1 00:00:01,199 --> 00:00:13,380 Now that we've examined context, themes and a general broad understanding of the novella itself, let's look at each chapter by chapter and we'll begin with chapter one. 2 00:00:15,119 --> 00:00:21,359 Mr. Jones of the manor farm had locked the hen houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop holes. 3 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:26,640 with the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side he lurched across the yard 4 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,839 kicked off his boots at the back door drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel 5 00:00:30,839 --> 00:00:37,219 and made his way up to bed where mrs jones was already snoring as soon as the light in the 6 00:00:37,219 --> 00:00:41,219 bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through the farm buildings 7 00:00:41,219 --> 00:00:48,159 word had gone round during the day that old major the prize middle white ball had had a strange 8 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,740 dream on the previous night, and wished to communicate it to the other animals. 9 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,280 It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr. Jones was safely out 10 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:03,939 of the way. Old Major, so he was always called, though the name under which he had been existed 11 00:01:03,939 --> 00:01:10,719 was Willingdon Beauty, was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to 12 00:01:10,719 --> 00:01:16,340 lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say. At one end of the big barn, 13 00:01:16,340 --> 00:01:21,700 on a sort of raised platform, Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw under a lantern 14 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:27,760 which hung from a beam. He was 12 years old and had lately grown rather stout but he was still 15 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,239 a majestic looking pig with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tissues 16 00:01:32,239 --> 00:01:37,680 had never been cut. Before long the other animals began to arrive and make themselves comfortable 17 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:43,120 after the different fashions. First came the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie and Pinscher and then the 18 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:48,079 pigs who settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform. The hens perched 19 00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:53,219 themselves on windowsills, the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters, the sheep and cows laid down 20 00:01:53,219 --> 00:01:59,120 behind the pigs and began to chew the cud. The two cart horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together 21 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:03,719 walking very slowly and setting down the vast hairy hooves with great care lest there should 22 00:02:03,719 --> 00:02:09,500 be some small animal concealed in the straw. Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching 23 00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:15,180 middle-life, who had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal. Boxer was an enormous 24 00:02:15,180 --> 00:02:20,520 beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together. 25 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,460 A white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance, and in fact he was not 26 00:02:26,460 --> 00:02:30,520 of first-rate intelligence, but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character 27 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:35,919 and tremendous powers of work. After the horses came Muriel, the white goat, and Benjamin 28 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:42,139 the donkey. Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm and the worst tempered. He seldom talked and 29 00:02:42,139 --> 00:02:46,620 when he did, it was usually to make some cynical remark. For instance, he would say that God had 30 00:02:46,620 --> 00:02:51,300 given him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies. 31 00:02:52,659 --> 00:02:57,360 Alone among the animals on the farm, he never laughed. If asked why, he would say that he saw 32 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,740 nothing to laugh at. Nevertheless, without openly admitting it, he was devoted to Boxer. The two of 33 00:03:02,740 --> 00:03:06,520 them usually spent the Sundays together in the small paddock beyond the orchard, grazing side 34 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:12,580 by side and never speaking. The two horses had just lain down with a brood of ducklings, which 35 00:03:12,580 --> 00:03:17,520 had lost a mother, filed into the barn, cheeping feebly and wandering from side to side to find a 36 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:23,219 place where they would not be trodden on. Clover made a sort of wall around them with her great 37 00:03:23,219 --> 00:03:29,340 foreleg, and the ducklings nestled down inside it and promptly fell asleep. At the last moment, 38 00:03:29,340 --> 00:03:35,900 Molly, the foolish pretty white mare who drew Mr Jones's trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing a 39 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:42,219 lump of sugar. She took a place near the front and began flirting her white mane, hoping to draw 40 00:03:42,219 --> 00:03:47,620 attention to the red ribbons it was plated with. Last of all came the cat, who looked round as 41 00:03:47,620 --> 00:03:51,699 usual for the warmest place and finally squeezed herself in between Boxer and Clover. There she 42 00:03:51,699 --> 00:03:55,439 purred contentedly throughout Major's speech without listening to a word of what he was saying. 43 00:03:55,439 --> 00:04:01,460 all the animals were now present except moses the tame raven who slept in a perch behind the back 44 00:04:01,460 --> 00:04:05,620 door when major saw that they had all made themselves comfortable and waiting attentively 45 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:12,699 he cleared his throat and began comrades you have heard already about the strange dream i had last 46 00:04:12,699 --> 00:04:18,779 night but i will come to the dream later i have something else to say first i do not think comrades 47 00:04:18,779 --> 00:04:23,160 that i shall be with you for many months longer and before i die i feel it my duty to pass on to 48 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:29,740 such wisdom as i have acquired i have had a long life i have had much time for thought as i lay 49 00:04:29,740 --> 00:04:34,680 alone in my store and i think i may say that i understand the nature of life on this earth as 50 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:41,819 well as an animal now living it is about this that i wish to speak to you now comrades what is the 51 00:04:41,819 --> 00:04:47,540 nature of this life of ours let us face it our lives are miserable laborious and short we are 52 00:04:47,540 --> 00:04:53,000 born we're given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies and those of us who are 53 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,939 capable of it, are forced to work down to the last atom of our strength, and the very instant that 54 00:04:57,939 --> 00:05:03,939 our usefulness has come to an end, we're slaughtered with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows 55 00:05:03,939 --> 00:05:08,939 the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life 56 00:05:08,939 --> 00:05:16,199 of an animal is misery and slavery. That is the plain truth. But is this simply part of the order 57 00:05:16,199 --> 00:05:21,040 of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those 58 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:27,439 who dwell upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no. The soil of England is fertile, its climate is 59 00:05:27,439 --> 00:05:32,259 good, it's capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of animals than 60 00:05:32,259 --> 00:05:38,560 now inhabit it. This single farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of 61 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,120 sheep, and all of them living in comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining. 62 00:05:44,420 --> 00:05:48,860 Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the 63 00:05:48,860 --> 00:05:53,420 produce of our labor stolen from us by human beings their comrades is the answer to all our 64 00:05:53,420 --> 00:06:00,779 problems it is summed up in a single word man man is the only real enemy we have remove man from the 65 00:06:00,779 --> 00:06:06,980 scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever man is the only creature that 66 00:06:06,980 --> 00:06:11,300 consumes without producing he does not give milk he does not lay eggs he is too weak to pull the 67 00:06:11,300 --> 00:06:16,319 plow he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits yes he is a lord of all the animals he sets them 68 00:06:16,319 --> 00:06:20,680 to work and gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving and the rest 69 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:27,839 he keeps for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it and yet there's not one of 70 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:33,839 us that owns more than his bare skin. You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of 71 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:39,259 milk have you given during the last year? And what has happened to that milk which should have been 72 00:06:39,259 --> 00:06:45,819 breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies and you hence 73 00:06:45,819 --> 00:06:50,800 how many eggs have you laid in the last year and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens 74 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:57,860 the rest have all gone to market to bring in money for mr jones and his men and you clover where are 75 00:06:57,860 --> 00:07:03,420 those four foals you bore who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age each was sold 76 00:07:03,420 --> 00:07:10,000 at a year old you will never see one of them again in return for your fourth confinements and all your 77 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,839 labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stool? 78 00:07:15,500 --> 00:07:19,220 And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach the natural span. 79 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,819 For myself, I do not grumble, for I am one of the lucky ones. I am 12 years old and have had 80 00:07:25,819 --> 00:07:33,879 over 400 children. Such is the natural life of a pig. But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the 81 00:07:33,879 --> 00:07:39,240 end. You young pokers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out 82 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:46,480 the block within a year. To that horror we must come. Cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone. Even the 83 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,540 horses and dogs have no better fate. You boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours 84 00:07:51,540 --> 00:07:56,139 lose the power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the 85 00:07:56,139 --> 00:08:01,660 foxhounds. As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones ties a brick round their necks 86 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:07,699 and drowns them in the nearest pond. Is it not crystal clear then, comrades, that all the evils 87 00:08:07,699 --> 00:08:13,339 of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings. Only get rid of man and the 88 00:08:13,339 --> 00:08:19,000 produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What 89 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:24,019 then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul for the overthrow of the human race. 90 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:30,120 That is my message to you comrades. Rebellion. I do not know when that rebellion will come. 91 00:08:30,660 --> 00:08:35,259 It might be in a week or a hundred years but I know as surely as I see this straw beneath my 92 00:08:35,259 --> 00:08:41,360 feet that sooner or later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that comrades throughout the 93 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:46,600 short remainder of your lives and above all pass on this message of mine to those who come after 94 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:52,120 you so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious. And remember 95 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:57,179 comrades your resolution must never falter, no argument must lead you astray, never listen when 96 00:08:57,179 --> 00:09:01,440 they tell you that man and the animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of one is 97 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,519 the prosperity of the others. It's all lies. Man serves the interests of no creature except 98 00:09:05,519 --> 00:09:10,700 himself. And among us animals, let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the 99 00:09:10,700 --> 00:09:16,600 struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades. At this moment, there was a 100 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,419 tremendous uproar. While Major was speaking, four large rats crept out of the holes and 101 00:09:21,419 --> 00:09:26,299 were sitting on the hindquarters listening to him. The dogs had suddenly caught sight 102 00:09:26,299 --> 00:09:30,720 of them, and it was only by swift dash for the holes that the rats saved their lives. 103 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:33,080 Major raised his trotter for silence. 104 00:09:33,500 --> 00:09:34,340 Comrades, he said. 105 00:09:35,179 --> 00:09:36,460 Here's a point that must be settled. 106 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:38,919 The wild creatures, such as rabbits, rats and rabbits, 107 00:09:39,460 --> 00:09:40,860 are they our friends or our enemies? 108 00:09:41,059 --> 00:09:42,019 Let us put it to the vote. 109 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:43,879 I propose this question to the meeting. 110 00:09:44,019 --> 00:09:44,620 Are rats comrades? 111 00:09:46,059 --> 00:09:47,500 The vote was taken at once, 112 00:09:47,620 --> 00:09:49,500 and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority 113 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:50,539 that rats were comrades. 114 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,720 There were only four dissidents, 115 00:09:54,460 --> 00:09:55,820 the three dogs and the cats, 116 00:09:55,820 --> 00:09:58,580 who afterwards discovered to have voted on both sides. 117 00:10:00,019 --> 00:10:00,740 Major continued. 118 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:08,360 I have a little more to say. I merely repeat. Remember always your duty of enmity toward man 119 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:15,500 and all his ways. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs or has 120 00:10:15,500 --> 00:10:21,899 wings is a friend. And remember also that in fighting against man, we must not come to resemble 121 00:10:21,899 --> 00:10:27,320 him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in a house or 122 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,039 sleep in a bed or wear clothes or drink alcohol or smoke tobacco or touch money or engage in trade 123 00:10:32,039 --> 00:10:40,200 all the habits of man are evil and above all no animal must ever tyrannize over his own kind weak 124 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:45,399 or strong clever or simple we're all brothers no animal must ever kill any other animal all 125 00:10:45,399 --> 00:10:50,480 animals are equal and now comrades i will tell you about my dream of last night i cannot describe 126 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:56,019 that dream to you it was a dream of the earth as it will be when man has vanished but it reminded 127 00:10:56,019 --> 00:11:00,299 me of something that I had long forgotten. Many years ago, when I was a little pig, my mother 128 00:11:00,299 --> 00:11:05,879 and the other sows used to sing an old song of which they knew only the tune and the first three 129 00:11:05,879 --> 00:11:11,259 words. I had known that tune in my infancy, but it had long since passed out of my mind. 130 00:11:12,539 --> 00:11:19,179 Last night, however, it came back to me in my dream. What is more, the words of the song also 131 00:11:19,179 --> 00:11:24,240 came back, words uncertain, which were sung by the animals of long ago and have been lost to 132 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:29,980 memory for generations. I will sing you that song now, comrades. I am old, my voice is hoarse, 133 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,080 but when I have taught you the tune, you can sing it better for your souls. 134 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:38,919 It's called Beasts of England. Old Major cleared his throat and began to sing. 135 00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:44,379 As he had said, his voice was hoarse, but he sang well enough, and it was a stirring tune, 136 00:11:44,519 --> 00:11:50,600 something between Clementine and La Chucharacha. The words ran. Beasts of England, Beasts of 137 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:55,879 england beasts of every land and clime hearken to my joyful tidings of the golden future time 138 00:11:55,879 --> 00:12:01,840 soon or late the day is coming tyrant man shall be overthrown and the fruitful fields of england 139 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:07,700 shall be trod by beasts alone rings shall vanish from our noses and the harness from our back 140 00:12:07,700 --> 00:12:14,179 bitten spur shall rust forever core whips no more shall crack riches more than mind can capture 141 00:12:14,179 --> 00:12:19,840 wheat and barley oats and hay clover beans and mango whirls shall be ours upon that day 142 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:25,980 bright will shine the fields of england purer shall its waters be sweeter yet shall blow its 143 00:12:25,980 --> 00:12:31,039 breezes on the day that sets us free for that day we must all labor though we did before it break 144 00:12:31,039 --> 00:12:35,840 cows and horses geese and turkeys all must toil for freedom's sake beasts of england beasts of 145 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:42,580 ireland beasts of every land and climb hearken well and spread my tidings of golden future time 146 00:12:42,580 --> 00:12:49,240 the singing of this song threw the animals into the wildest excitement almost before major had 147 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,740 reached the end, they had begun singing it for themselves. Even the stupidest of them had already 148 00:12:54,740 --> 00:13:00,299 picked up the tune and a few of the words, and as for the clever ones, such as the pigs and dogs, 149 00:13:00,379 --> 00:13:05,879 they had the entire song by heart within a few minutes. And then, after a few preliminary tries, 150 00:13:06,179 --> 00:13:12,539 the whole farm burst into Beasts of England in tremendous unison. The cows loud it, the dogs 151 00:13:12,539 --> 00:13:18,100 whined it, the sheep bleated it, the horses whinnied it, the ducks quacked it. They were so delighted 152 00:13:18,100 --> 00:13:22,100 with the song that they sang it right through five times in succession and might have continued 153 00:13:22,100 --> 00:13:27,460 singing it all night if they had not been interrupted. Unfortunately, the uproar awoke 154 00:13:27,460 --> 00:13:32,600 Mr Jones who sprang out of bed making sure that there was a fox in the yard. He seized the gun 155 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,919 which always stood in a corner of his bedroom and let fly a charge of number six shot into the 156 00:13:36,919 --> 00:13:42,940 darkness. The pellets buried themselves in the wall of the barn and the meeting broke up hurriedly. 157 00:13:43,799 --> 00:13:47,899 Everyone fled to his own sleeping place. The birds jumped up on the perches, the animals settled down 158 00:13:47,899 --> 00:13:54,940 the straw and the whole farm was asleep in a moment. So that is chapter one and essentially 159 00:13:54,940 --> 00:14:02,240 what this chapter really introduces to us is the vision of animalism. Now as I've mentioned before 160 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:08,879 Animal Farm is an allegorical novella and Old Major who's the one who teaches these creatures 161 00:14:08,879 --> 00:14:14,460 the Beasts of England song is meant to be the person who articulates or rather the animal 162 00:14:14,460 --> 00:14:21,200 who articulates the ideas of animalism he represents Karl Marx who came up with the idea 163 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:28,360 of communism in his book and he literally had the idea that men especially working class men 164 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:34,320 should unite and overthrow the elite hierarchy such as the monarchs aristocrats in order to 165 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:39,360 establish a more equal society so Old Major is representative of that and animalism essentially 166 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:44,039 represents communism so essentially chapter one really sets the scene we get the sense that 167 00:14:44,039 --> 00:14:50,360 there's revolution that's currently under the surface a lot of the animals are really unhappy 168 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:59,500 of course the current mr jones he represents the dictatorial regime of the tsar monarchy in russia 169 00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:07,039 so prior to 1917 prior to the revolution there were a series of monarchs who ruled russia and 170 00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:12,820 of course there was that they presided over a very unequal capitalist society and so of course 171 00:15:12,820 --> 00:15:17,980 all of these animals being gathered together are sowing the seeds of revolution and of course the 172 00:15:17,980 --> 00:15:23,820 revolution is when people like Stalin, Trotsky, Lenin they're the ones who came together after 173 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:30,019 reading Karl Marx and overthrew and of course rebelled and overthrew the communist the monarchy 174 00:15:30,019 --> 00:15:33,799 and established communist leadership but of course we're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves 175 00:15:33,799 --> 00:15:39,019 this is just the early stages so this is essentially chapter one in a nutshell.