Animal Farm

6 Pages 1419 Words

Summary of Animal Farm
Animal Farm takes place on an English farm named Manor Farm, owned by Mr. Jones. The story is about the rebellion of the farm animals, and is told from their point of view. The story begins with Mr. Jones stumbling into bed, unable to lock up the farm because of his drinking. Old Major, the well-respected boar, has called all the animals together for a meeting to take place after Mr. Jones has gone to bed. They all gather outside the big barn on the farm. Old Major tells them all that he had a dream last night, in which he saw his death, and also understood more clearly the life of animals. He wants to share his thoughts to the rest of the animals while he still can.
Old Major points out to the animals that the cause of their miserable lives is the cause of Man, who is a lazy, incompetent creature who uses the animals for their labor. Just for his own benefit. Old Major describes his vision of an England where animals could live in peaceful and have coexistence with each other, free from the cruel Man. He encourages the animals to band together to defeat their enemy, and teaches them all "Beasts of England," the song which becomes their rebellion song and battle song. The animals are greatly moved by Old Major's speech, and like the rebellion idea, singing "Beasts of England" until Mr. Jones is awakened from his sleep and fires a shot into the air, quieting the animals to sleep.
Three days later, Old Major dies and is buried. His revolutionary belief lives on, and the animals begin to conjure up revolutionary ideas with which they will overthrow Mr. Jones. Two of the pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, emerge as the leaders of the animals. Another pig named Squealer is also prominent for his persuasive speaking ability. These three pigs create a government and name it "Animalism," and begin teaching it to the rest of the animals, often simplifying and slowly reasoning with the less-intelligent animals such as the...