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Animal Farm Chapter 3 Summary
The animals had to work very hard to get the hay in. But, the harvest was more of a success than Mr. Jones and his men ever accomplished, despite the fact that the tools were not well suited for animals to use. The pigs supervised the others but did not participate in the manual labour. With their superior knowledge, they assumed leadership for themselves. All animals worked day and night and finished the harvest in two days less than it had taken Mr. Jones and his men. The horses, ducks and hens, played their role in the harvest. With the ‘parasitical human beings’ out of the way, the animals enjoyed a feeling of abundance for the first time.
They had more leisure and their food tasted all the better as it was not doled out to them by a grudging master. However, they had to face many difficulties. They had a hard time harvesting the corn. Boxer was invigorated and pushed himself to work harder than ever, because he was strong and big, thus he contributed to the most strenuous labour. In contrast, the hens and ducks worked together gathering small bits of corn that the bigger animals were not able to do.
The system of Animalism on Animal Farm worked well: Every animal was satisfied with his share of the labour and its fruits. No one stole or argued, and very few shirked their responsibilities, with the exception of frivolous Mollie and the cat. Mollie was not good at getting up in the mornings, and had a way of leaving work early on the ground that there was a stone in her hoof. And the cat could never be found, where there was work for her to do. Old Benjamin, the donkey, seemed unchanged and worked in the same slow obstinate way.
Every Sunday was a day of rest on the Animal Farm. The animals held an hour-long ceremony, which was conducted every week without fail. The flag was hoisted which was green, to represent the green field of England, as explained by Snowball. The hoof and the horn signified the future Republic of the Animals, which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown. A gathering called meeting followed the flag raising, in which the animals planned the coming week and the pigs represented resolutions for debate. Snowball and Napoleon debated the most and took the opposite sides.
The animals ended each ‘meeting’ by singing “Beasts of England.” The pigs had set up a study centre for themselves in the harness : room, where they studied trades using Mr. Jones’ books. Snowball began organizing the animals into Animal Committees, including, the Egg Production Committee, the Clean Tails League, the Wild Comrades’ Re-education Committee, to tame rats and rabbits and the Whiter Wool Movements.
Snowball succeeded in teaching some of the animals to read, although most of them lacked the intelligence needed for literacy. In fact, many of the animals lacked the intelligence needed to memorize the Seven Commandments, so Snowball reduced Animalism’s tenets (Commandments) to one simple saying : “Four legs good, two legs bad.”
As time passed, the pigs began to increase their control over the other animals. For example, when Jessie and Bluebell gave birth to puppies, Napoleon took them to an isolated loft where he could teach them. The loft could only be reached by a ladder from the harness room. Soon everyone forgot their existence. Napoleon believed that educating young, impressionable animals was more important than trying to re-educate older ones.
It turned out that pigs started mixing the cow’s milk with their food. When the wind knocked ripe apples out of the orchard trees, the pigs claimed the right to take them all, as well as the bulk of the apple harvest. The pigs claimed that they needed milk and apples in order to power their “brainwork”. Squealer explained that if, the pigs would stop drinking milk and eating apples, they could lose their powers of organization and Mr. Jones would come back. The threat of Mr. Jones’s return was enough to quell the other animals’ doubts and questions.
Animal Farm Chapter 3 Summary Word Meanings:
- Shirk – Avoid one’s assigned duties.
- Cryptic – Having a secret or hidden meaning
- Grudging – Petty or reluctant in giving or spending
- Wean – Gradually deprive of mother’s milk
- Chaff – Material consisting of seed covering and pieces of stem.
- Signified – The meaning of a word or expression
- Obstinate – Marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield
- Acute – Ending in a sharp point
- Conceive – Have the idea for
- Welfare – Something that aids or promotes well being.
Animal Farm Chapter 3 Summary Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
In the end they finished the harvest in less than two days time than it had usually taken Jones and his men. Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen. There was no wastage whatever; the hens and ducks with their sharp eyes had gathered up the very last stalk, and not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a mouthful. All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never
(i) What problems did the animals face in the beginning ? What work did the pigs do?
(ii) Give any three examples of how animals worked together in harmony to take care of the farm.
(iii) What was the colour of the flag that was hoisted every Sunday ? What design did it have ? What was the
significance of the design?
(iv) Name three Animal Commiftees that Snowball organized.
(v) Point out the differences in the characters of Snowball and Napoleon. Cite instances to support your
answer.
Answer:
(i) The problems that animals faced during harvesting were that, they found the work difficult because the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals. No animal could use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. When they harvested the corn, they had to tread it out in the ancient style, since the farm possessed no threshing machine.The pigs being clever thought of a better way of working. They, in fact did not actually work, but directed and supervised the work done by the other animals.
(ii)
- The pigs, with their superior knowledge, directed and supervised the other animals’ work.
- Boxer and Clover harnessed themselves to the cutter or the horse rake and tramped around the field.
- Every animal worked at turning the hay and gathering it. Ducks and hens carried tiny wisps of hay in
their beaks. With their sharp eyes, they were able to gather up the very lost stalk and ensured that there was no wastage. Thus, in this way, all the animals worked together harmoniously in taking care of the farm.
(iii) Green colour flag was hoisted every Sunday. It was made of an old green tablecloth in the harness room used by Mrs. Jones. Snowball painted a hoof and a horn in white on the cloth as a design. The green signified the green fields of England and the design of a hoof and horn and white signified the future Republic of the Animals.
(iv) Snowball organized the animals into various Committees :
- The Egg Production Committee for hens.
- The Clean Tails League for the cows.
- The Wild Comrades’ Re-education Committee, to tame the rats and the rabbits.
- The Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep.
(v) Snowball, right from the beginning was a follower of Old Major and was committed to realize Old Major’s dream. He thought that helping the animals to read and write was more important in their fight for freedom. He reduced the Seven Commandments to a single “Four legs good, two legs bad”, so that even those animals which could not memorize the philosophy of Animalism may understand and abide by it.
He was very idealistic, intelligent and enthusiastic. He organized various committees, he proved that he is strategic in his plan. The construction of the windmill eased the animals’ efforts and gave them some free time. Snowball intended to govern the farm through good deeds.
Napoleon, on the other hand, was an opportunist. He was least bothered about the principles of the farm. He was more corrupt, he just focused on grabbing power as described in the novel, “A fierce looking boar with a reputation for getting his own way.” He stole cow’s milk for the pigs and took nine puppies by force on the pretext of educating them. He was very violent and cruel. He also terrorized innocent animals and dictated them. Finally, he was seen eating and drinking with Jones much against the commandment, “four legs are good, two legs bad”.
He ended up changing the seventh commandment to, “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others”, and reverting to the old name of the farm, “Manor farm”. This shows that though he lived with the animals he was focused on ruling them. If Old Major’s speech had inspired Snowball to rebel against humans to achieve freedom for animals, it had sown seeds of greed in the mind of Napoleon. He was driven to attaining power and dictate the farm.
Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Napoleon took no interest in Snowball’s committees. He said that the education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who were already grown up.
(i) Name the different committees that Snowball had formed
(ii) How did the reading and writing classes go?
(iii) Just before the extract, the sheep are seen adopting a maxim. What was it?
(iv) What did Napoleon do just after this extract?
(v) Later in the chapter, the pigs were seen getting greedy. How?
Answer:
(i) Snowball busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called ‘Animal Committees’. He formed the Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the cows, the Wild Comrades’ Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep, and various others, besides instituting classes for reading and writing.
(ii) The reading and writing classes, however, were a great success. By the autumn, almost every animal on the farm was literate to some degree. However, the pigs were the most efficient in these skills.
(iii) The sheep were not able to remember all the Seven Commandments. Then Snowball formed a single maxim for them, “Four legs good, two legs bad”. The sheep developed a great liking for this maxim and would often start bleating it.
(iv) It happened that Jesse and Bluebell had given birth to nine sturdy puppies. As soon as they weaned, Napoleon took them from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education.
(v) The mystery of disappearing milk was solved. It was being mixed every day into the pig’s mash. Then when the orchard became littered with windfall apples, the animals thought that they would be distributed equally among them. However, the pigs got the whole of them. They fooled the other animals by saying that they actually disliked milk and apples, but they were necessary as they needed them for their health. If their brain was not healthy then Jones might return. Everybody accepted the explanation.
Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
“His answer to every problem, every setback, was 1 will work harder!”: which he had adopted as his personal motto.”
(i) Who is being spoken about in the above lines?
(ii) What do the above lines tell us about him?
(iii) Which problem has he faced?
(iv) How did he manage to overcome the problem?
(v) Did he show any signs of change after the Rebellion? Why
Answer:
(i) Boxer the horse is being spoken about in the above lines.
(ii) The above lines tell us’about his laborious and hard-working nature. He was very brave and courageous, the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his mighty shoulders, and he was ever ready to work harder.
(iii) When the corn was harvested, the farm possessed no threshing machine, so they had to tread out the corn in the ancient style. Boxer pulled them through his tremendous muscles.
(iv) Boxer was a hard worker even in Jones’ time, but now he seemed more like three horses than one. From morning to night he was pushing and pulling, always at the spot where the work was hardest.
(v) After the Rebellion, Boxer started working the hardest. From morning to evening he was pushing and pulling. He had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the morning half an hour earlier than anyone else, and would put in some volunteer labour at whatever seemed to be most needed, before the regular day’s work began. His answer to every problem, every setback was, “I will work harder!”, which he had adopted as his personal motto.
Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
“The flag was green, Snowball explained, so represent the green field of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would rise when the human race had been finally overthrown.”
(i) On which days was the flag hoisted?
(ii) What did the green coloured flag signify?
(iii) What was the significance of the hoof and horn in white?
(iv) What was the ultimate aim of the animals on the Animal Farm?
(v) Where were the meetings held and what was discussed in them?
Answer:
(i) The flag was hoisted on every Sunday at 8 O’clock in the morning.
(ii) The green coloured flag represented the green fields of England.
(iii) The hoof and horn in white signified the future Republic of the animals.
(iv) The ultimate aim of the animals on the Animal Farm was to overthrow the human race, which was planned in their rebel against human tyranny.
(v) After the hosting of flag, all the animals trooped into the big farm for a general assembly which was known as the meeting. Here, the work of the coming week was planned out and resolution were put forward and debated.
Question 5.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
“It is for your sake that we drink milk and those apples”.
(i) Who is the speaker of the above lines?
(ii) What special privilege is he getting?
(iii) Who does he refer to by “we”?
(iv) What arguments does he give to convince the other animals?
(v) Does he achieve in his endeavour?
Answer:
(i) Squealer is the speaker of the above lines.
(ii) The pigs were drinking the whole milk and eating ripe apples all by themselves without sharing with other animals. They called it their privilege against serving the animals on the farm in a spirit of their selfless duty.
(iii) ‘We’ means, Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer and whole pig community.
(iv) Squealer said their sole object in taking these things was to preserve their health. According to science, milk and apples contained substances absolutely necessary for the well being of the pigs. He said that pigs were the brainworkers. The whole management and organization of the farm was dependent on them. Day and night they were watching over the animals’ welfare. It is for their sake that they were drinking that milk and eating those apples.
(v) Yes, he does achieve in his endeavour when he said, “Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back ! Yes, Jones would come back ! Surely, comrades, “he further added ” Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back ?” No animal wanted Jones to back. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that, the milk and the windfall apples should be reserved for the pigs alone.