In the book Animal Farm, the animals plot a rebellion because Mr. Jones, the farmer is a drunk and doesn’t feed the animals. They create a government system which is called “animalism”. The animals attack and drive off Jones and his family. Later they call the farm “Animal Farm.”
The pigs and other “Intelligent” animals start making rules or commandments which make up their constitution. The animals also make a flag. Initially, the farm is a success.
Mr. Jones with the help of other farmers tries to seize power again but fails. This battle is called The Battle Of The Cowshed.
The pigs claim apple crops and milk for themselves as they need it for their intelligent minds.
Napoleon and Snowball (two pigs) quarrel over policy, including Snowball’s proposal to construct a windmill to provide energy. Napoleon chased snowball out of the farm with the help of his dogs who he has been training in secret and this leaves him as the sole leader.
Napoleon dissolves the animal committees which were supposed to set policies. The pigs take over the thinking and decision-making. He gets the windmill built by the other animals. He also makes an arrangement with a human, Mr. Whymper, to obtain human-made products that animals need.
Unfortunately, a storm topples the windmill, Napoleon blames the exiled Snowball, saying he had sneaked back onto the farm and sabotaged the windmill. He accuses a few animals of conspiring with Snowball and executes them.
The pigs started to break their own commandments. Under Napoleon, working hours for other animals become longer. The pigs move into Jones’s house. They started drinking beer and whiskey and conducting trade with humans. Squealer (another pig) justifies these and other forbidden activities by changing the commandments again and again.
While the pigs live in luxury, the other animals rebuild the windmill, During this, they barely get anything to eat. To raise capital, Napoleon sells timber to their human neighbors but gets fake banknotes. When Napoleon realizes he has been fooled, he pronounces a death sentence on the neighbor.
The neighbor then attacks the farm, blowing up the second windmill, but the animals repel his forces in the battle. Boxer gets injured and later “disappears”.
In time, the pigs become more and more like humans. They walk upright on two legs, wear clothes, and entertain humans at dinners. Eventually, the seventh commandment—“All animals are created equal” is replaced by “All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal.”
Napoleon replaces the Animal Farm sign with a Manor Farm sign. Life goes on, with the “human” pigs in full control.
This book is a fictional take on communism. Animals are used to represent human society. It talks about how animals are exploited as they don’t get the fruits of their labor. This is why they want to create a society that is just and equal. Later, one group of animals starts dominating. That section subverts agreed principles and eliminates all opposition using any convenient excuse. This happens in our world even today. The principal of equality is good but nature will always subvert and corrupt the idealism and we are back to square one.