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1
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- On Manor Farm, farmer Jones goes to sleep drunk, as usual.
- Old Major calls together all the animals. He reveals that the animals are slaves to humans, says that all animals are comrades, and encourages the animals to revolt.
- Old Major teaches the animals the revolutionary song “Beasts of England.”
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2
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- Old Major dies. Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer develop and teach the tenets of Animalism.
- Jones forgets to feed the animals. The animals drive Jones from the farm, and rename it Animal Farm.
- The pigs write the Seven Commandments of Animalism on the barn.
- The animals go to work with joy in their hearts. The milk disappears.
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3
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- The harvest that year is the best ever on the farm. The pigs’ intelligence and Boxer’s strength seems to solve all problems. Benjamin remains cynical.
- At the weekly Sunday meetings, only Snowball and Napoleon talk, but they seldom agree. Napoleon takes the puppies to “educate” them. Snowball forms committees and some animals learn to read. The sheep can’t learn to read, though, so Snowball invents the phrase “Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad!”
- The animals learn that the pigs have been taking all the milk. Squealer explains that the pigs must drink the milk so they can ensure that Jones never returns.
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4
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- Pilkington and Frederick fear the revolution on Animal Farm will spread to their own farms. But they dislike each other to much to act in concert.
- Jones, with some men from Pilkington and Frederick, attempts to retake the farm. The animals, led by Snowball and Boxer, defeat him at the Battle of the Cowshed.
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5
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- Mollie deserts Animal Farm.
- At the debate over the windmill, Napoleon has his attack dogs chase Snowball from the farm. Napoleon cancels the weekly meetings.
- Squealer says Napoleon took power for the animals’ benefit and that Snowball was a traitor. The animals are unsure, but Boxer finally says, “Napoleon is always right.”
- Napoleon decides to build the windmill after all.
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6
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- The animals, especially Boxer, work long hours with reduced rations to build the windmill. Animal Farm runs into shortages. Napoleon hires Whymper.
- The pigs start sleeping in beds. Clover thinks this is against the Commandments, but on reading them discovers that it is sleeping in beds with sheets that’s prohibited.
- A storm destroys the windmill. Napoleon blames Snowball.
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7
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- That winter, food supplies fail. Napoleon starves the hens until they agree to let him sell their eggs through Whymper.
- Squealer warns the animals that the traitorous Snowball, who tried to betray the animals at the Battle of the Cowshed, has been sneaking onto the farm at night
- Napoleon plays Frederick against Pilkington in negotiating the sale of the wood.
- Napoleon “purges” the farm of his enemies. The song “Beasts of England” is outlawed.
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8
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- The animals complete the second windmill.
- Napoleon sells the wood to Frederick. Frederick pays with counterfeit money!
- Frederick and his men attack. The animals succeed in fighting the men off, but the windmill is destroyed in the process.
- The pigs discover whiskey, and get drunk. The animals catch Squealer in the process of rewriting the Commandment against alcohol, but only Benjamin understands what is going on and he won’t say.
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9
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- The animals rations are tiny, while the pigs and dogs rations remain comfortable. Only the demonstrations that remind the animals that they are their own masters takes the edge off their hunger. Napoleon wins an election, as the sole candidate, to be the leader of the Republic of Animal Farm.
- Moses the raven returns. The pigs give him beer.
- Napoleon has children, who are discouraged from playing with non-pig children.
- Boxer collapses. Under the guise of sending Boxer to a vet, the pigs sell him to the glue-maker and use the money to buy whiskey.
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10
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- Years pass. The windmill is complete and the farm is rich, but only the pigs and dogs seem well off. Even so, the animals are still proud to be their own masters.
- Squealer takes the sheep away to train them. The pigs start walking on their hind legs. The sheep bleat “Four legs good, two legs better!”
- The pigs rewrite the Seven Commandments to say “All Animals Are Equal. But Some Are More Equal Than Others.”
- The pigs start carrying whips and wearing clothes. The farm is renamed Manor Farm. Pilkington comes to visit. The animals can’t tell the pigs from the humans.
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