Animal Farm (George Orwell) - Chapter- 5 (Novel)

The arrival of winter brings new challenges and new conflicts to Animal Farm. Molly, the idle white mare, begins to act suspiciously. She is often late for work, complains about trivial matters, and is nervous when contacted. Eventually, Clover discovers that Molly has been secretly talking to one of Mr. Pillkington's men, letting him pick her nose and accept sugar and ribbons. When Clover confronts her, Molly denies everything, but after a while she disappears from the farm. Later, the pigeons see her pulling a cart for a man in a nearby town, wearing a shiny ribbon and enjoying sugar. Molly chooses a life of slavery over her hard-won freedom, and no one talks about it again.

As the winter deepens, the animals suffer from cold days and food shortages, but their enthusiasm for animalism remains. The meetings continue in the large barn, and Snowball and Napoleon grow increasingly competitive. Snowball has big dreams: he wants to build a windmill to generate electricity, which he claims will reduce their workload and improve their lives. He draws up detailed plans, enthusiastically explaining how the windmill will power the machines, thresh grain, and even electric lights in the stalls.

However, Napoleon is completely opposed to the idea of ​​a windmill. He says that building it will waste valuable time that should be spent increasing food production. Their arguments become heated, dividing the farm between supporters of Snowball or Napoleon. The easily impressionable sheep are taught "Four legs are good, two legs are bad!" At key moments, Snowball ends the discussion whenever he speaks. Napoleon, though less inventive than Snowball, is far more cunning, and he begins to scheme behind the scenes.

Snowball, on the other hand, works tirelessly to get the animals to follow his vision. Finally, the day comes when the animals must vote on the windmill project. The barn is packed. Snowball gives a passionate speech, outlining all the benefits of the windmill. His eloquence moves the crowd, and it seems they will support him.

Then Napoleon makes his move. With a gesture, he lets out a terrifying howl, and nine large dogs rush into the barn. These are the dogs he has secretly raised in isolation. Now fully grown, they act as his private security force, trained to obey only him. The dogs violently chase Snowball, sending him running across the pasture and out of the enclosure for his life. Snowball barely escapes, and is never seen again on Animal Farm.

Napoleon stands silently where Snowball once spoke, and claims leadership over the entire farm. Squealer proceeds to tell the astonished animals what has happened. He says that Snowball was a traitor and a criminal, that he collaborated with Mr. Jones. He insists that Snowball's windmill plan was nonsense and would have ruined it. The animals, confused and afraid of the dogs, accept Squealer's words, although some secretly doubt him.

Napoleon then abolishes the Sunday democratic meetings. He claims that the animals no longer need to argue because he will make all decisions for their good, with a small committee of pigs to help him. The animals are stunned, but the dogs stand guard and no one dares to protest. Napoleon assures them that they will still gather to salute the flag and sing the English Anthem, but otherwise, there will be no more voting.

Surprisingly, a few weeks later, Napoleon announces that the windmill—which he had vehemently opposed—will finally be built. Squealer goes to work once again, explaining that Napoleon only pretended to oppose him to test Snowball's loyalty, but the windmill was actually Napoleon's idea from the beginning. Despite the confusion, the animals believe the story, as they no longer trust their own memories.

Life on Animal Farm changes dramatically. The pigs begin to receive more privileges, and Napoleon makes himself more distant and dignified. Work begins on the windmill, which requires a lot of work to build, but Boxer, ever loyal, throws himself into the task with full dedication. He adopts a new slogan to go with “I will work harder”: he now also says, “Napoleon is always right.” Boxer’s unwavering faith is tragic because he cannot see that Napoleon is slowly becoming a new tyrant, just as evil as the old human master.