George Orwell's Animal Farm Book Summary

Old Major, a prize-winning boar, gathers the animals of the Manor Farm for a group meeting in the big barn. He recites a prophetic dream he has had in which all animals live together without the farmers to oppress or control them. He convinces the animals that they must act toward such a paradise and teaches them a song called "Beasts of England," in which his prophecy is lyrically depicted. The animals accept Major's vision with super enthusiasm. When Old Major dies only three nights after the meeting, three younger pigs—Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer — develop his main rationales into a doctrine called Animalism. Late one night, the animals manage to overcome the farmer Mr. Jones in a battle, running him off the land. They rename the property Animal Farm and devote themselves to achieving Major's ambition. The cart-horse Boxer devotes himself to the cause with exceptional zeal, committing his great strength to the prosperity of the farm and adopting as a personalized maxim the affirmation "I will work harder."

Animal Farm is a great success - at least for a while. Snowball begins teaching the other animals how to read, while Napolean starts to educate a group of young puppies about Animalism. One day Mr. Jones appears at the farm with the sole purpose to take it back from the animals. However, he is once again defeated in what the animals call the "Battle of the Cowshed," and they take Mr. Jones' abandoned gun as a token of their victory. Everything is going good for a spell - but as time goes on, Snowball and Napolean begin to fight about the plans for the farm and eventually the controversy turns into a power struggle. When Snowball comes up with a idea to build a windmill for electricity to power the farm, Napolean ignores it. The animals hold a meeting to decide whether or not to build the windmill, and Snowball gives an enthusiastic and persuasive speech. Napolean, however, says only a few words. Then he makes a weird guttural sound, and the 9 puppies he was supposedly teaching exploded in and chase Snowball from the farm. Napolean takes full control of the farm and calls off all future meetings, telling the other animals that from then on the pigs will make decisions on their own for the good of the rest of the animals.

Napoleon now promptly switches his mind about the windmill, and the animals, especially Boxer, devote their efforts to completing it. After a storm, the animals come outside to see the windmill has been demolished. The farmers from the encompassing area smirk and say that the animals built the walls to light, but Napolean blames Snowball, saying he crept back in to sabotage the windmill. Napolean announces any animal who helped Snowball in his conspiracy to demolish the windmill must be purged, and orders the attack dogs on them. Napolean goes to expand his power, feeling as though any animal who may have been a possible threat to him has been eliminated by the attack dogs. Boxer takes on a new slogan, reading "Napolean is always right.". Napoleon also begins to behave more and more like a human being—sleeping in a bed, downing whisky, and engaging in business with other local farmers. The traditional Animalist precepts strictly disallowed such actions, but Squealer, Napoleon's propagandist, excuses every action to the other animals, telling them that Napoleon is a wonderful leader and is making things better for everyone — in spite of the fact that the common animals are cold, hungry, and overworked.

Napolean is supposed to do a trade for some timber with Mr. Frederick, a local farmer, but Mr. Frederick rips off Napolean and blows up the windmill with dynamite. Animal Farm goes to battle with the other farmers and, although they take triumph in the end, Boxer sustains substantial wounds. Boxer later collapses while working on the windmill, and feels that his time is almost up. When Boxer abruptly dissapears one day, Squealer tells everyone that he passed peacefully at the infirmary, using his final breath to support the Rebellion. However, the reality is that Napolean sold-out his most loyal follower to a glue maker so that he could have money to purchase more whiskey.

Years go by, and the pigs become more and more like human beings—walking upright, carrying whips, and wearing clothing. Eventually, the seven principles of Animalism, noted as the Seven Commandments and inscribed on the side of the barn, become trimmed to a individual precept reading "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Napoleon entertains a human farmer named Mr. Pilkington at a dinner and declares his intention to join himself with the human farmers in opposition to the laboring classes of both the human and animal communities. He also alters the name of Animal Farm back to the Manor Farm, claiming that this name is the "correct" one. Watching in at the party of elites through the farmhouse window, the common animals can no longer tell who are the pigs and who are the human beings.