GCSE Animal Farm (CGP Revision Guide)

NAPOLEON:

Napoleon doesn't fight in the revolution:

• Napoleon doesn't say much in the early meetings, but he has a 'reputation' for getting what he wants. This shows that he seems to care less about Animalism than the others, and hints that he's ambitious and selfish.
• At the Battle of the Cowshed he diseappears - he's a coward. this contrasts with Snowball who fights bravely to defend the farm.

Napoleon is:

• Cunning: 'That, he said, was Comrade Napoleon's cunning'
• Ruthless: 'a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet'
• Corrupt: 'There was only one candidate, Napoleon'
• Selfish: 'reputation for getting his own way'

He's a ruthless leader:

Napoleon doesn't care about the welfare of the other animals and just uses them for his own benefit:

• He adopts the puppies, but only so that he can train them to be his army.
• He forces the animals to work a 60-hour-week while he does nothing.
• He steals the apples and cow's milk for the pigs to have for themselves.
• Allegory: Napoleon is based on Joseph Stalin the leader of the Soviet Russian.

Napoleon usies cunning and brutality to get his own way:

• Napoleon is threatened by Snowball, who is a miltary hero and a charismatic leader.
• Napoleon belittles and undermines Snowball. He trains the sheep to interrupt Snowball's speeches and urinates on his plans for the windmill. He then uses his army of dogs to chase Snowball into exile
• After his exile, Napoleon uses Snowball as a scapegoat for any problems on the farm. The way he turns the animals against Snowball is cunning.
• He uses terror to control the farm. Animals are forced to make false confessions and are executed for being in league with Snowball

• Allegory: The executions and show trials mimic the brutality of Stalin in the 1930s. Many Russians were executed or sent to labour camps.

Napoleon is a selfish leader...:

• Napoleon sees himself as better than the other animals and above the common herd.
• He changes the principles of Animalsm for his own beneifit, eg: 'No animal shall drink alcohol to excess'. It shows that he quickly forgets any ideals of Animalism that he may have believed in.
• Although he critises Snowball's plans for the windmill, he builds it after Snowball's exile. He's happy to take the credit for someone else's ideas.

...and a corrupt ruler:

• Napoleon rewrites history - he disorts the story of the Battle of the Cowshed to make himself seem like a hero. He awards himself a bravery medal and presents Snowball as a traitor.
• Theme - Propaganda: Just like Napoleon, Stalin created a cult of personality, where propaganda and the media were used to glorify him as a kind, caring leader.

• The Sunday meetings and abolished to suppress debate and criticism towards him.
• Theme - Education: The animals have doubts about Napoleon but they don't question him - they have been brainwashed into thinking that 'Napoleon is always right'.
• He is 'unanimously' elected as the leader of the Republic but he is the only candidate.

He's just as bad as farmer Jones:

• Napoleon's transition from pigs to 'human' is complete by the end of the novel - he stands on two legs, drinks whisky and wears clothes. When the animals look at the pigs and men, they can't say 'which was which'.
• By the end, the commandments and principles of Animalism have been forgotten - the animals are starving and overworked and in a worst position than they were under Farmer Jones.
• Theme - Class System: Animalism failed because one tyrant, Farmer Jones, was replaced with another, Napoleon. This reflects the way that all powerful Tsar was replaced by Stalin and his dictatorship.

Snowball is intellegent but not very cunning:

• Snowball is lively and a quick thinker, but he doesn't have 'the same depth of character' as Napoleon.
• Animal equality and the 'working class' animals are important to him. He explains the principles of Animalism for the others so that they can improve life on Animal Farm.
• He's an original thinker - he explains to the birds that a wing 'is an organ of propulsion'. He's got good intentions but the birds don't understand Snowball's complicated explantions.
• Allegory: Snowball's character is based on Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary leader and Stalin's greatest rival.
• Snowball isn't perfect though: > He's over-idealistic - he forms animal committees but generally these end in failure. > He's dishonest - when Napoleon steals the milk for the pigs, Snowball doesn't protest.

He's brave and a strong military leader:

• Snowball is a strong leader in battle. He's in charge of defensive operations on Animal Farm. When Jones and his allies attack, Snowball has prepared by studying the campaigns of Caesar.

• He's noble. He leads the charge against the humans and is injured. He proves he's willing to die for Animalism.
• For his bravery he is recognised as a hero by all the animals, and awarded the military honour 'Animal Hero, First Class', for his role in the Battle of the Cowshed.

Snowball is:

• Intelligent: 'full of plans for innovations and improvements'
• Brave: 'He himself dashed straight for Jones'
• Eloquent: 'won over the majority by the his brilliant speeches'
• Idealist: 'Snowball conjured up pictures of fantastic machines'

He wants Animalism to succeed:

• Snowball wants Major's utopian vision to become a reality.
• He writes the seven commandments on the barn wall for all the animals to see, but most of the animals are illiterate.
• He draws up plans for the windmill - a project designed to generate electricy to make the animals' lives easier.

• His plans would require the animal to work hard but the windmill would benefit everyone.

Snowball is undermined by Napoleon:

• They can't agree - Snowball wants to encourage all animals on all farms to rebel, but Napoleon wants to build up power and security on Animal Farm.
• Snowball is an excellent speaker but Napoeleon is better at 'canvassing support for himself' outside the debates.
• Turning point in the action: Once Snowball has been exiled, Napoleon can start his campaign of terror.
• Napoleon is threatened by Snowball's heroism, intelligence and influence over the other animals, and so he begins to bully him: > Napoleon trains the sheep to disrupt Snowball's speeches. > When Snowball draws up the windmill plans, Napoleon shows his contempt by urinating all over them. > Snowball is chased off the farm by Napoleon's dogs.

He becomes a scapegoat:

• After Snowball is exiled from Animal Farm, Napoleon begins to gain power. He spreads vicious rumour and lies about the threat of Snowball to safeguard his own position.

• Snowball is condemned as a traitor, a liar and a friend of Farmer Jones.
• He becomes a scapegoat - when the windmill is blown down in a storm, Snowball is blamed. He becomes the 'source of evil' on the farm.
• Napoleon denounces Snowball as a dangerous outside enemy and puts himself forward as the protector of Animal Farm.
• Allegory: When Stalin came to power, he ordered Trotsky and other political rivals to be exiled. He then began to persecute people who supported or sympathised with Trotsky.

Squealer is a remorseless liar:

• Squealer is a small, fat porker with 'twinkling eyes' and a 'shrill voice'.
• He spends the novel promoting Napoleon's regime - distorting language and telling lies.
• He's protected by vicious dogs, who scare the other animals into silence.
• Allegory: Squealer represents the use of communist propaganda in Russia - the working classes were controlled by persuasive slogans.

Squealer is:

• persuasive - 'he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive'
• manipulative - 'he could turn black into white'
• deceitful - Squealer says that 'Snowball was in league with Jones'

He uses persuasive language to justify Napoleon's actions:

• When Napoleon is the leader of Animal Farm, Squealer becomes his loyal spokesperson.

• He uses convincing language to win over the other animals. He tells them that, 'No one believes more firmly than Napoleon' in the equality of animals.
• He manipulates the animals' fear of Jones in order to increase Napoleon's power. He asks them, 'you do not want Jones back?' to make it seem like they only have a choice between the two.
• Squealer has an answer for everything. When all the animals have their rations reduced except the pigs and dogs, Squealer explains that rigid equality is 'contrary' to Animalism.
• Theme - Education: Propaganda is used as a tool by the pigs to control the other animals and justify unequal living conditions. The use of statistics and jargon confuses the poorly educated animals

Squealer controls the animals with lies:

Squealer manipulates the animals through his clever use of language, disorting the truth to convince them that life is better on Animal Farm:

• He uses false statistics to claim that life is good on the farm: he 'proved' to the animals in detail that they had more food than before the Rebellion

• Squealer lies - he claims that the Battle of the Windmill was a great victory - even though the animals suffered terrible losses and the windmill was destroyed.
• He rewrites history. He turns Napoleon into the hero at the Battle of the Cowshed by saying things like 'Comrade Napoleon sprang forward... and sank his teeth into Jones' leg'.

Squealer turns the animals against Snowball:

• Squealer plays an important role in destroying Snowball's repuation and turning the other animals against him.
• Theme - Language: Orwell uses Squealer to show how language can be used to influence people. Squealer's ability to twist language gives him great power - and this kind of subtle control is dangerous.
• When he suggests that Snowball's agents are 'lurking among us at this moment', he's scaremongering.
• He makes up evidence against Snowball. He says Snowball was 'Jones's secret agent' and it's been 'proved by documents'.
• He convinces the animals that Snowball was a traitor at the Battle of Cowshed and that Snowball was never awarded 'Animal Hero,  First Class'

He lies about Boxer's death:

• The ageing Boxer is betrayed and sold to the knacker's yard to be killed.
• Squealer's lies about the death of Boxer are more fanciful than ever.
• He describes Boxer's death in great sentimental detail, even though it's completed made up. He claims that Boxer's last words were 'Napoleon is always right'. This shows that he is completely remorseless, willing to abuse Boxer's unfailing loyalty to Napoleon to the end.
• He says that Napoleon did all he could for Boxer, providing medicine 'without a thought as to the cost'. This is ironic because Napoleon's only real concern was how much money the pigs could make by selling Boxer.

Squealer helps to create and maintain the dictatorship:

Squealer is a very important member of Napoleon's regime:

• He helps to build up Napoleon's oppressive, muderous dictatorship.
• With Squealer's help, Animal Farm becomes a more efficient state of terror.
• It's a new class-based hierarchy where the interests of the pigs are put in first.

Old Major has a vision:

• Allegory: Old Major is the equvalent of Karl Marx and Russian revolutationary, Vladamir Lenin.
• Old Major is the oldest, wisest pig on the farm.
• He dreams of a future where all animals live in a land of happiness and plenty, free from the exploitations of man.
• He's aware that he's near death and has a clear mission to pass on his wisdom.

Old Major is:

• kindly: 'with a wise and benevolent appearance'
• wise: 'to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired'
• idealistic: 'let there be perfect unity, perfect comradship'

His ideas for the future are clear:

• When Old Major gives his speech, he talks about Man's terrible treatment of animals. He says ;our lives are miserable, laborious and short'.

Old Major's vision becomes the foundation of Animalism:

• He insists that all animals are 'comrades' - they are all equal.
• Man is the enemy and animals must never come to resemble them.
• Before his death he sets out a number of clear rules against adopting human vices such as living in houses, sleeping in beds, wearing clothes and drinking alcohol.

Unlike Major, Benjamin in cyncical:

• Allegory: Benjamin represents the intellectual Russians (intelligentsia) who realise that communism will not solve the injustices of society.
• Bejamin is a grumpy, bad tempered donkey who never laughs because 'he saw nothing to laugh at'. He's cynical about the rebellion and Animalism.
• He's very intelligent, and one of the few literate animals but he sees little point in using his abilities.
• Benjamin has a true understanding of life on Animal Farm. He's realistic when he sees 'hardship and disappointment' all around him, but he doesn't do anything to stop the pigs. This could suggest that Orwell is disappointed that many people seem unwilling or unable to challenge a tryannical leader.
• When the realises what's happening to Boxer, he raises the alarm. This is an important turning point for Benjamin - he speaks out but he reacts too late.

Boxer is brave and hardworking:

• Boxer is the hardest worker on the farm - all the farm's work seemed to 'rest upon his mighty shoulders'
• He is as strong 'as any two horses put together'.
• At the Battle of the Cowshed he fights bravely and is awarded 'Animal Hero, First Class'.
• The animals respect Boxer for his calm, stable manner and his tremendous ability to work.
• Boxer gets upset when he thinks he's killed a human boy during the Battle of the Cowshed. This shows that he's compassionate.

Boxer is...

•  loyal: 'Napoleon is always right'
• hardworking: 'I will work harder'
• dim-witter: 'not of first rate intelligence'

He trusts the pigs completely:

• Boxer isn't very bright and he's easily manipulated by the pigs.

• After Napoleon's show trials and executions, Boxer has misgivings about the pigs' behaviour, but he remains silent - continuing to believe in Napoleon.
• He's a useful tool for the pigs - if Boxer's on their side then the other animals may follow more easily.

Boxer's dedication to the farm is ultimately his downfall. Everytime he witnesses a terrible event on the farm, he just works harder. He overworks himself for the good of the farm.

Boxer is betrayed by Napoleon:

• After the Battle of the Windmill, Boxer is injured but he refuses to lighten his load. He's determined to build the windmill, however hard it is.
• Allegory: Boxer represents the Russian working class who worked hard in appalling conditions to try to achieve the unattainable goals set by the goverment, for no reward.
• When he collapses and is taken ill, he believes that he will get a happy retirement.
• He thinks he is being sent to the vet for treatment but Napoleon sells him to the knacker's yard so that the pigs can get money for whiskey.

Clover is a mother figure:

• She is a compassionate, maternal mare. When the animals were frightened, they 'huddled about Clover'.
• She is a loyal and faithful desciple of Animals, absorbing and passing on all that she is taught. when she grows suspicious of the pigs' behaviour, she blames herself for misremembering the commandmetns.
• Even when Animalism disappoints her, 'these scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to', she continues to be obedient and accepts Napoleon's leadership.
• Theme - Education: Like Boxer, Clover represents the unquestioning working classes. She sometimes doubts the motives of Napoleon, but she doesn't think she's intelligent enough to speak out.

Clover is...

• LOYAL - 'she would remain faithful'
• MATERNAL - 'stout motherly mare'
• DIM - she 'could not put the words together'

Mollie is vain and silly:

• Mollie's a 'pretty white mare' who's vain and 'foolish'.
  
• She is spoiled and likes ribbons, sugar and being petted - things which are banned under Animalism.
• She has no interest in politics or the rebellion. She's cowardly and unwilling to fight for Animal Farm. She hides in fear during the battle of the Cowshed.

Mollie is:

• VAIN - 'foolishly gazing at her own reflection'
• LAZY - 'She was late for work every morning'
• COWARDLY - 'she was found hiding in her stall'

She refuses to make sacrifices after the revolution:

• Mollie struggles to follow the principles of Animalsm and hoard ribbons and lump sugar. In a selfish way she's ot willing to make sacrifices.

• When Snowball teaches the animals to read and write, Mollie has the capacity to become literate but she only learns the letters which spell her name. She isn't interested in what the rebellion can teach her.
• Allegory: Mollie could represent the upper0class Russians who had a comfortable life under the Tsar.
• Mollie can't adapt to life on Animal Farm - she's too shallow and devoted to her luxuries. She runs away to draw the cart of a man who pets her and feeds her sugar.

Jones' neglect causes the animals to rebel:

• Mr Jones is the owner of Manor Farm, he's a lazy dunkard.
• Allegory: Jones represents the unpopular Tsar Nicholas II
• His men are 'idle', 'dishonest' and they take advantage of Jones' slackness. Under Jones, the fields of Manor Field are 'full of weeds' and the animals are 'underfed'.
• Jones' neglect and drunkeness allow the animals to meet and organise themselves in secret - he was 'too drunk to remember' to lock them up properly.
• When the animals rebel, it's a spontaneous event and even the animals are surprised at their success. This shows how little control Jones has over his farm.

Pilkington and Federick represent the West:

• Pilkington is an old-fashioned gentleman-farmer whose farm is shappy and neglected.
• Federick has a smaller, better kept farm. He's 'tough', 'schrewd' and always 'involved in lawsuits'. There are rumours about cruelty on his farm.
• Allegory: Pilkington represents the capitalist West. Federick represents Hitler and Nazi Germany.
• Federick leads a surprise attack on Animal Farm which is sudden and vicious. He almost overthrows the animals and is only driven off after the animals suffer terrible losses and the wildmill is blown up.

The humans are...

• CRUEL: Jones is a 'hard master'.
• VIOLENT: 'any animal caught singing it [Beasts of England] was given a flogging'
• DISHONEST: Federick's 'bank notes were forgeries'

Whymper is in it for the money:

• Allegory: Whymper stands for those people who were happy to work for the communists in Soviet Russia or do business with them, if the price was right.
• Whymper is Napoleon's solicitor and representative in his dealings with other humans.
• Whymper is a 'sharp' businessman who realises that Napoleon's business would be 'worth having'.
• He only agrees to work for Animal Farm because Napoleon tricks him intro thinking the farm is properous.

The sheep can't think for themselves:

• The sheep live up to their traditional stereotype - the members of the flock are unthinking and easily led.
• They can't think for themselves and blindly follow the pigs' orders. They start chanting whenever anyone threatens to voice an opinion - 'their usual bleating... put an end to thei discussion'.
• In the end, the sheep silence all opposition and announce the final betrayl of Animalism, chanting 'For legs good, two legs better!'
• Allegory: The sheep are like the Communist party 'yes-men' that Stalin packed meetings with, and who would vote together for whatever he said.

The hens are oppressed by Napoleon:

• Once he's in power, Napoleon orders the hens to give up their eggs so they can be sold. Trading with humans was something Major opposed in his speech.
• Allegory: The hens are like the peasants of the Soviet Union who were forced to give up their produce. Millions of Soviet peasants died of famine in the 1930s.

• When they're told to supply 400 eggs a week, they protest by telling Napoleon that it is 'murder'.
• They're the only group of animals to really oppose Napoleon's regime. When they stage a protest, Napoleon starves them into submission.
• When egg quotas are raised again, there's no outcry or protest this time - they're too frightened to even raise their voices.

Moses stands for religion:

• Moses is a raven who tells the animals stories of Sugarcane Mountain - a paradise where animals go when they die.
• He tells lies and is described as a 'spy' but many of the animals believe him because they have nothing else to look forward to.
• The pigs allow Moses to stay on Animal Farm because his stories give the animals hope and keep theim obedient.
• Allegory: Orwell uses Moses to introduce Karl Marx's idea that religion is the 'opium of the people' - he thought that religion deceived people into believing in a happy afterlife. Moses' name links the raven to the Biblical prophet who told a faraway 'promised land'.

Animalism is the idea that animals will only work for themselves:

• Animalism is a new 'system of thought' inspired by old Major's ideas - his beliefs are summarised in seven commandments after he dies.
• Like communism, equality is essential in Animalism. The commandment that 'All animals are equal' means that every animal should be treated the same.
• Orwell uses the word 'commandments' to draw a comparison with the Ten Commandments of Christianity. The seven commandments are an 'unalterable law' - a set of rules  that the animals could follow religiously.
• They also give the reader a framework to see Animalism's decline as the commandments are corrupted one by one.
• Orwell uses Animalism to represent communism so that he can criticise it indirectly. This is why the flags of both beliefs are so similar.

The idea of Animalism doesn't last long:

Not long after the revolution, there are already serious problems - and they only get worse. As the pigs corrup Animalism, conflict and inequality increase on the farm:

CONFLICT:

• Like Stalin, Napoleon gets rid of any opposition - he orders 'nine enormous dogs' to attack Snowball and chase him from the farm. By preventing Snowball from having an equal say, Napoleon turns his back on equality and Animalism.
• Napoleon hold false trials and executes any animals who 'confess' to going against Animalism. This goes against the commandment that 'No animal shall kill any other animal'. Ironically it's Napoleon who is actually going against Animalism by breaking one of the seven rules.

INEQUALITY:

• Some of the animals learn to read, (eg: the pigs) and so the other animals are at a disadvantage. Napoleon refuses to educate the other animals equally, so that he can maintain the pig' authority.
• Animalism was founded on the idea that every animal worked for each other, but in reality, only the pigs benefit - they take more for themselves while the other 'animals worked like slaves'.

• Power corrupts Animalism's original ideals. Napoleon changes the commandments to suit his needs.
• Napoleon becomes so similar to the humans that the animals can't tell them apart. Orwell's point was that Russia had suffered the same fate - Stalin's rule was no better than the Tsar's capitalist regime.
• By making Animalism fail, Orwell was arguing that Russia had also failed in being fair and equal.

Education divides the animals into social classes:

• Two social classes form after the revolution, which goes against the commandment that 'All animals are equal'. The division is based on the animals' intelligence.
• The pigs are the ruling class - they make all the rules because they can write them. The other animals accept that the pigs are 'cleverer' and let them take control.
• The pigs reinforce their status by taking up the symbols of Man - Napoleon appears 'wearing an old bowler hat' and 'with a pipe in his mouth'.

Snowball and Napoleon disagree on education:

• The animals are supposed to be equal, but because the pigs teach themselves to read, they're superior from the start. By controlling education, they also control who's upper class.
• Snowball wants to educate all the animals - he tries to teach them to read, write and spread the ideas of Animalism to everyone, so that there will be true equality among the animals. Whereas, Napoleon is only interested in educating the young. He focuses on the piglets to continue the pigs' superiority and the puppies, so that he can train them to be loyal bodyguards.

• Under Napoleon the class system is likely to stay the same - he doesn't want to educate the other animals in case they use it to rise up against him. By only educating the pigs, they keep all the power.

The animals misuse their education:

• The uneducated animals remain working class because they don't make the most of the education that Snowball offers them: Mollie only wants to learn how to write her name, Benjamin learns to read, but refuses to use his ability, Boxer wants to read and write, but can only learn four letters, which he is 'content with'.
• Because of this lack of interest in education they remain ignorant and they can't work out anything for themselves.
• The animals accept everything they're told and submit to the pigs' authority - they don't have the intellect to object.

Desire for power corrupts Napoleon:

• The whole point of Animalism (and communism) is equality - no one should have any more power than anyone else. when Napoleon seizes power on the farm, it shows how corrupt he is. The more power he has, the more corrupt he becomes and the more Animalism is undermined.
• Napoleon increases his power over the farm by controlling:
• ACTIONS - by controlling rations, by using the dogs, through trials and executions
• THOUGHTS - through language, using propaganda, removing democracy.
• Theme - Language: For Orwell, this was the most dangerous kind of control because i't so difficult to detect and challenge, especially by the uneducated.

Language is a powerful tool;

• Orwell was concerned about the power of language, and how it could be manipulated to change its purpose and meaning.
• Squealer's persuasive language is a powerful form of propaganda. It reinforces Napoleon's power: 'He was always referred to... as 'our leader, Comrade Napoleon''.

• Boxer has no power because he can't express his feelings properly - when Snowball is exiled he can't 'think of anything to say'.
• By simplifying the commandments to 'Four legs good, two legs bad', Snowball causes the words to lose their meaning.

There's no freedom of speech:

• Freedom of speech is necessary in an equal, democratic society - everyone has the right to a fair say.
• However, when Snowball disagrees with Napoleon, he's attacked by the dogs and banisehed - there's no freedom of speech on Animal Farm.
• Napoleon knows that language is power. By ending the Sunday meetings and freedom of speech Napoleon takes away the other animals' power.
• Even if an animal has a rebellious thought, they can't express it. Napoleon controls their thought by restricting what they hear and say.

The pigs use propaganda to justify their actions:

• Propaganda is when an individual or group spreads information to make themselves look good. Often the information is exaggerated or made up. Napoleon uses it to gain power and keep control.
• Squealer uses propaganda in speeches - he speaks 'so persuasively' that the animals accept his words. He takes them aside and convinces them that the pigs' actions are good - this makes them believe him.
• The pigs keep the animals loyal by spreading storied about how cruelly animals are treated on other farms. This means they forget the farm's own problems and are less likely to rebel against their masters.

Squealer uses propaganda to twist the truth:

Dictators spread propganda to make themselves look better. Squealer uses propaganda to:

• GLORIFY NAPOLEON:
• When anything good happens, Napoleon takes credit for it. He claims that the windmill was his idea, and the hens are brainwashed into giving him credit for how many eggs they laid.

• A weekly parade is held so that Napoleon can show off his power and support.

• BLAME SNOWBALL:
• Squealer tells the animals that Snowball is their real enemy - this is a clever lie as it unites them against Snowball and makes them think that the other pigs are on their side.
• The pigs use Snowball as a scapegoat and blame him for everything - 'Whenever anthing went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball'.
• Even the animals' memories of Snowball aren't enough to stop them believing in Squealer's lies.

The other animals spread it too:

• The pigs' propaganda is so effective, the animals not only believe it but they spread it too:
• Boxer unwittingly spreads propaganda everytime he says 'Napoleon is always right'.
• Theme - Education: Boxer's lack of education means he doesn't realise he's brainwashed.
• The pigeons spread messages like 'Death to Humanity' and 'Death to Frederick'.
• The sheep drown out opposition to Napoleon by chanting 'Four legs good two legs bad'
• By spreading propaganda themselves, the animals seal their own fate. They have become part of Napoleon's regime.