Foundation of Animalism and the Rebellion
Boxer is a cart-horse owned by Farmer Jones in Manor Farm. In April, Boxer was with Clover during the meeting with Old Major. Old Major talked with the animals about his epiphany about the animals rebelling against the humans to form an independent community from the humans and a government named “Animalism” in which the animals would not do anything that is human-like. During his meeting, when mentioning what Jones is going to be doing with animals given some years, he says that Jones will send Boxer to the knackers once Boxers strength gives out.
After Old Majors peaceful death three nights later, the pigs spent the next three months working on the ideology of Animalism, with Boxer and Clover being the most faithful disciples. They would listen to everything the pigs said and tell them to the other animals. They were never absent in any of the meetings and led the singing of their anthem, “Beasts of England”, at the end of each anthem.
On June 24, after Jones neglects to feed and water the animals for days, the animals break into the barn and start eating the food. After Jones and his men start trying to whip, they are met with being kicked and stomped by the animals, forcing them to be run out of their farm. The animals renamed the farm Animal Farm and various items that were used to keep the animals hostage and other human markings were either thrown down a well or burned. Among the items burned were horse ribbons and Boxers straw hat. The barn that the humans resided in was preserved as an artifact of the humans who resided in it.
Boxer and Clover helped harness the cutters and horse rakes. Boxer was admired by many of the animals because of his strength. Boxers motto to every problem was “I will work harder.” Boxers strength and the cleverness of the pigs would help with harvesting the corn later in the year. The pigs later teaches the animals how to read and spell. Boxer was only able to learn the first four letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, and D. When he did learn E, F, G, and H; he would forget about the first four letters. He decided to just be content with the first four letters and would write them on the dirt occasionally in order to refresh his memory. Most of the other animals could not learn past the letter A.
The Battle of the Cowshed
On October 16, A group of humans, led by Jones, attacked Animal Farm using guns. The animals retaliated and attacked the humans through kicking and biting them.
The most terrifying spectacle was when Boxer kicked a man from Foxwood farm with iron-shoes, knocking the man unconscious. After the humans retreated, Boxer looks at the man he kicked. Boxer believes that he killed him and expresses remorse and sorrow.
The animals look for a dimwitted horse named Mollie and find her in hiding. She had gone hiding after hearing a gunshot. The man wakes up during this time and runs away from Animal Farm. Boxer and a pig named Snowball who is one of the leaders are awarded with a military decoration named “Animal Farm, First Class”.
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at [email protected]. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
FAQ
What happened to Boxer in Animal Farm?
Why was Boxer sent away to be killed?
How did the pigs use Boxer’s death?
What injury did Boxer suffer in Animal Farm?
