Animals' unity

The animals' unity was forged in the immediate aftermath of the Rebellion. Having expelled Mr. Jones, they destroyed every trace of his reign, flinging whips, bits, and ribbons into a fire. Napoleon then led them to the store-shed and served out a double ration of corn to everybody, with two biscuits for each dog. They sang "Beasts of England" from end to end seven times running, and settled down for the night, sleeping as they had never slept before. Their first act was to gallop round the boundaries of the farm to ensure no human was hiding, and the sight of the land being theirs filled them with ecstasy.

The hay harvest consolidated this unity. Every animal, down to the humblest, worked at turning the hay and gathering it. The ducks and hens carried tiny wisps in their beaks. They finished the harvest in two days' less time than Jones and his men, and it was the biggest harvest the farm had ever seen. There was no wastage, and not a single animal stole a mouthful. The work went like clockwork, and the animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible. The pigs, though not working directly, directed and supervised, and Boxer's strength seemed like three horses. The animals felt that the food was truly their own, produced by themselves and for themselves.

Throughout the first year, the animals worked like slaves but were happy, aware that everything was for their own benefit. With the human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat and more leisure. Difficulties arose, such as the lack of a threshing machine, but the pigs' cleverness and Boxer's muscles pulled them through. Boxer, the admiration of everybody, worked from morning to night, always at the spot where the work was hardest. He had an arrangement with a cockerel to be called half an hour earlier, and his motto was "I will work harder."

This unity was not immune to fracture. Snowball's expulsion by Napoleon's nine dogs shattered the animals' trust. The dogs, reared in secret, emerged to chase Snowball off the farm. Later, Napoleon used the dogs to terrorize the animals into confessions and executions. Four pigs were torn to pieces for allegedly conspiring with Snowball, and other animals were slaughtered for minor offenses. The once-clear sense of collective purpose gave way to fear and confusion. The animals huddled together on the knoll, unable to speak, and Clover's eyes filled with tears as she remembered the original dream of a free and equal society.

As Napoleon's personality cult grew, the animals' unity was channeled into rituals and propaganda. Napoleon was referred to as "our Leader, Comrade Napoleon," and granted titles like "Father of All Animals." Squealer's speeches, with tears rolling down his cheeks, lauded Napoleon's wisdom and love for all animals. Poems like "Comrade Napoleon" were inscribed on the barn wall. The animals were made to believe that every success was due to Napoleon's leadership, and they repeated phrases like "Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!" This manufactured unity masked the growing inequality.

By the later years, the animals' unity was largely a hollow shell. The farm had grown richer, but the animals themselves were no better off, while the pigs and dogs prospered. The pigs did not produce food but consumed a great deal, and their work consisted of "files," "reports," "minutes," and "memoranda" that were burned. The animals worked longer hours and received less food than in Jones's day, yet they believed Squealer's figures showing vast increases in production. They had no memory of the past to compare with, and accepted the official story.

The final degradation of unity came when the pigs simplified the Seven Commandments to the single slogan "Four legs good, two legs bad," which the sheep chanted endlessly. This maxim, intended to distinguish friend from enemy, became a mindless mantra that stifled thought. The animals' collective identity was reduced to a mechanical repetition of a phrase, while the pigs themselves evolved into carrying whips, wearing clothes, and adopting human habits. The unity that had once been founded on shared labor and hope became a tool of oppression.