Animal farm notes pages 1-71

Chapter 1: The Genesis of Animal Farm

• Mr. Jones: The owner of Manor Farm, portrayed as a drunk and neglectful figure. He locks the hen-houses but forgets the popholes, indicative of his incompetence.

• Old Major's Dream: A prize Middle White boar, known as Willingdon Beauty, Old Major gathers the animals to share a strange dream he had.

• Animal Hierarchy: The animals assemble in the barn, with different species arranging themselves according to their status and habits:

  • Dogs (Bluebell, Jessie, Pincher) and pigs take the front.

  • Hens perch on window-sills, pigeons flutter to the rafters.

  • Sheep and cows lie down behind the pigs.

  • Boxer and Clover, the cart-horses, arrive cautiously.

  • Muriel (goat) and Benjamin (donkey) appear. Benjamin is cynical and bad-tempered.

  • Ducklings are protected by Clover.

  • Mollie, a white mare, seeks attention with her ribbons.

  • The cat seeks warmth and sleeps through the meeting.

  • Moses, the tame raven, is absent, sleeping on a perch.

• Old Major's Speech: Major begins by stating he will soon die and wishes to impart his wisdom.

  • Critique of Animal Life: Life is miserable, laborious, and short. Animals are given just enough food to survive and are forced to work until their usefulness ends, after which they are slaughtered cruelly.

  • Source of Misery: The produce of the animals' labor is stolen by human beings, who are the root cause of their problems.

  • Man as the Enemy: Man consumes without producing, taking everything and giving back the bare minimum.
    *You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year? And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies. And you hens, how many eggs have you laid in this last year, and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens? The rest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men. And you, Clover, where are those four foals you bore, who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age? Each was sold at a year old-you will never see one of them again. In return for your four confinements and all your labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stall?

  • The miserable lives animals lead are not allowed to reach their natural span. He states he is one of the lucky ones. I am twelve years old and have had over four hundred children. Such is the natural life of a pig. But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year.

  • The day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds

  • Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. A1most overnight we could become rich and free.

  • All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.

• Debate on Comradeship: Major addresses whether wild creatures like rats and rabbits are friends or enemies. After a vote, it is decided that rats are comrades, with only the dogs and the cat dissenting.

• Principles of Animalism: Enmity towards Man and his ways. An early definition list.

  • Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

  • Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

  • No animal must adopt human vices: living in a house, sleeping in a bed, wearing clothes, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, touching money, or engaging in trade.

  • No animal must tyrannise over his own kind; all animals are brothers, and no animal must ever kill another animal.

  • All animals are equal.

• **The Dream and