James Williams
Mrs. Henslee
Period: 2
11-28-2014
Sparknotes Report: Animal Farm Animal Farm by George Orwell is about the oppression and disgruntled feelings of the animals on a farm. Old Major, a boar, gathers the animals in the barn for a meeting. He tells them of a dream he had where all animals lived together with no humans to oppress them. He tells the animals they must work together for his dream to be fulfilled. Unfortunately, three nights later he dies. Three pigs, Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer, take over for him and formulate Old Majors principles into Animalism. Late one night, the animals defeat the farmer, Mr. Jones, in a battle, running him off the farm. They then rename the property Animal Farm and work to achieve Old Major’s dream. In the beginning, Animal Farm is prosperous. Snowball begins teaching the animals how to read and Napoleon teaches a group of young puppies about Animalism. Mr. Jones returns to take back the farm but the animals are able to defeat him once again. However, as time goes on, Snowball and Napoleon quarrel over how the farm will be run in the future and struggle for power over the other animals. Snowball concocts a plan to build an electric-generated windmill but Napoleon opposes the plan. During a speech, the puppies Napoleon took to “educate” burst into the barn and chase Snowball from the farm. Napoleon then takes complete control of the farm and tells the animals he is in control. Napoleon then decides it is a good idea to build a windmill and the animals devote their time to completing the windmill. However, after a storm the windmill is destroyed. Napoleon blames Snowball and says he sabotaged the windmill. Napoleon then rounds up all the animals that supposedly participated in Snowball’s conspiracy and sentence them to death at the teeth of the attack dogs. Mr. Frederick, a neighboring farmer, cheats Napoleon in the purchase of timber and destroys the windmill with dynamite. A battle then ensues and the animals rout the farmers. However, Boxer, a hardworking carthorse, is gravely injured and Napoleon sells him to a glue maker in order to get more money for whisky. As the years go by, the pigs start acting more and more like humans. Animalism rules and “commandments” are thrown away and one rule remains which reads, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Napoleon changes the farm name back to Manor Farm claiming this name is the “correct” name. Looking through the farmhouse window, the common animals can’t tell which ones are pigs and which ones are the humans. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair, a novelist whose criticisms of political oppression brought him fame toward the middle of the twentieth century. He was born in 1903 in India to a British colonist. Orwell received an education at different private schools but his experiences with snobbishness at these schools made him suspicious of the class system in English society. He spoke openly against the excess of governments in both the east and west and began fighting for the socialist cause. His main novel, Animal Farm, was written to show people the oppression that dictators bring into a country. Orwell died on January 21, 1950 in a London hospital. The time of Animal Farm is largely unidentified throughout the novel. However, it is assumed that Orwell meant the story to be based on the satire of the Russian Revolution.