Chapter summaries
Chapter I
The chapter starts by introducing Mr. Jones’ farm and then describes how Mr. Jones drunkenly makes his way to bed one night. Once he has gone to bed, the animals around the farm become active, making their way to the barn because they have heard rumours that old Major, Mr. Jones’ prize boar, has had a strange dream that he wishes to share with them.
We are introduced to each of th…
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Chapter II
Three nights after the meeting, old Major dies. His ideas continue to be popular among the animals, however, and the pigs take it upon themselves to educate the other animals on the principles necessary for achieving the revolution. Three pigs play especially important roles in this work - Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer. Together they create a form of political philosophy they call Animalism, and they try to teach the other animals about their ways. Some anima…
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Chapter III
The harvest is a great success, as the animals work efficiently together. The pigs assume leadership, while the other animals help in any way they can. The horse Boxer seems particularly excited by the new situation and works harder than ever before. Most of the animals seem very happy with their new lives, as they have both more …
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Chapter IV
The ideas behind the rebellion at Animal Farm start to spread to other animals in the area. The song “Beasts of England” becomes well-known everywhere and other animals start acting rebelliously in various w…
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Chapter V
The horse Mollie seems to struggle to adapt to life at Animal Farm. She constantly finds excuses to avoid work and she seems to miss being in contact with humans, who fed her sugar and gave her pretty ribbons to wear. As Clover confronts her with the fact that she has been seen with a human from the neighbouring farm, she seems distressed and denies everything. Soon after this, she runs away and is later seen in the property of a human, seemingly enjoying herself.
The farm falls upon hard times and the pigs secure more political power for thems…
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Chapter VI
The animals work extremely hard to complete the windmill plan, even getting extra work duties on Sundays. The harvest does not go as well as the year before, because they are focusing on the windmill. The building work is only possible because of the tireless power of Boxer the horse.
In general, the animals are still not worse off than before the Rebellion, however, but they start to need some resources that they cannot get on their own. Napoleon announces that they will start trading …
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Chapter VII
Winter arrives. The lack of resources and the hard work involved in rebuilding the windmill (with thicker walls than before) makes the morale of the animals suffer greatly. Boxer and Clover still seem dedicated, however.
In January a failed potato crop leads to near-starvation at the farm. The animals are desperate to conceal this fact from the human neighbours, who must not detect any weakness. Napoleon uses various strategies to convince his human intermediary, Mr. Whymper, that the situation is bett…
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Chapter VIII
After the executions, some of the animals recall that one of the Seven Commandments stated that no animal shall kill any other animal, and they go to the wall of commandments to check. They discover that the Commandment states that no animal shall kill any other animal without cause, and therefore they cannot argue against Napoleon’s acts.
Conditions become increasingly difficult on the farm. The animals work much harder and eat less food, though Squealer keeps trying to convince them that food production is better than ever. Napoleon increasingly isolates himself, and is only seen r…
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Chapter IX
Boxer’s split hoof from the battle continues to trouble him and he is in constant pain, but is determined to work as hard as ever on rebuilding the mill. We learn that Animal Farm has established rules for retirement, which means that Boxer, being a horse, is able to retire when he is twelve years old.
The winter is as cold as the last one and food is once again short. Rations are reduced for everyone except dogs and pigs. Squealer continues to claim that they are better off than they ever were when Jones was in control, despite the harsh circumstances.
A n…
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Chapter X
The story jumps several years ahead, to a future when most of the animals from the old days are dead. Clover the horse, Benjamin the donkey, Moses the Raven and a few pigs remain, however (including Squealer and Napoleon).
Even though many animals have grown old, no-one has been allowed to retire. The pigs have grown fatter than ever. The windmill is complete, and the farm is doing well overall, though the windmill is used for profits rather than for improving the conditions of the working animals. The pigs and dogs seem to be doing ve…
