Plot Overview

In the novel Animal Farm there are animals on

the farm that speak and communicate like
humans. these animals go through constant
abuse such as starvation and over working
without any breaks which is ordered by
Mr.Jones who is the owner of the farm. The
animals soon grew tiresome of this constant
abuse and decided to rebel against Mr.Jones
and they ended up taking the farm over. The
animals finally had the freedom they wished for
but problems came just like when Mr. Jones
came back with other farmers to try and take
back the farm but failed. Then their Seven
Commandments were created along with other
sets of rules. All was well until the animals
started to turn on each other. The pig that goes
by Squealer forced himself into power. He
broke a lot of rules. One rule was never to kill
another animal but Squealer neglected this rule
and killed any animal who stood in his way or
said anything unwanted behind his back. When
the animals took over the farm and began their
own leadership they were promised they would
never have to worry about hunger or abuse. As
the novel proceeded towards the end those
promises became more and more faulty. The
pigs were the more intelligent animals on the
farm so everything they made up or said was
abided by never questioned. Squealer and
Snowball forced their way into power and
basically replaced Mr.Jones instead of being
better leaders. In order for themselves to be
satisfied and have more than enough food for
themselves they starved the rest of the animals
which is a promise turned into a lie. The
animals were far overworked making them
overwhelmed which made so speak out but
they were killed because they disagreed with
their new leadership. In the beginning humans
were despised and loathed by the animals but

About the Author

George Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair,
was born June 25, 1903. He wrote
mostly political books about dystopias or
satire. He had two wives, both of which
died while they were married to him.
George Orwell's writing inspired many,
many other famous authors.

Novel Notes
Animal Farm
George Orwell
Eduardo Dominguez
April, 25th, 2016

Essential Quotes
Four legs good, two legs bad (Orwell, 59).

Historical Context
The story takes place in England where all
animals face hunger and abuse. The animals
are sick of this and form a rebellion. The novel
is very political because soon the animals take
over the farm and at first it seems like a good
idea but after a while the democracy that the
animals had set up extends into a dictatorship
without the animals noticing because they are
too oblivious or be quiet in order to stay alive.
This novel is also based on Stalin (Napoleon)
and Leon Trotsky (Snowball) and the retelling
the story of the emergence and development of
the Soviet communism in the form of an animal
community. It shows the struggle for struggle
between Stalin and Leon which is presented as
the conflict between Napoleon and Snowball.

All animals are equal, but some animals are

more equal than others (54).

Orwell, George. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. New

York, NY: Signet Classics, 1996. Print.

towards the end the leaders began dressing

and acting like humans. They even took it a
step further and began interacting with them.
The farm had doing everything but improve in
quality. The animals were denied freedom due
to needy dictators. Before the animals were
able to depict on what was going on it was far
too late.

Character Analysis

Identify each major character in the novel.

Describe the most import traits that characterize
this person. (Speech, Thoughts, Effects on other,
Action, Looks)

Napoleon is one of the most

intelligent pigs on the farm. Since the
other animals know him to be this
intelligent they follow him as he appoints
himself leader but he is very cruel while
he leads them to starvation and
exhaustion.
Jones is a drunk farmer that
doesnt care for the well-being of his
animals on the farm. He starves the
animals and makes them continue
working even though exhaustion is upon
them. Due to his lack of attention and
care to the animals they chase him off
the farm. He returns later with some
other farmers and is also defeated.
Major was an older pig who was
incredibly wise, the wisest pig on the
farm. Before he passed away he gave
his vision of what the farm should be like
to the other animals on the farm. The
animals listened to him because they
could see he truly cared and didnt want
to see any other animals continue to be
slaughtered.
Snowball was an original leader
on the farm. He was the one who set up
a certain system to keep human
interactions to a halt. He was a very
intelligent pig that wanted the absolute
most out of the farm. He lead the
animals to a victory in the Battle of
Cowshed. But was eventually betrayed
by Napoleon.
Boxer is a dull witted and dense
hard working horse who always follows
through on his assignments. His answer

Themes

Motifs and Symbols

Identify and analyze some of the significant themes

in the novel.

Identify and interpret some of the major motifs and

symbols in the novel.

A theme demonstrated in the novel shows that

the naive lower class were oblivious to the
corruption going on in their government, which
in turn gives the leader more incentive to be
more corrupt.
Napoleon started to lie to the other animals
saying the crops are at a low and starves them
just as if Mr. Jones was running the farm again.
This is a theme of wool being pulled over
peoples eyes as they do not look into what
Napoleon says.
Towards the end of the story Napoleon has
completely abandoned the rules made in the
beginning of the stories by sharing drinks with
humans and basically lived like humans
accepting all their customs. While the lower
class animals are starving and exhausted. By
the end nothing has changed and the rebellion
was for nothing.
Napoleon twist and distorts his wrong doings
to justify their behavior and keep the other
animals in the dark. The pigs begin twisting Old
Major's words making the other animals feel as
if they cant oppose anything the pigs say
without crossing the rules of the Rebellion.

The Animal Farm- It represents Russia and the

Soviet Union under communist rule. Mostly it
stands as any other human society because it
composes of a structure of a nation, as it has a
working class, police class, and a government.
The Windmill- This windmill represents the pigs
manipulation of the other animals. They exploit
the other animals by making them do back
breaking work with little to gain from completing
the windmill but the pigs gain power from it.
Sugarcandy Mountain- This represented hope
for the animals because this was only freedom
they had. This was a safe haven for the animals
because the rebellion was thought of but wasnt
executed yet and wasnt saw to happen soon.

for any wrong doing or anything he cant

figure is how he will work harder.