Table of Contents
Animal Farm Chapter 7 Summary
Animal Farm Chapter 7: The windmill’s reconstruction commences. Despite Snowball being the culprit and not the wind, the walls are built twice as thick as before.
Food shortages are taking place at Animal Farm, but this is hidden from Mr. Whymper, and he is led to believe that food surpluses exist there instead and tells the outside world just that.
The hens revolt when they are told that they need to start providing 400 eggs a week. Their food is taken away, and they relent five days later.
Everything that goes wrong is blamed on Snowball.
Squealer tells the animals that secret agents working with Snowball are at Animal Farm.
Four days later, a number of animals confess to working with or otherwise being influenced by Snowball, and all are put to death.
Although stunned and sad, the surviving animals are still grateful that, even though things are not perfect, at least no humans are in charge.
After singing, “Beasts of England,” three times, Squealer informs them that the singing of that song is no longer allowed since the Rebellion has been completed, and it is now unnecessary. It is replaced by a song that the animals don’t really connect with.
Animal Farm Chapter 7
Knowing that the outside world is watching, the animals rebuild the windmill as best and as quickly as they can. The walls are being built twice as thick as before despite the animals knowing that the wind was not the cause of its destruction; Snowball was.
Food shortages are starting to occur. As this is going on, humans are lying about the conditions at Animal Farm, but so are the animals. The latter lies include deceiving Mr. Whymper into thinking that bins of grain and meal are full of food when they are instead almost entirely full of sand.
As this is going on, Napoleon is making fewer and fewer public appearances.
The hens are ordered to supply 400 eggs a week. They protest by allowing their eggs to get smashed, but Napoleon responds by eliminating their food rations until the hens relent five days later. Nine die during that time.
Meanwhile, Snowball is being blamed for anything that goes wrong. Him seeming to be everywhere at unexpected times has put the rest of the animals on edge.
Shortly thereafter, Squealer informs the animals that Snowball is now at Pinchfield Farm and is planning to guide an attack on Animal Farm. He adds that Snowball had actually been involved with Mr. Jones from the beginning and had also attempted to cause the animals to lose the Battle of the Cowshed. Boxer is initially doubtful, but Squealer informs him that Napoleon has said that this is what occurred, and that settles it since “Napoleon is always right.” Squealer closes by saying that they have reason to believe that Snowball has secret agents currently at Animal Farm.
Four days later, another commandment is broken: “No animal shall kill any other animal.” And this happens multiple times. Four pigs admit being in contact with Snowball and are killed by the dogs. The three hens responsible for their rebellion confess that Snowball had caused them to do so in a dream, and they are killed. Other animals then confess to a variety of things, all related to Snowball, and all are killed.
However, it does not seem to cross anybody’s mind that a commandment had been broken, but they do realize that this was the first time that an animal had killed another since Mr. Jones left. Those who depart that meeting unscathed leave stunned, shaken and sad, both by how many of their brethren had been involved with Snowball and by what happened to them as a result. However, they are still thankful that no humans have been able to return and retake the farm.
The animals sadly sing, “Beasts of England.” Squealer then informs them that doing so is no longer allowed. The reason that he provides is that the Rebellion has been completed, so it’s no longer necessary. A different song is now sung on Sundays, but it pales in comparison to “Beasts of England.”
Analysis
Snowball has turned into the textbook definition of a scapegoat, being blamed for just about anything that goes wrong. And anybody who was troublesome was accused of working with Snowball, which means that using Snowball as a scapegoat ends up being a way to suppress any future rebellions. He was also a common enemy that the animals focused on as opposed to the leadership style of Napoleon or Animal Farm’s faltering economic system.
The smearing of Snowball’s reputation continues as it has now been determined that he was Mr. Jones’ secret agent prior to the Rebellion even occurring, a lie that the rest of the animals believe. Boxer is especially gullible as he continues to follow one of his slogans, “Napoleon is always right.”
Misinformation is spread regarding the hunger and low food stores at Animal Farm. This is because the humans are spreading lies of their own about Animal Farm, and Napoleon is worried about the “bad results that might follow” if they learn the truth about what is happening there.
The dogs seem to have a Pavlovian-like response to Napoleon saying, “Snowball,” letting out “blood-curdling growls” at that time. This, in turn, has surely helped the rest of the animals associate Snowball’s name with anger.
Were the pigs who had confessed about being secretly in touch with Snowball lying or being truthful? It seems like the windmill was actually destroyed by the weather, not Snowball, but why would the pigs lie about something like this when the result was their deaths? The same questions could be asked of the rest of the animals who confessed to various Snowball-related crimes and were killed afterwards.
It’s interesting that one of the most significant commandments – “No animal shall kill any other animal” – was clearly and openly violated, but none of the other animals pointed it out in this chapter.
At the end of the chapter, Boxer seems depressed and deals with it by engaging his work addiction.
Squealer announces that the singing of “Beasts of England” is no longer allowed since the revolution has been completed now that the traitors have been executed. However, the true reason is likely because it now had the potential to unite the rest of the animals in a rebellion against Napoleon and Squealer.
Previous: Animal Farm Chapter 6 Next: Animal Farm Chapter 8
Animal Farm Chapter 7 Questions and Answers
Thin walls.
Snowball.
Three feet.
Snowball.
They filled bins almost to the rim with sand and then placed some grain and meal at the very top.
No.
Four hundred.
They went to the rafters and allowed their eggs to crash to the floor.
He stopped feeding them.
Five.
Nine.
Sank his teeth into his leg.
Boxer.
Squealer pointed out that Napoleon had categorically stated that Snowball was Mr. Jones’ secret agent before, during and after the Battle of the Cowshed. That coincided with one of Boxer’s mottos, “Napoleon is always right.”
Four pigs.
He caught one of them with his hoof and pinned him to the ground as the others fled. He also let the pinned one go after Napoleon ordered that he do so.
Three hens.
The sixth one: “No animal shall kill any other animal.”
The cat.
Work hard. Specifically, he would now get up a full hour earlier every morning.
Three.
It was no longer needed as the rebellion had been completed with the execution of the traitors.
The sheep bleating, “Four legs good, two legs bad,” for several minutes.
