Animal Farm

The windmill represents the Soviet Union’s massive industrialization projects under Joseph Stalin’s leadership. Snowball first presents the windmill as a way to improve life for everyone: it will create electricity, reduce labor, and allow the… read more

In Animal Farm, Boxer the horse represents the male working class and peasants of the Soviet Union. Orwell portrays Boxer as enormously strong, loyal, and hardworking, but also politically naïve. His devotion to Animalism… read more

At the end of the novella, the pigs have completely transformed into the very kind of rulers they once rebelled against. Years after the revolution, the original ideals of Animalism have been hollowed out. The… read more

In Animal Farm, Old Major the boar represents both Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, the thinkers and revolutionary leaders who inspired the rise of communism in Russia. Like Marx, Old Major develops the… read more

In Animal Farm, Squealer the pig represents the Soviet press and propaganda machine under the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. He is the pig who explains, justifies, and rewrites Napoleon’s actions so the other animals… read more

The book combines several genres, but it is primarily an allegorical novella and a political satire. The book uses talking farm animals and their rebellion to symbolize real historical events, especially the Russian Revolution and… read more

Mr. Whymper is the human solicitor whom Napoleon hires to represent Animal Farm in its dealings with the outside world. After the pigs decide they need items they cannot produce themselves, such as machinery and… read more

In Animal Farm, Boxer dies after collapsing from overwork while helping to build the windmill. By this point, he is old, injured, and physically exhausted, but he refuses to rest because he believes completely… read more

The novella takes place on a farm somewhere in England during the first half of the 20th century. The farm is originally called Manor Farm and is owned by the drunken farmer Mr. Jones. After… read more

In Animal Farm, the Battle of the Cowshed is the animals’ first major military victory against the humans after the rebellion. It happens when Mr. Jones, along with men from neighboring farms, tries to… read more

In Animal Farm, Animalism is the political philosophy that Old Major inspires and that Snowball and Napoleon later turn into a formal system of beliefs for the animals. It teaches that humans are the… read more

Mollie the horse runs away from Animal Farm because she cares more about comfort than about the ideals of Animalism and the revolution. From the beginning, she never fully supports the rebellion. She worries about… read more