The Final Transformation

The Final Transformation is the culminating event of George Orwell's Animal Farm, the moment when the pigs' long slide into tyranny becomes absolute and visible. In a single evening, the animals witness Squealer walking on his hind legs, followed by a file of pigs, and finally Napoleon himself, upright and carrying a whip. The event shatters the foundational principle of Animalism—that whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy—and culminates in the renaming of the farm back to Manor Farm, erasing the Rebellion's very name. It is the point at which the pigs have become indistinguishable from the human beings they once overthrew, and the animals' last chance to protest is drowned out by the sheep's revised bleating of "Four legs good, two legs BETTER!"

The March of the Pigs

The transformation begins with a startling sight in the farmyard. Squealer, the pigs' chief propagandist, is seen walking on his hind legs, a little awkwardly as though not quite used to supporting his considerable bulk, but with perfect balance. A moment later, a long file of pigs emerges from the farmhouse, all walking on their hind legs. Some do it better than others; one or two are even a trifle unsteady and look as though they would have liked the support of a stick, but every one of them makes his way right round the yard successfully. Finally, with a tremendous baying of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black cockerel, Napoleon himself appears, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side, with his dogs gambolling round him. He carries a whip in his trotter. The animals watch in deadly silence, huddling together, as though the world had turned upside-down.

The Sheep's New Maxim

Just as the first shock wears off and the animals might have uttered some word of protest—in spite of their terror of the dogs and the habit, developed through long years, of never complaining, never criticising—the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of "Four legs good, two legs BETTER!" This revised maxim, taught to them in secret by Squealer over the course of a week on a piece of waste ground overgrown with birch saplings, goes on for five minutes without stopping. By the time the sheep have quieted down, the chance to utter any protest has passed, for the pigs have already marched back into the farmhouse. The sheep's new song effectively silences any opposition, just as their old bleating of "Four legs good, two legs bad" had done at crucial moments in the past.

The Erasure of the Commandments

After the pigs have retreated, Benjamin feels a nose nuzzling at his shoulder. It is Clover, her old eyes dimmer than ever. She leads him round to the end of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments are written. Gazing at the tarred wall with its white lettering, she asks Benjamin whether the wall looks different, whether the Commandments are the same as they used to be. For once, Benjamin consents to break his rule of never meddling, and reads out what is written there. There is nothing now except a single Commandment: "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS." The original Seven Commandments, painstakingly inscribed by Snowball years earlier, have been reduced to this single, paradoxical maxim, which justifies the pigs' absolute privilege while maintaining a hollow pretence of equality.

The Adoption of Human Ways

In the days that follow, the transformation becomes complete. The pigs who supervise the work of the farm all carry whips in their trotters. The pigs buy themselves a wireless set, arrange to install a telephone, and take out subscriptions to 'John Bull', 'Tit-Bits', and the 'Daily Mirror'. Napoleon is seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth. The pigs take Mr. Jones's clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on, Napoleon himself appearing in a black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings, while his favourite sow appears in the watered silk dress which Mrs. Jones had been used to wearing on Sundays. These actions directly violate the Third Commandment—"No animal shall wear clothes"—and the prohibition against living in a house, yet no animal dares to protest.

The Renaming of the Farm

A week later, a deputation of neighbouring farmers is invited to make a tour of inspection. They are shown all over the farm and express great admiration for everything they see, especially the windmill. That evening, the animals creep into the farmhouse garden and peer through the dining-room window. They see half a dozen farmers and half a dozen of the more eminent pigs sitting round the long table, with Napoleon occupying the seat of honour. Mr. Pilkington of Foxwood proposes a toast to the prosperity of Animal Farm, and Napoleon responds by announcing that the name "Animal Farm" has been abolished. Henceforward the farm is to be known as "The Manor Farm"—which, he believes, is its correct and original name. He also announces the suppression of the custom of addressing one another as "Comrade" and the removal of the hoof and horn from the green flag, which will now be a plain green flag. The skull of Old Major, which had been nailed to a post in the garden, has already been buried.

The Blurring of Pig and Man

As the animals watch the banquet, they sense that something strange is happening to the faces of the pigs. Clover's old dim eyes flit from one face to another. Some of the pigs have five chins, some four, some three. But what is it that seems to be melting and changing? The company takes up their cards and continues their game, and the animals creep silently away. But they have not gone twenty yards when they stop short at the sound of an uproar from the farmhouse. Rushing back, they see a violent quarrel in progress, with shoutings, bangings on the table, sharp suspicious glances, and furious denials. The source of the trouble appears to be that Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington have each played an ace of spades simultaneously. Twelve voices are shouting in anger, and they are all alike. No question, now, what has happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside look from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it is impossible to say which is which. The pigs have become human, and the Revolution has come full circle, returning the farm to its original name and its original tyranny.