This remarkable book was written by George Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, and it is about the lives of farm animals who rebel against humans. The animals live on Manor Farm and are owned by Mr. Jones, who always seems to be drunk. The leader of the animals was an old pig named Old Major who one day had a dream about being free from the oppression of man. One evening, Old Major assembled the animals of Manor Farm and talked to them about how they live hard, short lives in slavery to the humans and that they should rebel and become free.
Old Major got the idea from a song which came to him in a dream, Beasts of England, that was sung when he was a young pig. The song talked about the animals being free one day. No one knew when the rebellion that Old Major talked about would happen, especially after Old Major died three days after the meeting. The pigs, who were the smartest of the animals, picked the two most pre-eminent pigs to assume the leadership role that Old Major left. The two pigs names were Snowball and Napoleon. These two pigs got together and organized all of Old Major’s thoughts into a system called Animalism.
This was taught at night during secret meetings that were held in the big barn and the animals slowly learned it. Then one midsummer’s eve, the animals rebelled against Mr. Jones and his men because they had not been fed the whole day. This was not a planned attack, but the animals succeeded and kicked Mr. Jones and his men out. The animals were free. The next morning the animals set up rules, The Seven Commandments, and changed the name of the farm from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. Then the animals went out in the field to gather the hay and did it more quickly than Jones and his men ever did.
It was also the biggest harvest they had ever seen because there was absolutely no waste. Boxer, a large horse, was a great asset to the animals because he worked as hard as three horses put together and he kept pushing himself harder and harder. Rieland 2 The animals heard that Jones might return and try to recapture the farm, so the animals started preparing for an attack. Then one day they saw Jones and his men marching up to Animal Farm with sticks and a gun ready to take over Animal Farm. Snowball, who was the leader of the animals, had studied the campaigns of Julius Caesar and formed battle plans from them.
The animals eventually won, but they did not go unscathed. Snowball got wounded and some other animals got killed. The animals held a memorial service in their honor and sang The Beasts of England several times. Winter came, and it was a harsh one. During the winter, Snowball came up with a plan for electricity and heat from a book he found in the house. The idea was to build a windmill that could provide power for the animals. Napoleon and Snowball disagreed on this issue just like they did on every issue. When it came time for the animals to vote on if they should work on the windmill or not, both pigs got up and made speeches.
During Snowballs speech, Napoleon whistled and nine enormous dogs rushed into the room right towards Snowball. He escaped after the dogs chased him off the farm. Napoleon assumed the leadership role that Snowball left behind. The spring came and the animals started plowing the fields. Napoleon announced that they were going to build the windmill after all and that it would require extra work and maybe less rations. All the animals agreed that they should work on the windmill, even though it will take two years to build.
The animals were now working sixty hours a week and the harvest was less successful this year. The animals were also working on the windmill by hauling rocks up the hill to the site where the windmill is going to be. The animals worked harder than when Snowball was their leader, but they thought that just because of the extra task of building the windmill. Napoleon manipulated their thoughts and told them that some of the things that Snowball taught never happened and started changing the commandments behind their backs. Autumn came and the animals were tired, but happy.
They had a decent supply of food and supplies, but the windmill was about halfway done so that compensated for everything. Later on in November, the windmill was blown over by the strong winds which made the animals mad. Napoleon blamed Snowball for making the tower collapse. He told them that they will work through the winter and Rieland 3 through whatever weather there is. Winter came and it was a bitter one. They decided to take extra precautions in order to make the windmill more sturdy, so they made the walls an extra three feet thick.
Napoleon then blamed Snowball for everything that went wrong and Napoleon erased the animals minds of the good things that he did for the animals. Later on Napoleon assembled all the animals and killed a bunch of them who admitted to be followers of Snowball. The animals were terrified by seeing their own comrades die, but soon got over it. That year, the animals worked harder then the last and it seemed that rations were getting smaller, but Napoleon told them that everything was increasing. The animals believed him and went on working harder than ever.
There were rumors going around that Jones was going to come and attack the farm again, so the animals started preparing for an attack. The morning came and Jones and his men attacked. This time there were fifteen men and there were six guns between the lot of them. This battle was a lot tougher than the first battle against Jones. Jones’ men forced the animals to retreat into the barn, and then Jones and his men destroyed the windmill with dynamite. The animals were devastated and put to shame. The animals worked on the windmill harder and harder as time went on.
Rations kept getting smaller and smaller, and the animals still thought that things were better than when Jones was around. The pigs were still ruling over all the animals and were becoming more and more tyrannical over all the other animals. Napoleon had little piglets and built a school house for them and rose them separately from the rest of the animals. Napoleon was elected President of the Republic and now he held celebrations in his honor once every week. Boxer was the hardest working animal on the farm. He was working one day and he burst a lung. The animals hauled him to the barn to rest while they called for an ambulance.
The ambulance came to take Boxer to the hospital, but when it was leaving with Boxer in it, one of the animals read it and it said that it was a butcher truck. Three days later it was said that Boxer died in the animal hospital. Years passed and seasons came and went, and no one really remembered the days of Jones. Animals died and Snowball was forgotten. The windmill was built and it was not used for electricity, but Rieland 4 instead for machines that would help out with farm chores. The animals were generally hungry, they slept on straw mats, and drank from a pool.
The older animals tried to remember if things were worse than in the beginning days of the rebellion, but they could not remember because they had nothing to compare it to. The pigs then said that all animals were equal, but some more equal than others. The pigs started walking on their hind legs and carrying a whip in their hands. They invited humans to come and look at the farm and admire what the pigs have done to Animal Farm. Then Napoleon told the humans that the farm was now to be called Manor Farm, once again, and that he was abolishing the name Animal Farm.
The other animals on the farm looked at the humans, then at the pigs, and they could not tell the difference between the two. This is the story of Animal Farm. I thought that this book displayed the many ways that power can corrupt the lives of people. You start off with a great idea that everyone likes, then someone becomes greedy and destroys it for everyone. I think that this book shows us, as Christians, to think not of ourselves so much, but of the needs of others or the well-being of everyone else.
