Old Major

2.1.1

Test yourself

Animal Farm is an allegory; all of the events and characters symbolise 20th century historical and political events.

5 key words

Idealist.
Wise.
Persuasive.
Respected.
Naïve.

Respected and inspirational

Old Major is the oldest, wisest and most respected animal on the farm.
Old Major inspires the other animals; he is intelligent and persuasive. His rhetorical ability makes the other animals share his vision.
The animals, led and inspired by Old Major’s speech, revolt and send the cruel and selfish Mr Jones into exile. Old Major is a principled character who is able to motivate the characters into a successful rebellion.

Utopian vision

He has a utopian vision of the animals’ lives, free from human tyranny. His vision is an ideal; is it really achievable or practical?
He has a vision of equality amongst animals with clear rules against taking on human vices. This becomes the underlying principles of Animalism.

Messages about power and corruption

Before the rebellion, Old Major taught the animals that humans are corrupt and are the cause of all of their troubles.
- But this was where Old Major’s vision was flawed because all creatures desire power and are thus capable of becoming corrupt. Old Major failed to see this and therefore, Animal Farm fails to become the place of equality that he described in Chapter 1.
Old Major says that they must not come to “resemble” man and yet by the end of the novel we cannot tell Napoleon and the pigs apart from the men. Perhaps Orwell is showing us that power has the capacity to corrupt anyone.

Context

Old Major’s principles represent Marx and Lenin’s political ideas.
They believed that a workers’ revolution would overthrow the Tsar and end inequality.

Old Major - Key Quotes

Here are a few key quotes concerning Old Major's character:

Majestic

“A majestic looking pig with a wise and benevolent appearance”.

Views on man

“Remove man from the scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever”.
“The produce of our labours is stolen from us by human beings”.
“All the habits of Man are evil”.

Utopian view

“No animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind”.

Desires equality

“Let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship”.

1Important Plot Features

1.1Plot Summaries

1.1.1Chapters 1-2

1.1.2Chapters 3-4

1.1.3Chapters 5-6

1.1.4Chapters 7-8

1.1.5Chapters 9-10

1.1.6Keywords

1.1.7End of Topic Test - Chapters 1-5

1.1.8End of Topic Test - Chapters 6-10

2Characters & Their Links to History

2.1Key Characters

2.1.1Old Major

2.1.2Snowball

2.1.3Napoleon

2.1.4Squealer

2.1.5Boxer

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Key Characters

2.1.7AO2/3 - Key Characters

2.1.8Exam-Style Questions - Boxer

2.2Other Characters

2.2.1Mr Jones

2.2.2Clover

2.2.3Hens

2.2.4Sheep

2.2.5Mollie

2.2.6Benjamin

2.2.7Moses & Mr Frederick

2.2.8Pilkington & Mr Whymper

2.2.9End of Topic Test - Other Characters

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End of Topic Test - Chapters 6-10

Snowball