First Half of Animal Farm

Synopsis

• The animals have a meeting and Old Major, the wise old pig, leads the meeting and shares his wisdom since he believes his life will soon come to an end.
• Old Major describes a dream he had of living without the tyranny of humans and shares the idea of a rebellion.
• After Old Major dies, the pigs take control. Snowball and Napoleon become the masters of the farm.
• One day Mr Jones, the farmer, forgets to feed the animals which then ignites anger and the animals rebel.
• Snowball and Napoleon learn to read then create the 7 commandments for the newly named, Animal Farm.
• Snowball establishes committees and organizes the farm. Boxer the horse works harder than all the other animals and lives off the motto “I will work harder!”
• We begin receiving hints that Napoleon and Snowball aren't getting along and the animals are becoming suspicious of where the apples and milk have been disappearing to.
• There is a war between the farmers and the animals. The animals win the war thanks to Snowballs planning.
• Snowball concocts a plan to build a windmill but strangely, Napoleon is strongly against the idea.
• We discover that Napoleon has trained the dogs to do as he wishes and chases Snowball off the farm. Napoleon is the new leader.

Napoleon: One of the leaders of the farm is a round and dynamic character. He is he antagonist in the novel because of actions against Snowball. Napoleon is a large, fierce- looking Berkshire boar. He is very stubborn and rules the animals in military way.

Snowball: The protagonist of the novel and a round character. He is a smarter pig than Napoleon, and more inventive. He is chased out of the farm by Napoleon and his trained dogs.

Boxer: The main horse of the farm, he is extremely strong and carries the motto “I will work harder”. He carries the burden of all the harder work at the farm and believes everything he is told by his masters, Napoleon and Snowball.

Point of View

The story is told in third person and the narrator is omniscient. This allows the reader to see things from the point of view of the animals which creates an interesting view of the story by making the humans seem like savages. It has really given me a new look on farming in general and the maltreatment to animals that are used as products.

Setting

The story takes place in Manor Farm or newly named, Animal farm, which is in England. The setting does not take much effect on the story itself.

Writers style:

The writers style is very simple and factual. Orwell does not display any extreme detail so the story is not so much about how it is told but more just the story and facts themselves.

Statement of Themes

The theme is all about power and use of power and leadership. This story uses irony in that sense because the pigs whom are the leaders tell the animals that every animal at the farm is equal even though the pigs are much more powerful and persuasive than everyone else. Anything the pigs say is fact and the animals do as they are told. One could also say that another theme is the abuse of language and the danger of class. Language, because the pigs use it to their advantage and class, because the pigs classify all the animals and use them for different jobs leaving some of the animals with less food and working harder than the others.