Animal Farm

Old Major the Middle White boar gathers the animals in the barn and explains that humans are their oppressors and that they could overthrow them through revolution. He envisions a future of equality and prosperity for all animals. He also teaches them a song, 'Beasts of the World', to unite them in their cause.

While the animals sing, Jones investigates the noise and accidentally shoots and kills Old Major with a shotgun. The act shocks the animals and foreshadows the coming struggle for control. The barn becomes a grave marker for the old order.

Jones goes into town for a drink, leaving the animals unfed. Upon returning, Boxer helps break into the food shed, and the noise wakes Jones. The animals chase him, his wife, and the men out of the farm and into town.

Snowball emerges as leader and renames the farm 'Animal Farm'. He and the other pigs begin to establish an Animalist system and set the Seven Commandments to guide the new society. The meeting marks a shift toward self-rule for the animals.

Jessie gives birth to puppies, which Napoleon and Squealer secretly take to train as loyal enforcers. The pups grow under the dogs' discipline, increasing the pigs' power over the other animals. This secret program foreshadows the regime's militarized rule.

The pigs secretly begin hoarding apples and milk, claiming they need them to preserve their health for leadership. The other animals notice growing privilege and growing suspicion about the disparity. The hoarding fuels resentment and demonstrates the inequality forming under the Revolution.

Pilkington leads an invasion of Animal Farm and the animals prepare to defend their newly won territory. Snowball has plotted a windmill project to improve the animals' lives, and the farm's defense leads to a fierce counter-attack; the men retreat back to town. Pilkington, impressed by the animals' resolve, considers collaborating with them rather than fighting.

Snowball's windmill plan becomes central to the farm's future prosperity. Napoleon uses his influence to drive Snowball out of the farm with the help of the trained dogs. After Snowball's expulsion, the pigs declare that they will decide the farm's future and begin building the windmill themselves.

Napoleon and Squealer secretly revise the Seven Commandments to justify privileges for the pigs. The sleeping-in-beds rule is watered down, and the farmhouse privileges are normalized for the leadership. Jessie discovers pigs living in the farmhouse and sleeping in beds, revealing the altered commandments to the others.

At the Red Lion Inn, Pilkington mocks Napoleon's default strategies and jokes about buying him cheap farm equipment. The encounter reveals the ongoing manipulation of human relationships and how leaders are exploited by outsiders. The moment underscores the distance between the ruling pigs and the workers.

During a food shortage, Napoleon orders the hens to surrender their eggs to the market. The hens resist, and Napoleon decrees that disobedience will be punished by death. The regime's brutality deepens as propaganda follows to justify the terror.

Boxer sustains a serious injury while the animals rebuild the windmill, symbolizing the cost of the regime's ambitions. When the time comes to retire him, Napoleon sells Boxer to the glue factory, betraying his lifelong loyalty. The act reveals the depth of the pigs' corruption.

Napoleon orders the farm's name to be changed back to Manor Farm, signaling a full reversal of the revolution's original ideals. The animals notice the growing resemblance between their rulers and the humans they overthrew. The line between oppressors and leaders has blurred.

The final commandment is rewritten to read that 'All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.' The pigs flaunt their privileges while the other animals realize the leaders mirror the very humans they toppled. A sense of betrayal and cynicism settles over the farm.

Years after Napoleon's tyranny ends, the escaped animals return to survey the farm's ruins and see the signs of the old regime's collapse. They find Napoleon and Squealer dead, leaving a few survivors, including Jessie's puppies who recognize her as their mother. A new family purchases the farm, and Jessie vows to help them avoid Jones and Napoleon's mistakes.