Animal Farm

02The Rebellion and the Seven Laws

The actual rebellion happens much sooner and much more organically than anyone could have ever predicted. It is not the result of a meticulously executed military plan, but rather a spontaneous explosion of desperate, pent-up frustration. The catalyst arrives in late June, just before the Midsummer Eve. Mr. Jones, who has been spiraling deeper into a dark depression after losing money in a lawsuit, goes into town and gets incredibly drunk at the Red Lion. He does not return until the next day, and his farmhands, taking advantage of his absence, go out rabbit-hunting, completely neglecting their duties. When Mr. Jones finally stumbles home, he immediately goes to sleep on the drawing-room sofa, leaving the animals locked in their stalls without a single bite of food for over twenty-four hours. Hunger is a powerful motivator, and for the animals of Manor Farm, it becomes the final straw. They simply cannot take it anymore. In a sudden, unified surge of desperation, one of the cows breaks down the door of the store-shed with her horn, and within seconds, the starving animals are inside, desperately pulling from the bins of grain. The loud crashing wakes Mr. Jones and his men. They rush into the shed equipped with heavy, stinging whips, lashing out violently in all directions to establish their dominance. But this time, the animals do not cower. Something deep within them snaps. Without any prior coordination, they turn on their human masters. They fling themselves at the men from every side, butting, kicking, and biting with a ferocious, unstoppable anger. The humans are completely caught off guard. They have never seen animals behave this way, and the sheer terror of being attacked by the very creatures they have abused for years sends them into a blind panic. Within moments, the men give up the fight, drop their whips, and run for their lives down the main road, with the animals fiercely chasing them all the way to the five-barred gate. Mr. Jones’s wife, seeing the chaos from the farmhouse window, hurriedly packs a few belongings into a bag and slips out the back way. And just like that, the unbelievable has happened. The heavy gates are slammed shut against the humans. Manor Farm belongs to the animals. Imagine the pure, unadulterated euphoria of that first morning of freedom. The animals wake up at dawn, almost afraid that it was all just a beautiful dream. They rush out into the pasture, galloping around the boundaries of the farm, marveling at the fact that every blade of grass, every tree, and every drop of water now belongs to them. They excitedly destroy every instrument of their past torture. They throw the bits, the nose-rings, the cruel dog-chains, and the terrifying knives down the well. They build a massive bonfire and burn the reins, the halters, the blinkers, and the degrading whips. Snowball tosses the ribbons that used to decorate the horses' manes into the fire, declaring that all animals should go naked, as clothes are the mark of a human being. Boxer, deeply moved by this, even takes the small straw hat he wears to keep the flies away and throws it into the flames. Later that morning, the animals cautiously approach the farmhouse, the ultimate symbol of human dominance. They tiptoe through the rooms, their eyes wide with awe at the unbelievable luxury—the soft beds, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, and the fine carpets. They mutually agree that the farmhouse must be preserved as a museum and that no animal must ever live there. It stands as a silent reminder of the decadent, corrupt life they have left behind. Following their tour, the pigs call the animals together and reveal a stunning secret: over the past few months, they have taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book that belonged to Mr. Jones’s children. Snowball takes a brush, paints over the words "Manor Farm" on the main gate, and proudly writes the new name: Animal Farm. But the transformation does not stop there. The pigs have successfully reduced the complex philosophy of Animalism into seven unalterable laws, which they paint in massive white letters on the tarred wall of the big barn. These are the Seven Commandments, the sacred foundations of their new society: Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. No animal shall wear clothes. No animal shall sleep in a bed. No animal shall drink alcohol. No animal shall kill any other animal. All animals are equal. The animals gaze upon these rules with deep pride. These words guarantee that no one will ever be oppressed again, that no one will ever be treated as a slave. But even in this moment of pure triumph, a small, subtle shadow falls over the farm. The cows, who have not been milked in a day, are in pain. The pigs manage to milk them, producing five buckets of frothy, creamy milk. When the other animals ask what will happen to the milk, Napoleon steps in front of the buckets and smoothly tells them not to worry about it, urging them to head to the harvest. When the animals return from the fields later that evening, the milk has mysteriously vanished. It is a tiny, almost imperceptible crack in the foundation of their perfect equality, a quiet hint of the complex dynamics that are beginning to take root in the soil of their new freedom.

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