Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell, published in England on August 17, 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy.
The novel begins with Old Major, an old boar, who calls a meeting of all the animals on the farm. He tells them about his dream of a revolution, where the animals will overthrow their human oppressors and run the farm for themselves. Old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the other animals – inspired by his ideas – decide to carry out the revolution.
The main leaders of the revolution are two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon. Snowball is a clever and eloquent pig, who is good at organizing the other animals and coming up with plans. Napoleon is a large and fierce looking pig, who is cunning and manipulative.
The animals are successful in driving out their human farmer, Mr. Jones, and they rename the farm "Animal Farm." They create a set of commandments, which are painted on the side of the barn, to guide their new society. The most important commandment is "All animals are equal."
The animals work hard to rebuild the farm and make it a success. They divide the tasks among themselves, with the pigs taking on the role of leaders and the other animals working in the fields and gardens. Snowball and Napoleon argue about how to run the farm, but they are able to keep things running smoothly for a time.
However, as the years pass, the pigs begin to take more and more control over the farm. They start making special privileges for themselves and begin to act more and more like humans. The other animals are shocked when the pigs start walking on two legs and wearing clothes, which goes against the commandments.
The pigs also start altering the commandments to suit their own purposes. For example, they change the commandment "No animal shall drink alcohol" to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess," and they add a new commandment that says "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
As the pigs become more corrupt and tyrannical, the other animals start to realize that their revolution has not turned out as they had hoped. They had wanted to create a society where all animals were equal, but instead they have created a society where the pigs are the ruling class and the other animals are oppressed.
In the end, the pigs are virtually indistinguishable from the humans they had overthrown, and the other animals are left to wonder what the point of the revolution was, if it has only resulted in them being ruled by a new set of tyrannical leaders.
Animal Farm is a powerful allegory about the dangers of revolution and the corrupting influence of power. It is a cautionary tale that serves as a warning about the dangers of blindly following leaders and the importance of staying true to one's principles.