What did the pigs learn at the end?

Summary

Years pass, and Animal Farm undergoes its final changes. Muriel, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher are all dead, and Jones dies in an inebriates' home. Clover is now 14 years old (two years past the retiring age) but has not retired. (No animal ever has.) There are more animals on the farm, and the farm's boundaries have increased, thanks to the purchase of two of Pilkington's fields. The second windmill has been completed and is used for milling corn. All the animals continue their lives of hard work and little food — except, of course, for the pigs.

One evening, Clover sees a shocking sight: Squealer walking on his hind legs. Other pigs follow, walking the same way, and Napoleon also emerges from the farmhouse carrying a whip in his trotter. The sheep begin to bleat a new version of their previous slogan: "Four legs good, two legs better!" Clover also notices that the wall on which the Seven Commandments were written has been repainted: Now, the wall simply reads, "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL / BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS." Eventually, all the pigs begin carrying whips and wearing Jones' clothes.

In the novel's final scene, a deputation of neighboring farmers are given a tour of the farm, after which they meet in the dining-room of the farmhouse with Napoleon and the other pigs. Mr. Pilkington makes a toast to Animal Farm and its efficiency. Napoleon then offers a speech in which he outlines his new policies: The word "comrade" will be suppressed, there will be no more Sunday meetings, the skull of old Major has been buried, and the farm flag will be changed to a simple field of green. His greatest change in policy, however, is his announcement that Animal Farm will again be called Manor Farm. Soon after Napoleon's speech, the men and pigs begin playing cards, but a loud quarrel erupts when both Napoleon and Pilkington each try to play the ace of spades. As Clover and the other animals watch the arguments through the dining-room window, they are unable to discriminate between the humans and the pigs.

Analysis

This final chapter depicts the complete transformation (not only in name) from Animal Farm to Manor Farm. There will never be a "retirement home" for old animals (as evidenced by Clover), and the pigs come to resemble their human oppressors to the degree that "it was impossible to say which was which."

The completion of the second windmill marks not the rebirth of Snowball's utopian vision, but a further linking of the animals and humans: Used not for a dynamo but instead for milling corn (and thus making money), the windmill's symbolic meaning has (like everything else) been reversed and corrupted. Animal Farm is now inexorably tied to its human neighbors in terms of commerce and atmosphere.

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Summary

After the death of old Major, the animals spend their days secretly planning the rebellion, although they are unsure when it will occur. Because of their intelligence, the pigs are placed in charge of educating the animals about Animalism, the name they give to the philosophy expounded by Major in Chapter 1. Among the pigs, Snowball and Napoleon are the most important to the revolution. Despite Mollie's concern with ribbons and Moses' tales of a place called Sugarcandy Mountain, the pigs are successful in conveying the principles of Animalism to the others.

The rebellion occurs when Jones again falls into a drunken sleep and neglects to feed the animals, who break into the store-shed in search of a meal. When Jones and his men arrive, they begin whipping the animals but soon find themselves being attacked and chased off the farm. The triumphant animals then destroy all traces of Jones, eat heartily, and revel in their newfound freedom. After a tour of Jones' house, they decide to leave it untouched as a museum. Snowball changes the sign reading "Manor Farm" to "Animal Farm" and paints the Seven Commandments of Animalism on the wall of the barn. The cows then give five buckets of milk, which Napoleon steals.

Analysis

The death of old Major marks the moment when the animals must begin to put his theory into practice. For the remainder of the novel, Orwell depicts the ever-widening gulf between the vision expounded by old Major and the animals' attempt to realize it.

The names of the pigs chosen to lead the revolution reveal their personalities. Snowball's name suits the revolution in general, which "snowballs" and grows until, at the novel's end, the animal rulers completely resemble their previous masters. Napoleon's name suggests his stern leadership style (he has "a reputation for getting his own way") and, of course, his incredible lust for power, which becomes more pronounced with each chapter. Squealer, as his name suggests, becomes the mouthpiece of the pigs. His habit of "skipping from side to side" while arguing "some difficult point" dramatizes, in a physical way, what the smooth-talking pig will later do in a rhetorical sense: Every time he is faced with a question or objection, he will "skip" around the topic, using convoluted logic to prove his point. In short, he eventually serves as Napoleon's Minister of Propaganda.

Like all patriots and revolutionaries, Snowball is earnest and determined to win as many converts to his cause as he can. Two animals, however, momentarily fluster him. Mollie's concern over sugar and ribbons is offensive to Snowball because he (as a proponent of Animalism) urges his fellow beasts to sacrifice their luxuries. To him, Mollie is a shallow materialist, concerned only with her own image and comforts. Like Mollie, Moses proves irksome to Snowball because Moses fills the heads of the animals with tales of Sugarcandy Mountain.

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