Animal Farm

by George Orwell

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Chapter II

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Summary

Chapter II opens with the death of Old Major three nights after his stirring speech in the barn. Though the old boar never sees the rebellion he inspired, his ideas take root among the animals during the months that follow. The work of organizing and teaching falls naturally to the pigs, who are recognized as the cleverest of the animals. Two young boars in particular emerge as leaders: Napoleon, a large, fierce-looking Berkshire with a reputation for getting his own way, and Snowball, a more vivacious and inventive pig who is quicker in speech and more fertile in ideas. A third pig, Squealer, a small, fat porker with round cheeks and twinkling eyes, possesses an extraordinary talent for persuasive argument. The animals say of Squealer that he could turn black into white.

These three pigs elaborate Old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought, which they name Animalism. They hold secret meetings in the barn after Mr. Jones has gone to sleep, explaining the principles of Animalism to the other animals. The reception is mixed. Mollie, the vain white mare, asks whether there will still be sugar and ribbons after the Rebellion, revealing her attachment to human luxuries. Moses, the tame raven, spreads tales of Sugarcandy Mountain, a paradise beyond the clouds where animals go when they die, distracting them from revolutionary thought. The pigs have a hard time countering his influence. Meanwhile, Boxer and Clover, the two cart-horses, absorb everything the pigs tell them and pass it on to the other animals with simple, faithful devotion.

The Rebellion itself comes far sooner than anyone expects, and it arrives not through planning but through circumstance. Mr. Jones, who has grown increasingly neglectful and drunk since losing money in a lawsuit, goes on a weekend bender. His men milk the cows but forget to feed the animals. By the evening of Midsummer's Day, the animals have not been fed for over twenty-four hours. A hungry cow breaks into the store-shed with her horns, and the animals begin helping themselves to the feed. Jones and his four men rush in with whips, lashing out at the animals. But something snaps: the half-starved animals, acting together for the first time, turn on their masters. They butt and kick from all sides. Jones and his men are driven from the farm in minutes, and Mrs. Jones, seeing what is happening, slips out the other side with a few belongings. Moses flies after her.

The animals can scarcely believe their luck. They gallop around the farm boundaries, reveling in their freedom. They destroy the whips, nose-rings, halters, and degrading bits and reins, throwing them all into a bonfire. Napoleon distributes double rations of corn to everyone, and they sing "Beasts of England" seven times through. After a night of celebration, they wake to a glorious morning and tour the farmhouse with wonder and awe. Mollie lingers to admire herself with a ribbon from Mrs. Jones's dressing table, but the others agree that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum and that no animal shall ever live there.

The chapter concludes with a crucial scene. The pigs reveal that during the past three months they have taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book. Snowball paints over "Manor Farm" on the gate and replaces it with "Animal Farm." He then writes the Seven Commandments of Animalism on the barn wall in large white letters for all to see. The commandments establish the fundamental laws of Animal Farm, culminating in the declaration that all animals are equal. As the animals prepare to begin the hay harvest, the pigs are discovered to have taken the morning's milk for themselves—a small but ominous detail that closes the chapter.

Character Development

Chapter II introduces the novel's central power dynamic. Napoleon is defined more by temperament than intellect—he is forceful and determined, not brilliant. Snowball, by contrast, is creative and articulate, already emerging as the idealist of the revolution. Squealer's introduction as the master propagandist foreshadows his essential role in maintaining the pigs' authority. Mollie's concern about ribbons and sugar marks her as an animal who values personal comfort over collective liberation, setting up her eventual departure. Boxer's earnest loyalty is established early, as he faithfully absorbs the pigs' teachings without question. Even Moses the raven, with his tales of Sugarcandy Mountain, is positioned as a useful distraction—an opiate for the masses that the pigs must work against.

Themes and Motifs

The chapter dramatizes the transition from oppression to revolution, but immediately plants the seeds of the revolution's corruption. The Rebellion succeeds not through ideology but through hunger and spontaneous rage—suggesting that revolutions are often more accidental than planned. The establishment of Animalism as a codified doctrine parallels the development of Marxist-Leninist theory, while the Seven Commandments represent an idealistic constitution that will be systematically betrayed. The disappearance of the milk at the chapter's end introduces the theme of privilege and inequality among equals, signaling that the pigs have already begun to separate themselves from the other animals. The burning of the whips and reins symbolizes the rejection of human tyranny, but the farmhouse—preserved rather than destroyed—becomes a symbol of temptation.

Notable Passages

"The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white."

This brief characterization of Squealer encapsulates his role throughout the novel. He is the regime's propagandist, capable of making the animals accept any contradiction. The phrase "turn black into white" signals the linguistic manipulation that will become central to the pigs' consolidation of power.

"Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. "That will be attended to."

Napoleon's seizure of the milk is the first concrete act of privilege by the pigs. His authoritative tone—dismissing the other animals' interest and assuming control over a shared resource—foreshadows his eventual dictatorship. The casual language disguises an act of appropriation as administrative responsibility.

"All animals are equal."

The Seventh Commandment stands as the foundational ideal of Animal Farm. Its simplicity and moral clarity make its eventual corruption—when "but some animals are more equal than others" is appended—one of the novel's most devastating moments. Here at its inception, it carries genuine hope.

Analysis

Orwell structures Chapter II as a compressed narrative of revolutionary history: the death of the visionary (Old Major as Marx/Lenin), the rise of competing successors (Napoleon and Snowball as Stalin and Trotsky), the spontaneous uprising of the oppressed, and the immediate emergence of a new ruling class. The pacing is deliberate—the slow buildup of Animalist education contrasts sharply with the sudden, almost accidental violence of the Rebellion itself. Orwell employs dramatic irony throughout: the reader recognizes the warning signs that the animals cannot. The pigs' literacy, their self-appointment as organizers, and especially the appropriation of the milk all point toward a new hierarchy forming beneath the rhetoric of equality. The Seven Commandments, painted in their pristine original form, function as a baseline against which readers will measure every subsequent betrayal. Orwell's prose remains deceptively simple, mirroring the fable form, but every detail carries allegorical weight.