in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell,

first published in England on 17 August 1945.

It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic farm animals

who rebel against their human farmer,

hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal,

free, and happy.

Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed,

and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon,

the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before.

against humans and become their own masters.

Things work smoothly at first, and the animals revel

in their freedom and have equality

. However, the pigs become power-hungry and become

the new oppressors of the animals and become

indistinguishable from humans.

It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic farm animals

who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a

society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy.

Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the

dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends

up in a state as bad as it was before.

The pig who emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Joseph Stalin, Napoleon uses military force (his nine loyal attack dogs) to intimidate the other animals and consolidate his power. In his supreme craftiness, Napoleon proves more treacherous than his counterpart, Snowball.

Snowball

The pig who challenges Napoleon for control of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Leon Trotsky, Snowball is intelligent, passionate, eloquent, and less subtle and devious than his counterpart, Napoleon. Snowball seems to win the loyalty of the other animals and cement his power.

Boxer

The cart-horse whose incredible strength, dedication, and loyalty play a key role in the early prosperity of Animal Farm and the later completion of the windmill. Quick to help but rather slow-witted, Boxer shows much devotion to Animal Farm’s ideals but little ability to think about them independently. He naïvely trusts the pigs to make all his decisions for him. His two mottoes are “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right.”

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Squealer

The pig who spreads Napoleon’s propaganda among the other animals. Squealer justifies the pigs’ monopolization of resources and spreads false statistics pointing to the farm’s success. Orwell uses Squealer to explore the ways in which those in power often use rhetoric and language to twist the truth and gain and maintain social and political control.

Old Major

The prize-winning boar whose vision of a socialist utopia serves as the inspiration for the Rebellion. Three days after describing the vision and teaching the animals the song “Beasts of England,” Major dies, leaving Snowball and Napoleon to struggle for control of his legacy. Orwell based Major on both the German political economist Karl Marx and the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin.

Clover

A good-hearted female cart-horse and Boxer’s close friend. Clover often suspects the pigs of violating one or another of the Seven Commandments, but she repeatedly blames herself for misremembering the commandments.

Moses

The tame raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountain, the paradise to which animals supposedly go when they die. Moses plays only a small role in Animal Farm, but Orwell uses him to explore how communism exploits religion as something with which to pacify the oppressed.

Mollie

The vain, flighty mare who pulls Mr. Jones’s carriage. Mollie craves the attention of human beings and loves being groomed and pampered. She has a difficult time with her new life on Animal Farm, as she misses wearing ribbons in her mane and eating sugar cubes. She represents the petit bourgeoisie that fled from Russia a few years after the Russian Revolution.

Benjamin

The long-lived donkey who refuses to feel inspired by the Rebellion. Benjamin firmly believes that life will remain unpleasant no matter who is in charge. Of all of the animals on the farm, he alone comprehends the changes that take place, but he seems either unwilling or unable to oppose the pigs.

Muriel

The white goat who reads the Seven Commandments to Clover whenever Clover suspects the pigs of violating their prohibitions.

Mr. Jones

The often drunk farmer who runs the Manor Farm before the animals stage their Rebellion and establish Animal Farm. Mr. Jones is an unkind master who indulges himself while his animals lack food; he thus represents Tsar Nicholas II, whom the Russian Revolution ousted.

Mr. Frederick

The tough, shrewd operator of Pinchfield, a neighboring farm. Based on Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. Frederick proves an untrustworthy neighbor.

Mr. Pilkington

The easygoing gentleman farmer who runs Foxwood, a neighboring farm. Mr. Frederick’s bitter enemy, Mr. Pilkington represents the capitalist governments of England and the United States.

Mr. Whymper

The human solicitor whom Napoleon hires to represent Animal Farm in human society. Mr. Whymper’s entry into the Animal Farm community initiates contact between Animal Farm and human society, alarming the common animals.

Jessie and Bluebell

Two dogs, each of whom gives birth early in the novel. Napoleon takes the puppies in order to “educate” them.

Minimus

The poet pig who writes verse about Napoleon and pens the banal patriotic song “Animal Farm, Animal Farm” to replace the earlier idealistic hymn “Beasts of England,” which Old Major passes on to the others.

Two dogs, each of whom gives birth early in the novel. Napoleon takes the puppies in order to “educate” them.

Chapters 2 –7 trace the development of the pigs’ power, and the other animals’ growing awareness that they have not achieved their goal after all. The pigs—and Napoleon in particular—come to embody political power in three ways. First, they claim more and more of the farms’ resources for themselves. They start by stealing milk and apples, then eventually sell animal products to buy human luxuries like whisky. Second, the pigs become more violent, introducing the dog police force and ordering executions. Third, the pigs claim the power to determine what truth is. Squealer changes the Commandments of Animalism and the story of the Battle of the Cowshed. Meanwhile, the animals slowly come to realize that their lives are no better than they were before the Rebellion.

The climax of the novella occurs in Chapter 7, when Napoleon decides to sell the hens’ eggs. The hens finally recognize that the pigs are their antagonists, and they rebel. Their rebellion is brutally crushed and the hens are executed. Now, Boxer is the only character still clinging to the hope that freedom can be achieved. He has worked tirelessly to achieve this goal set forth by Old Major, which for Boxer is represented by his hope of one day retiring to a special pasture. However, when the time comes for Boxer to retire, he is sold and killed. Boxer’s betrayal marks the moment in which political power—embodied in Napoleon and the pigs—completely defeats the animals. In Animal Farm’s final pages, the animals watch the pigs dining with human farmers, and find they are unable to tell the difference between humans and pigs. The pigs have become one with the human farmers because both groups are equally corrupted by the reality of political power.