Contents
Chapter 6
Overview
The animals labor relentlessly to build the windmill as shortages mount, prompting Napoleon to initiate trade with humans through Mr. Whymper and to sell farm produce, including eggs. The pigs move into the farmhouse and sleep in beds, with Squealer reframing the commandments. A storm wrecks the half-built windmill, and Napoleon blames Snowball, declares him an enemy, and orders immediate reconstruction, intensifying control and sacrifice.
Summary
Through spring and summer, the animals work sixty-hour weeks, with "voluntary" Sunday labor enforced by ration cuts. Windmill construction proves arduous until the animals use gravity to break stone. Boxer becomes indispensable, rising earlier and hauling alone, while his mottos drive him to overexertion despite Clover’s concern.
Although methods improve efficiency, shortages of vital supplies emerge. Napoleon announces a new policy: Animal Farm will trade with humans through Mr. Whymper to obtain materials, funded by selling hay, wheat, and, if needed, eggs. Unease about earlier anti-trade resolutions is quelled when Squealer insists no such rule ever existed in writing.
Mr. Whymper begins weekly visits, symbolizing Animal Farm’s altered relations with humans. Rumors of deals with Pilkington or Frederick circulate. Soon the pigs move into the farmhouse; Squealer reframes the Fourth Commandment as banning only beds “with sheets,” and the pigs remove sheets and rise later, while the animals acquiesce.
By autumn, the windmill is nearly half built and morale centers on its progress, with Boxer working nights. Benjamin remains skeptical. In November, violent winds halt work and, after a gale, the animals find the windmill leveled, its stones scattered.
Napoleon inspects the ruins, then declares Snowball the saboteur, offers rewards for his capture, and points to nearby pig footprints as proof, claiming Snowball came from Foxwood. He orders immediate rebuilding through winter without altering plans, invoking unity and resolve to continue the project.
Who Appears
- NapoleonLeader; imposes harsher labor, starts trade via Whymper, moves pigs into farmhouse, reframes rules, blames Snowball for windmill’s ruin, orders rebuilding.
- BoxerTireless worker; hauls stone, increases hours, embodies mottos “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right,” anchors windmill effort.
- SquealerPropagandist; denies past anti-trade resolutions, reinterprets the bed commandment to exclude sheets, quells dissent.
- Mr. WhymperHuman intermediary; visits weekly to broker trade, marking Animal Farm’s engagement with outside markets.
- CloverConcerned mare; worries about Boxer’s strain and queries the commandment about beds before accepting Squealer’s explanation.
- MurielGoat who reads; confirms the altered Fourth Commandment specifying ‘with sheets.’
- BenjaminCynical donkey; skeptical about the windmill, offers cryptic commentary, avoids enthusiasm.
- SnowballAbsent scapegoat; blamed by Napoleon for windmill’s destruction, declared an enemy with a price on his capture.