Chapters 8-10 analysis

These chapters show the farm's decline years after the rebellion. The animals endure growing struggles while the pigs tighten their grip on power.

What happens in this section

• The pigs, led by Napoleon, trade with nearby human farmers and change the farm's rules to suit themselves, including altering the original commandments.
• Squealer spreads lies to convince the animals that everything is improving, even as food shortages and hard labour increase.
• Boxer and other workers push themselves to exhaustion building another windmill, while the pigs enjoy privileges like alcohol and better living conditions.
• Napoleon declares the farm a republic but rigs the election to stay in charge, and the animals face worsening hardships.
• Time passes, with many original animals dying off, and the pigs adopt more human habits until they fully blend with the farmers.

Key events

• Boxer's sale to the knacker
• The pigs walking on two legs
• The final scene with humans and pigs

Contextual connection

These chapters reflect the historical context of the Soviet Union under Stalin in the 1930s and 1940s, where initial revolutionary ideals gave way to corruption and betrayal of the working class, mirroring Orwell's critique of totalitarian regimes. Orwell's experiences in the Spanish Civil War influenced this section, highlighting how propaganda and power shifts can distort revolutionary goals, much like the pigs' manipulation echoes real political deceptions.

Key event 1 - Boxer's sale to the knacker

What happens

• Boxer, the dedicated cart-horse, collapses from overwork and old age while labouring on the windmill.
• Napoleon secretly sells him to a horse slaughterer for money to buy whisky, but Squealer tells the animals Boxer is going to a hospital and later claims he died peacefully.

Structural analysis

• This betrayal escalates the narrative's central conflict by eliminating a symbol of loyalty and strength, stripping away the animals' remaining hope.
• It creates dramatic irony as the animals believe the lies while readers see the truth, heightening emotional impact and advancing the plot towards total disillusionment.
• The event acts as a turning point, slowing the pace for reflection on exploitation before accelerating to the story's grim end.

Contextual connection

Boxer's fate allegorises the exploitation of the Russian working class under Stalin, where loyal labourers were discarded during industrial drives like the Five-Year Plans, reflecting Orwell's socialist yet anti-totalitarian views. This event draws from Orwell's biographical disillusionment with communism, influenced by his observations of how leaders betrayed ideals, similar to historical betrayals in the Soviet purges of the 1930s.

Key event 2 - The pigs walking on two legs

What happens

• The pigs begin training to walk upright, then appear before the animals on their hind legs, wearing clothes and carrying whips like human overseers.
• They change the final commandment to "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" to justify their new status.

Structural analysis

• This shift marks a climax in the power reversal, visually contrasting early rebellion scenes and propelling the narrative to its resolution.
• It builds suspense through foreshadowing the complete collapse of ideals, quickening the pace as the animals' confusion grows.
• The event reinforces the story's circular structure, echoing the humans' original tyranny and preparing for the final ironic twist.

Contextual connection

The pigs' transformation parallels the Soviet elite's adoption of tsarist privileges in the 1930s, critiquing how revolutions can recreate old oppressions, aligned with Orwell's warnings about power corruption in his essays. Influenced by Orwell's cultural context of post-World War II Europe, this scene highlights anxieties about totalitarian regimes, where leaders like Stalin abandoned egalitarian principles for personal gain.

Key event 3 - The final scene with humans and pigs

What happens

• The pigs invite human farmers to the farmhouse for a meeting with cards, drinks, and toasts to cooperation.
• The other animals peek through the window and see the pigs and humans acting the same, unable to tell them apart as the pigs mimic human behaviours fully.

Structural analysis

• This revelation provides closure by resolving the allegory's core irony, circling back to the farm's pre-rebellion state.
• It slows the pacing for a moment of stark realisation, emphasising the revolution's failure through visual symmetry with the story's start.
• The scene advances narrative reflection, delivering a final twist that underscores the plot's themes without resolving the animals' suffering.

Contextual connection

The scene allegorises the 1943 Tehran Conference, where Stalin allied with Western leaders, reflecting Orwell's critique of how communist and capitalist powers became indistinguishable in their exploitation. Orwell's biographical frustration with wartime alliances, as seen in his journalism, informs this ending, warning about the cyclical nature of oppression in 20th-century politics.