Animal Farm Study Questions Ch. 1 1. What does Old Major consider to be the source of all of the animals’ troubles? Why? Man is the source of all of the animals’ troubles, because he consumes what the animals produce without producing anything or helping any of the animals himself. 2. What does he propose that the animals do? Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever. 3. Old Major warns the animals that they must always be hostile to man and never come to resemble man and his ways. What are man’s ways, according to Old Major? “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind.” 4. What must an animal never do to another animal? No animal must ever kill another animal. 5. Page 31 contains irony. What happens immediately after Old Major has declared all animals were friends (“comrades”)? The rats enter the barn, and the dogs and cat try to catch them. This is ironic because all animals are supposed to be friends, but the dogs and cat are not treating the rats as friends. Ch. 2 1. When does Old Major die? Three nights after his speech 2. Which clever group of animals begins teaching and organizing the others? The pigs 3. What do they call this new system of thought based on Old Major’s teachings? Animalism 4. Why do the animals resist at first? Some animals were worried that if Jones was gone, nobody would feed them, and they would starve to death. Other animals did not think that the rebellion would happen in their lifetime, so they didn’t think they should work for it, if they weren’t going to see the rewards. Mollie wanted to know if she would still get her luxuries (sugar and ribbons) after the rebellion. 5. Describe Mr. Jones’ actions that led to the revolution. Mr. Jones went to Willingdon to drink on Saturday. His men went to catch rabbits and forgot to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones returned Sunday afternoon, he went to sleep. The animals

still hadn’t been fed, so they break into the storage shed with the food. They are helping themselves to the food, and Mr. Jones and his men are whipping them. The animals retaliate and chase the humans off the farm. 6. What do the animals do to break their link with Man, especially Mr. Jones? The animals get rid of anything that symbolizes their enslavement by man. They threw the bits, nose-rings, dog-chains, and castrating knives down the well, and the reins, halters, blinkers, nose-bags, whips, ribbons, and Boxer’s hat were burned on the rubbish fire. 7. What do the animals decide that the farmhouse should be? Who is never to sleep there? The farmhouse would be a museum, and no animal must ever sleep there. 8. What becomes the new name for the farm? Animal Farm 9. How had the pigs learned to read and write? They taught themselves from Mr. Jones’ children’s old spelling books. 10. What are the seven commandments of Animalism? 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal. 7. All animals are equal. 11. What is the first clue that some leader might be taking extra privileges and violating the 7th commandment? The milk disappeared. Ch. 3 1. Why don’t the pigs do any physical labor? They believed that with their superior knowledge they should be the leaders. Instead of doing any physical labor, the pigs supervised and planned. 2. What commandment is broken by the pigs not doing any physical labor? Commandment 7: All animals are equal. 3. What is Boxer’s motto? “I will work harder.” 4. What are Benjamin’s feelings about the rebellion? Benjamin is skeptical, so he does not express an opinion when asked.

5. What happens on Sundays? What are the colors and symbols on the flag? There is a ceremony in which they hoist the flag and plan the work for the next week. The flag is green with a hoof and a horn in white. 6. What is the result of all the committees that Snowball starts? They all fail. 7. What is the cat’s goal in joining the Re-education committee? The cat’s goal was to get the sparrows to sit on its paws, obviously so it could eat the sparrows. Wisely, the sparrows refused to trust the cat. 8. Why does Snowball come up with a condensed form of the seven commandments? Most of the animals could not read, even after attempts to teach them; and the sheep, hens, and ducks were unable to learn the Seven Commandments by heart. The condensed commandment is “Four legs good, two legs bad.” 9. Why doesn’t Benjamin read? Benjamin actually knows how to read but chooses not to, saying that “there was nothing worth reading.” 10. What might be motivating Napoleon’s interest in educating the young? The novel does not say, but we can predict that he wants to instill in them his own thoughts so that he will be able to use them for his benefit. 11. How does Squealer justify the pigs’ keeping all the milk and apples for themselves? He says that the pigs must keep up their health because they are the “brainworkers” who watch out for the animals. If the pigs failed in their duty, Jones would return. Ch. 4 1. How is news of the rebellion spread to other farms? Napoleon and Snowball tell the pigeons to tell the animals on the other farms about the rebellion. 2. How do the other farmers try to stop the spread of Animalism? First, they pretend to laugh at the idea of animals managing their own farm. They say that the animals are always fighting and starving. When that isn’t working, they spread rumors about cannibalism and torture on Animal Farm. 3. Why do Farmer Jones, Frederick, and Pilkington and the other men come to the farm on October 12th? They wanted to recapture the farm. 4. Which animal had studied the military strategies of Julius Caesar and thus was able to successfully defend the farm? Snowball

5. Why does Boxer get upset? Boxer thinks he killed the stable boy. 6. Snowball tells him that the only good human is a dead human. 7. What name do the animals give this battle? Battle of the Cowshed Ch. 5 1. Characterize Mollie using two details from chapter 5. Lazy – always late to work; complained of mysterious pains; always looked at her reflection in the pond; didn’t work Spoiled – she hid sugar and ribbons in the hay that she had received from men

2. What are Snowball’s reasons for building a windmill? He wanted to improve the lives of the animals. The windmill would provide electricity, which would run various machines. 3. Give a detail from the book which shows how Napoleon feels about Snowball’s plan. He urinated on the windmill plans and walked out. Later, when he and Snowball debated, Napoleon argued that the present need was to increase food production, not build a windmill. 4. When it seemed that Snowball would win the vote about the windmill, what did Napoleon do? Napoleon sets his nine trained dogs on Snowball, who has to flee the farm to save his life. 5. Where do the dogs come from, and how do they act around Napoleon? They were the puppies that Napoleon had taken and trained in secret. They “wagged their tails to him in the same way that other dogs had been used to do to Mr. Jones.” 6. Napoleon is now in total control of the farm. What does he tell the animals on page 68? A committee of pigs, presided over by Napoleon, would decide what should be done on the farm. The animals could meet on Sunday to salute the flag and sing Beasts of England, but there would be no more debates. 7. On page 69, what does Squealer tell the animals? He tells them that Napoleon’s new leadership position is a “deep and heavy responsibility” and that he does not want the animals to make the wrong decisions. Squealer discredits Snowball, saying that Snowball “was no better than a criminal.” 8. How does Squealer instill fear into the animals on p. 70? He tells them that if they are not disciplined, Mr. Jones might come back. 9. Besides “I will work harder,” what maxim does Boxer adopt? “Napoleon is always right!”

10. On p. 70, there is a clue that the animals’ are not as cohesive as they once were. What is that clue? “Nowadays they no longer sit all together as they had done in the past.” 11. How does Squealer go about rewriting history? (How does he explain Napoleon’s change of heart over the building of the windmill?) Napoleon had never really opposed the windmill. The idea was Napoleon’s, and Snowball had stolen the plans from Napoleon. He had just pretended to oppose the windmill so that he could get rid of the dangerous Snowball. (Earlier, Squealer discredited Snowball’s courage at the Battle of the Cowshed.) 12. What two things convince the animals of the truth of Squealer’s pronouncements? Squealer is very persuasive, and the animals fear the dogs.