Chapter 1: Major’s Call for Rebellion
Summary:
1) Mr Jones the human owner of Manor Farm attempts to complete his daily duties of locking up the
farm but fails to do so as he is too drunk and ends up falling asleep.
2) Old Major the ‘Middle White Boar’ and also ‘highly regarded’ on the farm calls for a meeting to
communicate to all the other animals of the dream he had last night.
3) Once every animal is gathered Major begins a speech saying that because he is soon to die, he must
share his vision: a future in which the animals can live together on the farm in peace and freedom,
without the pain and suffering they receive at the present from the exploitation by humans.
4) In the speech Major shares his ideas for rules that they must live by in order to avoid not becoming
their enemy, man, and offers the solution of rebellion in the future.
5) The speech unites all the animals, even those such as the rats and rabbits, who were not thought of as
‘comrades’ before. In the excitement they all in unison sing the newly learnt ‘Beasts of England’ which
Major had shared only moments prior.
6) The loud jollification wakes Mr Jones, who seized a gun and fired into the darkness. The meeting is
broken in a hurry as the frightened animals settle to their sleeping places and fell asleep.
Dictionary:
prosperity- a state of being wealthy and successful. (page 17)
dissentient- a person who opposes a majority or official opinion. (page 18)
enmity- a state or feeling of active opposition or hostility. (page 18)
Characters:
Introduction of the setting and many of the protagonists are established to the reader. When writing the first
descriptions of the dominant characters, Orwell stresses on certain actions which seem to foreshadow the
type of characters they are later in the book and also heighten the pathos of their treatment. For example,
Boxer and Clover are shown to be ‘walking very slowly and setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care
lest there should be some small animal concealed in the straw.’ This precedent communicates to the reader
that those characters are generally compassionate and with this detail the reader forms a positive opinion
towards the two. His use of language makes this effective as ‘small’ juxtaposed with their ‘vast’ size and
physical power demonstrates how they show consideration for those more vulnerable then themselves.
Themes:
Rules/Order
Hopes/Dreams
Language as Power
Equality/ Inequality
Exploitation
Class Warfare
Revolution/Rebellion
Observations:
Mr. Jones's drunkenness symbolizes the Russian Tsar's decadence and when he assets authority he is
oblivious to the revolution, ‘number 6 shot into darkness’.
The pigs and dogs seating position being separate hints to class division already between the animals.
Orwell encourages the reader to be sympathetic towards some of the characters but not all.
Questions:
Why does Old Major only share the solution of rebelling against man?
Chapter 2: Animalism
What is Orwell insinuating about the power of language and the significance of it in the book?
Summary:
Summary:
1) Mr Jones the human owner of Manor Farm attempts to complete his daily duties of locking up the
farm but fails to do so as he is too drunk and ends up falling asleep.
2) Old Major the ‘Middle White Boar’ and also ‘highly regarded’ on the farm calls for a meeting to
communicate to all the other animals of the dream he had last night.
3) Once every animal is gathered Major begins a speech saying that because he is soon to die, he must
share his vision: a future in which the animals can live together on the farm in peace and freedom,
without the pain and suffering they receive at the present from the exploitation by humans.
4) In the speech Major shares his ideas for rules that they must live by in order to avoid not becoming
their enemy, man, and offers the solution of rebellion in the future.
5) The speech unites all the animals, even those such as the rats and rabbits, who were not thought of as
‘comrades’ before. In the excitement they all in unison sing the newly learnt ‘Beasts of England’ which
Major had shared only moments prior.
6) The loud jollification wakes Mr Jones, who seized a gun and fired into the darkness. The meeting is
broken in a hurry as the frightened animals settle to their sleeping places and fell asleep.
Dictionary:
prosperity- a state of being wealthy and successful. (page 17)
dissentient- a person who opposes a majority or official opinion. (page 18)
enmity- a state or feeling of active opposition or hostility. (page 18)
Characters:
Introduction of the setting and many of the protagonists are established to the reader. When writing the first
descriptions of the dominant characters, Orwell stresses on certain actions which seem to foreshadow the
type of characters they are later in the book and also heighten the pathos of their treatment. For example,
Boxer and Clover are shown to be ‘walking very slowly and setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care
lest there should be some small animal concealed in the straw.’ This precedent communicates to the reader
that those characters are generally compassionate and with this detail the reader forms a positive opinion
towards the two. His use of language makes this effective as ‘small’ juxtaposed with their ‘vast’ size and
physical power demonstrates how they show consideration for those more vulnerable then themselves.
Themes:
Rules/Order
Hopes/Dreams
Language as Power
Equality/ Inequality
Exploitation
Class Warfare
Revolution/Rebellion
Observations:
Mr. Jones's drunkenness symbolizes the Russian Tsar's decadence and when he assets authority he is
oblivious to the revolution, ‘number 6 shot into darkness’.
The pigs and dogs seating position being separate hints to class division already between the animals.
Orwell encourages the reader to be sympathetic towards some of the characters but not all.
Questions:
Why does Old Major only share the solution of rebelling against man?
Chapter 2: Animalism
What is Orwell insinuating about the power of language and the significance of it in the book?
Summary:
