This paper provides a plot summary and critical analysis of George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), examining it as a satirical allegory of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and the Stalinist dictatorship. The analysis draws direct parallels between the novel's characters and historical figures — Napoleon to Stalin, Snowball to Trotsky, and Squealer to Goebbels — while also considering the novel's broader applicability to totalitarianism worldwide. The paper further explores the Marxist origins of Communism, the failure of the Soviet experiment, and the inherent conflict between collective ideology and human self-interest, arguing that this tension inevitably produces the kind of tyrannical regime Orwell depicts.
Animal Farm begins with Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, drunkenly heading to bed. The animals gather for a meeting to hear Old Major, the prize boar, who tells them how the humans exploit the farm animals and how they can rid themselves of their oppressors through rebellion. Major tells the animals that "all animals are equal" and that the humans are their enemy.
Old Major dies soon after, and the animals are tutored in the basics of rebellion by three clever pigs: Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer. The rebellion breaks out unexpectedly when Mr. Jones neglects to feed the animals and they break into a storage shed to get food. Caught and whipped by the humans, the animals fight back, and the humans flee the farm. The pigs, now the new leaders, rename the property "Animal Farm" and direct the animals to continue working through the harvest.
The first harvest under the animals' own administration is a great success, with most animals working enthusiastically. Differences of opinion begin to appear between the two leaders, Napoleon and Snowball. While Snowball puts forward proposals for improving life on the farm, Napoleon sees little merit in his suggestions. The animals gradually discover that the choicest food — milk and apples — is reserved for the pigs, justified on the grounds that the leaders need better nutrition for their brains.
As news of the rebellion spreads, animals on neighboring farms grow emboldened and begin disobeying their human masters. The humans, led by Mr. Jones, attack Animal Farm in an attempt to recapture it. The animals repel the assault; Snowball is injured and a sheep is killed. Snowball is awarded a first-class medal, and the martyred sheep receives a second-class medal.
Tensions between Napoleon and Snowball grow sharper over Snowball's proposal to build a windmill. When the animals gather to vote on the idea, Napoleon unleashes his vicious dogs on Snowball, who is chased off the farm. Napoleon assumes sole leadership, proclaims the supremacy of the pigs, and bans all dissent. Squealer, acting as Napoleon's spokesperson, justifies these measures as necessary, and the animals are pacified.
As time passes, the animals find themselves working harder than ever, yet the harvests are poor and the farm runs short of several essential items. Napoleon announces that Animal Farm will begin trading with the surrounding human farms, demanding further sacrifices from the animals. Unease about trading with the "enemy" is quickly suppressed.
Life on the farm worsens as food shortages take hold. The pigs conceal the misery from the outside world through propaganda and impose further restrictions on the animals. All misfortunes are blamed on Snowball and his alleged conspiracies against the farm. Dissent is brutally suppressed — troublemakers are forced to confess their supposed sins and are swiftly put to death. Even Boxer the horse, the hardest-working animal on the farm, is targeted by the pigs, though he survives owing to his great strength.
The original commandments of Animal Farm — including "No animal shall kill another animal" and "No animal shall drink alcohol" — are quietly altered to justify the pigs' violations of them. A personality cult is built around Napoleon, who indulges in corrupt practices to enrich himself and his associates, while the conditions for all other animals continue to deteriorate.
As the hardworking Boxer grows old and weakens, the pigs send him to the slaughterhouse under the pretense that he is being taken to a hospital. Squealer announces that Boxer has died in the hospital and delivers a moving eulogy in his honor. Napoleon then declares a memorial banquet for the brave Boxer — to be attended by pigs only.
As the years pass, conditions on Animal Farm worsen for all animals except the ever-expanding bureaucracy of pigs. Every original commandment is replaced by a single rule: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Everything is justified through shameless propaganda. In the end, the pigs begin walking on two feet, rename the farm "The Manor Farm," and become virtually indistinguishable from the very humans the animals had once rebelled against.
"Marx's Communist theory and its Soviet collapse"
"Human self-interest as root cause of Communist failure"
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