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PLOT SUMMARY OF "ANIMAL FARM"

Riassunto di Animal Farm

George Orwell.

Old Major, the old, the cleverest and the most esteemed pig of Manor Farm gathers all the farm animals together for a meeting, criticizes human behaviour and says that humans exploit animals, finally he teaches the animals an old revolutionary song: "Beasts of England".

Unfortunately, three days later Major dies, so two young boars, called Snowball and Napoleon, seize power, and they turn his dream into a full-fledged philosophy.

The animals rise against Mr Jones and his assistants, who are driven away from the farm, and the farm' s name is changed into "Animal Farm". Now all animals can read the Seven Commandments of Animalism on the wall of a barn, among which the most important is "All animals are equal".

All the animals devote themselves to the farm activities, but the workhorse, Boxer, does more than others, his motto is : "I will work harder". They all learn to read and write, thanks to Snowball, but only few learn well, except the pigs; food is abundant, and life goes by smoothly at the farm.

In the meantime, Napoleon decides to train privately the pups from the farm dogs.

The owner of the farm, Mr. Jones, tries to come into possession of the farm again, but he is beat by the animals at the "Battle of the Cowshed".

Napoleon and Snowball begin to compete for leadership, and essentially they are in disagreement over Snowball 's idea for a windmill: Snowball explains enthusiastically to the animals that a windmill will mean more food and less work for them, and that electricity will allow to introduce many changes, such as an electric saw or a shredder, but Napoleon disagrees, and he summons his nine attack dogs, which chase Snowball away. During Snowball's absence, Napoleon declares himself leader and makes changes: meetings will no longer be allowed, all decisions will be taken by a committee of pigs alone.

Napoleon, through his mouthpiece Squealer, makes all the animal believe that he had planned the windmill, not Snowball. The animals work harder hoping in easier lives with the windmill, but a violent storm destroys it, and Napoleon and Squealer convince everyone that Snowball is responsible for that. So Snowball becomes the scapegoat, while Napoleon begins to purge the farm, killing many animals accused of consorting with Snowball. In the meantime, Boxer adopts a second motto, "Napoleon is always right".

Napoleon takes advantage of the animals ' ignorance and simple-mindedness, and life becomes harder and harder for them; however, even if starving and overworked, they are still convinced their living conditions are better than the time humans had the farm, with Squealer inventing arguments to prove them the progresses they are making. Squealer also justifies the pigs' behaviour, who lead a privileged life, and who take the liberty of modifying the Seven Commandments, for example " No animal shall drink alcohol " becomes " No animal shall drink alcohol to excess" , while the other animals are more and more watched over and restricted in freedom. The pigs also spread rumours that Snowball fought on the humans ' side in the Battle of the Cowshed, and that Napoleon bit Snowball, while Jones' gun pellet hit him. The song "Beasts of England" is replaced by one glorifying Napoleon, who begins to live more and more like a human.

Mr. Frederick, living in a neighboring farm, attacks Animal Farm, and blows up the windmill, which had been repaired . The battle is won by the animals of Animal Farm, but many of them are wounded.

Boxer is wounded, too, but he carries on working harder and harder, until he is hill. Animals are convinced by Napoleon that boxer will be treated by a vet, but Benjamin notices that the van taking boxer away has the writing "Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler", all try to help Boxer, but in vain. Boxer is slaughtered to make money to buy more whisky, while Squealer tells the other animals that the van belonged to the hospital who had not repainted yet the writing from the previous owner and that Boxer died under the best treatment.

With the passing of time, the pigs walk upright like humans, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Revolution is cancelled, and the Seven Commandments are reduced to one : "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others", and the name of the farm is changed again into "Manor Farm". Napoleon, who allies himself with humans, in opposition to both human and animal working class, can boast of having the hardest-working animals in the country on the least feed. Finally, during a game of cards, animals notice that pigs and humans ' faces are now very similar and that there isn't hardly any difference between them.






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