Summary

The story begins at the Manor Farm. The farm animals gather to listen to an old boar named Old Major. Major tells them of the evils of humans, who takes all resources for themselves and treats animals very poorly, but also lets them know that a great rebellion will be coming soon to set things right. He also mentions a number of laws and principles that must be followed during this rebellion.

Mr. Jones, the human farmer, is so incompetent that it leads to a situation where the animals are starving. This makes the animals start the rebellion and they easily chase away the Jones family and their workers. The pigs rise to power in the new society because they are considered the most intelligent animals (though the other animals can still vote), and the farm is renamed Animal Farm.

Seven Commandments are written on the wall of the barn. Some of these laws are designed to prevent the animals from acting like humans, while others are meant to secure equality and peace between all animals.

At first, the animals seem happy with their freedom, even though there is some political rivalry between Napoleon and Snowball, the two most powerful pigs. Mr. Jones makes an attempt to take ba...