Animal Farm

Orwell's main message in Animal Farm is that power corrupts, even when idealism is at play. The events of the story are an allegory for the Russian Revolution of 1917, where the bolsheviks...

The Seven Commandments, as set down by Old Major, are supposed to form the basis of the new Animalist utopia built by the animals after Mr. Jones is sent packing from the farm. But over time,...

The most important quotes from Boxer are his two favorite sayings: "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right." I will include some other important quotations by and about Boxer. Boxer...

Napoleon gains power over Animal Farm by executing an effective plan to expel Snowball, intimidate his subjects, and utilize persuasive propaganda to manipulate the less intelligent animals....

The Battle of the Cowshed in Animal Farm is significant because it represents the point of no return for the animals’ control of their farm. Even as most of the animals jubilantly celebrated their...

For days after Squealer announced that Snowball was an undercover agent for Jones long before the rebellion, Napolean assembles the animals in the yard and suddenly orders the dogs to seize four...

The principles of Animalism derive from the words of Old Major, the boar based on Karl Marx who animates the animals at night with his dreams of a better life for them after a revolution in which...

In verbal irony, words mean the opposite of their intended meaning. In situational irony, events unfold in ways opposite of what might be expected. In dramatic irony, the reader or audience knows...

Although Napoleon is a tyrannical, violent, and oppressive leader throughout the novella Animal Farm, he does possess some positive character traits. Napoleon is a determined, ambitious,...

There have been two major film versions of George Orwell's Animal Farm: the 1954 animated version and the live-action film released in 1999. Both differ substantially from the book in different...

In Chapter 7, Napolean commands his dogs to brutally murder several animals who confess to various crimes against the farm. After the executions, Clover and the other animals stand on the hillside...

Satire can be defined as a brand of humor used to expose stupidity and human vice, especially among the high and mighty in a given society. Indeed, satire is particularly effective when it is used...

Orwell's celebrated novella Animal Farm is an allegorical tale of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union when Stalin exiled Leon Trotsky and began his tyrannical reign of...

Having become a Socialist in the 1930s after he was in contact with unemployed, destitute coal miners, George Orwell (the nom de plume of Eric Arthur Blair) later became disillusioned with it;...

In Animal Farm, the milk and apples symbolize the unfairness of the system that the pigs run. In a larger sense, the milk and apples symbolize the graft that the communist party elite, including...

Boxer says, “I will work harder” in several places in the book Animal Farm. Unfortunately, there are a few different editions of the book. I cannot give you specific page numbers, because your...

The main point of Animal Farm, a withering commentary on totalitarianism, is that dreams of a better society can easily go wrong if people don't first take a stand against despotism and, second,...

Fear is utilized as an effective propaganda technique in order to oppress and control the animals in Orwell's celebrated novella Animal Farm. Initially, Mr. Jones ruthlessly wields his authority by...

Following The Battle of the Cowshed in chapter 4, the animals unanimously create two military decorations, which are titled "Animal Hero, First Class" and "Animal Hero, Second Class." Snowball and...

In Animal Farm, Moses the raven represents organized religion in the Soviet Union. This is shown clearly in Chapter Two when Moses starts telling the other animals about a place called "Sugarcandy...

Squealer convinces the other animals to accept whatever Napoleon decides in a number of different ways. First and foremost, he resorts to propaganda, which he uses to considerable effect. Squealer...

In the final chapter of Animal Farm, the pigs erase the last remnants of Animalism. The animals can hardly remember a time when they dreamed of heated stalls or retirement. Their lives are filled...

The revolution started when Mr. Jones was too drunk to feed the animals or to milk the cows; due to Old Major's rhetoric about the animals being better at running the farm than the humans, the...

The song is both a battle cry for the rebellion on Manor Farm and an anthem that helps the animals keep the spirit of the rebellion alive in their hearts. After Manor Farm becomes Animal Farm, the...

In Orwell's classic novella Animal Farm, Snowball allegorically represents Leon Trotsky, who was a communist theorist and leader of the Russian Revolution. In the story, Orwell depicts Snowball as...

The three main pigs are Old Major, Napoleon, and Snowball, and they all are said to represent one of the three major figures of the Soviet Union. Old Major is slightly different from the other two...

By anyone's standards, Napoleon in Animal Farm is a very bad leader indeed. If a good leader is someone with a sense of mission higher than themselves, someone capable of galvanizing others...

There are many types of propaganda in Animal Farm - in most cases, the propaganda is used by the pigs to further their own ends and present their words and actions in a more positive light. One of...

It's in chapter 3 of Animal Farm that Napoleon appropriates the “nine, sturdy puppies” belonging to Jessie and Bluebell. As with any dictator, Napoleon understands the overriding importance of...

Squealer, who is in charge of propaganda, insists that when good food goes to the pigs and dogs, everyone benefits. The pigs and dogs do very important work, they run the farm.He also continues to...

One important moral of the "fable" of Animal Farm is the ease with which language can be manipulated and twisted for evil purposes. Orwell was a journalist who understood the power of words and the...

Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution. Mr. Jones and the humans represent the capitalists of the West. The pigs represent the leaders of the Russian Revolution and the animals are...

In Animal Farm Snowball is branded a traitor and chased off the farm. This is part of an effort by Napoleon to use Snowball as a scapegoat and to get rid of a rival. Snowball's exile happens in...

The Battle of Cowshed occurred because Mr. Jones finally was able to get a group of men together to attempt to take back his farm. At first, no one wanted to help Jones. In fact, Orwell states...

In Animal Farm, Snowball is routinely used as a scapegoat after he is expelled by Napoleon. In Chapter Seven, for example, it is declared that Snowball is hiding nearby and "secretly frequenting"...

When the Sunday morning meetings begin, they function as a celebration of the Rebellion and the overthrowing of Mr Jones. They also have a practical purpose in that they enable a discussion of any...

Napoleon uses Squealer as essentially the propaganda machine, the propaganda newspaper for the animals - to keep them in obedience. Some more Squealer lies: In order to explain why the pigs stole...

The hens rebel because Napoleon took their eggs to sell to the humans. In Old Major’s speech, one of the things he calls attention to is the fact that the hens have to give up their eggs. He uses...

The rising action is the name given to the events which build interest and tension ahead of the climax. In Animal Farm, the rising action begins with the death of Old Major and the rebellion...

In chapter 9, Boxer has a split hoof and it take a long time to heal. He does get somewhat better, but as the work progresses in building the windmill, he collapses from overexertion. When this...

As well as representing real figures in Soviet history, these names also symbolize aspects of these characters' personalities. Take Snowball, for example. A snowball is white, a color associated...

After Snowball is betrayed and chased off the farm by Napoleon, his name becomes synonymous with disaster and failure. Specifically, Snowball is blamed for the destruction of the windmill as well...

The poem “Comrade Napoleon” is designed to focus the animals’ attention on Napoleon as a virtuous, benevolent leader and redirect attention from the revolution. The pigs really want to drive the...

With George Orwell's having written Animal Farm following his dillusionment with Communism, it is, indeed, apparent that the lives of the animals have not been improved, especially after Napoleon...

Animal Farm is a dystopian text because it portrays a world where the characters seek to have a perfect or utopian society, but their plight results in a world that is worse than the world they...

In chapter 3, Jessie and Bluebell give birth to nine puppies. Napoleon takes the puppies away, claiming that he wants to take personal responsibility for their education. To do this, he takes the...

Among other things, it shows that the pigs have no intention of adhering to the Seven Commandments of Animalism. The Fourth Commandment clearly states that "no animal shall sleep in a bed." And yet...

They have changed the commandments both in their form and, even more so, in their content. At the beginning, there were lots of commandments, and they all had to do with animals being equal and...

Old Major makes his speech to the other animals in Chapter One of Animal Farm. To begin, his speech is inspired by two facts: firstly, Old Major thinks that he does not have long left to live and,...

Animal Farm by George Orwell is better understood with some knowledge of the history of Communism and the Russian Revolution (1917) although, it can be enjoyed without any such awareness of its...