Boxer's work ethic

From the earliest days of the Rebellion, Boxer's work ethic distinguished him. He arranged for the cockerel to call him half an hour earlier than any other animal so that he could put in volunteer labor before the regular day's work began. He adopted as his personal motto "I will work harder," which he invoked in response to every problem and setback. His tireless efforts made him the admiration of everybody on the farm; he seemed more like three horses than one, and there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest upon his mighty shoulders.

When the windmill project began, Boxer's strength became indispensable. The labor of dragging enormous boulders up the quarry slope was agonizingly slow, and often a boulder would slip, pulling the animals backward. It was always Boxer who strained against the rope, his breath coming fast, his hoofs clawing at the ground, and his great sides matted with sweat. Clover warned him not to overstrain himself, but he would never listen. His two slogans, "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right," seemed to him a sufficient answer to all problems. After his hoof healed from an injury, he worked even harder than before, and even as his strength began to wane, he pushed himself to the limit. On the slope to the quarry, when he braced his muscles against a vast boulder, it seemed nothing kept him on his feet except the will to continue; his lips would form the words "I will work harder" though he had no voice left.

The executions following the revelation of Snowball's supposed treachery left Boxer deeply shaken. He could not understand how such things could happen on their farm, but his conclusion was that the fault must lie in themselves and the solution was to work harder. From that moment he got up a full hour earlier in the mornings and immediately went to the quarry, where he collected two successive loads of stone and dragged them down to the windmill before retiring. As the years passed, his body gave out. One evening he collapsed between the shafts of the cart, unable to rise. He had suffered a lung injury, and though he spoke of retirement and of learning the alphabet, he was taken away in a van that belonged to the knacker. His last words, as reported by Squealer, were a repetition of his loyalty: "Forward, comrades! Forward in the name of the Rebellion. Long live Animal Farm! Long live Comrade Napoleon! Napoleon is always right."