Napoleon The pig who emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Joseph Stalin, Napoleon uses military force (his nine loyal attack dogs) to intimidate the other animals and consolidate his power. In his supreme craftiness, Napoleon proves more treacherous than his counterpart, Snowball. Snowball The pig who challenges Napoleon for control of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Leon Trotsky, Snowball is intelligent, passionate, eloquent, and less subtle and devious than his counterpart, Napoleon, Snowball seems to win the loyalty of the other animals and cement his power. Boxer The cart-horse whose incredible strength, dedication, and loyalty play a key role in the early prosperity of Animal Farm and the later completion of the windmill. Quick to help but rather slow-witted, Boxer shows much devotion to Animal Farm’s ideals but little ability to think about them independently. He naively trusts the pigs to make all his decisions for him. Hiis two mottoes are “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right.” Squealer The pig who spreads Napoleon’s propaganda among the other animals. Squealer justifies the pigs’ monopolization of resources and spreads false statistics pointing to the farm's success. Orwell uses Squealer to explore the ways in which those in power often use rhetoric and language to twist the truth and gain and maintain social and political control. Old Major ‘The prize-winning boar whose vision of a socialist utopia serves as the inspiration for the Rebellion. Three days after describing the vision and teaching the animals the song “Beasts of England,” Major dies, leaving Snowball and Napoleon to struggle for control of his legacy. Orwell based Major on both the German political economist Karl Marx and the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin. Clover A good-hearted female cart-horse and Boxer’s close friend. Clover often suspects the pigs of violating one or another of the Seven Commandments, but she repeatedly blames herself for misremembering the commandments. Moses The tame raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountain, the paradise to which animals supposedly go when they die. Moses plays only a small role in Animal Farm, but Orwell uses him to explore how communism exploits religion as something with which to pacify the oppressed. Mollie The vain, flighty mare who pulls Mr. Jones’s carriage. Mollie craves the attention of human. beings and loves being groomed and pampered. She has a difficult time with her new life onAnimal Farm, as she misses wearing ribbons in her mane and eating sugar cubes. She represents the petit bourgeoisie that fled from Russia a few years after the Russian Revolution. Benjamin The long-lived donkey who refuses to feel inspired by the Rebellion. Benjamin firmly believes that life will remain unpleasant no matter who is in charge. Of all of the animals on the farm, he alone comprehends the changes that take place, but he seems either unwilling or unable to oppose the pigs. Muriel The white goat who reads the Seven Commandments to Clover whenever Clover suspects the pigs of violating their prohibitions. Mr. Jones The often drunk farmer who runs the Manor Farm before the animals stage their Rebellion and establish Animal Farm. Mr. Jones is an unkind master who indulges himself while his animals lack food; he thus represents Tsar Nicholas II, whom the Russian Revolution ousted. Mr. Frederick The tough, shrewd operator of Pinchfield, a neighboring farm. Based on Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. Frederick proves an untrustworthy neighbor. Mr. Pilkington ‘The easygoing gentleman farmer who runs Foxwood, a neighboring farm. Mr. Frederick’s bitter enemy, Mr. Pilkington represents the capitalist governments of England and the United States. Mr. Whymper The human solicitor whom Napoleon hires to represent Animal Farm in human society. Mr. Whymper's entry into the Animal Farm community initiates contact between Animal Farm and human society, alarming the common animals. Jessie and Bluebell Two dogs, each of whom gives birth early in the novel, Napoleon takes the puppies in order to “educate” them. Minimus The poet pig who writes verse about Napoleon and pens the banal patriotic song “Animal Farm, Animal Farm” to replace the earlier idealistic hymn “Beasts of England,” which Old Major passes on to the others.74 4 ‘of Animalism are expressed in the Seven Commandments, painted on the wall ofthe big barn. However, they change the Commandments painted on the barn, until as the pigs seize more and more power, tually the opposite of Old Major's original idea Animalism is reduced to a single principle which is vi All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (Chapter 10). ‘3. How does Napoleon seize power? [Napoteon trains « liter of puppies to'be loyal to him: when they are fully grown, he uses the dogs to is main rival, off the farm. Napoleon justifies his takeover by telling the other animals chase Snowball, that Snowball was a traitor secretly working for the human farmers. Si eon is telling the truth, while fear squealer makes confusing and manipulative arguments to convince most of the animals that Napol of Napoleon's dogs keeps any doubters from speaking out. 4. What does Boxer represent? Within Animal Farm’s allegory of Soviet history, Boxer represents the Russian working class. Boxer give him a great deal of power. However, does most of the work on the farm, and his strength and he is illiterate and trusting, which makes it easy for the pigs to trick him into submitting to their leadership. Orwell believed that something similar had happened to the Russian working class during the Soviet Revolution: the workers were powerful, and did all the work in the Soviet Union, but they were tricked and betrayed by Russian intellectuals. 5. How does Mr. Frederick trick Napoleon? Mr. Frederick agrees to pay a high price for Animal Farm's timber, and encourages Napoleon to insult Mr. Pilkington. Knowing that the animals are not familiar with money, Prederick pays for the timber in forged banknotes. When the forgery is discovered, Frederick attacks Animal Farm and destroys the windmill, The insulted Mr. Pilkington refuses to help the animals defend their farm. This sequence of events roughly parallels the relations between Stalin’s Soviet Union (Napoleon), Nazi Germany (Frederick), and the United Kingdom (Pilkington) during the Second World War. 6. Why does Mollie leave Animal Farm? Mollie leaves Animal Farm because she has never fully embraced its new way of life, and she instead prefers the benefits of being owned by humans. Of all the animals, Mollie has not risen to the demands of Animalism. She sneaks sugar and ribbons, shirks her duties, shows up late to work, and maintains contact with humans. After she leaves Animal Farm, the pigeons see her in town, pulling a dogeart while a human strokes her nose and feeds her sugar. These details show that Mollie chooses to sacrifice her liberty for comfort.7. Why does Snowball want to build a windmill? Snowball wants to build a windmill so it can power a machine to create electricity on the farm. Electri 'y will improve the animals’ comfort by supplying light and heat in their stalls. The electricity also will be used to power numerous machines that can perform the work the animals must do, providing, them with more leisure time. With the windmill in operation, all the animals will have more time to relax and to “improve their minds with reading and conversation.” ‘8. What is Snowball’s role at the Battle of the Cowshed? Snowball is a hero at the Battle of the Cowshed, bravely leading the animals defensive operations to decisive victory over Mr. Jones, who tries to retake the farm. Employing what he learned from a book ‘on war campaigns, Snowball launches a series of sham attacks designed to lull the farmers into thinking they've won, which end with the farmers running for their lives. A ter Snowball flees the farm, however, ‘Napoleon and Squealer slowly distort this history. Squealer questions Snowball’s role and motives, suggests Snowball was a traitor, and eventually states that Snowball “had been openly fighting on Jones's side” and “had actually been the leader of the human forces. 9. Does Snowball ever return to Animal Farm after Napoleon’s dogs chase him away? ‘Snowball never appears to return to Animal Farm. Squealer, however, claims that Snowball sneaks back onto the farm to commit sabotage. For example, when the first windmill falls down, Squealer claims ‘that Snowball “has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year.” Within a short time, “[w]henever anything went wrong [on the farm] it became usual to attribute it to Snowball.” In actuality, no one ever sees Snowball again once he leaves the farm. 10. Why do the animals confess to being traitors? While Orwell doesn't explain why the animals confess to crimes they didn’t commit, readers can infer that the four pigs who are the first to be executed are terrified of the dogs and bel fe that if they do as, ‘Napoleon asks, he will spare their lives—after all, the Commandments stipulate that no animal should harm another. More puzzling might be the hens and the sheep's confessions since they have seen exactly how Napoleon treats so-called traitors. However, the hens are among the least intelligent animals, so they may lack capacity to process the events. Similarly, the sheep have already proved themselves to be followers wit litle ability to think or question for themselves. 11, Why does Napoleon blame Snowball for everytt 9g that goes wrong on the fars ‘Napoleon, aided by Squealer, uses Snowball as a scapegoat, which means that when something goes wrong, he blames Snowball. As Snowball is not present, Snowball can’t defend himself and reveal falschoods in the accusations, essentially creating a situc n in which all of Napoleon's statements regarding Snowball are simply accepted as truth. This tactic means that Napoleon does not need to takeit also allows Support and respect even when calamity occurs, as when th , e wi Snowball in the role of the enemy, to continue to receive the animals* indmill collapses. Further, by casting Napoteon ensures that his rival wit {arm and challenge hs leadership, his rival will never be able to return to the 12, How is the windmill destroyed? ‘The windmil is actually destroyed and rebuilt several first windmill collapses in a storm, and the second Windmill. Afier the first windmill is destroyed, whi 1¢s throughout the course of Animal Farm. The indmill is blown up during the Battle of the Napoleon blames on Snowball’s sabotage, the animals begin reconstruction and make the walls much thicker. After the second windmills fully built, Frederick attacks Ani al Farm and takes down the structure with blasting powder. Undeterred, the ‘animals begin rebuilding the windmill the next day. 13. Why does Napoleon change the Seven Commandments? Over time, Napoleon changes all of the Seven Commandments, which were created to keep the animals humble and on equal footing, to allow the pigs to enjoy prohibited privileges and comforts. For instance, when the pigs move into the farmhouse, Napoleon amends the commandment about not sleeping in a bed to read, “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.” Napoleon changes other commandments as well so the pigs can wear clothes, drink alcohol, and even kill other animals. By the end of the book. the original commandments have been reduced to one statement that encapsulates the authoritarian “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL nature of the farm: ‘THAN OTHERS.” 14, What does Boxer’s death represent? Boxer's death represents the exploitation of the working classes as well as the death of the idealism that led to the establishment of Animal Farm. Before his death, Boxer is Napoleon's most loyal supporter. abusing his body in service to the farm and the windmill. Once he weakens and is no longer useful, the pigs don’t reward him with the promised peaceful retirement but sell him to a glue factory. Ironically, this fate is what Old Major predicted for Boxer under Mr. Jones's ownership: “You, Boxer, the very 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.” Instead of bringing about equality among animals, ‘Napoleon has created a society in which the pigs have taken the place of the humans in their corruption and self-interest.15, How does Squealer manipulate the animals so the pigs can better control them? A persuasive speaker, Squealer uses language to make the other animals disbelieve what they have seen with their own eyes and to believe the lies he tells them. Sometimes Squealer encourages the animals to question their own recollections, such as when Napoleon violates the prohibition against trade: written down anywhere?” Squealer asks, causing the animals to be certain they are mistaken. Squealer explains why actions that appear to benefit the pigs actually help all the animals. When the pigs move into the farmhouse despite an earlier ban, he declares, “It was absolutely necessary . . . that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in.” Squealer’s disingenuous and ‘manipulative speech succeeds in making the animals distrust their own experiences.