FREE ESSAY ON ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM

Animal Farm
This remarkable book was written by George Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, and it
is about the lives of farm animals who rebel against humans. The animals live on Manor
Farm and are owned by Mr. Jones, who always seems to be drunk. The leader of the animals
was an old pig named Old Major who one day had a dream about being free from the
oppression of man. 
One evening, Old Major assembled the animals of Manor Farm and talked to them about how
they live hard, short lives in slavery to the humans and that they should rebel and
become free. Old Major got the idea from a song which came to him in a dream, Beasts of
England, that was sung when he was a young pig. The song talked about the animals being
free one day.
No one knew when the rebellion that Old Major talked about would happen, especially after
Old Major died three days after the meeting. The pigs, who were the smartest of the
animals, picked the two most pre-eminent pigs to assume the leadership role that Old
Major left. The two pigs names were Snowball and Napoleon. These two pigs got together
and organized all of Old Major's thoughts into a system called Animalism. This was taught
at night during secret meetings that were held in the big barn and the animals slowly
learned it.
Then one midsummer's eve, the animals rebelled against Mr. Jones and his men because they
had not been fed the whole day. This was not a planned attack, but the animals succeeded
and kicked Mr. Jones and his men out. The animals were free.
The next morning the animals set up rules, The Seven Commandments, and changed the name
of the farm from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. Then the animals went out in the field to
gather the hay and did it more quickly than Jones and his men ever did. It was also the
biggest harvest they had ever seen because there was absolutely no waste. Boxer, a large
horse, was a great asset to the animals because he worked as hard as three horses put
together and he kept pushing himself harder and harder.
The animals heard that Jones might return and try to recapture the farm, so the animals
started preparing for an attack. Then one day they saw Jones and his men marching up to
Animal Farm with sticks and a gun ready to take over Animal Farm. Snowball, who was the
leader of the animals, had studied the campaigns of Julius Caesar and formed battle plans
from them. The animals eventually won, but they did not go unscathed. Snowball got
wounded and some other animals got killed. The animals held a memorial service in their
honor and sang The Beasts of England several times.
Winter came, and it was a harsh one. During the winter, Snowball came up with a plan for
electricity and heat from a book he found in the house. The idea was to build a windmill
that could provide power for the animals. Napoleon and Snowball disagreed on this issue
just like they did on every issue. When it came time for the animals to vote on if they
should work on the windmill or not, both pigs got up and made speeches. During Snowballs
speech, Napoleon whistled and nine enormous dogs rushed into the room right towards
Snowball. He escaped after the dogs chased him off the farm. Napoleon assumed the
leadership role that Snowball left behind.
The spring came and the animals started plowing the fields. Napoleon announced that they
were going to build the windmill after all and that it would require extra work and maybe
less rations. All the animals agreed that they should work on the windmill, even though
it will take two years to build. The animals were now working sixty hours a week and the
harvest was less successful this year. The animals were also working on the windmill by
hauling rocks up the hill to the site where the windmill is going to be. The animals
worked harder than when Snowball was their leader, but they thought that just because of
the extra task of building the windmill. Napoleon manipulated their thoughts and told
them that some of the things that Snowball taught never happened and started changing the
commandments behind their backs. 
Autumn came and the animals were tired, but happy. They had a decent supply of food and
supplies, but the windmill was about halfway done so that compensated for everything.
Later on in November, the windmill was blown over by the strong winds which made the
animals mad. Napoleon blamed Snowball for making the tower collapse. He told them that
they will work through the winter and 
through whatever weather there is. 
Winter came and it was a bitter one. They decided to take extra precautions in order to
make the windmill more sturdy, so they made the walls an extra three feet thick. Napoleon
then blamed Snowball for everything that went wrong and Napoleon erased the animals minds
of the good things that he did for the animals. Later on Napoleon assembled all the
animals and killed a bunch of them who admitted to be followers of Snowball. The animals
were terrified by seeing their own comrades die, but soon got over it. 
That year, the animals worked harder then the last and it seemed that rations were
getting smaller, but Napoleon told them that everything was increasing. The animals
believed him and went on working harder than ever.
There were rumors going around that Jones was going to come and attack the farm again, so
the animals started preparing for an attack. The morning came and Jones and his men
attacked. This time there were fifteen men and there were six guns between the lot of
them. This battle was a lot tougher than the first battle against Jones. Jones' men
forced the animals to retreat into the barn, and then Jones and his men destroyed the
windmill with dynamite. The animals were devastated and put to shame.
The animals worked on the windmill harder and harder as time went on. Rations kept
getting smaller and smaller, and the animals still thought that things were better than
when Jones was around. The pigs were still ruling over all the animals and were becoming
more and more tyrannical over all the other animals. Napoleon had little piglets and
built a school house for them and rose them separately from the rest of the animals.
Napoleon was elected President of the Republic and now he held celebrations in his honor
once every week. 
Boxer was the hardest working animal on the farm. He was working one day and he burst a
lung. The animals hauled him to the barn to rest while they called for an ambulance. The
ambulance came to take Boxer to the hospital, but when it was leaving with Boxer in it,
one of the animals read it and it said that it was a butcher truck. Three days later it
was said that Boxer died in the animal hospital.
Years passed and seasons came and went, and no one really remembered the days of Jones.
Animals died and Snowball was forgotten. The windmill was built and it was not used for
electricity, but 
instead for machines that would help out with farm chores. The animals were generally
hungry, they slept on straw mats, and drank from a pool. The older animals tried to
remember if things were worse than in the beginning days of the rebellion, but they could
not remember because they had nothing to compare it to. The pigs then said that all
animals were equal, but some more equal than others. The pigs started walking on their
hind legs and carrying a whip in their hands. They invited humans to come and look at the
farm and admire what the pigs have done to Animal Farm. Then Napoleon told the humans
that the farm was now to be called Manor Farm, once again, and that he was abolishing the
name Animal Farm. The other animals on the farm looked at the humans, then at the pigs,
and they could not tell the difference between the two. This is the story of Animal
Farm.
I thought that this book displayed the many ways that power can corrupt the lives of
people. You start off with a great idea that everyone likes, then someone becomes greedy
and destroys it for everyone. I think that this book shows us, as Christians, to think
not of ourselves so much, but of the needs of others or the well-being of everyone else.