What are the most important facts in Animal Farm?

is a short book, but
there is a lot to it.  Here is a list of the top ten facts.

1. It is a fairy
tale.  This means it is short and has a lesson.

2. It is anof the Russian
Revolution.  This means that some events and characters are based on real events.

3. An old pig namedhas a dream and calls the animals to listen to it.  The dream is for
a society with no humans, where the animals answer only to themselves and run the farm on their
own.  Old Major dies shortly after, but the animals are interested.

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he
does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch
rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. (ch 1, p. 2)

4. The farmer, Jones, is very neglectful.  He does not run his farm well, and the
animals are not well taken care of.  One day, the cows have not been milked and the animals have
not been fed, so they overthrow him and drive the humans out and take over the farm.  They
rename it Animal Farm.

5. The animals reduce the teachings of Animalism to
seven commandments.  The last one is: All animals are equal and the sixth says that no animal
should kill another.  There are also commandments against human-like activities like sleeping in
a bed, wearing clothes, and drinking alcohol.

6. The humans try to take back
their farm, but the animals drive them out.  Shortly after, the rivalry betweenandreaches a head
and Snowball is driven out. continues to act as propaganda minister.  Napoleon begins training
the puppies as a private security force.

7. The pigs begin to take more and
more control over the farm.  As they do, they change the commandments one at a time and tell the
other animals that they remember wrong.  The changes give the pigs more comfort and power, and
allow them to act more human.

8. Napoleon puts the animals to work on the
concept of the windmill, which is supposed to make their lives better by producing electricity. 
The windmill is destroyed several times. continues to the hardest worker.

His answer to every problem, every setback, was `I will work
harder!' which he had adopted as his personal motto. (ch 3, p. 11)

9. The pigs begin trading with humans, making deals with Pilkington and Frederick.  At
one point they are tricked, but Napoleon tells the animals it is part of his plan. 

10. The pigs begin to act more and more like humans.  Napoleon makes a show of killing
several animals he claims are in league with Snowball.  All commandments are changed to
one.

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL

BUT SOME
ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS (ch 10, p. 51)

The
pigs begin walking like humans.  They have been wearing clothes and living in the house.  The
men come to visit and the animals cant tell which is which.

All page numbers
from: http://msxnet.org/orwell/print/animal_farm.pdf