Test your knowledge of George Orwell's Animal Farm by taking one of our user-contributed quizzes! Each quiz is multiple choice and includes questions on plot points, themes, and character traits. Test your knowledge online or print for classroom use.
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"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." What happened to the ideal of absolute equality? Be sure you recall the details about how a revolution turns sour by taking the eNotes quiz for George Orwell's Animal Farm.
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In the opening chapter of George Orwell's classic Utopian novel, it is easy to understand why the animals of Manor Farm are easily riled up. The pigs, the smartest of the lot, are adept at pointing out the injustices the animals suffer and how their pain and labor benefits man...
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"Beyond the fences of this life/ There lies a wondrous hill/ And all good creatures when they die/ Go there to graze their fill." When one of the animals passes away, the survivors comfort themselves with words from this traditional hymn. The pigs, however, want the new order to retain...
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Napoleon Bonaparte argued that a "leader is a dealer in hope." He does not say, however, that hope will pay off for those who wait. How apropos it is for Orwell to name one of the pig leaders Napoleon! He and his cohorts secure power for themselves and then give...
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Frederick Douglass vehemently argued that "power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." The Rebellion is raging. Two of the animals exhibit remarkable bravery; others fight valiantly, some die. Outside of Manor Farm, surrounding humans are taking note and taking arms. Meanwhile, one group of...
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power," Abraham Lincoln observed. Surely this adage applies to Snowball. Having been successful in one uprising, he is spoiling for more power and prestige, but he is not about to share the wealth....
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"Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them," Napoleon Bonaparte claimed. Snowball has risen to be the general of Manor Farm and has no problem taking both the credit for the victories as well as the spoils of war. He begins to find the original Principles of Animalism too...
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"What's the first lesson an animal learns? To endure its slavery. How does the life of an animal end? In cruel butchery." These are part of the lyrics to the song all the animals learn to sing to spur them on to Rebellion. However, the good of the many is...
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Rules? Or suggestions? By Chapter 8 of George Orwell's Animal Farmit seems that the "Commandments," so vehemently and rigidly composed, are flexible. Moreover, if everyone is equal and living in harmony, what's up with the body guards that now accompany Napoleon on his increasingly-infrequent appearances? Be sure you understand...
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"Loud peace propaganda makes war seem imminent," the English novelist D.H. Lawrence said. In other words, the more noisy the rhetoric, the more likely it is that times are about to become very hard and probably dangerous. This is what is happening on Manor Farm as one of the pigs...
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In the final chapter of Orwell's classic dystopian novel, the ideal world envisioned in Chapter 1 has completely disintegrated. Most of the old animals that fought in the Rebellion have died and the young animals are understandably less unenthusiastic about the original purposes. Be sure you understand how things fell...
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Pay careful attention to the symbolism of all the names of the characters in Orwell's classic dystopian novel but especially so to the pig Napoleon. Like his namesake, the character Napoleon is a power-driven egomaniac. And, like the historical Napoleon, all will not end well for the pernicious pig. Be...
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"Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions," President James Madison argued. And as the animals of Manor Farm are discovering, Madison was correct. A Utopia envisions shared power, but what...
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“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies," Winston Churchill said. In the aftermath of the Rebellion, the chief bodyguard of those lies is the aptly-named Squealer. Squealer's job is to make black seem white, meaning, of course, to make lies...
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"What sweetness is left in life, if you take away friendship? Robbing life of friendship is like robbing the world of the sun," the Roman philosopher Cicero said. For Benjamin, the horse, that true friend was Boxer. Like most good friends who balance each other, Boxer has one view of...
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Denial. It ain't just a river in Egypt. Poor Boxer. You may be able to relate to Boxer if you've ever had a friend who refuses to see the signs that a relationship has gone sour. Boxer has an enormous heart and he wants to please whomever is in charge,...
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"Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it," Henry David Thoreau said. Clover is a heartbreaking character. He is simpleminded and he follows the rules instigated by the pigs. But unlike the pigs, Clover has no malice or greed. Therefore, when he begins to realize how...