The creatures of Manor Farm are gathering in the big barn. Old Major is the farm’s prize winning boar, who requested all the other animals to come to the meeting so that he could tell them about a near prophetic vision he had. In his dream, their abusive human overlords are gone and the animals are living peacefully together. Old Major tells all the animals that they should try to make his dream a reality, and teaches them the words to a song called “Beasts of England,” which recounts his dream. The other animals on the farm agree to Old Major’s plan, but three nights later he suddenly dies. Three younger pigs from the farm named Snowball, Napolean and Squealer, take the main themes from Old Major’s dream and then use them to create a philosophy they dub ‘Animalism.’ The animals kick off their rebellion with a great battle, and are able to defeat their evil human overlord Mr. Jones. They decide to change the name of Manor Farm to Animal Farm and work towards the vision outlined by Old Major. One of the farm animals, a horse named Boxer, commits himself with extra enthusiasm, making up his mind to live by the motto “I will work harder.”

Animal Farm is a great success - at least for a while. Snowball starts teaching the other animals how to read, while Napolean starts to teach a few young puppies about Animalism. One day Mr. Jones appears at the farm intending to take it back from the animals. However, he is once again thwarted in what the animals call the “Battle of the Cowshed,” and they take Mr. Jones’ abandoned gun as a token of their victory. Everything is going great for a spell - but as time goes on, Snowball and Napolean begin to bicker about the plans for the farm and eventually the controversies intensifies into a power struggle. When Snowball hatches up a idea to build a windmill for electricity to power the farm, Napolean snubs it. The animals hold a meeting to decide whether or not to build the windmill, and Snowball gives an enthusiastic and persuasive speech. Napolean, however, says only a few words. Then he makes a peculiar guttural sound, and the 9 puppies he was supposedly educating exploded in and chase Snowball from the farm. Napolean takes over and calls off all future meetings, telling the other animals that from then on the pigs will make decisions on their own for the good of the rest of the animals.

With Snowball gone Napolean does a complete 180 concerning the windmill idea. Shortly he has the rest of the animals working diligently away on the task and, of course, Boxer attacks it with his usual enthusiasm. After a storm, the animals come outside to see the windmill has been obliterated. The human farmers in the area state smugly that the animals made the walls too thin, but Napoleon argues that Snowball snuck into to the farm to sabotage the windmill. He stages a great purge, during which several animals who have allegedly taken part in Snowball’s great conspiracy—meaning any animal who opposes Napoleon’s uncontested leadership — meet swift death at the teeth of the attack dogs. With his power unchallenged (Boxer has taken up a second motto, “Napoleon is always right”), Napoleon sets about extending his powers, rewriting history to make Snowball a scoundrel. Napoleon also begins to act more and more like a human being—sleeping in a bed, downing whisky, and engaging in trade with nearby farmers. The traditional Animalist principles stringently forbade such actions, but Squealer, Napoleon’s propagandist, rationalizes every action to the other animals, convincing them that Napoleon is a exceptional leader and is making things easier for everyone — in spite of the fact that the common animals are cold, hungry, and overworked.

Mr. Frederick, a local farmer, cheats Napoleon in the exchange of some lumber and then assaults the farm and blows up the windmill, which had been reconstructed at significant expense. After the destruction of the windmill, a pitched battle results, in which Boxer acquires major wounds. The animals rout the farmers, but Boxer’s injuries weaken him. When he later falls while working on the windmill, he senses that his time has almost come. One day, Boxer is nowhere to be heard. According to Squealer, Boxer has died in peace after having been took to the hospital, praising the Rebellion with his final breath. In reality, Napoleon has sold his most loyal and enduring worker to a glue manufacturing business in order to get money for whisky.

 As the years pass the pigs act more and more like humans. They carry whips, wear clothes, and walk around on their hind legs. The major concepts of Animalism which are carved on the Barn are reduced to a single rule: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Napolean gets friendly with a human farmer, Mr. Pilkington, who he has over for dinner to ally himself with against the working classes of not just the animals, but also humans. Napolean even switches the title of Animal Farm back to Manor Farm, announcing that Manor Farm is the “correct” name. One day the other animals are peering through the windowpane at the pigs and their human counterparts, and realize they can’t tell which are which any more. The pigs have gotten so human they can’t be told apart from each other.

George Orwell’s Books are all classics! If you’ve only read Animal Farm, go check out what else he’s written today!