The Seven Commandments of Animal Farm and How They Change
After the rebellion in Animal Farm, the pigs boil Old Major's teachings down to Seven Commandments and paint them in large white letters on the barn wall. As the pigs take more and more privileges, the Commandments are secretly reworded, one by one, until only a single rule is left.
The changing Commandments are one of the book's clearest pictures of how those in power rewrite the rules and the past.
| Original Commandment | How it changes |
|---|---|
| 1. Whatever goes on two legs is an enemy | Ignored as the pigs deal with humans and walk upright |
| 2. Whatever goes on four legs, or has wings, is a friend | Ignored as the pigs turn on other animals |
| 3. No animal shall wear clothes | Broken when the pigs wear Jones's clothes |
| 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed | Becomes: not in a bed with sheets |
| 5. No animal shall drink alcohol | Becomes: not to excess |
| 6. No animal shall kill any other animal | Becomes: not without cause |
| 7. All animals are equal | Becomes: but some are more equal than others |
What are the Seven Commandments?
The Commandments are written by Snowball after the rebellion, based on Old Major's warning never to become like humans. In order they say: whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy; whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend; no animal shall wear clothes; no animal shall sleep in a bed; no animal shall drink alcohol; no animal shall kill any other animal; and all animals are equal.
Because many animals cannot read well, Snowball later reduces them to a single slogan for the sheep and the slower animals to learn: four legs good, two legs bad.
↑ Back to the topHow does the rule about beds change?
When the pigs move into the farmhouse and start sleeping in the beds, Clover asks Muriel to read her the Fourth Commandment. It now says no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. Squealer explains that a bed is simply a place to sleep and the rule was only ever against sheets, a human invention.
↑ Back to the topHow does the rule about killing change?
After Napoleon's dogs kill the animals who confess to plotting with Snowball, some animals remember that killing is forbidden. When Muriel reads the Sixth Commandment, it now says no animal shall kill any other animal without cause. The animals conclude that the traitors must have given cause.
↑ Back to the topHow does the rule about alcohol change?
The pigs discover a case of whisky in the farmhouse and hold a noisy party. One night Squealer is found beside a broken ladder at the barn wall with a pot of paint. Soon the Fifth Commandment reads no animal shall drink alcohol to excess.
↑ Back to the topWhat is the final Commandment?
In the last chapter Clover asks Benjamin to read the wall to her. All the Commandments are gone. In their place is a single line saying that all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. Soon the pigs carry whips, wear clothes and walk on two legs, and the sheep have learned a new slogan: four legs good, two legs better.
↑ Back to the topWhat do the changing Commandments mean?
The Commandments show how a ruling group can keep the words of its founding ideals while emptying them of meaning. The animals cannot prove that the rules have changed because they cannot read well and their memories are constantly corrected by Squealer. Orwell drew on the way the Soviet government rewrote history and its own promises, and the final Commandment has become one of the most famous lines about hypocrisy in power.
↑ Back to the topMore about Animal Farm
This guide discusses the whole plot, including the ending.