Question 1 : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Three nights later Old Major died peacefully in his sleep. His body was buried at the foot of the orchard. This was early in March. During the next three months there was much secret activity.
i) Who was the Old Major?
Answer : Old Major was a prized Middle White boar living at Manor Farm, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon Beauty. He was highly regarded by the residents of the farm.
ii) What dream did the Major have?
Answer : The Old Major talked about the dream that he had the previous night. In his dream, all men had vanished from Earth. It also reminded him of a song, Beasts of England, that he had long forgotten.
iii) What secret activity was going on in the farm?
Answer : The Major had sown the seeds of rebellion in the hearts of the residents of the farm. After his speech, they all started to prepare for the rebellion to happen not knowing when it would actually happen. They began teaching and organising themselves.
iv) Who was responsible for expounding the teaching of the Old Major?
Answer : The work of teaching and organising the other animals fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally considered the cleverest of the animals. Two of them were young boars named Snowball and Napoleon. The others were porkers and the best known among them was a pig named Squealer.
v) Who was Moses? What lies was he spreading?
Answer : The pigs were trying to convince the animals that the rebellion was much needed. But they had a hard time counteracting the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. He was Jone’s special pet. He kept telling the animals that he knew of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all the animals went when they died.
Question 2 : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
In a very little while the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr Jones. Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and served out a double ration of corn to everybody, with two biscuits for each dog.
i) Which major incident took place before his extract?
Answer : Just before this extract, the rebellion had happened. However, it had happened before anyone had expected it to occur. Mr Jones had forgotten to feed the animals one day. The animals were not able to bear the hunger and broke free. Then they scared Jones out of the farm.
ii) Why wee the animals destroying the things belonging to Mr Jones?
Answer : The animals were living under the tyrannical rule of Mr Jones. They had been exploited by him. They were starved and had suffered many of his atrocities. But when he was overthrown, they did not want to see his belongings. They reminded them of the suffering and hence they destroyed them.
iii) What happened right after this extract?
Answer : After the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr Jones, they sang ‘Beasts of England’ from beginning to end seven times running, and after that they settled down for the night and slept as they had never slept before.
iv) What did the animals do the very next morning?
Answer : The animals raced out into the pasture together. They went to the knoll from where they could see the whole farm. They enjoyed in the natural surroundings and were very happy to see that the whole farm belonged to them now.
v) Later in the chapter, the pigs give out the Seven Commandments. What were these?
Answer : The pigs revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write. Snowball took a brush and renamed the Manor Farm as Animal Farm. They further explained that they had reduced the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments.
These would become an unalterable law by which all the animals on the Animal Farm must live ever after. They ran thus
a) Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
b) Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
c) No animal shall wear clothes.
d) No animal shall sleep in a bed.
e) No animal shall drink alcohol.
f) No animal shall kill any other animal.
g) All animals are equal.
Long Answer Type Question
Question 1 : Why did the rebellion that the Major had dreamt of came earlier? What was its consequences? How did the Manor Farm change after that?
Answer : Nobody knew when the rebellion would actually happen. But inspired by the words of the Old Major, every animal on the farm was waiting for that long cherished day. However, the rebellion happened more quickly than expected. Mr Jones had been a good farmer once but lately he had fallen on evil ways. He did not care much for the farm and the animals. The farm kept deteriorating and the animals were underfed. One night, Mr Jones got drunk in the Red Lion and forgot to feed the animals. The animals were hungry and famished. They were unable to bear the hunger any longer. One of the cows broke into the store shed and all the other animals also started to help themselves.
When Jones and four of his farmhands started whipping the animals to get them under control, they turned and butted and kicked, driving Jones off his farm. His wife packed her bags and followed. Mr Jones had been expelled and the farm belonged to the animals. The rebellion had been successful.
The animals could hardly believe their luck. They searched the farm to ascertain if any of the humans were hiding there. Then they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’ hated reign.
They burned everything that reminded them of their oppressor. After they had destroyed everything, they had their fill. They then sang ‘Beasts of England’ seven times and slept as they had never slept before. The merrymaking continued even on the next day. However, they were cautious when entering the farmhouse. It awed them. They agreed on the point that no animal must ever live there.
The pigs were considered as the cleverest and the work of teaching and organising others fell naturally upon them – particularly Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer. The three pigs elaborated Old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought and called the system Animalism. Animalism found a place in the heart of the residents of the farm and they began to follow it with all respect.
The pigs also revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write. Snowball took a brush and renamed the Manor Farm as Animal Farm. They further explained that they had reduced the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These would become an unalterable law by which all the animals on the Animal Farm must live ever after. They ran thus
i) Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
ii) Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
iii) No animal shall wear clothes.
iv) No animal shall sleep in a bed.
v) No animal shall drink alcohol.
vi) No animal shall kill any other animal.
vii) All animals are equal.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10