Midsummer Day

Midsummer Day is the anniversary of the Rebellion, the foundational event in which the animals of Manor Farm expelled the human farmer Mr. Jones and took control of the farm for themselves. It is one of the three official annual celebrations on Animal Farm, alongside the anniversary of the Battle of the Cowshed on October the twelfth and, later, Napoleon's birthday. The day is commemorated each year by the firing of the gun that was captured from Mr. Jones during the Battle of the Cowshed, which is set up at the foot of the Flagstaff like a piece of artillery. The gun is fired twice a year: once on October the twelfth and once on Midsummer Day, the anniversary of the Rebellion itself.

Origin and Establishment

The Rebellion occurred on Midsummer's Eve, a Saturday, when Mr. Jones got drunk at the Red Lion in Willingdon and failed to return until midday on Sunday, leaving the animals unfed. The hungry animals broke into the store-shed, and when Jones and his men attacked them with whips, the animals fought back and drove all the humans off the farm. The very next day, the animals renamed the farm "Animal Farm" and inscribed the Seven Commandments on the wall of the big barn. The Rebellion was thus achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected. The date of this victory was immediately enshrined as Midsummer Day, and it became the second of the two anniversaries on which the captured gun would be fired.

Ceremonial Observance

The firing of the gun on Midsummer Day is part of a broader system of ritualized celebrations that develop on the farm. Over time, the Sunday-morning Meetings, which originally included debates and the singing of 'Beasts of England', are replaced by a ceremony in which the animals file past the skull of Old Major, salute the green flag, and receive their orders for the week. The Spontaneous Demonstration, introduced later, involves the animals marching in military formation around the farm, with the pigs leading, then the horses, then the cows, then the sheep, and then the poultry, flanked by dogs. The gun is fired on these occasions as well, and the celebrations include songs, speeches, and the awarding of special gifts such as apples and corn. The anniversary of the Rebellion on Midsummer Day is thus folded into a growing calendar of state-sponsored rituals designed to reinforce loyalty and collective identity.

Narrative Significance

Midsummer Day functions as a temporal marker of the original, genuine liberation of the animals, a moment of unity and hope that stands in stark contrast to the later years of oppression and inequality. As the pigs consolidate power, the meaning of the anniversary is gradually hollowed out. The Rebellion itself is reinterpreted by the pigs: Snowball, once a hero of the Battle of the Cowshed, is later denounced as a traitor and secret agent of Jones from the very beginning. The anniversary of the Rebellion, like the song 'Beasts of England' and the Seven Commandments, is co-opted into the regime's propaganda machinery. The animals continue to celebrate Midsummer Day, but the celebration no longer reflects the ideals of freedom and equality that the Rebellion originally stood for. The day becomes a ritual that masks the reality of their continued exploitation, as the pigs adopt the habits of the humans they overthrew and the farm's name is eventually changed back to Manor Farm.