Animal Farm by

George Orwell
Literary Analysis
Ailsa-Isobel Furneaux-McIntyre
My Novel Choice
I chose to read and base my summer work on a
dystopian novel that was not part of the list; Animal
Farm by George Orwell. Animal Farm is a book to
me that always came to mind when I thought of
dystopian literature and is a book, I have always
wanted to read but never seemed to get round to. I
chose it because I felt it would be a perfect
introduction into the world of dystopian literature
for me which is a genre I have not really explored
before now. I also chose this book with the
curriculum we will be studying over the next two
years in mind as I know 1984 by George Orwell is
one of our set books, I felt it would be helpful for
me to get an introduction to his work and writing
style before begging to study another of his novels
in more depth.
 Plot Synopsis
Animal Farm is a short dystopian novel by The commandments are as follows: He and the other pigs slowly begin to
the well-known writer George Orwell. The adopt human mannerisms and indulge
story begins on Manor Farm where we are in the privileges and vices originally
introduced to the animals residing there reserved for humans; they slowly adapt
and their farmer – Mr. Jones. We learn the 7 commandments to fit their
quickly of the oppressive conditions the agenda. The pigs begin to manipulate
animals are subject to under Mr. Jones’ the other animals using propaganda,
leadership: minimal rations, tiresome Snowball is used by Napoleon as a
laborious work and of the abuse they scapegoat - anything negative that
suffer from him and his men – namely occurs on the farm is the fault of
Soon after the principles of Animalism Snowball, he is falsely vilified by the
regular lashings.
are introduced and taught to all the pigs in power. The animals suffer
animals by the pigs, the perfect greatly under Napoleons leadership,
Early in the first chapter we are
opportunity for a revolt arises. The they are overworked, underfed and live
introduced to ‘Old Major’ the farms prize
animals succeed in pushing Mr. Jones in constant fear. By the end of the
boar who is clearly well respected by all
off the farm and reclaiming it as their novella the pigs become almost
the animals. The story begins with Old
own. Initially the farm prospers under indistinguishable from the humans.
Major delivering a speech about a
all the animals' cooperative efforts, for
rebellion he dreamed of in which all
a while they live in harmony and are They replace the farms name which had
humans were eradicated, and a society
happier and healthier than they ever been changed to ’Animal Farm’ after
run by the animals was created.
have been. Two pigs, Snowball and the revolt, and it once again becomes
Napoleon who are as opposite as ‘The Manor Farm’ The animals then
He incites the animals to prepare for the
opposites can be, emerge as leaders. realise that their dream of equality has
day when they are to rebel against Mr.
After some time, a power struggle been betrayed by the very ones who
Jones and his oppressive leadership. Three
emerges between the two and paraded the utopia in the first place.
nights after he delivers his speech Old
Napoleon uses the force of 9 attack The novel ends with a chilling
Major dies peacefully in his sleep. Soon
dogs he trained in secret to oust observation by all the animals when
after Old Majors' death preparations for
Snowball from the farm and seize they look upon Napoleon and the other
the revolution come underway. The pigs
control. Napoleon slowly becomes pigs sat dining with the neighbouring
who are “generally recognised as… the
increasingly authoritarian and becomes human farmers and realise that
 Characters in Animal Farm

Napoleo Old
Snowball Squealer
n Major

Benjami Moses
Clover Boxer
n

Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr.

Jones Pilkington Whymper Frederick
Napoleon
•Napoleon is the primary antagonist of the
novella and is based on the Russian leader
Joseph Stalin. He is described as a ’Large,
fierce looking, Berkshire boar’. His character
begins the novel appearing to be firm supporter
of old majors' ideology of animalism. However,
soon after the revolution succeeds, he promptly
declares himself leader of the farm, driving out
snowball and defaming him as a traitor to the
other animals.
•Like Stalin, Napoleon uses military force (the
nine pups he stole from the farm dogs and
trained in secret) to gain and consolidate his
power and control the other animals. By the end
of the book, we view Napoleon as a dictator
rather than a socialist leader. This view is
solidified by his adjustment of the final
commandment to read ‘All animals are equal/
Snowball
•In Animal Farm, Snowball’s character is largely
based off Leon Trotsky who was Joseph Stalin's
key political opponent following the Russian
revolution of 1917. Leon Trotsky believed in a
‘permanent revolution’ and supported the idea of
continuous revolutionary efforts. Like Trotsky,
Snowball too proposes many good ideas for the
development of the new animal led society, for
example, allowing more free time alongside work
and promoting teamwork between all the animals
during working hours. Assigning different tasks
based on each animals' natural strengths and
allowing for more free time in which the animals
would be allowed to read and converse outside of
work. Snowball – like Trotsky - was a visionary
who turned the teachings of Old Major into the
concepts of Animalism and again just like Leon
Trotsky he was betrayed by Napoleon (Stalin) and
exiled from the farm (Soviet Union).
Squealer
•In animal farm squealer’s character is used to
manipulate the other farm animals into
supporting napoleon by spreading propaganda
and disinformation on the farm. He is extremely
persuasive and clever and ends up becoming
Napoleons second in command and while
Napoleon very rarely appears to speak to the
animal's squealer is sent to act as a messenger
pigeon between the animals and napoleon.
Orwell has used his character to represent
propaganda in a Stalin led Russia and specifically
the relationship between Stalin and the soviet
newspaper ‘Pravda”, during his leadership Stalin
hid behind a wall of propaganda, specifically the
Pravda as he couldn’t share his open views for
fear of loosing support. This is reflected in
Animal Farm as Napoleon hides behind Squealer.
Old Major
•In the story Old Major is the farms prize boar
(also called a Willingdon Beauty) and is one of
the key characters in the novel. He is well
respected by all the animals on the farm and his
wisdom is greatly revered, in the beginning of
the story he proposes a way for the animals to
end their plight on manor farm by rebelling
against Mr. Jones and his men and driving them
off the farm. He proposes humans as their one
true enemy and shares with them his dream of a
world without humans, he is the one who lights
the fire for the rebellion. In the novel he is
supposed to represent the communist views of
Karl Marx.
Benjamin
•Benjamin is seen as the worst tempered and
oldest animal on the farm, his character takes no
sides throughout the novel and remains cynical
in all situations whether good or bad. He is one
of the few animals that lives to see right through
the revolution from its beginning to its full circle
at the end. Being so old, he has an idea of the
’Unalterable Law Of Life’ and believes that no
matter what they do and what happens they will
always have to work until they die. Although he is
seen as bad tempered and cynical by all the other
animals, he does stay with boxer when he falls ill
and does his best to keep the flies off him and
protects him until he is taken away.
Clover
•Clover is presented as a motherly figure who
takes care of all the animals on the farm and
especially Boxer, the way Orwell uses language
to describe her makes her feel quite human and I
feel this was a deliberate effort on his part to
humanize the animals in the story so we as
readers can relate to their plight more acutely.
He describes her as “a stout motherly mare,
approaching middle life who never quite got her
figure back after her fourth foal”. Clover
symbolizes the women of the Russian revolution
who took care of the destitute and desolate
children amid all the chaos, although clover
outwardly believed in Napoleon and his rule, at
times she was suspicious of his actions and
inwardly questioned his power so when she
discovers the true extent of his betrayal at the
end of the book it comes as a shock to her.
Boxer
•Boxer is described as extremely hard working, but a naïve
and ignorant cart horse, he is undeniably the farm’s most
loyal and dedicated laborer. As the strongest animal on the
farm, he could easily fight off the pigs and dogs however
being as he is so used to taking orders he never does try. He
doesn’t speak much in the book aside from his mantra’s of “I
must work harder” and “Napoleon is always right”.
Regardless of his obvious blind and unwavering loyalty to the
pigs, when he falls ill, they don’t try to help him but instead
betray him by selling him to the horse slaughterer to buy
more alcohol for themselves.
•Despite the animals having seen Boxer being taken away by
the horse slaughterer, the pigs go further in their disrespect
of him when Squealer arrives to tell the animals that the ‘vet’
they sent Boxer to unfortunately could not save him but that
he (Squealer) was present at Boxer’s death and that his last
words were “Long live Animal Farm, Long live Comrade
Napoleon!”. Through Boxer’s death, Orwell relays his idea of
the exploitation of the working class by those in power as well
as the death of idealism. His character represents the peasant
workers of Russia who were exploited under Tsar Nicholas II
Moses
•The character of moses is an interesting one
when I first read animal farm, I didn’t think much
of him in terms of his significance or what he
could represent however it's said that he is used
by Orwell to represent organized religion in
Russia during and after the revolution,
specifically the Russian orthodox church. He is
disliked by all the animals as he never works but
tells stories to them of a magical place called
sugarcandy mountain where they all go when
they die. Despite their dislike of him many of
them believe his stories of an animal paradise
after death. Orwell uses his character to
symbolize how communism exploits religion as
something with which to pacify the oppressed.
Mr. Jones
• Mr jones is a drunkard and the owner of Manor
Farm prior to the animal's rebellion, he is
modelled after Tsar Nicholas II and, like the
tsar, was outcast by his subjects – in this case,
the animals on the farm. He is shown as an
unsympathetic master who forces work on the
animals but never provides them with
adequate shelter, food or freedom.
Mr Pilkington
• Mr. Pilkington is the owner of Foxwood one of
the Manor/Animal Farm’s neighbouring farms,
in the novel he is depicted as an easy going
”gentleman farmer” who is more interested in
satisfying his hobbies and wants such as
fishing and hunting, than tending to his farm.
He is supposed to represent the British ruling
class and their capitalist interests and
pragmatism. His role in the book reflects how
Britain, despite initial hostility was willing to
cooperate with the soviet union only when it
served their interests e.g. Mr. Pilkington
cooperating with Napoleon when the
opportunity for a good trade deal arises.
Mr. Whymper
• Mr Whymper doesn’t play a large role in animal farm,
but his character is still relatively significant. He is
the solicitor hired by Napoleon as an ‘intermediary
between Animal Farm and the outside world.” He is
the very first human the pigs permit to have contact
with following the rebellion, being rather clever and
calculating through his dealings at Animal Farm, he
becomes considerably wealthy by the end of the novel.
His character is supposed to represent the capitalists
who got rich by doing business with the USSR.
Mr. Frederick
• Mr. Frederick is the shrewd, tough owner of
Animal Farm’s second neighbouring farm
Pinchfield. He's known for being deceitful and
ruthless and in the novel Orwell uses him to
represent Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. His
actions send a warning message of the dangers
of trusting similar figures and the betrayals
they often commit in alliances. Initially he
pretends to be an ally to Napoleon (Stalin) but
then cheats him by paying for his wood with
fake money and proceeding to attack animal
farm mirroring the role Hitler played in
betraying the Soviet Union in WW2.
The Themes
discussed in
Animal Farm:

The Dangers
Totalitarian Class
of
ism Structures
Propaganda
 Totalitarianis
What is totalitarianism? m
Totalitarianism is a political system in which a single party or leader holds complete control over
all aspects of their subject's life, including absolute control over the government, economy, media and
even people's thoughts and beliefs. Examples of totalitarian societies today include North Korea
and Russia, in regimes like these dissent is often brutally supressed, propaganda is widespread and
individual freedoms are usually non-existent. In these societies the government/leader usually holds
power through fear, surveillance and the manipulation of the truth.
To what extent is it a theme in animal farm and how?
Totalitarianism is the most central theme in animal farm as the novel satirically tells the story of
the Russian revolution and Stalin’s rise to power in the soviet union and his leadership following his
success. It very accurately depicts how these totalitarian regimes rise gradually and often do not occur
overnight, the development of a regular society into a totalitarian one mirrors the ‘frog in a frying pan’
analogy; the heat in the pan is turned up so gradually that the frog doesn’t notice it until it is too late to
escape.
Examples of this gradual takeover can be seen in the novel as early as when napoleon arises to declare
himself leader and ousts any potential opponents/threats e.g. Snowball, from the farm. Another key
aspect of the totalitarianism regime shown in the novel is the use of fear and violence to maintain
control, napoleon displays this in his use of his (Napoleon’s) 9 trained dogs which act as enforcers
and mirror the roles of the secret police and military force in other totalitarian regimes. The third
hallmark of a totalitarian society seen in Animal farm is the use of propaganda and manipulation to
subdue and control the animals, this aspect is most significantly presented through the character
and actions of Squealer who constantly revises history and manipulates the truth in order to maintain
Napoleons image and justify the actions of the pigs. Finally, we have the existence of a ‘cult of
personality’ appearing towards the end of the book regarding Napoleon, where he is glorified as the
 Class
What are class structures?
Structures
Class structures refer to how society is organised into different social groups/classes based on an
individuals’ personal wealth, educational status, occupation etc. In these structures certain
groups/classes or individuals will have more privileges, influence and resources while others will be
outcast and marginalised by those further up in the hierarchy.
To what extent is this a theme in animal farm and how?
In animal farm we see the theme of class structures presented throughout the novel both in Orwell’s
use of descriptive language and the story itself as the novella explores the gradual appearance of a
social hierarchy between the animals as the farm descends into totalitarianism underneath Napoleon’s
rule. In the beginning with the emergence of animalism (an allegory for communism) as a concept
all the animals strive to live by, we see their commitment towards trying to create a classless society
however as Orwell subtly points out in his writing when describing the animals on the farm - this is almost
impossible, for all the animals have different qualities and characteristics some of them being naturally
cleverer, or stronger or more hardworking than others. Gradually this idea of a classless society
deteriorates as the pigs, who assume the leadership roles on the farm and begin to distinguish
themselves as the superior class while strong hardworking animals such as boxer become
distinguished as the working class and shoulder the largest burden of labour. Once Snowball is ousted
a hierarchical class system becomes more and more distinguished with the pigs being recognised as the
upper class and every other animal being seen as beneath them, the pigs enjoy superior living conditions,
food, and resources and begin to make decisions without consulting the other animals. Boxer, the
champion of the working class is exploited by the pigs for his labour and despite his unwavering
loyalty and admirable work ethic when he is no longer of use to the pigs and their cause he is
disposed of consequently symbolising the exploitation and disposability of the working class in a
 The Dangers of
Propaganda
What is propaganda?
Propaganda refers to the propagation of biased or misleading information to a society in order to
manipulate peoples' beliefs and ideas usually to benefit those in power. It's often used by dictators in
totalitarian societies as a means with which to maintain power and faith in their leadership often through
creating fear or mistrust/hate of outsiders.
To what extent is this a theme in animal farm and how?
In animal farm propaganda features as another central theme as it is woven into the story, and it is absolutely
key to Napoleon’s ability to maintain his power on the farm. Propaganda is presented in the book mostly
through Squealer’s character (see slide 7) the most obvious and blatant uses of propaganda in the
book as a means to control and subdue a society is seen in the gradual adjustment of the seven
commandments of animalism which were agreed on collectively by all the animals in the beginning of the
book. This mirrors the way laws and policies are often changed or modified in totalitarian regimes to suit the
leadership’s needs just like Stalin did in Russia all the while claiming to fit the Russian revolution’s original
principles. This tactic of constant law amendments makes it difficult for the public to hold the government
accountable as truth is twisted and actions once prohibited by law become the vices of those in charge. We
also see the simplification of complex ideas into simple slogans that become the mantras of the regime
for example the sheep are originally taught to mindlessly repeat the slogan of “four legs good, two legs bad”
however later in the book this is changed into “four legs good, two legs better” as the pigs learn to walk on
their hind legs. This is very similar to how totalitarian regimes use simple, repetitive slogans to control
public opinion and discourage critical thinking e.g. In Nazi Germany slogans like ”Ein Volk, Ein Reich,
Ein Führer” (One People, One Empire, One Leader) were used to instil loyalty and unity under Hitler,
supressing dissent and independent thought. The use of propaganda in animal farm is weaponised as a
powerful tool for the pigs to maintain control and manipulate the other animals. It mirrors the way
Orwell’s Writing Style