The Seven Commandments In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Soon the original commandments get condemned to a single one reading “ all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Napoleon commits to uniting with the human farmers against the working classes of both humans and animals, and even changes the name from Animal Farm back to Manor Farm. Looking in on the elites through the farmhouse window the animals can no longer tell the pigs from the humans.

A quote from the book states “...and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.”(Ch. 6, Animal Farm). Which basically makes the animals force to volunteer so they can eat. The pigs manipulated them to get what they want. The pigs also made the hens give up their eggs to make money for meals to keep the farm running. The Hens protested which lead to death threats to the hens if they did not give up their eggs. In the book it says “Led by three young Black Minorca pullets, the hens made a determined effort to thwart Napoleon's wishes. Their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor. Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens' rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death.” (Ch. 7 Animal Farm). This shows that the pigs would kill just to get their way. They didn’t care about the life just the

Napoleon being another intelligent pig on the farm believed he could become the leader and have all the power on the farm by scaring the animals. He does so by telling the animals they will work more or there will be punishment “Throughout the spring they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half” (Orwell 40). “The animals believe what the leadership tells them—that they are working for their own good now, not for Mr. Jones’s—they are eager to take on the extra labor”

The Seven Commandments of Animalism are written on the wall of the barn for all animals to see and read if they could. The most important is the seventh, "All animals are equal." After assuming control of the farm, Napoleon and Squealer indulge in the vices of humans (drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds, trading). Whenever the pigs break one of Major’s commandments, Squealer is sent to convince the other animals that that it is the correct interpretation, as is seen in this quote: ‘You didn’t suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means the place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention’.

The first few changes went against the commandments, such as he canceled Sundays morning meetings, he and the other pigs decided that they were going to move into Mr.Jones home and he also started engaging in trade with neighboring farms, an example of this, “Napoleon announced that there would be work on Saturday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half” ( 92). Napoleon started slowly changing things for the worse. Some of the commandments he started breaking was things such as pigs sleeping in beds, drinking beer, and using money and he even made the song beast of England illegal. The pigs started lying to the animals and giving themselves special privileges, even though equality between the animals was incredibly important and was the causes of the

Hypocritically, they have become what they once hated. “It was a pig walking on his hind legs… And finally there was a tremendous baying of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black cockerel, and out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side, and with his dogs gamboling round him.” This quote shows the condescending change in demeanor of Napoleon and his two-legged walking acquaintances. Eventually, this quote was changed to “Four legs good, two legs better!” At this point the other farm animals are in shock, but they have lived for so long without questioning, criticizing, or putting in their input, that they are blown away and speechless.

As exhibited in this quote Napoleon and the pigs have changed the last commandment to benefit them. They can now

After the revolution, Manor Farm was renamed to Animal Farm and the Seven Commandments of animalism were established to ensure equality. The pigs became the supervisors of the farm. However, the rivalry between two pigs Snowball and Napoleon made Napoleon use force. Napoleon ordered his dogs to chase out Snowball from the farm in order to become the only leader. Napoleon’s selfishness and corrupt power made him commit different atrocities against his own comrades. As a result, the lives of the animals except for the pigs and dogs were of tyranny and inequality. Napoleon became worse than their former human master. The animals spent the rest of his life almost starving and working in the construction of the windmill that was destroyed several times. The abolishment of Sunday morning meetings, the public execution of animals, and the drinking of alcohol were the most important changes that facilitated the transformation of animal farm, and Napoleon as the most responsible for the downfall of the utopian vision of Animal Farm.

These commandments were to “form an unalterable law” (pg.17) but as the pigs quickly began to realise that their mental capabilities outshone the other animals, their self entitled supremacy rose with it. Their constant desire for power then followed and they believed that their egotistical ideals were not something to be reckoned with, therefore manipulating the commandments to their own liking. This was exemplified when the commandments are gradually undermined by the pigs to; “no animal must sleep in a bed” to “no animal must sleep in a bed with sheets” (pg.17,50), and “no animal shall kill any other animal” to “no animal shall kill any other animal without cause” (pg.17, 66)( Dr Jennifer Minter, English Works, 2016). The pigs act as if they are abiding by the commandments to gain the trust from the mindless animals using strategical manipulation strategies, then later reveal their true intentions in a time and way that no animal is cunning enough to challenge them, making them all powerless to protesting against the supremacy. A representation of this occurs by all the original commandments being erased and replaced with the new guiding principle “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others” (pg.

Napoleon changes the rule "no animal shall sleep in a bed" to "no animal shall sleep in a bed, with sheets", the animals are skeptic at the rule, since they were certain it was not like that. Them suspecting that there were changes was also exhibited when "some of the animals remembered or thought that they remembered that the sixth commandment decreed; no animal shall kill another animal". The animals did not tell the pigs however, since they were afraid of what Napoleon, his army and his subordinates may do to them in response to the rules changing. The pigs complete change of the rules caused them to start resemble men, similar to Mr Jones. Old Major had stated that "in fighting against man, we must not resemble him", this form of foreshadowing emphasised the change of control with the power that Napoleon once possessed.

On page 92 the quote "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." I believe that this shows Napoleon's true intentions, to make one species of animal seem to be at higher power than another. After all of this time he was blaming things on Snowball and making it seem like he wanted the best for the farm, but really he just wanted the best for himself. for a leader of an area, he only wanted to make himself look good and didn't care how much work the animals had to do.

The first alteration was a simplification of the commandments by Snowball so that the animals having difficulty remembering all seven could understand the main idea of Animalism. This oversimplification is a huge mistake on Snowball’s part because it allows Napoleon to brainwash the rest of the animals and convince them of whatever he needs them to think. The rest of the alterations are by Napoleon attempting to cover up his human-like actions that break the commandments. As the Seven Commandments are continuously shortened, Napoleon continuously breaks them. First, Napoleon decides to engage in trade with humans, despite the commandment saying, "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy." (Orwell 43). Then he and the pigs move into the farmhouse and sleep in the beds. To cover it up, Napoleon insists that the commandment prohibiting this was actually, "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets” (Orwell 79), and stating that they removed the sheets from the beds. Things like this continue happening, but any suspicions the animals have are snuffed out until there is a bloodbath, and Napoleon has the dogs kill multiple animals who, 'confess' to conspiring with Snowball. Though the causes shock and misery amongst the animals (Orwell 93), Napoleon still gets away with it by claiming that the sixth commandment actually says,

The irony of it all is that the very one who suggested that the animals rebel against their master was another boar named Old Major who was as well educated as the pigs who would lead after him, but his vision was to have all of the animals live together as perfect equals. This idea of equality was however completely thrown out the window when somewhere along the line Napoleon came up with an idea to create his own totalitarian dictatorship within the farm and began testing the intelligence of their fellow animals. One such test that Napoleon ran was taking every last drop of the milk on the farm and keeping it for the pigs with his reasoning being that the pigs needed it to support their brains in the “strenuous” work that they had to do, this from an outsider’s perspective sounds downright preposterous, but for the animals on Animal Farm this would be just assumed true as they have no knowledge that would support this idea or that would contradict it so they take the pigs’ word at face value and move on. With no opposition coming from any of the animals on the farm the pigs were steadily gaining more and more luxuries while the rest were slowly getting worse and worse conditions as time went on, and unfortunately for the common animals this change did not have any end in sight as well as leading right back into conditions in which the pigs are the masters, and the animals the slaves, conditions that had been the case under their farm’s previous name Manor

They are later changed to help the pigs gain power. The first commandment was broken by the pigs themselves. Near the end of the book, they had begun to stand on their hind legs along with the humans, making it hard to distinguish which was human and which was an animal. As for the second commandment after they changed it, they started to get involved with the outside world. The made deals with Whympher, also known as the “broker” they made exchanges for alcohol.

One night, every one of the creatures at Mr. Jones' Manor Farm collect in a stable to hear old Major, a pig, depict a fantasy he had about a world where all creatures live free from the oppression of their human bosses. old Major bites the dust not long after the meeting, yet the creatures — roused by his rationality of Animalism — plot a resistance to Jones. Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, substantiate themselves vital figures and organizers of this hazardous undertaking. At the point when Jones neglects to nourish the creatures, the upheaval happens, and Jones and his men are pursued off the ranch. Estate Farm is renamed Animal Farm, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism are painted on the outbuilding divider.