Animal Farm Chapters 1-2

The farm animals of Manor Farm eagerly waited for their Master, Mr. Jones, to go to bed as the Old Major wished to tell them all about a dream he had recently had. The Old Major was a highly regarded old prize boar who had been presented in festivals. He paced to and fro on a platform as the farm animals gathered to listen to him, the pigs came to sit down first. They were followed by the horses that included the matronly mare, Clover, the strong stallion, Boxer, and lastly the vapid mare, Mollie. The dogs came too, along with the mean old donkey, Benjamin.

The Old Major began his speech by talking about the brutal living conditions of farm animals who were starved and overworked to fulfill the greed of man. He explained that man was the root cause of all their misery and that no animal in England would know freedom until man continued to rule over them. He promised the animals that one day, all animals would rise and rebel against man. He was not certain when the day of rebellion would come but it certainly would. He cautioned the animals to remember their nature after the time of rebellion and emphasized that no animal should ever behave like the cruel man or take up any of his habits and vices such as alcohol. The speech was once interrupted by the dogs who suddenly pounced on some rats that had also been listening to the speech, and it was decided by vote that rats were also animals and that animals should not hurt other animals since man was the only enemy.

He then told them of a song about the animals of England that had once been lost but had now come to him in his dream. The Old Major then leads the animal in singing the beasts of England, a song which promised the animals a golden time when the man would no longer reign supreme. All of the animals took up the song and sang so loud that Mr. Jones woke up and mistook the noise to be caused by the entry of a fox.

The old Major passed away three days after his speech, but the passion he had imbued in the animals remained. All animals were determined to prepare for the rebellion even if they weren’t sure when it would take place. This effort was spearheaded by the pigs, led predominantly by Napoleon, who was a quiet but impressive pig, Snowball, who was less impressive but quite impassioned, and lastly Squealer, who was a gifted orator. The pigs were considered to be the most intelligent and they took the concept of Old Major’s speech and created the ideology of Animalism. They had lengthy and detailed discussions about Animalism, and the horses seemed to take up the information readily. The pigs had a little trouble with a few of the other animals since Mr. Jones’s pet raven spread rumors about a place in the skies where animals went after working on the farm. Other animals were worried about the things that would change with man’s departure. Alas, the day of rebellion came sooner than any one of them had anticipated.

The animals were deprived of food by the drunk Mr. Jones and his lazy men. The animals could not bear to be starved and so broke into the foodshed but they were attacked with whips by the farmworkers. The animals lost control and began to beat the men and Mr. Jones, thereby forcing them to flee from the farm. The animals then celebrated their freedom in disbelief as they capered around the farmyard and got rid of the farming implements that Mr. Jones had used. The pigs helped dole out double rations and the animals sang the song that had been trusted to them by the Old Major. The next day, the pigs revealed that they had been teaching themselves to read and write, and so they led the animals to the farm gate and renamed Manor Farm to Animal Farm. They also revealed the seven commandments that formed the core beliefs of Animalism. The house of Mr. Jones was left as a museum since no animal could sleep in a bed, wear clothes, drink alcohol, or do any other activity that man had once done. The cows were milked by the pigs, and just as the animals were discussing what had to be done with the milk, Napoleon urged the animals to harvest the hay first. However, a few animals noticed that the milk buckets were gone when they returned from their labor.

Analysis

Animal Farm adopts the fable format to satirize the prevalent conditions under the rule of totalitarian regimes, and it draws particular inspiration from the Russian revolution of 1917. Animal Farm has been rightly seen as a criticism of Stalinism, which was a particular form of communism practiced by Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin who ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. Orwell was inspired by Aesop's fables and the famous satirist Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, which presents a satire of the English political system through a fictional nation of tiny human beings. Orwell brings the events of the Russian Revolution to the quaint countryside of England and thereby indicates that the dangerous influence of totalitarianism is closer home than some of his readers are likely to believe.

Animal Farm is undoubtedly an allegory that begins with a light tone, however, this light tone of the novella soon shifts as the author begins the development of the dark themes that guide the story. In addition to being an allegory of totalitarianism, the novella also highlights the literal exploitation of animals practiced by man and the cruel practices involved in that exploitation. Orwell was inspired to write Animal Farm by the sight of a young boy mercilessly whipping an obstinate horse. The depth of the animals' suffering is portrayed in the scene immediately following the rebellion. The animals are shocked at their victory and spend some minutes celebrating before they go about disposing of the farm tools that Mr. Jones had used on them. 

The Old Major inspires the animals to rebel against man, yet he chooses to place himself above the other animals and addresses them from a raised platform. In this way, Animal Farm develops the theme of the innate corruption that accompanies power. The Old Major's speech and conduct lead one to assume that the character is based upon Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. There is heavy use of foreshadowing in the first chapter as the Old Major warns the animals never to adopt the cruel ways of man, and tells four young pigs that they will soon have to die at the hands of Mr. Jones. Those same pigs are indeed executed but at the hands of Napoleon rather than Mr. Jones.