Animal Farm Structure and Sequence

Character Flaws (odyssey video)

Conflict By the end of chapter 5, the main conflict in Animal Farm has shifted. In the beginning of the story, the main conflict was between animals and humans. What is the main conflict by the end of chapter 5? What other conflicts are developing?

Napoleon orders his trained dogs to attack significantly changes the plot. With Snowball gone and Napoleon in command of the dogs (who threaten anyone who challenges him), Napoleon has taken control of the farm. What form of authority can best control the common workers of a society? Before Napoleon took control, the animals lived in a democratic society with equal sharing of information and fair debating of issues. How does Napoleon change that? (odyssey video)

Point of view What does Orwell write in? What does that allow Orwell to do? What feeling does that create? How?

Pacing – The speed at which a story is told How fast does Animal Farm go? Sometimes a major event happens suddenly, as when Napoleon orders the dogs to attack Snowball. Do we see this coming? What does the shock of it create?

Foreshadowing Orwell signaled something about the dogs that attack Snowball “It happened that Jessie and Bluebell had both whelped soon after the hay harvest, giving birth between them to nine sturdy puppies. As soon as they were weaned, Napoleon took them away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education. He took them up into a loft which could only be reached by a ladder from the harness-room, and there kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence.” Where’s the foreshadowing?

So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared. The milk disappearing at the end of chapter 2 suggests that someone on the farm is involved in secret activity. Old Benjamin, the donkey, seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion. The oldest animal on the farm is not affected by the Rebellion. This hints that he may be old and wise enough to know the new society will eventually fail. After much thought Snowball declared that the Seven Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely: “Four legs good, two legs bad.” This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism. This incident of minimizing the language of the Animalism principles suggests the beginning of Snowball’s use of language to get his way, as he does when he paints an idealized picture of life on the farm to convince the animals to build a windmill. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone. This incident hints that the pigs will be getting special treatment. “I have no wish to take life, not even human life,” repeated Boxer, and his eyes were full of tears. The strongest and most loyal member of the animal society shedding tears over hurting the enemy hints that the animal society is not strong enough to survive war—or perhaps that war in and of itself is not best for a strong society. Napoleon produced no schemes of his own, but said quietly that Snowball's would come to nothing, and seemed to be biding his time. Napoleon’s “quiet” criticism of Snowball hints that he is extremely confident Snowball will fail, and “biding his time” suggests a secret plan. According to Napoleon, what the animals must do was to procure firearms and train themselves in the use of them. According to Snowball, they must send out more and more pigeons and stir up rebellion among the animals on the other farms. This clear statement about the different ways Napoleon and Snowball want to prepare for the future suggests that they will become enemies.

Discuss in groups – Write down your answers What character flaw did you list for each character? What information in the text indicates or suggests this character’s weakness or limitation? What foreshadowing did you find in chapter 3? Do you think Napoleon does the right thing by chasing off Snowball and declaring himself in charge? Why or why not? Why does Napoleon object to Snowball’s idea for a windmill and then later change his mind and decide to build it after all? When Squealer explains Napoleon’s actions, why does he use words that he knows the other animals don’t understand?