Animal Farm Summary Essay, Research Paper

ANIMAL FARM SUMMARY- The book starts out on Manor Farm in England, Probably around the late 1800 s to the early 1900 s. There is an old wise pig named Major giving a speech in the barn to all the other animals. His speech is basically about a dream he had about how it would be like if animals overruled humans. He told everyone that there would be rebellion against the humans and Mr. Jones, the farmer. They would run the farm themselves and feed themselves. They would never go hungry and never be over worked and never be beaten. At the end of his speech Old Major taught everyone a song called The Beasts of England Three days later he died peacefully in his sleep.

When Old Major died, three pigs took his place as the leader. These pigs names were Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer. These three held meetings every week to discuss the business of the farm and Animalism. Now, Snowball and Napoleon were very different. They could never agree on anything. Snowball was extremely intelligent and kind. Napoleon on the other hand, was tough and to the point. His speeches were short and he often threatened and scared people into believing him and turn against Snowball. Things went as they normally did for a while. One day everything changed.

One day Mr. Jones came home very drunk, and neglected the animals for days. The animals were so hungry they fed themselves but Mr. Jones didn t like that. Mr. Jones and his men came at the animals with whips, guns, and other weapons. The animals fought back so well that it didn t take the men very long to retreat. Once the animals had closed the gates behind the men the rebellion had just begun. The animals celebrated their great triumph. They took all of Mr. Jones cruel weapons and threw them down the well. They explored Mr. Jones house; they found many things made from animals and their labor. Horrified by the house the animals decided to turn it into a museum and not enter the wicked place ever again.

The pigs taught themselves to how to read and write, and they attempted to teach the others. The name Manor Farm was replaced with the name Animal Farm. The pigs made some rules. Called the seven commandments, which every animal on the farm had to follow. If an animal broke one of the commandments they would be punished.

Everyone worked as usual, six days a week with Sunday off. They had a little celebration on Sunday, in which they would raise their green flag with a hoof and a horn on it. Then they would debate. This was when Snowball and Napoleon would disagree. After a while things changed. Smarter leadership animals received more privileges, then some of the other hard working animals, for example the pigs got all of the milk and apples and they barely did any work.

One day Jones came home to fight back this time he was a little bit more prepared, but he still had to retreat. This time one of the sheep died, Snowball got shot, and Boxer (the horse) almost killed a man. Heroic animals such as Boxer and Snowball were given medals. This battle was called, The Battle of Cowshed.

Snowball had come up with a wonderful idea for a windmill. He said that this would make it possible for everyone to work three days a week. They would have electricity, advanced heat, and many other luxuries to make-work less stressful. Of course everyone loved this idea except for Napoleon. He hated the idea so much that he urinated on the plans. He had been training puppies that he took from Jessie the Dog. Anyway, he trained the puppies to attack Snowball. Snowball ran as fast as he could and was never seen again. Whenever something went wrong on the farm everyone blamed it on Snowball. Later on Napoleon agreed with Snowball s plan and he and Squealer convinced that Conrad Snowball was a trader.

The pig s started to live in the farmhouse and they started making deals with humans. They also did no work, except for Paper Work. The pigs even started to drink alcohol. These things broke the commandments but every time the pigs broke a commandment Squealer changed the commandment. If anyone brought anything up Squealer was able to lie and convince them otherwise. Since the pigs had spent most of their money on alcohol, the whole farm was low on food supplies and money. The only way they could think to make money was to sell the hens eggs at the market. The hens said that this would be killing their children. That would be breaking a commandment. For once the pigs couldn t convince the hens to surrender their eggs. The hens would rather break their eggs than have them be eaten by humans. In the middle of that night the hens smashed their eggs. The hens were given no food and later starved to death. After the hens death the commandment was changed to Thou shall not kill any animal without cause. It is obvious in this story that some animals are treated better than others are.

One day the windmill was found in pieces. This was blamed on Snowball. Napoleon claimed that Snowball had been working for Mr. Jones the whole time. Napoleon decided that the windmill would be reconstructed, but this time it would be three times as thick, to prevent Snowball and Mr. Jones from knocking it over again.

Things went on as they usually did on the farm. The pigs did whatever they wanted, while the other animals worked too hard and ate too little. Things went on as they always had. Napoleon was their master, just like Mr. Jones; the animals were beaten, starved, and overworked. The only thing that changed was that they had their freedom. Napoleon said that the song Beasts of England would no longer be sung and the flag with the hoof and the horn would no longer be raised. He said that it didn t serve a purpose anymore because the rebellion was done and over with. A new song would be sung called Conrad Napoleon. Everyone accepted this and continued their work and reconstruction on the windmill.

One-day men were seen on the farm, two were drilling a hole at the base of the windmill. Benjamin the Donkey predicted that they would put explosives in the hole and destroy the windmill. This did happen. The animals fought back with a vengeance. A few animals were killed there were ore men with more guns than in the battle of Cowshed, so it was a bit harder to fight back. The animals were badly hurt and without their windmill, but they had forced the enemy to retreat. The flag was hung up and Napoleon s speech got everyone ready to rebuild the windmill again.

After the animals were all healed up they started again on the windmill. One day Boxer was pulling a wagon of rocks from the quarry to the site of the windmill. On his way the weight of the wagon shifted and the wagon tipped over, making him tip over he was badly hurt and he could barely breathe. Clover another horse found him and brought him to the barn. Napoleon said that he would arrange for Boxer to visit a Hospital. A truck came to take him away but when the truck was driving away the animals saw that the truck said, Horse Slaughterer. The animals tried to catch up with the truck and Boxer tried to break free from the truck but these plans didn t work and Boxer was taken away. Napoleon claimed that the hospital had a truck from a horse slaughterer and they just didn t paint it over it yet. He also said that Boxer died in the hospital. After much debt, everyone believed him.

Years passed and the past was forgotten. Old Major and the rebellion were just faded memories. The pigs had developed more human qualities. They walked on their hind legs, they wore clothing, and every day they looked more and more like humans. One night some of Napoleon s human comrades came over. The animals peered into their conversation but they couldn t tell the pigs from the humans. They had become their own enemies.