Chapter 2

After Old Major dies, the pigs assume leadership of the movement he inspired. Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer develop Animalism and hold secret meetings, facing doubts from animals like Mollie and countering Moses’s tales of Sugarcandy Mountain. Boxer and Clover become steadfast proponents, spreading the message.

Mr. Jones’s growing negligence—drunkenness, idling men, and underfeeding—creates mounting hardship. When the animals are left hungry through Midsummer’s Eve and into Sunday, a cow breaks into the store-shed, prompting Jones and his men to attack. The animals, driven by hunger and anger, retaliate spontaneously and chase the humans off the farm.

With Jones expelled, the animals secure the boundaries and destroy symbols of oppression—whips, chains, knives, and ribbons. They reject clothing as a human mark, and Boxer burns his straw hat. They celebrate, then cautiously inspect the farmhouse, resolve to preserve it as a museum, and vow that no animal will live there.

At dawn, Snowball and Napoleon organize work and reveal they have learned to read and write. They rename Manor Farm to Animal Farm, then inscribe the Seven Commandments on the barn wall to establish unalterable laws, affirming equality and prohibiting human-like behaviors.

When three unmilked cows low in distress, the pigs milk them, producing five buckets. Napoleon deflects questions about the milk, urging all to the hayfield under Snowball’s lead. By evening, the milk has disappeared, subtly foreshadowing an emerging hierarchy and the pigs’ consolidation of privilege.