Hammer and crowbar

The hammer and crowbar are introduced as the instruments of destruction when Frederick's men halt at the windmill during their attack on Animal Farm. Two of the men produce a crowbar and a sledge hammer, clearly intending to knock the windmill down, and the animals watch in dismay as the tools are brought into play.

Benjamin, observing the men intently, sees them drilling a hole near the base of the windmill and understands that they will pack blasting powder into it. The subsequent explosion destroys the windmill, erasing nearly two years of the animals' labor. The hammer and crowbar thus serve as the concrete instruments of human technological violence, directly contrasting with the animals' primitive methods of hauling stone by gravity and muscle.