Special Sub-Topic: All Animals Are Equal... But Some More Than Others Click Here To Play: All Animals Are Equal... But Some More Than Others

The story started with Old Major's vision of a better life for animals. According to him, what was the only real enemy the animals had?

Man. Major was a Middle White boar and one of the oldest animals on the farm. He had a dream about a world without man, where all the animals would be free. Man, he claimed, was the reason animals suffered. Man overworked animals for his own betterment and produced nothing to provide for himself.

Which animals, being the cleverest, took it upon themselves to get the others ready for the rebellion?

Pigs. Immediately it became clear that two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, were the leaders. They were constantly teaching the other animals and preparing everyone for the rebellion. Whenever some of the animals needed persuading, Squealer was sent to convince them. Squealer was a small, fat pig, and he would jump from side to side when he talked, which somehow made him very persuasive.

What name did the animals give to Old Major's system of thought?

Animalism. At first, most of the animals were apathetic to the idea of Animalism. They felt that if Jones (the farmer) were gone, they would starve to death. Many just did not want to prepare for it. But eventually the rebellion happened and all the animals agreed to work together.

After the revolution, the animals decided to simplify Old Major's teachings into seven basic rules, which they then wrote out in paint on the side of the barn. According to these commandments, who were friends and who were enemies?

Two legs were bad, four legs were good. The birds were a little upset because they walked on two legs. But the pigs consoled them by saying that man manipulated things with their hands, while a bird's wings were solely for locomotion.

After awhile, the system began showing signs of weakness. Which two animals were never in agreement whenever there was a debate?

Snowball and Napoleon, the two young boars. It began to seem as if one would choose the other side of the debate no matter what. Snowball was more successful at winning the vote of most of the animals, but Napoleon had the sheep and a few other animals on his side, not to mention the puppies he had taken and raised to be his secret police.

Although not as complete as the Animal Farm rebellion, there were other instances of animals fighting back on other farms.

t. Just like with Communism, word of what Animal Farm had done spread quickly. This was done by having pigeons fly to all the neighboring farms to tell other animals about the revolution, who in turn sent the word to other farms. The owners of the farms, who symbolized the lazy or hardworking leaders of other countries, became nervous and tried to keep the news away from their own animals. Nevertheless, other animals learned about the rebellion and started fighting back in their own way, although never getting as far as the animals on Animal Farm.

The debates became even more intense as time went on, especially the one about building a windmill. Despite this, which character refused to join in any of the debates?

Benjamin the donkey. Benjamin, the oldest animal on the farm, is the only one the book explicitly mentioned as never taking part in any of the debates. He refused to feel inspired by the rebellion at any point, and whenever asked his opinion, he only commented vaguely that "Donkeys live a long time." Regarding the windmill, he said "windmill or no windmill, life would go on as it had always gone on-that is, badly."

The persuasive speakers in this story were pretty much able to get the masses to do whatever they want. But even more so, it became evident that might really does make right. What did Napoleon use to take power from Snowball?

He had his trained dogs attack Snowball.. Napoleon had taken nine puppies at their birth and trained them to only listen to him. Most of the animals and four of the pigs disapproved of what Napoleon had done, but he and Squealer were able to brainwash the other animals into believing that Snowball was really bad and that Napoleon was the one who had been leading them this entire time. Also, the dogs growled whenever anyone objected. This kept most of the animals in line.

Which animals were the only ones to attempt a rebellion on Animal Farm?

Hens. The hens rebelled because Napoleon was forcing them to sell their eggs. Napoleon cut off all food to the hens in response to their boycott. It lasted five days, but the hens eventually gave up. Nine hens had died by then.

Who was blamed for the first collapse of the windmill?

Snowball & Snow Ball. It soon became common practice to blame Snowball for anything that went wrong on the farm. Many times this was used to cover up Napoleon's mistakes. It was also used to keep the animals in line and afraid. They feared that without Napoleon's leadership and protection, Snowball could come back at any moment and cause more destruction.