It’s been brought to my attention that “Animal Farm” does include an
invasion by farmers who sought to destroy the animal-run farm. I checked
chapter 4 and there is indeed a reference to this (the novel is not
online but you can read summaries at
http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/animalfarm):
"One day in October, Jones, all his men, and half a dozen others from
the neighbouring farms, attack Animal Farm. They walk up the laneway
through the main gate. They are all armed with sticks except for Jones,
who carries a gun. The animals, however, are well prepared. After an
initial skirmish where the pigeons and geese attack the humans, Snowball
attacks them, supported by Benjamin, Muriel and all the sheep. The men
repulse this attack with their sticks, and Snowball sounds the retreat.
They fall back to the farmyard, pursued by the men, who think that they
have triumphed. However, they have walked into a trap."
Interesting that this might be as an attempt to map to historical
events, Orwell makes no effort to connect the downfall of the animal
experiment as a function of the invasion. Indeed, there seems to be no
serious damage to the farm’s infrastructure or the lives of its
animal-citizens, at least on the basis of the summary.
Furthermore, you can find evidence of the animal farm’s collapse before
the invasion ever took place in chapter 3. Again, quoting from the summary:
"Sunday is a rest day, when the animals assemble at a great Meeting.
This is where the work for the coming week is to be planned, and various
motions discussed. All of the resolutions are put forward by the pigs.
The other animals are aware of this, but as they cannot think of any
resolutions themselves, they allow the pigs to lead. As the weeks go by,
it becomes clear that Napoleon and Snowball rarely agree about anything…
"It is soon learned that the pigs took the milk that disappeared on the
first day, and are now mixing it into their mash. The pigs now issue a
decree stating that all windfall apples are to be gathered up and given
over for the exclusive use of the pigs. Some of the animals are puzzled
by this, and wonder why the apples are not to be shared out equally.
Squealer goes before them to explain. He tells them that the pigs, as
the leaders, must keep their brainpower up, and that science has proven
that milk and apples are essential for this."
With Communist pigs acting in such selfish fashion, no wonder Orwell
felt compelled to give the British Foreign Office a list of people he
suspected of being ”crypto-Communists and fellow travelers.” Orwell went
to great lengths to avoid being a pig apparently, even if it involved
turning himself into a rat.
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