Character Analysis on Old Major

Old Major is Mr. Jones’ prize boar who is a wise and persuasive animal. He inspires the
rebellion with his rhetorical skill and ability to get the other animals to share his resentment.
When he announces that he wishes to share the contents of his curious dream with his
companions, all the animals comply without question. His speech about the tyranny of man is
noteworthy for its methodical record of man’s wrongs against the animals. He tells the animals
that mankind and Mr. Jones are the enemy and that it is their fault that the animals’ lives are
miserable. Listing all of man’s crimes, old Major rouses the other animals into planning a
rebellion. His leading them in singing “Beasts of England” is also another demonstration of his
rhetorical skills, for after he teaches the animals the song about a world untainted by human
hands, the animals sing it five in succession. He dies shortly after giving his speech and the other
pigs take what they learnt from him and create ‘Animalism’, a set of rules for animals to live by.

Old Major is a character worthy of recognition because he is a very intelligent, well-respected,

an excellent speaker and an inspiration to the animals. From the quote “Old Major was so highly
regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what
he had to say.”, it shows that it was clear that the other respect Old Major. So much so that they
will even some sleep to hear his thoughts during Mr. Jones’ rule where rest time was considered
a very precious gift to the animals.