George Orwell didn't just write a book about talking pigs. He wrote a warning. When you look at an animal farm characters list, it’s easy to get bogged down in the names of the sheep or the specific breed of the horses. But honestly? Every single creature on Manor Farm is a mirror. They represent the best and the absolute worst of human nature, specifically during the rise of the Soviet Union.
If you’re reading this for a class or just because the world feels a little too "Orwellian" lately, you've gotta understand that these characters aren't just metaphors. They are warnings about how power rots the brain.
The Pigs: The Brains and the Brutes
Napoleon is the big one. He’s the Berkshire boar who doesn't say much but always gets his way. He is Joseph Stalin, plain and simple. He doesn't have "ideas" so much as he has a hunger for control. He uses those terrifying dogs—his secret police—to silence anyone who remembers the original rules. It's kinda wild how quickly he goes from "all animals are equal" to "I'm wearing a human suit and drinking whiskey."
Then there's Snowball.
Most people feel bad for Snowball. He’s the Leon Trotsky of the group. He’s brilliant, he’s energetic, and he actually cares about the windmill. But being smart doesn't save him. Napoleon chases him off the farm because, in a dictatorship, the guy with the best ideas is usually the first one to get exiled.
Squealer: The Spin Doctor
You know that person who can look you in the eye and tell you the sky is neon green until you actually start to believe it? That’s Squealer. He represents the propaganda machine (think Vyacheslav Molotov or the newspaper Pravda). Squealer’s whole job is to convince the other animals that they aren’t actually starving.
"Comrades," he says, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, "you wouldn't want Jones to come back, would you?"
💡 You might also like: Not the Nine O'Clock News: Why the Satirical Giant Still Matters
That's the ultimate threat. He uses fear to mask the fact that the pigs are stealing all the milk and apples. It’s a classic move. If you can keep people scared of an old enemy, they won't notice the new enemy sitting at their dinner table.
Old Major: The Dreamer
Before there was a rebellion, there was Old Major. He’s the prize Middle White boar who had a dream. He represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. He provides the theory—Animalism—but he dies before he sees how badly the pigs screw it up. It’s a bit tragic. He wanted a world without chains, but he ended up giving Napoleon the blueprint for a different kind of cage.
The Workhorses and the Silent Majority
Boxer is the heart of the book. Truly. He’s the giant cart-horse with a white stripe down his nose. He isn't the smartest guy in the shed, but his loyalty is unmatched. "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right" are his two mantras.
He represents the exploited working class—the Stakhanovite movement in Russia—who believed that if they just gave enough sweat and blood, the utopia would arrive.
The way Boxer’s story ends is the most brutal part of the animal farm characters list. When he gets too old and injured to work, Napoleon doesn't give him a retirement pasture. He sells him to the knacker to be boiled down into glue. It’s a gut punch. It shows that in a totalitarian system, you are only worth what you can produce today.
Clover and Benjamin: The Skeptics
Cover is the motherly mare who notices the Seven Commandments are changing. She sees the pigs sleeping in beds. She sees them drinking alcohol. But she lacks the words to protest.
📖 Related: New Movies in Theatre: What Most People Get Wrong About This Month's Picks
Then there's Benjamin.
The donkey.
Benjamin is the oldest animal on the farm and probably the only one who actually understands what’s happening. He’s cynical. He represents the intellectuals who knew the revolution would fail but didn't do anything to stop it. He says that "donkeys live a long time" and that life will always be bad. His apathy is almost as dangerous as Napoleon's cruelty because he stays silent until it’s too late to save Boxer.
The Sheep and the Dogs
- The Sheep: They are the ultimate "useful idiots." They don't think; they just chant. "Four legs good, two legs bad!" Whenever anyone tries to argue with Napoleon, the sheep start bleating to drown out the logic. Later, the pigs teach them to change the chant to "Four legs good, two legs better!" It’s a perfect illustration of how mass media and repetitive slogans can brainwash a population.
- The Dogs: Jessie, Bluebell, and Pincher’s puppies. Napoleon takes them away when they’re young. He "educates" them. In reality, he turns them into a private army. They represent the NKVD (the precursor to the KGB). They don't wag their tails; they growl and tear out throats.
The Humans: The Outsiders
Mr. Jones is the original villain. He’s the drunk, negligent farmer who represents Tsar Nicholas II. If Jones hadn't forgotten to feed the animals, the rebellion might never have happened.
But the other humans are just as bad.
Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick are the neighboring farmers. Frederick (representing Adolf Hitler) is tough and shrewd; he even cheats Napoleon with fake banknotes. Pilkington (representing the UK and US) is more easygoing but just as happy to exploit his own workers. By the end of the book, the pigs and the humans are sitting together, playing cards and cheating each other. The animals looking through the window can’t tell who is who anymore.
👉 See also: A Simple Favor Blake Lively: Why Emily Nelson Is Still the Ultimate Screen Mystery
Mollie and Moses
Mollie is the foolish, white mare who just wants sugar cubes and ribbons. she represents the "Petite Bourgeoisie" or the upper class who fled Russia after the revolution because they didn't want to give up their luxuries. She’s the only one who actually leaves the farm by choice.
Moses the raven is an interesting one. He talks about "Sugarcandy Mountain," a place in the sky where it’s Sunday seven days a week and clover is in season year-round. He’s the church. At first, the pigs hate him because he makes the animals think about the afterlife instead of the revolution. But once Napoleon takes full control, he lets Moses stay. Why? Because a population that believes in a "heaven" later is easier to oppress now.
Why This Character List Matters Right Now
Studying an animal farm characters list isn't just a literary exercise. It’s a lesson in how language is used to manipulate. When Squealer changes the rules on the barn wall in the middle of the night, he’s engaging in gaslighting. When Napoleon blames the collapsed windmill on the exiled Snowball, he’s using a scapegoat to cover his own engineering failures.
We see these patterns everywhere.
The "Boxers" of the world are still working themselves to death for companies that will replace them the second they slow down. The "Sheep" are all over social media, repeating slogans they don't quite understand. And the "Napoleons" are always waiting for a moment of chaos to grab the leash.
Orwell wrote this in 1945, but honestly, it feels like it could have been written yesterday. The names change, but the roles remain the same.
To really grasp the depth of Animal Farm, you should try this:
- Identify the "Squealer" in your life. Who is the person or news source that constantly shifts the goalposts of what’s true?
- Look for the "Boxer" mentality. Are you working for a "Napoleon" who doesn't actually care about your retirement pasture?
- Notice the "Sheep." Be aware of when groupthink is drowning out actual conversation.
- Re-read the final Commandment. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This is the ultimate red flag of any failing organization or government.
If you can recognize these characters in the real world, you’re much less likely to end up like the animals on Manor Farm—staring through a window, unable to tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.