In Animal Farm, Orwell satirizes the political climate of the Stalin era leading up to World War II. The animals represent political figures, and as they interact, Orwell attempts to reveal the corruption of political leadership. For Orwell, it was essential that the individuals be blamed for corruption and not the particular political system or a single revolution that they may take part in.

As the novel opens, Old Major holds a meeting and says that after his death, the animals should rise up against humanity because mankind is keeping the animals enslaved; it is because of them that no animal in England is free. When Old Major dies soon after, the animals take his advice at the first opportunity and drive Mr. Jones and the other humans off of Manor Farm. The animals, led by Napoleon and Snowball, destroy most of the farm in the name of dismantling the representations of their slavery. Once the animals take over, they rename the farm, Animal Farm.

Under the leadership of the pigs, the laws of “Animalism” are instituted, under which all animals are considered equal. They declare that they will run the farm themselves, each working to the best of his or her ability and having an equal share in the wealth of it. The pigs attempt to teach the other animals how to read and write, and meetings are held once a week. However, in time, the pigs abandon the façade of equality and begin to keep more food items for themselves. When Snowball suggests they build a windmill to lessen the workload, Napoleon opposes the idea. The two disagree about the project and Napoleon’s trained attack dogs drive Snowball from the farm. After overthrowing Snowball, Napoleon abolishes the weekly meetings and rewrites the “Laws of Animalism” to better suit his current desires.

Napoleon claims that Snowball stole the windmill idea from him, and the animals begin to construct it. A storm destroys the windmill, but Napoleon blames its destruction on Snowball. Any animal that disagrees, shows support for Snowball or questions Napoleon’s absolute authority is executed.

As Napoleon continues to abuse his power and rewrite history, he takes on the aspect of a man. He begins to sleep in a bed in the old farmhouse, drink alcohol and exalt himself above the other animals; all behaviors that were strictly prohibited by the Laws of Animalism. Meanwhile, the animals are overworked and underfed but continue to believe that they are better off “free” than when ruled by man.

As the years go by, Napoleon and the other pigs slip farther and farther into humanity, even walking upright, carrying whips and wearing clothes. The other animals on the farm continue to suffer as the pigs make alliances with humans against the working classes of both animals and humans. In time, the name of the farm is changed back to “The Manor Farm.” Eventually the Laws of Animalism are boiled down to one axiom: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

In the end, the pigs are indistinguishable from the humans who they had so vehemently fought against.