Animal Farm

ANIMAL FARM REVISION

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

CHAPTER I
Twelve-year-old Major, Manor Farm’s prize-winning boar, calls a meeting of all of the animals to talk about the difficulty of their lives under man’s rule. He reveals his dream and prophesies a future rebellion of animals against man, teaching the animals a song called “Beasts of England.”

CHAPTER 2
Major dies, but the other animals, led by two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, keep the idea of a future rebellion against man alive. On Midsummer’s Eve, Mr. Jones becomes too drunk to feed or care for the animals, and the hired hands forget them as well. The animals break into the grain bins. When Mr. Jones and the hired hands appear, the animals attack and drive them off the farm. The animals are now in control of Manor Farm. They change its name to Animal Farm and establish their own rules for behavior which are painted on the wall of the barn.

CHAPTER 3
The farm animals, supervised by the pigs, harvest the crops with better results than ever before. Sundays are established as days of rest, for meetings, and for singing “Beasts of England.” Having already taught themselves to read and write, the pigs attempt to teach these skills to other animals. Committees such as the Clean Tails League for the cows are set up, but none are successful. Since most of the animals cannot learn to read or to memorize the seven commandments, the commandments are reduced to one simple maxim: “Four legs good, two legs bad.” Napoleon takes nine puppies for private instruction, and the pigs are now the only ones allowed to eat the apples and drink the milk produced on the farm.   The pigs force the other animals to accept this by reminding them of the threat of Mr. Jones’s return.

CHAPTER 4
The song “Beasts of England” is now being hummed and sung over half of the county, although no other farms have joined the Rebellion. Armed with a shotgun, Mr. Jones and several men from town attempt to recapture the farm, but Snowball leads...