A horse. Strong and hardworking, Boxer is extremely honorable, though not so intelligent. Boxer believes deeply in the revolution, so much so that he thinks the Animal Farm leader, who also leads the revolution, must be virtuous and wise. One of Boxer's favorite sayings is "Napoleon is always right." Boxer has the strength to overthrow Napoleon's dictatorship, but not the wit to realize that it is a dictatorship. Boxer devotes all his strength to supporting Napoleon, yet when that strength finally fails him, Napoleon betrays him. Boxer symbolizes the male working class and peasants of the Soviet Union.
Boxer Quotes in Animal Farm
The Animal Farm quotes below are all either spoken by Boxer or refer to Boxer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page and citation info for the quotes below refers to the Signet Classics edition of Animal Farm published in 1996.
Chapter 3
Quotes
I will work harder!
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Chapter 4
Quotes
I have no wish to take life, not even human life,' repeated Boxer, and his eyes were full of tears.
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Chapter 5
Quotes
Napoleon is always right.
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Boxer Character Timeline in Animal Farm
The timeline below shows where the character Boxer appears in Animal Farm. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...speaking platform. Next come the hens, pigeons, sheep, and cows; two cart horses, the enormous Boxer, and the motherly Clover who lets some orphaned ducklings shelter between her legs; Muriel the...
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Chapter 2
Boxer and Clover show the most devotion to Animalism. Neither is very smart, but their belief...
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Chapter 3
...pigs, the smartest animals, soon start directing the other animals' work. The pigs' cleverness and Boxer's immense strength and work ethic help solve all the problems the animals encounter in their...
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Chapter 4
...Snowball with a blast from his shotgun, but Snowball still manages to knock Jones down. Boxer's strength, meanwhile, terrifies the other men. The animals rout the men with just a single...
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Boxer is dismayed to learn that one of his kicks seems to have killed a stable...
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...Snowball emphasizes that animals must be willing to die to defend Animal Farm. Snowball and Boxer receive the award of Animal Hero, First Class. They name the battle the "Battle of...
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Chapter 5
None of the animals wants Jones back, and Boxer, after heavy thinking, says, "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right."
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Chapter 6
...the sacrifice happily, since it's for their own benefit rather than for a human master. Boxer works the longest and hardest. Despite all the effort, the time spent working on the...
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..."The Leader" and the pigs move into the farmhouse and begin sleeping in beds. Though Boxer dismisses the change by saying "Napoleon is always right," Clover is certain that the Commandments...
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Chapter 7
Boxer disagrees. He says he thinks Snowball was loyal at the beginning, even if he later...
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...an assembly in the yard. When the animals gather, Napoleon whimpers and his dogs attack Boxer and the four pigs that had questioned Snowball's removal. The pigs are bloodied, but Boxer...
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...are miserable, having witnessed the first killings on the farm since Mr. Jones was defeated. Boxer thinks he must work harder to make things better. Clover leads the animals in a...
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Chapter 8
...drives the animals into a rage, and they attack. Many animals die, and most, including Boxer, suffer injuries. But they manage to drive Frederick and his men from Animal Farm.
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Chapter 9
Boxer still works harder than everyone else, but his strength begins to wane. He comforts himself...
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One day, while working on the new windmill, Boxer's lung fails and he falls, no longer able to work. Squealer announces that Napoleon has...
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Three days later, Squealer announces that Boxer died in the hospital, and that his last words were "Napoleon is always right." In...
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