The Characters
In a hurry? Here's the happy meal version:Old Major = Karl Marx, with a little bit of Vladimir Lenin thrown inSnowball = Leon TrotskyNapoleon = Josef Stalin, with a big fat allusion to, uh, Napoleo...
Old Major's Dream
The Happy MealOld Major's dream is a stand-in for Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. The Sit-Down MealAnimal Farm opens with the news that old Major, "the prize Middle White boar" (1.2), has called a...
The Fall of Mister Jones
The Happy MealThe fall of Mister Jones represents the overthrow of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II.The Sit-Down MealIf you're looking for a stirring tale of the people—er, farm animals—fighting a nai...
The Battle of the Cowshed
The Happy MealBattle of Cowshed is a stand-in for the Russian Civil War. The Sit-Down MealThe Civil War wasn't fought between the people and the tsar—because the tsar was already dead. It was fou...
The Windmill
The Happy MealThe windmill represents the decision about whether or not to expand communism.The Sit-Down MealIn the early 1920s, Lenin started to get sick—deathly sick. And that meant one communi...
Napoleon's Initiative
The Happy MealNapoleon's initiative represents Stalin's Five-Year Plans. The Sit-Down MealWhen Stalin took over the Soviet Union, he proposed the first of his Five-Year Plans. The goal? To rapidly...
The Hen Rebellion
The Happy MealNapoleon's response to the Hen Rebellion represents Stalin's Great Purge.The Sit-Down MealAbout halfway through, Animal Farm takes a dark turn. The hens refuse to give up their eggs;...
Frederick's Scheming
The Happy MealFrederick's scheming represents Hitler's breaking of the non-aggression pact he signed with Stalin.The Sit-Down MealWhen Napoleon is trying to decide what to do with his big pile of t...
Battle of the Windmill
The Happy MealThe Battle of the Windmill represents World War II. The Sit-Down MealRussia may have been on the winning side of World War II, but they lost huge numbers of citizens—up to 11 millio...
Boxer's Death
The Happy MealBoxer's death is an allegory-within-an-allegory for Stalin's betrayal of the proletariat.The Sit-Down MealThe pigs betray the principles of the rebellion over and over again. Seriousl...
The Final Feast
The Happy MealThe meeting between the pigs and humans at the end of Animal Farm alludes to the Tehran Conference of 1943 and the beginning of the Cold War. The Sit-Down MealAt the end of the novel,...