Animal Farm Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Animal Farm is a short fable about farm animals who drive out their drunken owner and promise to run the farm as equals. Little by little the pigs, led by Napoleon, take every privilege for themselves, rewrite the rules and rule more harshly than the man they replaced.
George Orwell wrote it as an allegory of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalin, but it reads just as well as a simple, chilling story about how power changes those who hold it.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Old Major | Wise old boar whose dream inspires the rebellion |
| Napoleon | Pig who seizes power and becomes a dictator |
| Snowball | Clever, energetic pig driven out by Napoleon |
| Squealer | Pig who twists every fact to defend Napoleon |
| Boxer | Strong, loyal cart-horse who works himself to the bone |
| Benjamin | Cynical old donkey who sees everything |
| Mr. Jones | Drunken owner of Manor Farm |
How does the rebellion start?
Old Major, a respected boar, gathers the animals of Manor Farm and tells them of a dream: a world without humans, where animals keep what they produce. He teaches them a song, Beasts of England, and dies a few days later.
The pigs, the cleverest animals, turn his ideas into a system called Animalism. When Mr. Jones gets drunk and forgets to feed the animals, they break into the store shed, chase him and his men off the land and rename the place Animal Farm. Seven Commandments are painted on the barn wall, ending with the most important one: all animals are equal.
↑ Back to the topHow do the pigs take power?
At first the farm prospers. The pigs supervise while the others work, and they quietly keep the milk and apples for themselves. Squealer explains that the pigs need them to stay healthy for everyone's sake.
Snowball and Napoleon argue about everything, above all Snowball's plan to build a windmill. When the animals are about to vote for it, Napoleon calls in nine fierce dogs he has secretly raised, and they chase Snowball off the farm. Napoleon abolishes the meetings, then announces that the windmill was his own idea all along.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens with the windmill?
The animals build the windmill with enormous effort, Boxer most of all, whose answer to every problem is to work harder. A storm knocks it down and Napoleon blames the absent Snowball, who becomes the enemy behind every misfortune.
Napoleon begins trading with neighboring humans, the pigs move into the farmhouse and sleep in beds, and the Commandments are quietly altered whenever they break them. Animals who confess to plotting with Snowball are killed by the dogs. Neighboring farmer Frederick cheats Napoleon with fake banknotes and then attacks the farm and blows up the rebuilt windmill.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens to Boxer?
Boxer, old and exhausted, collapses while working. Napoleon says he will be sent to a hospital, but the van that takes him away belongs to a horse slaughterer. Benjamin reads the sign on its side and the animals try to warn Boxer, too late. Squealer later claims the van had been bought by a vet who had not repainted it, and that Boxer died peacefully. Soon after, the pigs buy a case of whisky.
↑ Back to the topHow does Animal Farm end?
Years pass. Most of the animals who remember the rebellion are gone. The pigs walk on two legs, carry whips and wear clothes. The Commandments have been replaced by a single rule that keeps the word equal but makes the pigs more equal than anyone else.
Napoleon hosts a dinner for neighboring farmers and renames the farm Manor Farm. Watching through the window as pigs and men argue over a card game, the animals look from pig to man and from man to pig, and can no longer tell which is which.
↑ Back to the topMore about Animal Farm
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.