Store-shed

In the early days of June, Mr. Jones's neglect had left the animals unfed for a full day. On Midsummer's Eve, after a drunken outing, he returned and fell asleep, and the animals, driven by hunger, could endure no more. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn, and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins. The noise woke Mr. Jones, who rushed into the store-shed with his four men, whips in hand, lashing out in all directions. This attack, far from subduing the animals, provoked them into a unified revolt. With one accord, they flung themselves upon their tormentors, butting and kicking from all sides, and within minutes the men were in full flight down the cart-track. The store-shed, once a place of passive storage, became the flashpoint of the Rebellion.

After the expulsion of Mr. Jones, the animals celebrated their victory. Napoleon led them back to the store-shed, where he served out a double ration of corn to everybody and two biscuits for each dog. This act of distribution from the store-shed symbolized the new order: the animals now controlled their own food. They then sang "Beasts of England" from end to end seven times before settling down to sleep as they had never slept before. The store-shed, previously a symbol of human control, now stood as a storehouse of animal self-sufficiency.

By the following winter, however, the farm faced a severe food shortage. The corn ration was drastically reduced, and the potato crop had failed. To conceal this from the outside world, Napoleon ordered the nearly empty bins in the store-shed to be filled nearly to the brim with sand, which was then covered with the remaining grain and meal. When Mr. Whymper, the solicitor acting as intermediary, was led through the store-shed on a pretext, he was allowed a glimpse of the bins and was deceived into believing the farm was well supplied. He reported to the outside world that there was no food shortage on Animal Farm. The store-shed, once the site of liberation, was now a stage for engineered deception.