Exact title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
Date of first publication: 1945
Edition: unknown, the book says 199?
Number of pages: 94, without appendix.
The category: fiction.
Date of reading and time spent reading: I started reading at October 23; I finished October 28. I had spent a few hours reading, maybe more.

Give a list of the main characters in the book and give a brief description of them.
Mr Jones. He is the owner of the farm and a human being.

Major was an old pig who was the leader of the animals. He died after he said they had to start the Rebellion.

Snowball, a pig, followed Major, together with Napoleon, also a pig. He was the good one of the two. When Napoleon grabbed power Snowball disappeared and Napoleon blamed every problem on him.

Napoleon is a dictator. He was an okay ruler at first, but power corrupted him. In the end he is just like the human beings.

Benjamin is a wise and quiet donkey. He knows what actually is happening, but think that it all doesn’t matter as he will die anyway.

Clover and Boxer are both horses. Boxer is a good and hard worker, but he when he is ill he is sold to the horse slaughterer by Napoleon.

Squealer is a younger pig who is totally intimidated by Napoleon.

What is the central theme of the book? What intention did the author have in writing the book? What is his message?
The central theme in this book is the Rebellion of the animals and what happened after that. The author wrote this as an political satire and he want to show the world what can happen if only one person or party has all the power.

What is the point of view of the writer?

It is an I-novel (as if it were an autobiography?)
Is it a third person novel (the writer shows us the world of the book as a complete outsider)?
Or does the writer sow us his history through the eyes and mind of one character?
It is a third person novel.

Tell something about the style and language. Is there much dialogue; are there long and complicated sentences; is there much description; is there use of dialect?

There are a few descriptions, not much dialogue and the sentences are sometimes long, but not complicated.

Point to the most important passage of the book. Do not quote, just say what the scene is about and mention the page(s) on which it occurs.

My personal opinion on what is the most important is the moment when Napoleon shows the dogs and sent Snowball away. This is the point you see which one is good, and which one is bad. This is on page 36.

Point to the passage you liked very much. Give the reason why you chose this passage and give the page(s) on which it occurs.
I started to like the book when the animals started the Rebellion, so I think this is a moment that I like. At this moment I wanted to know what is going to happen-would they make it,will they create a farm by themselves? This is on page 12, 13 and 14.
Beside that, I really liked the moment when Benjamin, the donkey, came in he spotlights. I do not know why, but I like Benjamin very much. He is wise, maybe he looks very stupid, but he isn’t. He is the only one who can read and write well, something he doesn’t show until this moment. This is on the pages 81 and 82.

Give a short outline of the plot.

Napoleon, together with Snowball, seizes the power after the Rebellion, but there is a moment when Napoleon smelt the smell of the power and it took over him.

Summary: attach an extensive summery to your report.

Mr Jones, the drunken, inefficient owner of Manor Farm, was one day expelled from his property by the rebellious farm-animals who, under the leadership of the pigs, took possession of it and rechristened it Animal Farm. The theoretical foundation of the revolution had been laid by an old boar named Major, after whose death the doctrine was made into a complete system of thought - called Animalism - by the most prominent pigs Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer. The animals happily set about the difficult task of running the farm by themselves, the intelligent pigs undertaking the management and the others doing the manual work. The pigs also instructed the animals in the Seven Commandments of Animalism. Unfortunately the pigs' character was not equal to their intelligence and they immediately began to take advantage of their position by reserving an increasing number of privileges to themselves.

By and large the farm-animals looked towards the future with enthusiasm, but there were exceptions. The foolish mare Mollie was only interested in ribbons for her mane and lumps of sugar; when she found that from now on she had to do without such things she became a renegade and went over to man, the common enemy. The tale-bearing raven Moses tried to shake the animals' faith and determination by spreading lies about a wonderful country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which they would go after death. The old donkey Benjamin regarded the new system with cynicism and the wily cat only thought of herself. On the other hand the pigs had faithful disciples in the dull-witted, idealistic, hard-working cart-horses Clover and Boxer.

Thanks to the organising ability of the pigs the animals ran their farm successfully and though they had to work harder than before they felt happy. It was a great day when they repulsed an attack made on Animal Farm by the human masters of the neighbouring farms Foxwood and Pinchfield. But serious troubles came when a rivalry developed between the brilliant, eloquent Snowball and the persevering, silent Napoleon. When an election was held to decide which one of them was to be Leader, Snowball seemed to carry it. But Napoleon unexpectedly produced a bodyguard of murderous dogs who drove Snowball away, leaving Napoleon the unchallenged dictator.

Napoleon consolidated and strengthened his position with the help of his dogs who terrorised rebellious animals into submission, his bleating yes-men to the sheep, and his propagandist Squealer who used his smooth tongue to reconcile the animals to the ever harsher measures the Leader and his clique of pigs were taking. Instead of enjoying the luxuries the had been promised, the animals had to toil and sweat, while their lords and masters the pigs prospered and moved from the sty into the deserted farmhouse. The doctrine of Animalism and the original Seven Commandments were changed again and again to suit the interests of the ruling class. Whenever anything went wrong, such as the destruction of the mill which the animals had built at a great sacrifice, Napoleon threw the guilt on Snowball, who was reputed to be undermining Animal Farm in secret. Comrade Napoleon's ruthlessness culminated in the execution of many animals who had voluntarily confessed to various acts of sabotage and espionage. The animals lost all their former confidence and enthusiasm, except Boxer who worked himself almost to death trying to do more than even his huge strength could bear. When there was no more left of Boxer than a pitiful, useless wreck, Napoleon had him sold to a horse slaughterer. Meanwhile Napoleon had come to terms with the human masters of the farms in the neighbourhood who had given up hope that Animal Farm would either destroy itself or give way under the pressure they put upon it. After many years the farm had become much richer, but the life of the animals was much more frugal than it had ever been, for the pigs were the only ones who reaped the fruits of their common toil. However, the animals had one great hope and pride left: they were the only farm run by animals in the whole world. Therefore it was a great shock to them when one day the pigs appeared wearing human clothes and walking on their hind legs. It soon turned out that the pigs had acquired all the human vices which Animalism had warned against. Once the animals saw the pigs in the company of men, talking, drinking, swearing and quarrelling. And when they looked from pig to man and from man to pig, and from pig to man again, they found it impossible to say which was which.