar Old Major holds a conference, at which he calls for the overthrow of humans and teaches the animals a revolutionary song called "Beasts of England". When Old Major dies, two young adult boars, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and stage a revolt, driving out Mr. Jones and renaming the property "Animal Farm". The animals adopt the Seven Commandments of Animalism, a condensed version of Old Major's teachings, the most important of which is "All animals are equal". These rules are painted in large letters on one side of the barn. Snowball teaches the animals to read and write, while Napoleon educates young puppies on the principles of Animalism separately from the rest of the farm. To commemorate the start of Animal Farm, Snowball raises a flag with a white hoof and horn symbol made from Mrs. Jones' green tablecloth. Food is plentiful, and the farm runs smoothly. The pigs elevate themselves to positions of leadership and set aside special food items, ostensibly for their health. Following an unsuccessful attempt by Mr. Jones and his associates to retake the farm, henceforth referred to by the animals as the "Battle of the Cowshed", Snowball announces his plans to modernise the farm by building a windmill. Napoleon disputes this idea, and matters come to a head, which culminates in Napoleon's dogs chasing Snowball away and Napoleon effectively assuming supreme command.
Napoleon enacts changes to the political structure of the farm, replacing meetings with a committee of governing pigs. Old Major's skull is also exhumed and put on display. Through a diminutive boar named Squealer, who is a skilled orator, Napoleon claims credit for the idea of building the windmill, claiming that Snowball was only trying to win animals to his side. The animals work harder with the promise of easier lives with the windmill. When the windmill collapses after a violent storm due to its thin walls, Napoleon and Squealer persuade the animals that Snowball is trying to sabotage their project, and begin to purge the farm of animals accused by Napoleon of consorting with his old rival. When some animals recall the Battle of the Cowshed, Napoleon, who was not present during the battle, gradually smears Snowball to the point of saying he is a collaborator of Mr. Jones while falsely representing himself as the main hero of the battle. "Beasts of England" is banned, while an anthem glorifying Napoleon ("Comrade Napoleon") is composed and sung. Napoleon then conducts a second purge, during which many animals who are alleged to be helping Snowball in plots are executed by Napoleon's dogs, which troubles the rest of the animals. Despite their hardships, the animals are easily pacified by Squealer's retort that they are better off than they were under Mr. Jones (along with his accompanying false data), as well as by the sheep's continual bleating of "four legs good, two legs bad". As Napoleon, Squealer, and the other pigs gradually adopt a human-like lifestyle and repeatedly break the Seven Commandments, they secretly rewrite the laws to avoid facing resistance.
Mr. Frederick, a neighbouring farmer, attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up the restored windmill. Although the animals win the battle, they do so at great cost, as many, including Boxer the workhorse, are wounded. Although he recovers from this, Boxer eventually collapses while working on the windmill due to his age. After long sickness, he is taken away in a knacker's van, and a donkey called Benjamin alerts the animals of this, but Squealer quickly waves off their alarm by persuading the animals that the van had been purchased from the knacker by an animal hospital and that the previous owner's signboard had not been repainted. Squealer subsequently reports Boxer's death and honours him with a festival the following day, while, in truth, Napoleon had engineered the sale of Boxer to the knacker, allowing him and his inner circle to acquire money to buy whisky for themselves, which they used to celebrate the following night.
Years pass, the windmill is rebuilt, and a second windmill is constructed, which makes the farm a good amount of income. However, the ideals that Snowball discussed—including stalls with electric lighting, heating, and running water, along with a three-day work week for all animals—are forgotten, with Napoleon now advocating that the happiest animals live simple lives. Snowball himself has been forgotten too, while Boxer is remembered by only his friends. Many of the animals who participated in the rebellion are dead or old. Mr. Jones is known to have died in an inebriates' home. The pigs now resemble humans: they walk bipedally, carry whips, drink alcohol, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are abridged to just one phrase: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". The maxim "Four legs good, two legs bad" is similarly changed to "Four legs good, two legs better". The Hoof and Horn symbol is removed from the green banner, and Old Major's skull is reburied.
Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and newly allied human farmers. The other farm animals, who have not been invited, gather at the window to watch. He abolishes the practice of the revolutionary traditions and restores the property's name to "Manor Farm". He explains to the guests that, contrary to what has been told to the animals of the farm, the "lesser" animals are working more hours and receiving less food; a practice the other farmers commend and plan to institute with their own farms. The men and pigs start playing cards, quickly descending into conflict when both sides cheat. When the animals outside look at the pigs and men, they find they have become indistinguishable from one another.
Characters
Pigs Old Major – An aged prize Middle White boar who provides the inspiration that fuels the rebellion. He is also called Willingdon Beauty when showing. He is an allegorical combination of Karl Marx, one of the creators of communism, and Vladimir Lenin, the communist leader of the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet nation, in that he draws up the principles of the revolution. His skull being put on revered public display recalls Lenin, whose embalmed body was left in indefinite repose at Lenin's Mausoleum. By the end of the book, the skull is reburied. Napoleon – An intimidating, manipulative Berkshire boar who becomes the leader of Animal Farm after driving out Snowball and gradually starts living like a human. Despite his name, he is an allegory of Joseph Stalin. Snowball – A boar and Napoleon's rival, who initially leads the farm after Jones's overthrow. His life parallels that of Leon Trotsky; although there is no reference to Snowball having been murdered (as Trotsky was), he is exiled from the farm and subsequently becomes an image of evil. He may also combine some elements from Lenin. Squealer – A small, stout boar who serves as Napoleon's second-in-command and minister of propaganda, is a collective portrait of the Soviet nomenklatura and journalists, such as of the national daily Pravda (The Truth), able to justify every twist and turn in Stalin's policy. Minimus – A poetic pig who writes the second national anthem of Animal Farm after the singing of "Beasts of England" is banned; later he composes a poem "Comrade Napoleon". Literary theorist John Rodden compares him to the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, who eulogised Lenin and the Soviet Union, although Mayakovsky neither wrote anthems nor praised Stalin in his poems. The piglets – Hinted to be the children of Napoleon and are the first generation of animals subjugated to his idea of animal inequality. The young pigs – Four pigs who complain about Napoleon's takeover of the farm but are quickly silenced and later executed, the first kind of animals killed in Napoleon's farm purge. Probably based on the Great Purge of Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin, and Alexei Rykov. Pinkeye – A pig who is mentioned only when he was given the task of tasting Napoleon's food to make sure it is not poisoned.
Humans Mr. Jones – A heavy drinker who is the original owner of Manor Farm, a farm in disrepair with farmhands who often loaf on the job. He is an allegory of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, who was forced to abdicate following the February Revolution of 1917 and was executed, along with the rest of his family, by the Bolsheviks on 17 July 1918. The animals revolt after Jones goes on a drinking binge, returns hungover the following day and neglects them completely. Jones is married, but his wife plays no active role in the book. She seems to live with her husband's drunkenness, going to bed while he stays up drinking until late into the night. In her only other appearance, she hastily throws a few things into a travel bag and flees when she sees that the animals are revolting. Towards the end of the book, Napoleon's "favourite sow" wears her old Sunday dress.