Women in Love Summary

The novel opens with the sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen chatting about marriage one morning at their fathers house in
Beldover. Gudrun has recently returned home from art school in London. The two later decide to drop by a local wedding, where
they first see Gerald Crich and Rupert Birkin, the two men with whom they will develop affairs that drive the action of the novel.
Birkin is a school inspector with extremely unconventional attitudes about life, and Gerald is the heir to the local mining operation
that is the central industry of Beldover. Birkin and Gerald hate each other passionately at the beginning of the novel, but after a
chance encounter on the way to London they begin to become friends.
Rupert is haunted by his lingering attachment to Hermione Roddice, an aristocratic woman whom he loathes but finds difficult to
abandon. Hermione wants to marry Birkin and have him dominate her completely. This situation complicates Birkins growing
fondness for Ursula, and Hermione and Ursula become enemies. During a weekend gathering at Hermiones estate, Breadalby, she
becomes enraged and smashes a paperweight against the back of Birkins head with the intention of killing him. He escapes and
considers it the end of their relationship.
Birkin decides to move into a mill house on Willey Water Lake, and Ursula begins visiting him there. The two slowly start to fall
in love. One evening, the Crich family hosts their annual public party by the lake, and the Brangwen sisters attend. They meet
Gerald and Birkin there and romantic sparks fly, but this is interrupted by the tragic drowning death of Geralds sister, Diana
Crich, and a young doctor who attempts to rescue her. After the tragedy, Birkin falls ill again and Gerald visits him. He realizes
that he loves Gerald, and asks him to exchange a vow of lasting commitment between them. Gerald hesitates to do so although he
also loves Birkin.
Geralds father Thomas Crich falls ill and is near death. He and Gerald decide to hire Gudrun to tutor Geralds youngest sister,
Winifred, in art. Gudrun begins visiting their home, Shortlands, nearly every day to teach Winifred. Mr. Crich builds an artists
studio for Gudrun to use, and she and Gerald grow closer. Meanwhile, Birkin is frustrated with Ursula's indecision and leaves for a
vacation in the south of France. Ursula hears nothing for some time, and one evening during a walk sees Birkin in front of his
home. They talk and exchange promises of love. The next day Birkin goes to Ursulas house, intending to propose. He meets her
father Tom Brangwen instead, and asks the man for his daughter's hand. Ursula is enraged and refuses him. Birkin stomps away
and goes to see Gerald at Shortlands, where the two engage in a violently eroticized wrestling match.
Meanwhile, after a few days Ursula decides she is deeply in love with Birkin and must fight to transform his passion to match
hers. Time passes, and one afternoon Birkin surprises Ursula at her school, offering to take her on a car ride. She agrees and he
gives her a gift of three rings. This leads to an argument, and Ursula abandons him on the side of the road. Only moments later she
returns to make peace, and the two decide to go into town to take tea. Their bond is solidified that night when they sleep together
on the ground of Sherwood Forest. Meanwhile, Gerald struggles with his fathers illness, and Mr. Crich finally succumbs to death.
Several nights pass, and Gerald finds himself wandering alone night, and eventually makes his way to Gudruns house. He sneaks
inside and upstairs, and wakes Gudrun up in her bedroom. He spends the night there, asleep while Gudrun watches him.
After a violent argument with her father, Ursula decides to move in with Birkin. The two marry soon thereafter, and Gerald
proposes a winter holiday in Europe for the two couples. He talks at length with Ursula and Birkin about the trip, hoping it will be
an occasion to develop the romance between him and Gudrun. Gerald and Gudrun leave first, and stop for a night in London
where Gudrun meets Geralds former mistressMinette Darrington at the Caf Pompadour. Ursula and Birkin eventually join
Gerald and Gudrun at Innsbruck, a picturesque Austrian retreat town. Things are lovely at first, but soon sour. The group lodges in
a small hostel outside of Innsbruck and friction develops between them, in part due to a German artist named Herr Loerke who
takes an interest in Gudrun. Ursula begins to loathe the cold and convinces Birkin to leave.
Gerald and Gudrun remain, and Loerke continues to pursue Gudrun. One afternoon she and Loerke are on a picnic that Gerald
violently interrupts. Gerald knocks Loerke to the ground and strangles Gudrun nearly to death. He stomps away deeper into the
mountains as the sun falls. He freezes to death and his body is brought back to the hostel the next morning by a rescue team.
Gudrun sends a telegram to Birkin and Ursula, who return immediately. Birkin is devastated, and the novel ends with him insisting
to Ursula that he believes a lasting and intimate bond with Gerald was possible, even while remaining married to Ursula.
About Women in Love
D.H. Lawrence began writing his fifth novel, Women in Love, in 1913 but it was not completed until Lawrence was living in
Cornwall three years later. It was first published in 1920 after several delays and editorial changes, some of which were due to the
controversy surrounding the sexual subject matter of his earlier novels. Lawrence was deeply interested in the nature of desire, and
in the repressive, controlling aspects of human psychology and social institutions. He was both influenced by and critical of
Freudian psychoanalysis, and his novels investigate Freudian concepts of the unconscious, repression, transference, and the
psychosexual development of the human. Women in Love also draws much thematic inspiration from the philosophy of Freidrich
Nietzsche, and its critical perspective of modern European morality, the valorization of work over art, and the suppression of
passionate and creative individual souls in the interest of collective productivity.

Lawrence tells us in his preface to the novel that Women In Love was written in the midst of World War I, though it "does not
concern the war itself." It is a sequel to Lawrence's 1915 novel, The Rainbow, which narrates the lives of several generations of
the Brangwen family, who live in Middle England. Women In Love is the story of sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen, their
lovers, Rupert Birkin andGerald Crich, and the erotic attraction between the two men. There is an implicit affiliation between the
character Rupert Birkin and Lawrence himself, in their mutual estimation for art and their intense disdain for modern values and
institutions.
Though his initially censored work now seems tame, Lawrence opened up the door to representations of sensuality for countless
writers after him. During his career, he was deeply resentful of the censorship brought against his work, which he believed
amounted to denying pure artistic aspirations. In his foreword to Women in Love, he claims that the creative soul should be valued,
and that he owes no apologies to the critics and authorities that have accused him of writing pornography or degraded eroticism.
Major Themes
Marriage and Work
The four central characters of Lawrences novel test the expectations of their society, chiefly through their unconventional
attitudes toward the institutions of marriage and work. Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen are spirited and independent women,
although they are not from the upper class. Meanwhile, Gerald and Birkin are their social superiors, but both men are drawn to the
Brangwens and pursue marriages that defy social norms. Birkin views the hyper productivity of the modern era as a mistake, and
thinks that work cannot save humanity. Gerald meanwhile throws himself into his work, but believes in the advancement of
technology as a means of mastering the material of the earth.
The Triangle of Desire
Triangles of desire are everywhere in Lawrences novel, suggesting that human desire circulates in part by seeing and imitating the
desire that another person displays. Gerald loves Birkin, but sees him desiring Ursula, which contributes to Geralds desire for
Birkin, and also to his desire for Gudrun as a substitute. Birkin sees Gerald desiring Gudrun, which heightens his attraction to
Gerald and makes him hesitant to marry Ursula for fear of separating the two men. At the end of the novel, a triangle emerges
between Gudrun, Gerald, and Loerke, which sparks Geralds violent attack against them, and leads to his death by exposure.
Gudrun compares this situation ironically to the holy trinity, calling it a pretty little sample of the eternal triangle and a trinity
of hate.
Decay and Rebirth
Birkin is constantly unwell throughout the novel, and his body's physical decay and degradation symbolize the spiritual decay that
he associates with England, and more broadly with modern European society. Birkin philosophizes throughout the novel about the
essential link between creative life and destruction, associating the goddess of love, Aphrodite, with a power of dark and utter
destruction. Birkin also compares leaving England to the image of lice fleeing a dead corpse, as if the groups trip to Innsbruck
promises an escape from the inevitable destruction of English life. Birkin views the universe as endless cycles of decay and rebirth
in forms that are organic and inorganic, natural and cultural. He thinks that society and its values must dissolve in order for
humans to be reborn and inhabit a new, stronger and more passionate form of existence.
Repression and Instincts
The difficult relationship between instinctual desire and repression is central to Women in Love. The main characters of
Lawrences novel Ursula, Gudrun, Birkin, and Gerald all suffer in various ways from the conflict between their desires and the
dictates of social mores. Birkin and Gerald desire one another, but repress and stifle their love in pursuit of marriages with the
Brangwen sisters. When Ursulas classroom receives an unexpected visit from Birkin early in the novel, her desire is stirred but it
creates anxiety. She suffers over the course of the novel from her conflicted emotions regarding Birkin, whose demands are highly
unconventional and force Ursula to examine her willingness to give all of herself to the love between them. Likewise, Gudrun
finds Gerald compelling but fearsome in his brute physicality. She wavers between being compulsively attracted to and repelled
by him. Gudruns situation is in turn mirrored by Geralds attitude towards her, since he finds her alluring and superior to him in
spirit, yet he often moves to attack or destroy her when she triggers feelings in him. Throughout the novel, human instincts are
represented as unpredictable and intense passions that trigger forms of repression.
Sacred Sensuality
D.H. Lawrence was both an iconoclast and a Christian, and Women in Love presents a unique concept of sacred sensuality. Unlike
forms of protestant Christianity that attempt to deny or rebuke erotic passion, Lawrences ideal form of Christian life fully
embraces erotic passion as a holy expression of Gods creation. This idea is most clearly represented in the union of Ursula and
Birkin, which the novel describes in terms that evoke the biblical tale of Adam and Eve. When Ursula and Birkin visit the inn in
Beldover for afternoon tea, Ursula suddenly sees her lover as an original son of God, an allusion to the book of Genesis. When the
two leave the inn and decide to spend the night on the floor of Sherwood Forest, Lawrences imagery evokes the Garden of Eden
and suggests that Birkin and Ursula have a sacred union that is equal parts of carnal and spiritual sensuality. Lawrences novel
idealizes a holy form of sensuality that unites the earthly passions of the flesh with the soul of creation.
Nihilism and Modernity

Lawrences novel explores the connection between nihilism and modernity. Nihilism is the philosophical view that the modern
world has completely severed itself from the once meaningful spheres of religious, moral, and political life. For nihilists, there can
be no meaningful existence in the wreckage of modernity. Lawrences novel does not suggest that nihilism is an ideal position.
Rather, the character of Rupert Birkin represents an understanding of nihilism that strives against its aftermath.
Birkin acknowledges the apocalyptic ruins of modern life, but he is also a spirited and creative soul, illustrated by his attempt to
strike a unique contract of passionate partnership with Ursula, one that preserves their individuality while bringing them into a
cosmic conjunction, like two heavenly bodies perfectly aligned. Birkin also values artistic expression and creativity, which is
illustrated through his many allusions to art and poetry, as well as his contemplative reactions to sketches, paintings, and
sculptures over the course of the novel. All of these aspects of Birkins character show that Lawrences novel rejects the nihilist
position in favor of attempting to transform the very terms of value that define human life in the modern age.
Animals and Humans
Lawrences novel consistently uses encounters with animals to symbolize internal conflicts faced by individuals, passionate
struggles between lovers, and the urge to forsake society. Gudrun Brangwen invokes the image of a wolf as Gerald Crichs totem
animal when she first sees him at his sisters wedding in the opening chapter. In chapter 9, Geralds forceful control of his horse at
the train crossing, which alarms both Ursula and Gudrun, symbolizes the violent human struggle over passion. Later, when the
Brangwen sisters attend the annual party at Shortlands, they decide to escape into the woods. They begin to dance like forest
nymphs among a group of cattle, suggesting a mystical connection to the natural world and their desire to abandon social
convention. And both Gudrun and Gerald battle with Winifreds pet rabbit, Bismarck, whose frenzied resistance to their control
implies the dangerous status of the passion between them. Throughout the novel, Lawrences representations of animals show that
humans can never fully abandon their primal nature, and they constantly strive to channel its power successfully.
Industry and Technology
Lawrences novel explores the social implications of industry and technology through Geralds transformation of the Crich mining
operation. Geralds father operated the coal-mining business according to an older model of Christian moral beneficence. He let
the workers perform their duties as they had for several generations, and focused his efforts on taking care of them much as a
father would care for his children. But Geralds vision is strikingly different from his fathers, and it represents the modern
valorization of productivity and work over all things. Gerald uses his willpower and education to transform the family industry
into a model of extreme efficiency. By bringing in the most advanced technological machinery and practices, he also transforms
the work that the miners perform. They become hyper-productive and intently focused on their labor as a collective effort, which
brings increased productivity and wealth - to Crich's pockets at least. Geralds desire to master the matter of the earth
symbolizes the modern goal of sublimating and liberating humanity through work. Ultimately, Lawrences novel is critical of this
perspective, because it denies the centrality of creative life and those passionate, spirited expressions of the human soul that
cannot be reduced to labor.
Life and Art
Women in Love presents different perspectives on the relationship between life and art. Birkin especially finds an essential
connection of truth between the two. At Julius Hallidays house, Gerald ponders an African carving of a woman giving birth, and
asks Birkin what he thinks of it. Brikin tells Gerald it is real art, and when Gerald asks why Birkin replies the piece "conveys a
complete truth and contains a pure sensual knowledge passed down for generations. For Birkin, art is best when it successfully
communicates a core aspect of human life without attempting to detach from its physical basis. Birkin's view of art contrasts
sharply with Gudruns. She believes, like Herr Loerke, that art and life must be strictly separate. When she discusses art with
Loerke, she claims life doesnt really matter it is ones art which is central. For Gudrun, art is a supreme reality, and life can
never be completely whole or true. She believes that art elevates ones being above the muck of life, making it the purest form of
human expression in its ideal state. Gudrun longs for forms of aesthetic experience and expression above all things instances of
freedom and autonomy from the physical limitations of life itself.
Environment and Psychology
In Women in Love, the environment or setting often communicates characters inner psychological attitudes. Perhaps the most
notable is the extravagant water-party hosted by the Crich family, which presents a microcosm of the social world and its
hierarchical class structure. Most who attend the party fit conventionally within this regimented ideal, as illustrated by their
pleasant behavior and mannerisms as they sport, go boating, and eat and drink under the beneficence of Mr. Crich. But upon
arriving at the party, the Brangwen sisters immediately want to escape this social fabrication, and their choice to go into the woods
reflects their own independent spirits. Likewise, when Gerald and Birkin decide to wrestle, Gerald locks them up in a closed
room, and tells his servant not to disturb them for the rest of the evening. Their private jiu-jitsu match is like their repressed erotic
struggle they attempt to keep it sealed off and locked away from public view. Near the novels conclusion, the extreme coldness
that develops between Gudrun and Gerald at Innsbruck is constantly being aligned with the wintry and harsh environment. Ursula
even tells Birkin that the snowy cold has frozen her inner being, and so she wishes to escape and leave Innsbruck behind. This
theme culminates in Geralds death by exposure to the elements, and Birkins feelings of being frozen to his core as he watches
over his beloved Geralds frozen body.

Suggested Essay Questions

1.

At the beginning of the novel, the two Brangwen sisters discuss their views on marriage. What is the key difference
between Ursula and Gudrun, and why is it important for understanding the novel?
When they discuss marriage, Gudrun tells Ursula that having the experience of marriage is probably a good enough reason
to marry. She thinks finding the right man is the only issue. Ursula, however, says that she thinks marriage would be the end
of experience. Gudruns perspective changes, however, after she meets Gerald Crich and becomes less certain of marriage,
even as she falls in love with him. He is ultimately too bound to a society she does not want to be a part of. Ursula meanwhile
falls in love with Birkin, and comes to decide that marrying him is her fate, and she is able to preserve her self in their
uncommon union. Lawrences novel develops by reversing the opinions toward marriage that each sister expresses at the
beginning of the story, while still subverting the strictures of traditional marriage.

2.

Why is Rupert Birkin deeply dissatisfied with the society in which he lives?
Birkin believes that modern society is in a state of apocalyptic decay. Industrial technology and the overvaluation of work
have ruined the human spirit and destroyed man's connection with nature. Birkin desires to live outside of social convention,
but also to see social convention itself destroyed. He wants the world to be remade into something stronger, more creative
and truer to the passionate human soul. But he remains skeptical that this transformation can take place.

3.

Describe Gerald Crich and Rupert Birkins relationship. What does their struggle represent, and why is it so
central to the novel?
Gerald and Birkin are mirror opposites of and are deeply in love with each other. Birkin is physically weak but strong and
destructive in spirit, whereas Gerald is a perfect physical specimen whose inner spirit has decayed and given way to his desire
to master the material earth through technology and work. They are drawn to each other but they repress their mutual desires
and attempt to find satisfaction in marriage, which drives the novel to its tragic conclusion.

4.

Describe the novels use of horse symbolism. What does it imply about human nature and relationships?
Gerald Crichs harsh treatment of the mare at the train crossing shows his physical prowess and symbolizes the human
attempt to bring violent, unpredictable passions under the control of reason. Gudrun's lust and Ursula's repulsion are piqued Gudrun's physical attraction stuns her, as Ursula is shocked by the brute force of the display she deems unnecessary. Their
attitudes toward marriage and sexual relationships are reflected in their reactions. Later, when Birkin moves into the mill
house, he tells Hermione and Ursula that women are like horses, split between two wills the will to be free of their rider,
and the will to remain under the riders control. Near the end of the novel Herr Loerkes sculpture of a young girl seated on a
stallion symbolizes his desire to master life through art, by elevating the aesthetic world over the material. These images of
horses represent human passion and its struggle with elevated forms of rational thinking and activity that try to harness or
control its energy.

5.

Lawrences novel connects humans and animals in compelling ways. Discusses some examples from the text and
explain their significance.
When the Brangwen sisters see Gerald Crich at the train crossing, he is astride a mare that symbolizes his attempt to control
or reign in the animalistic passions. Birkin later compares female desire to the situation of a horse that wants both to escape
its rider and to stay under its control. Winifred Crichs rabbit, Bismarck, becomes a conduit of the violent passion that
circulates between Gerald and Gudrun. Mino, Birkins cat, serves Hermione as a symbol of her lingering hold over Birkins
character, which she uses to spark jealousy and feelings of inferiority in Ursula. All of these examples suggest that humans
remain fundamentally bound to animalistic desires and impulses, which they can never fully escape or successfully master.

6.

The two central female characters in Women in Love are both lively and independent, yet struggle mightily in their
worlds. Why? What do the Brangwen sisters tell us about Lawrences society?
Both Ursula and Gudrun desire to be independent from social constraints. Ursula constantly says she loathes being bullied
by men, especially her father and Birkin. Gudrun says that she values freedom above all things, and she pursues art as an
attempt to realize experiences of freedom that take her away from the constraints of her society. At the same time, both sisters
struggle with the possibility of marriage because they are drawn passionately to different men, who they think might,
paradoxically, help to free them from the limitations of class and social convention. Lawrence's characters reflect his own
feelings of contemporary society, and the Brangwen women illustrate the tension women of his day would have experienced.

7.

The two central male characters in Women in Love are spirited individuals who also struggle with their social
world, though in very different ways. Compare and contrast Birkin and Gerald. Why are these differences significant?

Birkin and Gerald are in many respects mirror opposites of each other. Gerald is physically commanding, strong and
deliberate in his attempt to control the family business, firmly grounded in his social class, and extremely reticent to express
his feeling. Birkin is sickly and unwell through most of the novel although his spirit is fiercely independent and
unconventional. He has no interest in pursuits of business or industry, and loathes society. These differences fuel the passion
between the two men, who come to love and depend upon each other as they repress their mutual sexual attraction.
8.

At various moments in the novel, Gerald Crich is extremely impressed with Gudrun Brangwens spirited behavior.
Discuss some key examples, and explain why Gerald finds Gudrun appealing.
When Gerald and Hermione are boating, they come upon Gudrun sketching water plants. Hermione asks Gerald to take the
boat closer to Gudrun, and Gerald feels a strong sense of his and Hermione's social superiority. This evaporates, however,
when Hermione drops the sketchbook yet Gudrun remains proudly unfazed. Her response and refusal to back down to
Hermione makes Gerald second guess the basis of his class-driven arrogance. Likewise, when Gudrun confidently strides up
to Julius Hallidays table at the Pompadour and takes back Birkins letter, she displays a unique individuality that Gerald
desires yet cannot entirely comprehend. He is enamored with Gudruns spirit in part because she overturns the social
standards that he so often relies upon as a source of his own power.

9.

What is the significance of Rupert Birkins gift of three rings to Ursula Brangwen?
The ring is the traditional symbol of marriage and union, but Birkins gift to Ursula illustrates the very non-traditional
expectations and attitudes of both characters. Birkin tells Ursula Rings look wrong on my hands, suggesting that he is not
fit for marriage. And Ursula is afraid to try on the rings, because she thinks her hands are too large. Her spirit and personality
may prove too independent and great to fit properly into the expected role of a woman in marriage. Ultimately, though Ursula
throws the rings at Birkin in refusal, she comes to accept them - and Birkin - as the gift and the man are unconventional
enough to suit her. In different ways, the ring gift episode shows the two characters straining against the conventions of
marriage, even as they desire it.

10.

Women in Love contains many thoughtful literary allusions, most of which are made by Birkin. Choose some key
examples and discuss the role they play during important scenes in the novel.
Birkin refers to a poem by Robert Browning when he travels by train to London. His quotation calls up images of a lost,
mythic past while commenting on the ruin of the present moment. Birkin uses Brownings poem to express his apocalyptic
perspective of modernity. When they visit the junk market and decide to buy an antique chair, Birkin says it reminds him of
something from a Jane Austen novel. This reference looks back to a moment in Englands past that Birkin thinks was more
vibrant and full of spirit, when the production of crafts was an art. Near the end of the novel, Birkin refers to William
Shakespeare twice - first to Romeo and Juliet and then to Hamlet. He and Ursula choose to travel to Verona to act as the starcrossed pair, even though the young lovers of literature came to a tragic end. This allusion adds a foreshadowing of romance
tinged with despair. As Birkin watches over Gerald's corpse, he thinks of lines in Hamlet: "Imperial Caesar dead, and turned
to clay /Would stop a hole to keep the wind away." The passage comments on the decay of all physical life, imagining the
body of Julius Caesar being reduced to nothing more than dust or clay to stop up a hole. Gerald's beauty is gone, and only his
body - and Birkin's memory of love - remains.

Chapters 1-4
Summary

Chapter 1: Sisters
The novel opens with the sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen chatting about marriage one morning, while they are sewing at
their fathers house in Beldover. Gudrun has recently returned home from art school in London. She says she would consider
getting married if the right man suddenly materialized, and claims that one should probably get married in order to have the
experience. Ursula seems less eager about the idea of marriage and its responsibilities, suggesting that marriage is rather the end
of experience. The two decide to stop sewing and go outside to have a look at a local wedding.
As they are walking through town, Gudrun is disturbed by the common folk, and feels out of place. The two sisters stand and
watch the churchyard as the wedding guests begin to arrive. Gudrun sees Gerald Crich arrive and is immediately attracted to him,
comparing him to a smiling wolf. Ursula is meanwhile captivated byHermione Roddice, a rich and beautiful bridesmaid.
Hermione is the lover ofRupert Birkin, a county school-inspector and the best man at the wedding. Hermione wants to marry
Birkin but he willfully refuses while keeping her as his lover.
The brides carriage arrives but the groom and best man are both missing. Ursula suddenly notices their carriage approaching from
the road. The bridegroom jumps out and begins to run into the church, while the bride playfully runs from him. When Ursula sees
Rupert Birkin, she feels drawn to him but also finds him slightly cold. She asks her sister what she thinks of him, and Gudrun tells
her he is very attractive, yet she is not a good judge of character. The wedding ends, and the Brangwen sisters watch Rupert,
Hermione, and Gerald Crich emerge from the church.
Chapter 2: Shortlands
The Brangwen sisters return home, and the wedding party moves to the Criches home near the lake of Willey Water. The women
bustle about and chat while the men stand calmly in groups, paying no attention to them. Gerald Crich plays host while his father
rests.
Mrs. Crich approaches the group of men and strikes up a conversation with Rupert Birkin. She expresses discomfort at not
knowing so many of the guests, and Birkin suggests that people who are strangers dont really matter. He mentions that Gerald is
the only one of her children that he knows. Their conversation trails off and, after making an impromptu reference to the Biblical
story of Cain and Abel, Birkin suddenly recalls that Gerald accidentally killed his brother when the two were boys.
The servants sound a gong for the luncheon to begin, but no one heeds it. Gerald then blows a loud horn and the party moves to
the table. Hermione and Gerald begin a heated conversation about race, nationality, patriotism, and political economy. Birkin
jumps in, followed by Laura Crich, the bride. She calls for a toast, the champagne is poured and Birkin rudely downs his glass
before standing up to give a toast. The meal ends.
The men go outside. Birkin and the groom, Lupton, begin speaking with Marshall, Luptons brother. Gerald Crich joins in. They
talk about Lupton and Birkins tardiness, and Birkin explains that Lupton was late because he was too busy talking about
metaphysical issues. Marshall criticizes his brother and leaves after Gerald tells him to do so. Birkin and Gerald get into a heated
discussion that ends with Birkin saying that Gerald behaves as if he thinks every man around him has a knife up his sleeve,
waiting to cut his throat. The narrator describes the two men as outward enemies who in truth suppress a strong mutual desire for
each other.
Chapter 3: Class-room
In her classroom, Ursula is finishing up a lesson in botany. Rupert Birkin unexpectedly enters and startles Ursula, who feels her
repressed fears and desires rising up when she sees him standing in the doorway. He observes the students as they sketch catkins.
Birkin suggests that they use crayons to outline the female flowers with red, and the androgynous flowers with yellow.
Hermione Roddice appears at the door. She tells Birkin she saw his car outside and decided to come watch him doing his duties as
school inspector. Hermione asks Ursula if she minds her presence, and Ursula tells her she is welcome. Birkin begins telling
Hermione about the fertilization process of the catkins, and Hermione becomes strangely enraptured by their beauty, referring to
them as little red flames.
The class ends and the children depart. Hermione remains in a daze for a moment, then gets up and approaches Ursula. Hermione
asks if her sister Gudrun likes being home in Beldover. Ursula says no, and Hermione invites the two sisters to visit her at her
home in Breadalby. Hermione then tells her that she is fond of Gudrun and likes her artwork small carvings of animals that
Hermione says are full of passion.
Hermione, Rupert, and Ursula have a long discussion about education and animal instincts. Hermione believes cultivating
knowledge destroys instinct and the ability to be spontaneous. Rupert viciously disagrees and says that the problem is not too

much mind, but too little. He accuses her of not realizing that her desire to be like an animal is itself routed through her conscious
human mind. Ursula is frightened by the aggression that the two display toward each other.
Rupert continues his tirade, insisting that truly animalistic and spontaneous passion must rise up as a dark and involuntary force
that topples the conscious, deliberate self. The women laugh at him, and Hermione makes him feel emasculated. She then reminds
Ursula to come visit her at Breadalby. At the same time, Hermione recognizes that Ursula has become her new romantic rival.
Birkin and Hermione depart together, and Ursula begins weeping but cannot tell if it is due to misery or joy.
Chapter 4: Diver
On the next Saturday morning, Ursula and Gudrun decide to take a walk. They head for the local lake, Willey Water. When they
arrive at the lake they see Gerald Crich emerge naked from a lakeside boathouse and dive into the water. Gudrun tells her sister
that she is envious of him, since his gender makes it acceptable for him to shed his clothing and swim in the lake. Gerald waves at
them and the two sisters continue on their walk.
As they walk along the road they come to Shortlands, the Criches estate. They remark upon its appeal, and Gudrun says that it has
the feel of the 18th century period, and reminds her of the novelist Jane Austen or the poet Dorothy Wordsworth. Ursula replies
that she doesnt think the Criches fit that period, since Gerald is constantly bringing technological improvements and additions to
the house, such as a private electrical plant.
During this conversation Ursula also asks her sister if she knows that Gerald accidentally shot his brother one day when the boys
were playing with a gun. Gudrun was unaware of this fact, and Ursula explains that when they were very young, the two boys
found an old gun in their barn. They had no idea it was loaded, and Gerald blew his brothers head off. Gudrun is saddened by the
story and wonders at the traumatic effect the event must have had on Gerald. Ursula suggests that perhaps some unconscious,
primal will was behind the act, while Gudrun insists it must have been purely accidental.
Their conversation is interrupted when they hear a voice ahead. The sisters discover Hermione Roddice and Laura Crich on the
opposite side of a hedge. Laura is struggling to lift open a gate, and Ursula helps her. Hermione briskly says hello and reminds the
Brangwen sisters of her invitation to Breadalby. They say goodbye, and Ursula tells Gudrun she finds Hermione to be impudent.
Gudrun agrees, but says it shouldnt bother Ursula because Hermione is simply an example of a privileged aristocratic woman
who has decided to free herself from social constraints. Gudrun also tells Ursula that among such women, the truly chic thing is
to be completely unremarkable, like an artistic work of ordinariness. Ursula says such behavior is quite dull, and that she much
prefers to act like a swan among geese. She tells Gudrun that the only thing to do is to despise them all, and the two sisters return
home.
Analysis
Lawrence begins Women in Love with the discussion of marriage between Ursula and Gudrun in order to raise the essential theme
of marriage plots within the tradition of the English novel - so that he may subvert it in his own novel. Lawrence's narrative will
attempt to transform and reshape the traditional expectation that marriage should be the center of womans life through the events
that befall the two Brangwen sisters and their respective relationships with Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich. (DiBattista) This idea
is foreshadowed by the two sisters different responses to the idea of marriage, neither of which seems completely favorable or
desirable. Gudrun suggests that marriage brings the experience of sex, while Ursula contends that marriage is more like the
end of experience, suggesting that it places an artificial limit on the possibilities of life.
Later, when Gudrun first sees Gerald Crich at his sisters wedding, she remarks, his totem is the wolf. Her symbolic association
of Gerald with this animal spirit establishes the role that animal passion and instincts will have in the novel, and it also connects
Gerald to Gudruns art carvings that resemble little animal totems. Gudrun also wonders if cosmic fate connects them, and if
there is some pale gold, arctic light that envelops only us two? Her words unconsciously foreshadow Geralds demise, as he will
freeze to death in the Swiss Alps. The novels continuing associations of Gerald with a wolf-like, arctic spirit construct him as a
figure of Nordic myth, trapped in a modern post-industrial world that will ultimately crush his innermost being.
In the second chapter, the scene shifts from the marriage ceremony to the wedding party at the Criches estate. This move in
perspective and setting allows Lawrence to continue to develop a series of familiar novelistic themes focused on the private,
domestic sphere such as gender relations, paternal authority, familial manners, and inheritance. The conversations that take place
among most of the guests are predictably boring and reflect conventional views of these matters. But when Gerald Crich is asked
to stand in as host for the party because his father is feeling unwell, Lawrence shows that Gerald is ill at ease with this task. This
characterization adds to the tension that defines Gerald, who is split between the demands of familial or social duty and the primal
vitality that drives him.
Lawrence further develops this theme when he describes Geralds passion for discussion, which leads him to debate heatedly
with Hermione Roddice. Their dialogue brings Rupert Birkin into the conversation, and they debate the roles of race, nationality,
class and private property in determining the rights and liberties of individuals. The talk at the dinner table thus becomes an
extended metaphor for class politics in England, and the disagreements between Rupert and Gerald set the stage for their heated

exchange at the end of the chapter. During that episode, Lawrence reveals the passionate and wild nature of the attraction between
the two men, which is a primordial mixture of love and hatred that both men actively repress. He thus enfolds two Freudian
categories of desire Eros, or erotic attraction, and aggression, or the death-drive in the spirited competition between the two
men.
In chapter three, when Rupert Birkin unexpectedly appears in Ursulas classroom, Lawrence describes her reaction as a sudden
springing up of repressed and subconscious fear. On the one hand this brings immediate anguish, but on the other hand it suggests
the compulsory nature of desire, and further develops Lawrences theme of the battle between primordial instincts and social
repression. The red of Ruperts face and the red flames of the catkins symbolize passion differently. The first image suggests that
passion is a sudden, unconscious eruption and the second connotes a measured aesthetic appreciation, which involves study and
contemplation. The classroom scene implies that Lawrence, whose perspective is often represented by Rupert Birkin, values the
vital and unpredictably creative power of passion. His defense of the dark passion of a woman wailing for her demon lover
makes a literary allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem, Kublai Khan, and further aligns his characters perspective with
Lawrences own literary-philosophical views. At the same time, the scene acknowledges the social dangers of such primordial
impulses, when Ursula and Hermione condescendingly dismiss Birkins aggressive and spirited defense of such dark and sensual
forms of being.
When Ursula and Gudrun decide to take a walk to Willey Water, Lawrence repeats the trope of a conversational stroll that
becomes an opportunity for the Brangwen sisters to reflect upon the nature of love and its relationship to societys institutions. The
novel first employs this technique in the scene of the sisters walk through the town of Beldover and their observation of the Crich
wedding. This time, however, the setting emphasizes the power and freedom of the natural world that eludes the forms of work,
discipline, and morality valued by modern culture. This is represented in an allegorical manner by the character of Gerald Crich,
whose nakedness and unrestricted swimming in the lake connect him to a radically autonomous nature. Gudrun envies this form of
freedom that is socially unavailable to women, and Ursulas comparison of Gerald with a Nibelung further develops Lawrences
characterization of Gerald as a mythical Nordic figure. Nibelung is the familial name of a powerful royal house in Nordic and
Germanic mythology. Ursulas reference likely alludes to the Richard Wagner opera, The Ring of the Nibelung, which is an epic
work combining elements of ancient Greek tragedy with Nordic myth.
These associations contrast sharply with the setting of the second half of the chapter, where the Brangwen sisters leave the
lakeside and stroll further up the road to Shortlands. Gudruns association of the house with the 18th century writers Jane Austen
and Dorothy Wordsworth tie the Crich family and their estate to social conventions of marriage and family. But when Ursula
observes that Gerald does not fit this model of convention because of his interest in advancing technologies and improvements,
Lawrence suggests that Geralds character cannot fit into the framework of familial duty and responsibility expected of him both
because of the mythic, spirited part of his being as well as his compulsion toward modernity. Meanwhile, when the sisters
unexpectedly meet Hermione Roddice and Laura Crich, Lawrence associates Gudrun and Ursula with a desire to reject the
conventional forms of marriage, work, and society implied by their view of the Criches home. Ursulas spirit is compared to a
young shoot growing in the ground that has not yet emerged to flourish in the sunlight. This metaphor aligns her lifes potential
with the vitality and passion of the natural world, but also implies that she may never succeed in breaking through the surface to
achieve a life fully lived.
Chapters 5-8
Summary
Chapter 5: In the Train
The chapter opens with Rupert Birkin unexpectedly meeting Gerald Crich on the railway platform as both are on their way to
London. Gerald approaches Birkin and suggests that the two travel together. They sit in the restaurant car and discuss a newspaper
editorial that calls for a new leader with new values to remake society. As they reflect upon this idea, Birkin constantly criticizes
the societys emphasis on material wealth and production. Gerald suggests that people work because producing things is an
essential part of life.
After perceiving a mocking tone in Geralds voice, Birkin candidly tells him he hates him. Gerald says he knows this is true, but
asks Birkin why he hates him, and Birkin does not offer a clear reason. Birkin instead asks Gerald what he lives for, and Gerald
replies that he lives simply to live to find things out, to have experiences and to productively make things go. Birkin replies that
he thinks life should be centered on one single and pure activity, and he uses love as a key example.
Birkin then says he wants to be deeply in love with and married to a woman, and to have it define his lifes center. Meanwhile
Gerald says that he thinks life has no real center and is simply held together artificially by the social mechanism. The narrator
describes Geralds unacknowledged desire to be near Birkin and enjoy the warmth and vitality of their interactions. Meanwhile,
Birkin knows that Gerald wants to like him and be near him, but not take him seriously, which only makes Birkin feel colder and
harder.
The conversation turns to London, and Gerald asks Birkin where he plans to stay. Birkin tells him he rents a room from a man in
Soho, but that he tires of the people who hang around there. He describes them as Bohemian artists, musicians, and models, which

intrigues Gerald. Gerald then tells Birkin hell be in London for several days, and suggests that the two may see each other. Birkin
agrees and invites him to go with him and his crowd of Bohemian Londoners to the Pompadour at Piccadilly Circus that night.
As the train approaches London, Birkin feels a disdain for mankind growing in him, and quotes a few lines of Robert Brownings
poem, Love Among the Ruins. He tells Gerald that arriving in London always fills him with despair and doom, as if it were the
end of the world. Gerald asks if the idea of the world ending frightens Birkin, who simply shrugs and says he doesnt know he
just thinks that people make him feel badly. The two exit the train and get into a taxi together, where Birkin asks Gerald if he feels
like one of the damned upon entering London. Gerald laughs and tells him no, and the chapter ends with Birkin saying, It is real
death.
Chapter 6: Creme de Menthe
Gerald and Birkin meet in the Caf Pompadour a few hours after they arrive in London. Gerald enters and sees Birkin seated at a
table with a stylish, artistic blond girl. Birkin introduces her as Miss Minette Darrington (aka the Pussum), and their conversation
reveals that she is an artists model. Gerald feels a strong attraction to her, which is based on his sense of power over her and his
recognition that she is both a victim and capable of being easily destroyed by his cruelty. Julius Halliday, the owner of the house
in Soho where Birkin rents a room, enters the caf and comes to their table. He begins arguing with Minette, and Birkin calms
him, suggesting that he join their table.
While Birkin and Julius speak with others, Gerald and Minette begin a quiet conversation during which she reveals that she has
been romantically entangled with Julius and is pregnant. She resents the fact that Julius asked her to live with him, but now wants
to keep her away from London in a country home. A young Russian, Maxim, joins their entourage. Birkin orders oysters and
champagne for Minette.
While they are talking another young man comes to the table and begins making fun of Minette. She jabs a knife into his hand and
he starts bleeding. Julius grows faint at the sight, and Maxim takes him away from the table. Gerald and Minette continue to flirt,
and Gerald compares her to a young female panther. Julius returns to the table and complains about Minettes behavior. He
suggests that they all leave the caf and go to his house.
The group of five crowd into a taxi, where Gerald and Minette squeeze in together. She holds his hand, stirring Geralds passion.
They arrive at Hallidays house and are greeted by his servant. Upon entering the sitting-room, Gerald notices a sculpture of a
savage woman giving birth, which he finds compelling. Minette sits on a sofa and ponders her situation, wondering how to go
about seducing Gerald in the house of Julius, her former lover. Gerald likewise wonders how he and Minette might manage to
come together under the circumstances. Birkin rises to go to bed and says good night to Gerald. Julius then invites Gerald to stay
the evening, and Gerald agrees. Minette mentions that there are only two rooms open for four people, implying that Julius is
playing a game to call out her intentions to sleep with Gerald. Maxim says that he and Julius will share a room, and Minette leaves
to go to her bedroom. Maxim then tells Gerald youre all right - an implication of consent for Gerard to sleep with Minette.
Chapter 7: Fetish
The chapter opens the next morning with Gerald waking next to a sleeping Minette in their post-coital bed. Gerald watches her
sleep and feels a mixture of attraction and pity, which arouses his lust. He decides to let her sleep, however, and leaves the
bedroom.
Gerald enters the sitting-room where he finds Halliday and Maxim, both naked and seated by the fire. Gerald finds Maxims naked
body animalistic and humiliating, whereas he compares Julius to the image of Christ in a Pieta. Julius tells Gerald he longs to live
day to day without the need for clothing, and to be able to feel things instead of merely looking at them. Gerald looks again at
Maxims body and wonders why its healthy and well-made appearance nonetheless repels him.
Birkin appears at the doorway, freshly bathed, aloof and white, and somehow evanescent. Gerald asks him to come in and give
his opinion of the wooden sculpture of the woman giving birth. Birkin says it is art because it conveys a complete truth about
the experience of giving birth. Gerald protests that it cannot be called high art, and Birkin responds that it shows a pureness of
sensation and physicality that makes it supreme.
Gerald returns to the bedroom and finds Minette awake. She recoils from him and he decides to leave her alone. The four men,
now dressed, eat breakfast together. Minette joins them at the end. Gerald leaves after they make plans to meet again that night
and attend a party, minus Birkin. The narrator then describes the following two nights of increasing tension among the company,
which culminates on the fourth evening of Geralds visit. Halliday and Gerald nearly get into a physical altercation at the caf,
until Gerald decides to leave.
Gerald is frustrated about leaving, because he did not give Minette any money. He muses that Minette used him to make Halliday
jealous, which led him eventually to take her back under his protection. Gerald believes that this is because Halliday, Maxim, and
other such characters are not real men, and therefore are easily manipulated by Minette. Gerald, meanwhile, is too manly for
Minette to handle. But Minette has Geralds address, and he believes she may very well seek him out for money one day.
Chapter 8: Breadalby
Chapter 8 opens at Breadalby, Hermione Roddices estate. Gudrun and Ursula are just arriving for their second visit with
Hermione. The sisters are embarrassed because Hermione comes outside to meet them on the path to the house, rather than
waiting to greet them formally inside. The sisters join other guests, including Rupert Birkin, and Sir Joshua, a famous sociologist,
for lunch outside. The Brangwen sisters find the conversation tedious, and Hermione consistently degrades Birkin. Lunch ends
and Hermiones brother, Alexander Roddice, arrives with Gerald Crich. Alexander has just been in London and he directs the
conversation immediately to politics and education. Hermione says she highly values education, and Sir Joshua remarks

knowledge is, of course, liberty. Birkin sneers at them both and states that all knowledge is only knowledge of the past. Tea is
served, and the group is surprised at how quickly the day has passed.
Hermione proposes a walk, and everyone in the group agrees with the exception of Birkin. When she asks why, he tells her he
doesnt like trooping off in a gang. During the walk, the Brangwen sisters resentment toward Hermione grows, for her rude
behavior toward Birkin. When the group returns to the house, Hermione immediately seeks out Birkin, who is in his room alone.
Hermione asks what he was doing, and sees that he was copying a Chinese drawing of a gaggle of geese. When she asks why,
Birkin responds cryptically, saying that by copying the drawing he is able to perceive and feel the curious stinging bitter heat of a
gooses blood. Hermione is at a loss for words. She feels that he has destroyed her with some insidious occult potency.
The time for dinner comes, and the guests reassemble for an extravagant night, with everyone dressed in evening wear except for
Birkin and Sir Joshua. After dinner the guests go to the drawing-room, where they talk heatedly and mentally exhaust the
Brangwen sisters. Hermione proposes a dance or a song, and it is decided that Ursula, Gudrun, and the Italian Contessa will
perform a Russian style ballet based on the biblical characters Naomi, Oprah, and Ruth. During the dance, Gerald and Birkin are
drawn powerfully to Gudrun and Ursula, respectively. After the performance the guests begin a lively dance, in which Gerald and
Birkin show spirit. Hermione resents Birkins sudden eagerness, and the Contessa compares him to chameleon for his rapid
change in attitude.
The group breaks up to go to bed. Hermione calls Ursula to her room briefly to talk, but Ursula feels uncomfortable and leaves
when Hermiones maid enters. Meanwhile, Gerald and Birkin begin a conversation in Birkins bedroom about the Brangwen
sisters. Gerald learns that they are both teachers, that their father is a handicraft instructor, and that Hermione is upsetting
traditional class distinctions by inviting them to her home. Birkin also tells Gerald that Gudrun makes compelling models, but he
thinks she is too flighty ever to become a serious artist. Gerald informs Birkin of his near altercation with Julius, and his desire to
give money to Minette. Birkin tells him not to bother, and to go to bed. Gerald lingers, and both men feel a faint sense of longing
for each other. Birkin sends Gerald off to bed.
First thing next morning, Gerald revisits the question of paying Minette, and Birkin insists that he should simply forget about it.
The two discuss the idea of marriage, and Gerald suggests that in the end it will not make Birkin completely happy. The men go
down to the dining room for breakfast, and are the last guests to arrive. Hermione is rude to Birkin, and after assessing the room
he decides to leave. Hermione suggests that the rest of the group go swimming. They all agree, except for Ursula and Gudrun,
who watch the others swim in Hermiones pond. Gudrun admires Gerald as he swims. Later, when Gerald asks Gudrun why she
chose not to swim, she tells him that she didnt like the crowd. Gerald decides he wants to please Gudrun, and fulfill her idea
of a man.
At lunch, the group begins to discuss the social conditions of humanity. Gerald argues that society is a mechanism, and people
should work to fit their public roles while doing as they please in their private lives. Hermione says that all humans are equal in
spirit and the struggle for power and domination should end. The guests fall silent, and most of the group leaves the table. Birkin
tells Hermione that in fact people are qualitatively different in spirit. He argues that one man is no better than another because they
are irreducibly and uniquely different, not because they are equal. Hermione feels a dynamic hatred and loathing for him. Birkin
leaves, but soon after decides to visit Hermione in her room and try to make up with her. While he is standing with his back
turned, Hermione is overtaken by an intense aggression, grabs a paperweight and smashes it against Birkins head with the
intention of killing him. The first blow stuns him severely, but he turns around and protects himself from Hermiones second
strike. He manages to escape and goes outside, heading for the nearest train station. He writes a note to Hermione, saying that she
need not worry about attacking him but that things are over between them, and he is heading into town.
Analysis
In Gerald and Birkins conversation on the train, Lawrence makes frequent allusions to the philosophy of Freidrich Nietzsche, of
whom the author was an avid reader. The newspaper columns editorial piece calls for a new leader to establish a modern set of
political and social values. This was a common call in Lawrences Europe, where Marxist socialism and Freudian psychoanalysis,
among other sciences of political economy and psychology, were being championed as new paradigms that could lead to a
liberated humanity. But Birkins character is skeptical of such claims, and his position strongly resembles Nietzsches concept of a
transvaluation of all values. Like Nietzsche, Birkin suggests that the desire to replace social values religious, political
economic, moral, etc. with a new set of values cannot result in meaningful liberation. This is because such desire retains faith in
the false concepts of good and evil, which Nietzsche argues are products of a weakened and dispirited form of morality, which
Europe inherited from Christianity. Birkin reflects this Nietzschean position when he says that in order to truly go for something
better we must completely smash the old and avoid making proposals that only amount to repetition of the same, tireless game.
This is why Birkin appeals to the idea of one really pure single activity to occupy the center of life, driving the individual to his
or her own truth.
As the train approaches London, Birkin quotes a few lines from Robert Brownings poem, Love Among the Ruins. The poem is
a melancholic memorial to a time long past, when heroic values and epic struggles defined human endeavors. Birkins citation of
the poem implies a fallen, ruined condition of modernity his contemporary European culture lacks the vital spirit that once
determined societal values. It also reinforces the association of Birkins character with an apocalyptic view of humanitys future.
This feeling sets the stage for their entry to London, where Birkin and Gerald hobnob with a Bohemian, artistic group whose
nihilistic, decadent behavior lacks meaning and vitality.

At Caf Pompadour, Gerald becomes infatuated with Minette, and is especially impressed when she grabs a knife and stabs the
hand of the man who insults her. Gerald then tells her that she is a young, female panther. This metaphor recalls Gudruns early
association of Gerald with a totem of the wolf: at this moment, Geralds animalistic and instinctual urges rise up. A savage
eroticism connects him with Minette, further developing Lawrences theme of the conflict between primal desires and social
conventions, through a miniature drama of aggression played out at a civilized caf table. This theme continues when the two
arrive at the home of Julius Halliday, and Gerald observes the totem-like sculpture of a woman giving birth, which also
symbolizes Minettes imminent labor. The raw and unadulterated nature of the passion that Gerald and Minette feel is in stark
opposition to the highly stylized artistry of Hallidays home, and to the social decorum displayed when Julius invites Gerald to
stay. The night ends with an elaborate game of conversation that ends with Maxim indirectly informing Gerald that he may sleep
with Minette.
Maxims role as a go-between who sanctions Geralds erotic consummation with Minette also encodes a homoerotic suggestion
of Maxims attachment to Julius. When Maxim announces that he and Julius will share a room and the narrator mentions that
Maxim and Julius were friends since Eton, Lawrence suggests that the two men share an intimate and erotic connection, which
was established when they were schoolboys. This implication is more fully developed in chapter 7, when Gerald emerges the next
morning from Minettes bedroom to find Julius and Maxim sitting by the fire, naked. In this chapter, Gerald both erotically
aestheticizes and loathes male bodies. He compares Julius to a scene of the Christian pieta, while he finds Maxims naked figure
simultaneously well made and disgusting. These mixed reactions develop another angle on Lawrences theme of repressed desire,
in an exclusively male setting at a time when homosexuality was extremely taboo in English society.
In chapter 8, Hermiones attack on Birkin can be read in light of their conversation regarding the nature of equality and the power
of the spirit. It also resembles Minettes attack on Julius in the previous chapter, although the social setting now is an upper-class
estate rather than a seedy London nightclub. Just before she attacks him, Birkin rightly accuses Hermione of paying lip service to
an empty and abstract principle of equality when she states that humans are all equal in the spirit. Hermione claims that the
recognition of this fact should put an end to the struggles for power and domination in society. But Birkin forces Hermione to
recognize that her position is facetious, and that a vital spirit of difference must drive human endeavors if they are to have true
meaning. Birkins defense of a singular, unique spirit understands humans to be radically different from each other, and this
Nietzschean position suggests that only through combative striving can individuals lift themselves and their worlds to new heights
of achievement.
Hermiones attack against Birkin represents her attempt to live up to this extreme concept of spirited individuality, since she is
described as being overtaken by a delirium of pleasure and ecstasy when she smashes the paperweight against his head. But
Lawrence also implies that Hermiones response in this situation is a failed attempt, or a misunderstanding of this idea, because it
is based upon her resentment for Birkin rather than a genuine act of creative, striving passion. Hermiones failure is illustrated by
the chapters concluding description of her extreme feelings of exclusive righteousness and self-esteem after attacking Birkin,
which only lead her into a state of self-assured indulgence.
Chapters 9-12
Analysis
Chapter 9:Coal-dust
Walking home one day after school, Ursula and Gudrun stop at the railway crossing.Gerald Crich rides up to the crossing on a
stately mare, and Gudrun admires him. As the train approaches, however, the horse spooks. Gerald and the mare begin a battle
back and forth as the horse attempts to flee from the noise and presence of the oncoming train, and Gerald attempts to control the
horse and force it to stay put under his command.
As the Brangwen sisters watch the struggle unfold between Gerald and the mare, Gudrun first feels a compulsive attraction toward
Gerald, and feels herself falling under the grasp of his will. Ursula has the opposite reaction, and calls out that Gerald should ride
away until the train passes. Gerald becomes even more violent with the horse, driving his spurs into her side until she bleeds.
Gudrun grows faint at the sight. The train eventually passes, and the sisters hurry to open the gate and cross. Gerald rides away
quickly while the train gatekeeper comments on Geralds masterful jockeying. Ursula protests that it was a display of unnecessary
brutality. The gatekeeper responds that a show of dominance is a necessary part of the horses training, in order to make her
capable of withstanding anything.
As the sisters keep walking home, they encounter a pair of unsavory working-class men on the road, who make crude jokes about
what price they would pay to prostitute the girls. The sisters continue, walking through a neighborhood of miners houses. Gudrun
watches a miner bathe himself, and feels overwhelmed by the dark physicality of the atmosphere surrounding the workers. She
finds it potent and half-repulsive, and the narrator begins to describe Gudruns frequent, nostalgic wanderings among the
miners section of town during evenings and weekend markets. While on these strolls, Gudrun often meets Palmer, a young
electrician and scientist working for the Criches mining operation, who enjoys sociology. Palmer is in love with Ursula and
knows her as a friend, but he spends time with Gudrun.
Chapter 10: Sketch-book
Ursula and Gudrun sit beside Willey Water one morning, sketching. Gudrun is seated on a shoal, drawing water plants that shoot
up from the mud. Ursula watches butterflies flit near the water. Both sisters are absorbed in their views of nature.

Gudrun is brought out of her trance by the sound of oars clanking. She looks to the water and sees Hermione and Gerald in a boat.
Hermione notices Gudrun, and tells Gerald they should go say hello. Gerald directs the boat to Gudruns spot on the shoal.
Hermione asks Gudrun what she is doing, and then asks to see her sketches.
Gudrun reluctantly hands over the sketchbook to Gerald, and they share a look of intense feeling. Hermione looks through
Gudruns sketches and blithely points out the plants that Gudrun has drawn. Gerald asks to look at the book, but Hermione ignores
him. When he reaches for the book, Hermione releases it before he can grasp it, and it falls into the water. Hermione makes a
rushed apology and sneeringly asks Gerald to retrieve the book from the water.
After Gerald fetches the dripping wet book, he hands it back to Gudrun. Hermione continues to apologize, offering to buy Gudrun
a new book. Gudrun insists that the event is entirely trivial and that if anyone bears blame for dropping the book, it is Gerald.
He is meanwhile enamored of Gudruns cold yet calm handling of Hermione. When Gudrun tells Hermione that it doesnt matter
in the least, she looks at Gerald and realizes that she has subtly gained a secret power over him, and that a sort of diabolic
freemasonry subsisted between them. From now on she knows that he will be helpless under her control. Hermione and Gerald
say farewell and row away, as Geralds mind and attention remain focused in good humor on Gudrun, which infuriates Hermione.
Chapter 11: An Island
As the previous chapters events unfold between Gudrun, Gerald, and Hermione, Ursula leaves Willey Water and treks alongside a
stream, arriving at a nearby mill-house with a pond. As she nears the pond she notices a man on the bank, working on a small boat.
It turns out to be Rupert Birkin. He asks Ursula if she can help him determine if his repairs to the punt, or boat, are sufficient. He
jokes that she will know since she is her fathers daughter, and her father is an instructor in handicrafts. Ursula takes a look but
admits she knows nothing about carpentry, despite the fact that her father is an expert. She tells Rupert the craft looks fine, and he
decides to test it by sailing onto a small island. He comes back to pick Ursula up and the two go on to the island.
They land under a willow tree and joke about the idyllic scene. Ursula notices that Birkin looks unwell, and asks if he has been ill.
He says yes, but he doesnt explain that he has been recovering from Hermiones attack on him with the paperweight. Ursula asks
if Birkin was frightened to be ill, and Birkin tells her he thinks that real illness is a consequence of not living properly, and that the
failure to live is more humiliating than illness itself. This statement disturbs Ursula because she senses its truth, and she falsely
tells Birkin that she is happy and finds life jolly.
As they continue talking, Birkin tells Ursula that mankind is a dead tree and that peoples insides are full of bitter, corrupt ash.
Human beings pay lip service to love, when in fact all they do is cultivate hatred. Birkin claims he loathers humanity, and argues
that the natural world would be better off without the existence of humans. Creation, Birkin observes, in no way depends upon
human beings. At first Ursula protests against his ideas, but as she stops to consider a fantasy of the world without humans, she
finds it appealing.
Ursula asks Birkin if he believes in love, and he replies that he thinks it is simply one of many emotions that are part of any
human relationship. Ursula finds Birkin to be detestably priggish yet chiseled and attractive. The duality of feeling goes deep
inside her, and makes Ursula feel a strong hatred for Birkin. They continue to debate what love is and whether it retains any real
value for their world. Ursula tosses daisies into the water and they decide to return to shore.
The two fall into an uncomfortable silence, and in a brief moment of feeling Birkin tells Ursula that he is now lodging at the mill
house, and suggests that they can spend some time together. Ursula ignores the implication, and Birkin becomes distant again. He
goes on to say that he detests his job and thinks he will quit, instead simply live on his 400 pound a year inheritance. Ursula asks
him about Hermione, and Birkin explains that their relationship is completely over. The two hear dogs barking, which Birkin
knows to be Gerald and Hermione arriving to inspect his new rooms. He invites Ursula to join them, which she does hesitantly.
Chapter 12: Carpeting
Ursula and Birkin enter the mill house, where they find Hermione and Gerald speaking with Mrs. Salmon, the wife of the mill
house laborer and caretaker. A cage full of canaries chirps loudly. The group watches as Mrs. Salmon drapes a blanket over the
cage, fooling the birds into thinking the evening has come so they will go to sleep. Hermione and Ursula marvel at how simply the
canaries have been fooled, and Hermione compares one of the sleeping birds to a stupid husband.
The group decides to inspect Birkins new lodgings and measure the size of the rooms. Mrs. Salmon prepares tea for them, which
they decide to take outside on the bank of the pond. Hermione bossily takes over the job of measuring the rooms, beginning with
the dining room and moving into the study, telling Birkin she plans to give him an expensive rug for his study. The finish
measuring the bedroom and go outside for tea.
Outside, Ursula tells Gerald that she was upset with him the other day at the train crossing, for treating his horse so badly. Gerald
responds that he simply has to train the mare not to be frightened of loud noises, and to stand strong. This begins a discussion
among the four friends concerning whether humans should naturally use their will to dominate the will of animals. Birkin suggests
that horses are like women, insofar as both have two wills acting in opposition a will to toss her rider and run free, and a will to
be ruled by her rider through the power of love.
Hermione and Ursula detach from the men and stroll together, feeling a sense a deep affection. Meanwhile, Gerald is drawn to
Birkin and to his statements about the dual will of horses. Hermione tells Ursula that she is tired of criticism and analysis of life,
and instead wants to appreciate the holiness and beauty of things. Ursula agrees, saying some things must be left to the Lord.
They agree that Birkin tears everything apart, and his over analysis of life doesnt allow any possibility of flowering. But this
sudden agreement mutates sharply into an extreme mistrust and competitive revulsion. They rejoin the men, and Ursula decides to

go home. On her way, she senses an internal conflict in her feelings about both Hermione and Birkin, finding herself attracted but
hostile toward both.
Analysis
When the Brangwen sisters encounter Gerald Crich at the train crossing, the setting recalls Geralds unexpected meeting with
Birkin at the train station, on their way to London, in chapter 5. Here, however, the setting connotes Lawrences theme of the
conflict between mythic naturalism and modern technological society, manifested through the character of Gerald Crich. As he sits
astride his mare, he attempts to control her fear and primal urge to flee from the oncoming train. The horse is a metaphor for both
the human passions and the natural world that technology attempts to master, while the train represents the quick-paced onslaught
of technological advancement, which threatens to run out of control. The Brangwen sisters observe the struggle between Gerald
and the horse with fear and distaste, finding Geralds forceful discipline to be unnecessarily cruel. Ursulas reaction in particular
represents the idea that human attempts to master and control our natural instincts are a form of unwarranted violence against the
primal self. Her response is to cry out to Gerald to let the horse flee. But Gudrun finds this display of Geralds will enticing, and
she feels that she cannot get out of his grasp. The sisters different reactions to the scene foreshadow Rupert Birkins claim in
chapter 12 that women are split between the will to run free and the will to be dominated in love.
As Gudrun and Ursula walk through Beldover afterwards, Lawrences descriptions of the miners and their residences emphasizes
a dark physicality to working class life. Even the dialect in which the miners speak conveys an atmospheric thickness that Gudrun
feels enveloping her in a labourers caress. The tone and setting evoke a nostalgic attraction for working class life, of which
Gudrun is somewhat ashamed. This is her heritage, since her father is a handicraft laborer and she is a schoolteacher. But she also
longs to leave it behind, since she has studied art in London and now finds herself among the social elite. This conflict sets the
stage for her view of Gerald on the boat in chapter 10, where she thinks that Gerald can be the vehicle of her escape from the
heavy slough of the pale, underworld, automatic colliers.
The sketchbook scene in chapter 10 indicates that a powerful emotional transference is taking place between Gerald and Gudrun.
When Gudrun first sees Gerald she imagines he can help her escape her working class history, while Gerald thinks that Gudrun is
still nobody to him, and he will simply observe as Hermione goes about dissolving the class differences that ought to keep her
and Gerald from bothering to speak to Gudrun. But the dynamic of power suddenly and radically shifts in Gudruns favor, as her
cold yet strong demeanor captivates him. Gudrun manages to overturn Geralds confidence in his class standing, by subjecting his
desire to a woman whose class status is below his own. This situation contrasts sharply with Geralds earlier estimation of Minette
and his power over her, which he found to be securely grounded in his superior class position and wealth.
In chapter 11, when Birkin and Ursula arrive on the tiny island, they make some significant allusions to works of literature and art.
Birkin first mentions Paul et Virginie, a French novel in which two lovers live a utopian existence on the island of Mauritius.
Ursula then jokes that one could have Watteau picnics on the little island they have, a reference to the baroque naturalism of
French painter Antoine Watteau. Watteau painted scenes of idyllic life and leisure in the natural world. But Birkin and Ursulas
allusions to these French works are ironic. They serve as symbols of decadence and empty values, which Birkin goes on to
chastise in his discussion with Ursula about love and humankind. To live a truly vigorous, passionate life requires moving through
periods of destruction, according to Birkin. A life of ease and simplistic pleasures leads to an empty concept of love, which he
believes has poisoned humanity.
When Ursula and Birkin join Hermione and Gerald at the mill house in chapter 12, their conversation returns to the metaphor of
the rider astride his horse that Lawrence introduced in chapter 9. Birkin claims that horses are divided between the will to reject
their rider and flee, and the will to remain under the riders control. He extends this analogy to the situation of women, arguing
that the desire to fall in love is a desire to resign your will to the higher being. But Birkin does not advocate this fate, and
instead tells the group that it is dangerous and unwise to domesticate even horses, let alone women. This statement implies his
rejection of conventional models of love and marriage, which he understands to stifle the passionate soul and become an obstacle
to deeper, truer love. But his outlandish perspective disturbs Hermione and Ursula, who remain bound to their more traditional
views of marital union, love, and beauty.
Chapters 13-16
Summary
Chapter 13: Mino
Ursula waits impatiently, and finally receives an invitation to tea from Rupert Birkin. He invites both Ursula and Gudrun, but
Ursula decides not to tell her sister so that she may go alone. As she arrives, she begins to feel taken outside of herself. She meets
Birkin and sees that he too feels uneasy. He asks about Gudrun, and when Ursula tells him she could not attend, he instantly
guesses the truth behind Ursulas words. They begin to talk in earnest.
Birkin tells Ursula that if they are going to be friends, she must commit to a final and irrevocable sort of pledge - but not one of
love. Ursula asks if he means that he doesnt love her, and Birkin tells her no. He wants their connection to be founded on
something beyond [love], where there is no speech, and no terms of agreement. He tells Ursula he wants this truer aspect of
their individual selves, this impulsive and inhuman part, to fully take place and define their relationship. Ursula finds Birkins
comments to be wearisome. She presses him, asking if he doesnt find her attractive or have some feelings of love for her, why did
he invite her to tea? She believes he loves her, but will not admit it. Birkin responds by saying quite earnestly that he wants a

strange conjunction with Ursula, a pure balance of two single beings. Ursula tells him this all seems a bit sudden, and he
laughingly replies that it is best to read the terms of the contract before one signs.
The two watch as Birkins male cat Mino rises from the couch and darts outside. They follow it to the garden, where they see a
wild female cat that Mino is after. The two cats begin a game of wild flirtation, and Mino pounces on the stray, hitting her with his
paws in a display of dominance. Ursula protests at Minos behavior, as Birkin laughs and says it is naturally appropriate. Ursula
argues that it is a presumption of male superiority, and just like Gerald Crichs bullying of the horse, very base and petty. Birkin
says without the Mino, the female cat is merely a stray, and compares the situation to a star keeping a planet in its orbit. Ursula
jumps critically onto his metaphor, saying that it gives away his true feeling about the terms of their relationship - that he would be
the star and she the satellite, kept in his orbit. Birkin protests, and they are interrupted when the landlady calls them for tea.
As they sit for tea, Birkin argues that he meant he and Ursula should be as two single equal stars balanced in conjunction, rather
than one orbiting the other. Ursula changes the subject by commenting on Birkins fine china tea set, but Birkin brings it back to
his theory on the relation between a man and a woman. He says that love must be a commitment to remain in a balanced
conjunction. Ursula tells him she doesnt believe that he actually wants to be in love, however, because he talks too much about it
and doesnt simply allow himself to love. He retorts that her idea of love is to subordinate all aspects of the self to it, and to be
subservient. They haggle until they grow weary.
Birkin shifts the conversation by asking Ursula to tell him about her family, the Brangwens. She relates her family history as well
as an account of her first love, Skrebensky, while Birkin listens attentively and finds her beauty compelling. He jokes that all of us
have suffered too much, and Ursula agrees with laughter. She moves closer to Birkin and asks him to tell he loves her, putting
her arms around his neck. He kisses her and tells her in a half-mocking tone of submission that he loves her, and that he is bored
by the rest.
Chapter 14: Water-party
The Criches annual party on Willey Water lake arrives, and the Brangwen sisters decide to attend along with their parents.
Gudrun and Ursula dress stylishly and with flamboyance, and on the way to the party laugh at their parents more traditional attire.
The Brangwens arrive and Rupert Birkin greets Ursulas parents. Hermione Roddice comes to them and escorts the Brangwen
parents to meet Laura Crich, who is acting as host, and Gerald Crich. Gerald helps to launch a boat full of party guests onto the
water, and asks the sisters if they would like to go on the next turn. They tell him no, and Gudrun explains that she finds such boat
rides to be overly crowded with banal, working-class types.
The sisters ask instead if there is a small boat they can take onto the water. Gerald offers to let them use his light rowboat, and to
give them a picnic basket to take along. The sisters happily agree, and Gerald calls after Birkin to help him load the boat. Gudrun
notices that Geralds hand is inured and bandaged, and expresses concern. He tells her he crushed his fingers in some machinery,
but that the hand is now healing. The sisters enter the water on the boat, and row over to a removed knoll where a small stream
enters the lake. Removed from the public eye, they decide to undress and swim. After they swim, the two sisters dance in the
sunshine. They take tea, and begin to sing. A group of cattle watch them.
Suddenly they hear a voice call out and realize that Gerald and Birkin have come looking for the sisters. Gudrun expresses some
anger at them for invading the sisters tea party, and marches away. Gerald follows her, while Birkin goes to talk to Ursula. He
playfully dances for her. Meanwhile, Gudrun begins to frighten the group of cattle, and Gerald warns her against it. This makes
her all the more lively, and she ends up backhanding Gerald across the face. You have struck the first blow, he tells her, and
Gudrun replies that she shall strike the last. Gudrun turns away and goes back to the lake. Gerald follows, and when he arrives
Gudrun softly tells him not to be angry with her. He responds that he isnt angry, but he is in love with Gudrun. He takes her hand,
and they rejoin Birkin and Ursula.
Birkin has been teasing Ursula about the nearby marsh, telling her that it seethes and seethes like a river of darkness. He goes
on to describe a vision of the cosmos in which life is intermixed with death. The power of Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, is
combined with universal dissolution, and the beginning is mingled with the end. Ursula tells Birkin he only wants us to know
death and Gerald suddenly emerges from the dusk, saying, Youre quite right.
Night falls, and the group begins to smoke cigarettes while Birkin lights lanterns. They decide to split up into two boats and return
to the party Gudrun with Gerald, and Ursula with Birkin. Gerald and Gudrun share a romantic exchange while on the boat, and
both want to stay away from the party. Suddenly they hear a childs voice cry out Di-Di-Oh-Di and Gerald recognizes that it
must be someone calling out for his sister, Diana. They come to the large party boat and its captain informs Gerald that his sister
Diana went into the water and is missing, along with the younger Dr. Brindall, who went after her. Gerald goes into the water,
trying to find them. After several tries Rupert Birkin picks him up and takes him to shore, despite Geralds protestations.
On shore, Gerald and his father meet, and they decide that there is no longer any hope of finding the two alive. Mr. Crich says that
the sluice should be let out to drain the lake. Gerald says goodbye to Gudrun and Birkin escorts him to the house. The sisters wait,
and when Birkin returns Gudrun goes home. Birkin asks Ursula to join him in at the sluice. The two talk about death and love, and
embrace passionately on the road above the lake. Birkin is overwhelmed and wanders back home, where he finds a group of men
dragging the lake bottom for Diana and the doctor. Gerald is among them, and Birkin tries to make him leave and accompany
Birkin home. Gerald insists that he must stay and see the task to the end. The two exchange an intense feeling of concern, and
Birkin leaves. Near dawn, the bodies of the dead are found. Diana is grasping the neck of Dr. Brindall, leading Gerald to proclaim
that she killed him by accidentally choking him as he tried to rescue her.
Chapter 15: Sunday Evening

Ursula is passionately in love with Birkin, and waits for him to visit her at home the day after the drowning accident. As the hours
pass, she feels her life-blood weakening and despair set in. She mulls over her dark desire for death, deciding that death is better,
more true to the spirit than a life of mechanical process and production. She finds a strange gladness in looking forward to the
pure inhuman otherness of death. She feels as if she has gone deeply into the powerful and ultimate darkness of her own soul.
The bell rings, and it is Birkin. It is a rainy evening outside, as Birkin stands at her door and tells Ursula he is glad to find her at
home. Ursula tells him that her parents, Gudrun, and the older siblings are at church. She is watching her two younger siblings,
and tells them to get ready for bed. Birkin and Ursula go into the drawing room.
Birkin asks Ursula what she has been doing all day, and she tells him she has only been sitting about. He senses a shift in her but is
unsure of its meaning. The two children, Billy and Dora, call out to her and she opens the door to find them waiting to be put to
bed. The children reflect an angelic appearance, and Ursula asks them to say good night to Birkin. Billy gives Birkin a tender good
night kiss, but Dora is afraid. Ursula takes them upstairs to hear their prayers and tuck them in.
When she returns she tells Birkin that he looks quite ill. He says he hadnt thought about his health, and Ursula chastises him for
not taking better care of himself. She says it is terrible that he is so out of touch with his own body he does not even recognize
when he is sick. Her parents return from church along with Gudrun and the older siblings.
Mr. Brangwen greets Birkin, and Mrs. Brangwen asks him about things at Shortlands, the Crich home. Birkin says it is an
overexcited and unwholesome scene there, and it would be better if the family grieved in private rather than having so many
people present. Gudrun agrees with him, but Mrs. Brangwen says that bearing such events are extremely difficult. Birkin leaves.
Ursula finds herself full of a pure and intense hatred for Birkin, but is utterly unsure of its source or reason. It continues for days,
even when she hears that he has fallen ill again. She feels she cannot escape this sudden transfiguration of hatred that had come
upon her.
Chapter 16: Man to Man
Birkin sits at home, feeling extremely ill and near to death. He reflects on Ursulas offer of love to him, but feels that he cannot
accept it because it is based on the old way of love that he views as a form of bondage or conscription. He associates Ursula
with a female tendency to be overly maternal. He also imagines sexual difference between men and women to be the result of a
process of increasing purification from a state of mixed being.
Gerald comes to visit Birkin while he is laid up. He feels love for Birkin, but continues to think a union with his friend is unreal
and impractical. The two discuss Birkins poor health and Geralds continued focus on work and the company. Birkin asks Gerald
about Gudrun, and Gerald tells him that the last time they saw each other she struck him across the face. Birkin jokes that perhaps
the Amazon suddenly came up in her. Gerald tells him that his mother has been strangely unaffected by Dianas drowning, and
that Gerald has not been able to grieve.
The two continue to talk about Geralds father, and his younger sister Winnie, whom Gerald thinks should be sent off to boarding
school. Birkin says she is of a special nature and ought not to be sent away. He says that people with special natures, such as
Winnies and Gerald, ought to make their own special world. He suggests that he and Gerald together can also make a special
world. Gerald feels drawn to Birkin, and Birkin suddenly realizes that he loves Gerald, and has loved him for some time.
Birkin suggests that the two men swear an oath of love to each other - the "Bruderschaft", a brotherhood symbolized by the
exchange of blood. Gerald hesitates, even though inside he is pleased by Birkins proposal. Gerald tells him he must wait until he
understands it better. Birkin is hurt and disappointed, but does not say so. Birkin changes the topic by asking if Gerald can perhaps
get a governess to educate Winnie. Gerald says Hermione has suggested they hire Gudrun to teach art to Winifred, as the girl has
displayed an artistic sensibility. Birkin endorses the idea. Gerald decides he must leave and return to work, though he tells Birkin
he will visit again soon. The men exchange a heartfelt goodbye.
Analysis
In Chapter 13, Rupert Birkin attempts to draft a new model of a social contract, and proposes it to Ursula. This foreshadows his
eventual marriage proposal, but it also reveals that Birkin does not want a conventional marriage, which would be founded on the
norms of society. Instead, he longs for a mystical and cosmic equilibrium between two individuals. Birkin imagines a relationship
that would abandon the terms of society and explore a more radical form of connection between he and Ursula. Birkins image of
this unique relationship is a balanced conjunction between two heavenly bodies. Each body retains its own complete independence
of spirit, but exists in harmony alongside the other. This cosmic imagery and its radical implications for a contract between Ursula
and Birkin further aligns his character with the Nietzschean call for a transvaluation of all values, and continues to develop
Lawrences theme of the conflict between the desire for a conventional marriage and a more unique union, often felt by
passionate, creative souls.
When the Brangwen sisters are walking with their parents to the Criches water-party in chapter 14, their flamboyant style
suggests their uniqueness and standing outside of the accepted social order. Their parents more traditional and frumpy attire
contrasts with the sisters brightly colored and whimsical dress. The girls make fun of their parents appearance, which puts Mr.
Brangwen in a foul mood and leads him to criticize the girls' ostentatious public display. As soon as they arrive the sisters decide
to escape from the party, which reinforces the theme that they are liminal, outsider figures. The sisters dont fit into the working
class strictures handed down to them by their parents and position, but they also arent upper class aristocrats.
The sisters lack of a clear class fit is symbolized when they flee to the knoll, which is a pastoral escape from the confines of the
party. The Criches party serves as an allegory for the social world of established class values, practices, and entertainment that the
sisters detest. Lawrence compares them to nymphs, or seductive spirits of the natural world that defy the laws and standards of

civilization. They dance among a group of cattle, a sacred and mystical animal in Hindu culture, which associates cattle with the
gift of life. These associations with the Brangwen sisters in turn fuel Birkin and Geralds desire, as the two men leave the party
and decide to follow the ladies to their secret shade. These are lively experiences in the forest setting, which contrast sharply with
the scene of Dianas drowning later that night at the party.
In chapter 15, Ursula sits alone at home and contemplates death. She connects death with sleep, and thus with a cycle of rebirth of
which she is part. Her intense reflections recall the imagery of death and love that shaped Birkins strange cosmic rant in the
previous chapter. When Birkin arrives to see Ursula, he notices a change in her. It seems that she has begun to shift her demeanor,
becoming part of the aligned conjunction of stars that Birkin asks for in their contract of friendship. But this apparent
connection with Birkin is suddenly transfigured into a sharp and intense hatred at the end of the chapter. She finds his remarks
about the Criches response to Dianas death to be callous and unfeeling. At the end of the chapter, Birkin leaves Ursula in a state
of irrational yet transcendently pure emotion. She experiences a hatred that burns like a white flame and ties her to Birkin even
more intensely.
Geralds visit to Birkin in chapter 16 solidifies the passionate bond between them. Gerald seems unsure of why he is so attracted
to Birkin, which suggests a repressed erotic desires at work. Gerald sees in Birkins eyes an amazing attractive goodliness but he
also fears the fact that Birkin is so fiercely independent. This prevents Gerald from giving in to his strong feelings for Birkin.
Meanwhile, as the two men visit, Birkin finds himself suddenly confronted with the problem of love and eternal conjunction
between two men. He realizes that he is in love with Gerald, but remains uncertain of the implications of that love. As with
Gudrun, Birkin wants to establish a contractual bond or promise with Gerald, and so he proposes the Bruderschaft. But his idea
frightens Gerald even more, because the idea makes him more attracted to Birkin. His only response is to suspend the possibility,
and to repress his emotion even further. The scene of passionate love and attraction between the two men develops the novels
theme of the nature of desire and social repression.
Chapters 17-20
Summary
Chapter 17: The Industrial Magnate
Ursula and Gudrun turn away from Birkin and Gerald and begin pursuing other endeavors. Gudrun plans to travel, and writes to
friends in Europe to inquire about lodging. One day the sisters stop at a cottage in Willey Green to buy honey from Mrs. Kirk. She
tells them that Mr. Crich is quite ill, having taken a turn for the worse after Dianas drowning. She also tells Gudrun that she once
served as a nurse for Gerald, whom she describes as a young demon.
The narrator turns to discuss the case of Mr. Crich, who is dying. His life has been one of struggle with his wife, Christiana, who
resents Mr. Crichs philanthropy. Mr. Crich is described as a devout Christian who believes his miners hold the key to salvation, so
he tries to care for them as best he can. Christiana loathes the poor and her husbands desire to help them, but Mr. Crich loves her
passionately all the same. Mrs. Crich has slowly lost interest in her life and in her children, including Gerald, who was once the
center of her life. Since Gerald has returned home to run the family business, however, his father has become much closer to him
and now trusts him completely with the familys estate and interests.
Mr. Crichs most beloved child is his youngest daughter, Winifred. He feels a deep anxiety about her welfare and future, since he
knows he will die soon. Mr. Crich believes that Winifred is an odd, sensitive, inflammable child who is also deeply intelligent.
She is also described as a pure anarchist, [and] a pure aristocrat at once. Mr. Crich feels that his fate depends upon making sure
Winifred will be happy. When he hears that Gudrun might be hired to teach Winifred, he thinks he may have found a solution.
As Mr. Crich wastes away, Gerald is overwhelmed. He feels that his world is being torn apart because Mr. Crich was the anchor of
the family and the figurehead of the colliery. Gerald recalls how he hated the drudgery of the family business as a child, and
instead imagined himself a Homeric hero. He attended universities in Germany to get away from England, but eventually Gerald
came back to his family and to the mines. But his motivation to begin working in the mines and improving the companys business
was his will to subjugate Matter to his own ends, rather than the accumulation of wealth. Gerald remembers the miners strikes
that took place when he was a boy, which upset the delicate balance of power that Mr. Crich held over his workers.
As Gerald came into adulthood, he began to decide that he must reform the mining operation from the inside, and develop a more
efficient, advanced, and powerful approach. He grew determined to master the materials of the earth through the combined powers
of his own will and the productive capacity of labor organized into processes of mechanical repetition. Slowly, Gerald took over
more and more of the companys activities, bringing engineers and new machinery into the mines to improve the operation
through science and technology. These reforms forced the miners to work harder than ever before. At first they hated Gerald and
his new system, but they slowly have come to see and appreciate this new power, and they begin to throw themselves actively into
the increased productivity and superior functioning. Geralds system therefore succeeds. But it has also brought fear to Gerald,
who worries that his will now lacks a meaningful purpose.
Chapter 18: Rabbit
Gudrun feels that she must go to Shortlands and accept the position as Winifreds teacher, but she also thinks that this will lead her
inevitably to become Geralds lover. She decides to go at least for a brief time, before she leaves for Europe. She meets with Mr.
Crich in his library, where he brings in Winifred. When Gudrun and Winifred meet the child is underwhelmed, and their first few
interactions are awkward. But they soon develop a rapport. Winifred is both playful and slightly mocking, and she and Gudrun
begin to construct a make-belief world in which they meet and conduct lessons in art. Winifred does a drawing of her dog,
Looloo, of which she is extremely proud.

Gerald is away during Gudruns initial visit, but when he returns he watches for her one morning in the garden. She arrives, and
Winifred and her maidservant approach. They begin to converse and joke in French and German about Winifreds plan to draw a
portrait of Bismarck, Winifreds rabbit. Gerald interrupts them. He asks Gudrun how she likes being at Shortlands. Gudrun says
she likes it very much, and the group strolls about the garden. Gerald and Gudrun exchange passionate looks, as Mademoiselle the
maid quietly observes.
Gudrun takes Winifred away to the stables, and to the rabbit Bismarcks cage. Gudrun suggests they remove him from his cage,
although Winifred warns that he is strong and a fearful kicker. Gudrun unlocks the cage door, thrusts her arm inside, and grabs
the rabbit by its ears. As she drags the rabbit from its cage and into the open it kicks wildly, and Gudrun nearly loses control. She
becomes enraged as Bismarck scratches her wrists. Gerald enters. He grabs the rabbit, smacks it heavily and tucks it under his
arm.
Gerald takes the rabbit out into a small courtyard. He asks Gudrun if she was hurt by Bismarck, and Gudrun tells him no. When
Gerald tosses the rabbit onto the ground, it doesnt move. Gerald says that the rabbit must be skulking, Gudrun and Gerald
compare the scratches on their arms, and Gerald imagines that the long, red wound on Gudruns arm is a deep gash across his own
brain, tearing the surface of his ultimate consciousness. Suddenly the rabbit begins frantically running around the courtyard, and
just as immediately it stops and begins to calmly chew the grass. Gudrun laughs, saying the rabbit is mad and that thankfully we
arent rabbits. Gerald slyly asks, Not rabbits? and Gudrun recognizes the sexual implication of his question. She replies Ah,
GeraldAll that, and more, and her frankness feels to Gerald like another smack across his face or a tear across his breast. The
chapter ends with Winifred calling to the rabbit to let her stroke its fur, because it is so mysterious.
Chapter 19: Moony
Birkin goes to the south of France after his sickness, and no one hears from him for some time. Ursula detaches from society,
spending time alone or with animals. One evening she decides to walk toward Willey Water, to the mill. When she arrives at the
pond, she notices that Birkin is standing there in the darkness, throwing stones onto the water. He doesnt see Ursula, and she
watches him toss larger and larger stones into the water to disturb the reflection of the moon on its surface. Finally she walks over
to him and asks him to stop.
Birkin tells Ursula he just returned that day from France, and didnt write her because he could find nothing to say. They begin a
difficult conversation about their relationship, with Birkin telling Ursula that he loves her but he also wants something more from
her. He wants them to be together in a natural way, like a pure phenomenon that does not depend upon their own effort. Ursula
tells him he doesnt love her, and he only wants her as his mere thing and for her never to speak critically of him. He denies this,
and tells Ursula he simply wants her to drop her pretentious will. They fall silent for few a moments, and Ursula reaches her hand
out to Birkin. She tells him she must know if he does love her, and Birkin says he does. They kiss and nestle close to each other,
then Ursula tells him she must go home.
The next day Birkin feels odd about opening up to Ursula. He muses over his desire, thinking that he does not want to develop the
dark sensuality he feels is part of his soul. He recalls an African carving from Hallidays house, and its powerful awakening of this
sensibility inside him. He then considers that the sensuous, creative life of the old Africans is gone, and wonders if life must
simply be different for the blond and blue-eyed from the north? This reminds him of Gerald, and Birkin wonders about his
friends fate, thinking of him as one of the strange white wonderful demons from the north, fulfilled in the destructive frost
mystery. This frightens Birkin, who releases his thinking from these mysteries and suddenly realizes that he must pursue his
connection with Ursula. He decides he must ask her to marry him, and sets off immediately for Beldover.
When he arrives at the Brangwen home, Ursulas father sits down with Birkin. They feel nothing in common, and make small talk.
Birkin asks if Ursula is home, and Mr. Brangwen tells him she will arrive shortly. Birkin tells Brangwen that he intends to ask
Ursula to marry him, which surprises the man. Ursulas father tells Birkin that he has tried to do his best to raise her properly, in a
good Christian home, and that if she is to marry he hopes she will not go back on these principles. Birkin is annoyed by this, and
asks why. Brangwen tells him he doesnt approve of Birkins new-fangled ideas. After more verbal sparring, Mr. Brangwen says
that Ursula shall do what she likes, regardless of his desires.
Ursula returns home and meets the two men. Birkin says he has come to ask if Ursula will marry him, and Ursula hardly responds.
She appears to be detached from the situation and the question, which perturbs her father. When he asks for her answer, she asks
him why she should have to respond. She goes on to accuse both her father and Birkin of wanting to bully her and force her into
marriage. Birkin protests, saying that they can leave it for the time being. He abruptly walks out of the house. Meanwhile Mr.
Brangwen yells at Ursula and calls her a fool. For several days, Ursula becomes hardened and radiant in her defiance of Birkins
proposal and her fathers will. Gudrun becomes her ally, but when the two discuss Birkin one day Ursulas mind and spirit begin
to shift. She finds herself drawn to an absolute surrender in love, and decides that she must fight to transform Birkin. She will
make him abandon his individuality and become utterly Ursulas man, so that he gives himself up entirely to the love between
them.
Chapter 20: Gladitorial
Birkin leaves Ursulas home frustrated, and decides to go see Gerald at Shortlands. Gerald is thoroughly bored for the first time in
his life, thinking that his only options are to drink or smoke hash, to seek out women, or to have Birkin soothe him. When Birkin
unexpectedly arrives, Gerald is extremely happy to see him. He tells him he is deeply bored and thinks that only work or love
could change his mood. Birkin says that fighting is a third option, and mentions that he used to do jiu-jitsu, a Japanese style of
wrestling. He offers to show Gerald, who agrees. Gerald calls the servant to bring food and supplies then tells him not to disturb

the men for the remainder of the evening. Gerald closes the door and they clear away furniture to make room. Both men strip
naked, and Birkin begins showing Gerald various wrestling moves. As they struggle, their bodies seem to course with a potent,
sublimated energy. They wrestle until both men are exhausted and collapse. The two remain in a state of semi-conscious
abandon, with their naked bodies interlaced on the floor.
After resting for a bit, they get up and pour drinks. Birkin tells Gerald that they are spiritually and mentally intimate, so they ought
also to be physically intimate. Gerald agrees, saying that the idea is rather wonderful to me. Birkin then tells him that he finds
Gerald beautiful, like light refracted from snow. Gerald asks him if this is the Bruderschaft or pledge that Birkin had
proposed, and Birkin says perhaps. The two sit by the fire to eat and drink, and Gerald leaves to go dress. Birkin begins to think of
Ursula.
Gerald returns wearing a stately and exotic robe, which Birkin admires. But his mind again turns to Ursula, and he tells Gerald
that he proposed to her earlier that night. Gerald appears surprised, and Birkin goes on to tell him that he happened to meet her
father first, and asked for his permission before speaking about it with Ursula. Gerald asks about Ursulas response, and Birkin
tells him that she said she didnt want to be bullied into answering, and Birkin simply left her house and came straight to
Geralds. He says hell likely ask Ursula again, and tells Gerald that he thinks he loves her.
Gerald then tells Birkin that while he always believed in true love, he has never felt it despite all the women he has gone after. He
then says that hes never felt as much love for a woman as he feels for Birkin. Gerald has begun to doubt that he will ever feel true
love for any woman, but this worries him. Birkin replies there isnt only one road in life. Gerald agrees, but also insists that he
wants to feel that he has truly lived life, and Birkin suggests that Gerald means he wants to be fulfilled.
Analysis
In chapter 17, Lawrence presents a series of differences between Gerald and his father that symbolize old and new perspectives of
the place of work in European society. Geralds father adheres to an old model of Christian charity and care for the poor through
industry and work. As the head of the mining operation, he has understood his responsibility to care for his workers as a religious
duty, which is why he associates his employees with the path to salvation. Gerald, meanwhile, suggests an atheistic, contemporary
model of society that valorizes work and labor. He views the path to human liberation as an overcoming and mastery of the
material earth, valuing efficient and technologically advanced production on a massive scale. But Geralds desire to find liberation
in the mastery of matter conflicts drastically with his inner spirit, which Lawrence has described throughout the novel in mythic
and animalistic terms. Geralds childhood longing to become a Homeric hero is posited as an abandoned memory that continues to
haunt him.
The scene involving Bismarck the rabbit develops Lawrences theme of animalistic passion and human conflict. Bismarcks
frenzied clawing physically wounds both Gudrun and Gerald, and the rabbit only stops when Gerald smacks it and brings it under
his arm, symbolizing a moment of violent mastery and domination that recalls his treatment of the mare at the train crossing. But
here, the shared wounds between Gerald and Gudrun can be seen as metonymic signs for the erotic, bodily desire that they share
for each other. When Gerald sees Gudruns wounded arm, he feels that the wound is in fact being torn across his own brain, which
suggests a moment of symbolic displacement from Gudruns body to Geralds consciousness. A gash has been opened in his
psychic being, and it unleashes the unthinkable red ether of the beyond, the obscene beyond. This obscene beyond suggests
the erotic nature of the desire circulating between Gerald and Gudrun, which Gerald picks up on when Gudrun says thank God
we arent rabbits and Gerald jokingly asks Not rabbits? Gudrun recognizes this obscenity, but rather than be put off, she ups
Geralds move by telling him they are All that, and more. Her frankness in this sexualized humor is unexpected, and so Gerald
immediately feels as if Gudrun has once again slapped him across the face. Gerald is a man of both lust and denial, and the
expression of the former arouses both his desire and his urge to suppress it.
Before deciding to go to Beldover and propose to Ursula, Birkin finds himself contemplating a dark yet essential part of his spirit.
He is reminded of the African carvings or fetishes at Julius Hallidays house, and a tall female statuette that he remembers as
one of his souls intimates. The figure symbolizes a primordial and mythic past, and Birkins attraction to it is a result of his
attraction toward dark sensuality and desire. But he also wonders if this past is forever closed to men such as he, who have the
Arctic north behind them and whose spirits must fulfill a mystery of ice-destructive knowledge. This leads him to think of
Gerald, and Birkins associations foreshadow Geralds eventual death by freezing in the Alps. But the turn to Gerald also implies
that Birkins desire is split between the totemic darkness, and the cold, arctic purity of his love for Gerald. Neither of these
mysteries seem feasible to him. It is at this moment that Birkin realizes he must pursue his desire for Ursula, leave behind his utter
isolation and attempt to enter into a definite communion.
Gerald and Birkins wrestling scene is a study in erotic sublimation, a psychic process that Sigmund Freud identifies as the
transformation or displacement of one desire into another. Lawrence describes the physicality of the struggle and the intense
interweaving of Gerald and Birkins bodies as being driven by a sublimated energy that refers to the passionate attraction
between the two men, which is being transformed into the brute struggle and exertion of their battle. Their naked bodies are
intertwined in a closer oneness of struggle that exhausts the men, as they pour all of the energy behind their frustrated and
repressed desires into physical exertion. Their collapse on the floor is like a moment of erotic consummation or symbolic death,
by which the passion between them has been sublimated and temporarily alleviated.
Once the wrestling match has ended, however, the two men begin to talk about Birkins proposal to Ursula. When Birkin describes
the scene of his proposal, Gerald is quite surprised that Birkin did not discuss the matter with Ursula before telling her father of
his intentions to propose. But what truly amazes him is the fact that Birkin immediately came to see Gerald at Shortlands after

Ursula's refusal to answer. Birkins decision shows the strong attraction he feels toward Gerald, and his desire to be comforted by
him. Geralds love for Birkin only grows as a consequence of this gesture, which encourages him to admit to Birkin that he doubts
he could ever feel love for a woman as much as he feels love for Birkin. The conversation ends on a highly ambiguous note, since
it is unclear if this means Geralds fate is to remain deeply bound to his love for Birkin, despite his apparent love for Gudrun.
Chapters 21-24
Summary
Chapter 21: Threshold
Gudrun goes away to London to present some of her artwork and to escape Beldover. Winifred writes her, imploring her to return
soon, and Gudrun recognizes that both Winifreds father and Gerald are using the girl to suggest to Gudrun how much both desire
her to remain at Shortlands. Gudrun is amenable to this situation, and the Criches eagerly look forward to the day she returns to
their home. Winifred prepares an elaborate bouquet for her teacher, and when Gudrun arrives she, Gerald, and her father are lined
up to welcome her home. Gudrun is flattered and feels aglow upon coming back to Shortlands.
Mr. Crich sits down with Gudrun in his library. He is quite ill, and his sunken face betrays the signs of his impending death. His
fondness for Gudrun helps to alleviate his stress, which Gudrun recognizes, so she indulges him in conversation and allows him to
feel pleased at providing for Gudruns entertainment and provenance. He tells Gudrun that he plans to construct a studio over the
stables so that she and Winifred may use it for their lessons. He goes on to say that Gudrun may also use the studio for her own
work, if she doesnt mind spending her days at Shortlands. Gudrun agrees to this plan happily, and Mr. Crich tells her he will also
provide monetary compensation.
Gudrun and Winifred begin using the studio, and spend all their time in it. The house becomes more and more dreadful, as Mr.
Crichs health worsens and two nurses are called in to attend to him. He and Winifred share time together, but Gerald feels
sickened by his fathers slow decay and cannot be near him. Mr. Crich asks to see Gudrun when he is on the verge of death. The
two discuss Winifreds future, and Gudrun assures him that she is talented and her life shall not be wasted.
One day soon thereafter, Winifred, Gerald, Birkin and Gudrun prepare to drive to town in the car. As they prepare to leave,
Winifred asks Gudrun if she thinks her father will die. At first Gudrun says that she doesnt know, but as Winifred insists Gudrun
admits that she does think he will die, as he is very ill. Winifred still asserts that her father won't die. Gerald overhears them and
suggests that it may be better for Winifred to live in her willful refusal.
Birkin brings the car around and Winifred jumps excitedly into the front seat. Gudrun and Gerald sit in the back, and Gerald
playfully asks Birkin if he has any news, and whether he should congratulate him about a possible engagement to Ursula. Gudrun
is aggravated and says coldly that she doesnt think theres any engagement. Gerald turns to ask her quietly why not, and
eventually Gudrun tells him she thinks Rupert only wants his ideas fulfilled rather than actually wanting a woman for who she
is. She mocks Birkins idea that one can find an eternal equilibrium in marriage, and Gerald agrees. Instead, he insists that he
believes in love as a form of real abandon, and Gudrun tells him that she does as well.
Chapter 22: Woman to Woman
The group takes Gerald to the train station, while Birkin, Winifred, and Gudrun go to Birkins for tea. Ursula is also expected, but
Hermione shows up before her, while Birkin is out. Ursula arrives to find Hermione in Birkins drawing room, and is unpleasantly
surprised. Hermione asks about Birkin and Ursulas newly developed friendship, and Ursula tells her that he is constantly
somewhere in the background. Hermione asks if the two shall marry, and Ursula tells her that Birkin wants to but she is unsure.
The two discuss what exactly it is that Birkin wants. Ursula tells Hermione she is unsure because he seems to change his mind, but
it appears that he wants Ursula to submit to him and to his inner self. Yet Birkin is also unwilling to reveal or to give any intimate
part of himself to Ursula. He appears to hate his own feelings, and he wants Ursula to give up on her feelings as well.
Hermione suggests he seems to want an odalisk or a harem slave to suit his whims, but this is untrue, as both Ursula and
Hermione know. Hermione had been willing to enslave herself to Birkin, and he refused her. Hermione tells Ursula she thinks
marrying Birkin would be a mistake, because Ursula needs a soldierly, strong-willed man. Birkin, she says, is frail in health
and body, lives an intensely spiritual life that makes him uncertain and changeable, and would require his wife to endure great
suffering. The two fall silent, and both women imagine the other to have a completely misguided view of Birkin and of what it
would take to love him.
Birkin appears and sense the hostility between the two women, but ignores it. He makes small talk, and Ursula and Hermione both
resent his attempt to placate them. Hermione tells Birkin she plans to go to Florence for the winter, to attend some lectures on
Italian national policy. Birkin scoffs, and is thereby lured into Hermiones power. Ursula interrupts, asking Hermione if she knows
Italy well. Hermione tells her yes, and that her mother died in Florence. Ursula and Birkin both feel uncomfortably strained in the
battle of wills. Ursula further feels like an intruder upon Hermione and Birkins shared background, and is dispirited. Hermione
calls out to Birkins cat, and she tells Gudrun that Mino was in fact born in Italy and that she gave it to Birkin. Ursulas frustration
mounts as Hermione continues speaking to the cat in Italian, and eventually Ursula stands and announces that she will leave. After
her hasty departure from the house, she feels outraged by Hermione and Birkin.
Chapter 23: Excurse
The day after the tea party, Birkin seeks out Ursula at her school. He invites her to go on a drive, and she agrees but shows no
emotion. While driving along, Birkin hands her a packet containing three rings. He tells Ursula that Rings look wrong on my
hands and so he bought them for her. She responds that he ought to give them to Hermione, since he belongs to her. Ursula

decides to try on the rings, but only one fits her properly an opal ring and she puts the other two on her little finger. She knows
that accepting Birkins gift of rings means she is accepting a pledge to him, but she feels that a fate larger than her own will is
acting upon them.
Ursula is happy as the two talk, and she proposes that they return home in the dark to take a late tea. Birkin says he cant because
he has plans for dinner at Shortlands, along with Hermione who is preparing to leave for Europe. Birkin says he should go because
he shall never see her again. Ursula draws away, and Birkin asks if she minds. She tells him no, but her tone suggests otherwise.
The two begin a heated argument about Hermione, with Ursula accusing Birkin of being taken in by Hermiones dead show.
Birkin tells Ursula that Hermione means nothing to him. He pulls the car over and their fight continues.
Birkin accuses Ursula of being foolish he admits that he wasted years carrying on with Hermione. He now sees it was wrong and
yet Ursula seems to want to tear out his soul with jealousy when he mentions Hermiones name. Ursula tells him she isnt jealous,
but simply detests Hermiones falseness. She thinks Hermiones empty spirituality has tricked Birkin, and that Hermione is utterly
base and petty, simply feeding into Birkins own ghastly desire for death, destruction, and foulness. The argument intensifies until
Ursula removes the rings to throw them at Birkin, and stomps away, heading up the road alone.
Birkin sits alone in the darkness, and comes to believe that many of Ursulas accusations are true. He is attracted to and finds
stimulation in self-destruction. He imagines Ursula and Hermione as opposite extremes Hermione as the perfect Idea and
Ursula as the perfect Womb to which men are compellingly drawn. Birkin wants neither, and does not understand why the two
women seem unable to remain individuals. Suddenly Ursula returns, offering a flower to Birkin. The two embrace and feel peace
in each others arms. Ursula asks if she abused him, and he smilingly tells her not to mind. They kiss, and Ursula asks about the
rings. Birkin produces them from his pocket and returns them to Ursula. They go back to the car and drive by a cathedral called
Southwell Minster, and decide to have high tea at the Saracens Head inn.
At the inn they sit in a parlor by a fire. They are overwhelmed with mutual love, and Ursula finds Birkin to be transformed. He
reminds her of an image from the Book of Genesis, as if he is one of the original sons of God at the beginning of the world. They
take tea, and Birkin proposes that both must quit their jobs, so the two can travel. He calls for pen and paper and they begin to
write their resignation letters. They return to the car and Ursula asks if he still plans to dine at Shortlands. Birkin says no, and they
decide to stay out in the darkness, and sleep inside the car. Birkin stops in town to send a telegram to Ursulas father saying she
wont be home that night. He picks up some supplies and drives the car into Sherwood Forest to park. They exit the car and sit on
a blanket among the trees. They remove their clothes and make love, both feeling their desires fulfilled in each others mystic,
palpable, real otherness.
Chapter 24: Death and Love
Thomas Crich remains alive, though just barely, and the slow advance of his death is terrible. His will to remain alive is strong,
though his body is utterly wasted. Gerald meanwhile wishes that his father would simply let go, because he feels deeply bound to
his suffering and wants a release for them both. One evening Gerald asks Gudrun to stay for dinner, and they talk abut the strain of
his fathers illness. Gerald asks her for sympathy, saying it is the only thing that can help him since he simply must face up to the
fact that his father is dying. Geralds mother comes downstairs while they are talking, and tells Gerald that she thinks he isnt
strong enough to see through the event of his fathers death. She encourages him to take off and protect himself, but Gerald
assures her he is fine and that he must stay on.
Gudrun tells Gerald she must leave, and he offers to give her the coach. She prefers to walk, so Gerald accompanies her. As they
walk to Beldover, Gerald puts his arm around her and Gudrun asks him how much he cares for her. Gerald says everything, and
Gudrun finds it difficult to understand why his feelings for her are so strong. The two stop as the road passes under a railway.
Gerald embraces Gudrun and they kiss. She imagines herself falling into his arms just as numerous lovers of colliers have done,
under the same arch, over many years. She is thrilled to be with Gerald, and imagines he is an apple on the forbidden tree of
knowledge, and she is Eve, plucking the fruit. They continue on into town and arrive at the gate of the drive to Gudruns house.
She tells him not to come inside, and they say goodnight.
The next day, Gudrun writes Gerald to say she has a cold and cannot come to Shortlands. The following day, Gerald is sitting with
his father at the moment Mr. Crich dies. The nurse enters as Gerald stands looking at his fathers body, and she confirms that he is
dead. He goes to tell his mother, who comes downstairs to see her husband. Surrounded by her children, she says that Mr. Crich
looks beautiful in death, and that she can see his teenage face. She tells her children not to allow themselves to look like this when
they die, and that they should pray.
Gudrun hears of Mr. Crichs death and feels bad for not being with Gerald to comfort him. The next day she returns to Shortlands
to work with Winifred, and the two remain in the studio all day. They take dinner in the studio and Gerald comes to see them, but
Gudrun finds the situation awkward. She goes home. The funeral takes place the next day, after which the family leaves town.
Gerald remains at home alone, passing the nights in agony. On the third evening he decides to take a walk, and finds himself
eventually heading toward Beldover. In town, he asks a drunken miner for directions to Somerset Drive, where the Brangwens
live.
As Gerald comes to the house, he hears Ursula and Birkins voices. They come to the road and Gerald remains in the dark as they
pass. Gerald walks into the house, creeping through the hallways until he thinks he finds Gudruns room. He enters, goes to the
bed and realizes the sleeper is Gudruns younger brother. He leaves quickly and hears Ursula and her father talking downstairs. He
goes up another floor to find another bedroom door, and he knows Gudrun will be inside. He enters the room, and Gudrun stirs

and asks if it is Ursula. Gerald tells her it is he. She finds a light and asks him why he has come. He tells her simply that he had to
come to her, and that if she were not in the world he could not be in the world either.
Gerald removes his boots and jacket, and embraces Gudrun. As he holds her, he feels a strong warmth and sense of comfort, as if
his spirit draws life from her. He falls asleep in her arms, while Gudrun remains awake and alert, suspended in perfect
consciousness. She watches Gerald sleep peacefully through the night, while she feels tormented with violent wakefulness and
waits until she can wake him. At five in the morning, she wakes Gerald and tells him he must leave. He wants to stay but Gudrun
insists, so Gerald rises and dresses himself. The two go downstairs quietly, and walk out to the gate. They kiss goodbye, and
Gudrun returns to her bed and falls into a deep sleep while Gerald walks home.
Analysis
Chapter 21 deals with a transitional moment of death and the human response to its inevitability. Gerald struggles with his
feathers impending death, not because he fears death itself but because he is disgusted by the slow and painstaking process that
his father is experiencing. Gerald desires a quick and valiant death, a heroic end akin to the Homeric warriors of old. He believes
that one should be master of ones fate in dying as in living. Geralds perspective toward death is revealing. It further develops
his characters association with an antiquated heroic spirit, and Lawrence makes an allusion to the myth of Laocoon, a Trojan
priest who was sentenced to death and strangled, along with his sons, by a mighty serpent. Lawrences imagery conveys Geralds
feeling of being wrapped up and dragged against his will into sharing deaths slow embrace of his father.
Hermione surprises Ursula one afternoon, when Gudrun and Ursula are scheduled to have tea with Birkin. While Birkin is out,
Ursula arrives to find Hermione waiting, and the two begin an intensely heated discussion about Birkin and the possibility of
marrying him. At first, Ursula uses Birkins proposal to make Hermione jealous, and to increase her own power. The two women
verbalize their shared frustrations with Birkins intense individualism, his tendency to criticize and his desire for destruction.
Ursula even acknowledges that Hermione must have suffered as a consequence of Birkins difficult personality, which
Hermione seems to acknowledge when her hand involuntary clenches like one inspired. But Hermione was always willing to
become Birkins slave, and Ursula knows this fact. It leads her to dismiss any mutual feeling between them, while Hermione
resentfully believes that the antagonism between Birkins animalism and spiritual truth will eventually tear him apart, and
Ursula will be helpless as she watches it unfold.
The gift of three rings in chapter 23 symbolizes the conflict between Ursula and Birkin concerning their potential marriage. Birkin
tells Ursula Rings look wrong on my hands which implies his unsuitability for marriage, even though he is giving a gift to
Ursula that simultaneously suggests his desire to marry her. Meanwhile, Ursula is afraid to try on the rings because she thinks her
hands are too large; these images suggest the characters different perspectives toward marriage and toward each other. Ursula
wants to try on the rings, but just as her hands seem too large to fit into them, her individual temperament as a unique woman
might not fit properly into the role that marriage expects of her. In different ways, the ring gift episode shows the two characters
straining against the expectations and conventions of the marital union, even as they desire it.
Unsurprisingly, Ursula and Birkin find themselves in an argument that begins with Ursulas jealousy over Hermiones relationship
with Birkin. Ursula flees despite Birkins insistence that Hermione now means nothing to him. But Ursulas eventual return
signals a kind of rebirth and potential for their union. A typical marriage between them may be impossible, as suggested by
Birkins initial gift of the rings and the resulting confrontation. Yet when she comes back to him, Ursula brings him a flower that
Birkin finds beautiful, and Ursula expresses sorrow at having hurt him. The potential for their union is later developed as they
travel up the road and pass by the Southwell Minster. This new setting evokes a paradisal and holy feeling between them. At the
inn, Birkin suddenly appears to Ursula as an original son of God, who has metamorphosed into a sacred yet sensual presence. The
sexuality between them now appears to be blessed, and they consummate their relationship under the trees. Lawrences setting
implies that Ursula and Birkins union aims to build a new paradise that recalls the original union of Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden.
Lawrence repeats this imagery but gives it new meaning in his description of Gudruns feeling for Gerald at the beginning of
chapter 24. Gudrun fancies Gerald to be the forbidden tree of knowledge, and she imagines herself as Eve, plucking the trees
fruit. This image suggests that just as Adam and Eve fell from Gods favor and were exiled from paradise, Gudrun and Geralds
union represents a fallen version of the promise of sacred sensuality shared earlier by Ursula and Birkin. This idea is further
developed when Gerald unexpectedly visits Gudrun one night soon after his father dies. He creeps into her house under darkness
while she sleeps, which recalls Satans creeping into the garden to tempt Eve to disobey Gods will. When Gerald embraces
Gudrun, he is overcome with exhaustion and falls deeply asleep, and Gudrun watches through the night. He draws a warm and
maternal strength from Gudrun, and their bodily connection symbolizes a primordial return to the womb. Gudrun provides Gerald
with a moment of healing and restoration after the death of Geralds father, which Lawrence describes as a great bath of life that
makes him whole again.
Chapters 25-28
Summary
Chapter 25: Marriage or Not
The Brangwen family decides to move from Beldover because Mr. Brangwen has a change in his work situation requiring him to
be in town. Winter approaches, and Birkin takes out a marriage license in his eagerness to marry Ursula. She wavers, however, not
wanting to fix any definite time. It has only been three weeks since she filed her one-month notice to leave the grammar school.
Gerald awaits Birkin and Ursulas marriage, speculating that it may help to hasten his possible marriage to Gudrun.

One afternoon while talking to Birkin, Gerald proposes the possibility of a double marriage, and Birkin asks between whom.
When Gerald replies Gudrun and me, Birkin is taken aback and asks if Gerald is joking. Gerald says no, and Birkin responds
that he didnt realize things were so serious between them. Gerald goes on to say he truly wants to know Birkins opinion on the
matter, but Birkin simply tells him that marriages are like noses there are all sorts, snub and otherwise.
Gerald continues to press him on the question, and Birkin says that if he were Gerald he would not marry, but he should ask
Gudrun what she thinks. Gerald responds that he thinks marriage is a pis aller - a last resort. But he then wonders what direction
one takes, if not toward marriage. Birkin tells him that he thinks marriage in the old sense is repulsive, but Gerald again asks what
else there is to be done with ones life.
Birkin then says that a new possibility must be found for a man and a woman to share a life in a broader way, which would be
additional to marriage but equally sacred and significant. Gerald, meanwhile, feels only a sense of doom and despair about such
prospects. He feels himself divided between the prospect of loving Birkin and entering into an agreement with him, or of marrying
Gudrun. Yet neither option seems possible to him, despite feeling strangely elated at the idea of Birkins alliance.
Chapter 26: A Chair
One Monday afternoon Birkin and Ursula visit a weekly junk market in town, browsing for furniture. Ursula is fascinated by the
working-class, common people and watches them while Birkin focuses on the goods. She notices a young pregnant woman
looking at a used mattress along with a young man. Birkin meanwhile finds a pretty wooden chair and points it out to Ursula.
They both admire its craftsmanship, although a new wooden seat has been nailed into it, which detracts from the chairs original
beauty. They decide to buy it.
Birkin says the chair reminds him of Englands more glorious past, when production was more of an art and less mechanical.
Ursula laments the fact that Birkin always seems to praise the past at the expense of the present. They bicker. Ursula says she is
sick of Birkins exalted idea of the past, while Birkin says he is sick of the accursed present. The two decide against taking the
chair, because it represents for them the accumulation of unnecessary material things to make a socially conventionally home.
They retrace their steps to tell the peddler that they in fact dont want the chair, and Ursula again notices the young couple. She
tells Birkin to give them the chair. At first he protests, but then agrees and tells Ursula to give it to them. Ursula approaches them
and asks if they will have the chair, saying it would please her and Birkin. The young couple is confused, and the young womans
body language becomes defensive. Birkin comes into the conversation to assure them that he and Ursula simply want to give them
the chair, no strings attached, and not to worry if they dont want it. Ursula then explains that they chose not to take it because
they decided to go abroad after they marry.
The couple relaxes, and the young man begins to joke about marriage. He tells Birkin that they plan to be married on Saturday,
and asks when he and Ursula shall marry. Birkin tells him whenever Ursula decides to do so, and the young man jokes that theres
No urry. They accept the chair, and the young man decides to carry it away himself. They thank Ursula and Birkin, wishing
them luck, and the two couples part ways.
As they walk away, Ursula looks back at the couple and says they are strange to her. Birkin tells her they remind him of Jesus
and his pronouncement that the meek shall inherit the earth. The two climb onto a tram, and imagine their married future being
quite different, wanting not to inherit anything at all and simply to live in their own separate world. Birkin adds that perhaps
theres Gerald and Gudrun but the two agree that they cannot attempt to force Gerald and Gudrun to marry, even if they want
to bring them into their world. Birkin insists that he wants a fellowship that extends beyond the two of them, and Ursula tells him
that such things must simply happen. She suggests that he willfully attempts to force people to love him, and then rejects their
love, and cites Hermione and Gerald as examples. The chapter ends with Birkin wondering aloud to Ursula whether in fact he
wants a final, extra-human relationship with Gerald, in addition to the pursuit of his perfect and complete relationship with
Ursula.
Chapter 27: Flitting
At home later that evening, Ursula unexpectedly announces to her family that she and Birkin are going to be married the next day.
Her father reacts with extreme surprise and frustration at not having been informed of this plan. Ursula tells him that he already
knew the two were planning to be married, and that what really matters is that she is ready. Her father is outraged, and accuses her
of only thinking of herself. She responds that he has only ever cared to bully her, and her marriage indeed only affects her. Mr.
Brangwen loses control and slaps Ursula across the face, sending her flying across the room. She continues to defy him and he
advances toward her, but she flees to her room. Soon thereafter she emerges with a small valise, and announces that she is leaving.
Ursula flees to the train station but finds there are no more trains and is forced to walk. She arrives at Birkins home disheveled
and saddened, and meets him in his study. She relates the story of her fight with her father. Birkin tells her that perhaps her father
does in fact care about her, but Ursula insists he only ever wanted to bully her into following his will. Birkin tells her that she
shouldnt worry, and a bit of time will resolve the conflict. Meanwhile, he tells Ursula she may stay with him, since they are as
good as married.
Birkin feels extremely happy that Ursula has arrived, and thinks that her undimmed soul is rejuvenating his spirit. He considers
his marriage to Ursula to be a promise of resurrection from his descent down the slope of mechanical death. The next day, the
two are married. Ursula writes to her parents at Birkins request, but only her mother responds.
Ursula remains at the mill house with Birkin, having no contact with her parents for some time. Gerald visits one afternoon. He
tells her she looks quite happy, and she agrees with him. She asks if he thinks Birkin is also happy, and Gerald says yes but averts
his eyes. Ursula then suggests that he too could be happy, should he choose to ask Gudrun to marry him. Gerald asks if she thinks

Gudrun would agree. Ursula says yes, and that she thinks Gerald is the right man for her. But she suddenly reconsiders, saying
that Gudrun is a bit unpredictable. Gerald proposes that he should take Gudrun on a trip, and suggests that Birkin and Ursula
might join. Ursula finds the idea appealing, and that it could be a kind of test to see if Gudrun would be favorable to a marriage
with Gerald.
Two days later Ursula and Gudrun return to their parents now empty home. They find it desolate and depressing, since the
furnishings have been removed and the air is heavy. The sisters also agree that the conventional lives their parents lived would
make each of them miserable. Gudrun tells Ursula that above all else, she thinks one must remain free and only marry a
companion who acts as a fellow traveler. Birkin arrives, and also finds the home to be a ghostly situation. They talk a bit about
Gudruns fear of marriage, without announcing the implication that she is considering a partnership with Gerald. Eventually the
group packs up Ursulas things and leave in Birkins car.
During the ride home Gudrun experiences some pangs of jealousy for the ease with which Ursula and Birkin seem to inhabit their
marriage. She wonders if she could in fact have the same situation with Gerald, since she does feel a strong and violent love for
him. But she also thinks of herself as a wandering outcast, poorly suited for marriage. Birkin and Ursula invite her to tea, and
though she wants to join them she feels an odd compulsion to go to her cottage at Willey Green, alone. They drop her off, and she
feels bitter.
Gudrun sits at home and wants to go to the mill, but decides against it until the following morning. She visits Ursula there and
asks her if she knows that Gerald had asked Birkin about a group trip at Christmas. Ursula tells her yes, and that Birkin likes the
idea. Gudrun also likes the idea, but finds the proposition a bit awkward and socially improper on Geralds part, since it suggests
that he is treating Gudrun as if she were his mistress. Ursula continues to play up Geralds straightforwardness as a positive
quality, and encourages Gudrun to accept the invitation. Gudrun sours when she finds out that Ursula already knows where Gerald
plans to take them Tyrol, a small German town with excellent winter sports. Gudrun worries about the appearance of
impropriety, and reveals to Ursula that she knows of Geralds liaisons with a model in Chelsea, meaning Minette
Darrington (The Pussum). Ursula attempts to laugh it off with a joke, but Gudrun remains glum.
Chapter 28: Gudrun in the Pompadour
Christmas approaches and Gudrun has decided to go on the trip with Gerald, Birkin and Ursula. Gerald and Gudrun plan to go to
London for a night, then to Paris and on to Innsbruck, where they will meet Birkin and Ursula. During their night in London, they
decide to go to the music-hall and then to the Pompadour Caf. Gudrun detests the petty vices and social ills of the caf. Gerald
and Gudrun sit at a table and watch the crowd, which Gudrun finds foul. Julius Halliday and his crew are seated at a nearby table,
and exchange looks with Gerald. Suddenly, Minette stands up and approaches Gerald and Gudruns table.
Minette greets Gerald and shakes his hand, though he remains seated. She asks about Birkin and if it is true that he is now married.
Gerald confirms it. Minette asks how long he is staying in town, and if he will come say hello to Halliday. Gerald says no. Minette
then tells him he is looking awflly fit, and asks if he is having a good time which is taken by Gudrun as a backhanded insult.
Minette leaves and Gudrun asks Gerald if shes a friend. He tells her he met her while staying with Birkin at Hallidays house, and
Gudrun knows that Minette is one of his mistresses.
Hallidays table is loud and drunk, and they begin making fun of Birkin while Gerald and Gudrun listen. Halliday and Maxim
recall Birkins intense letters, and his outlandish philosophical notions of desire, life, and destruction. Halliday pulls one of
Birkins letters from his coat pocket, and begins reading passages. The table roars with laughter and Minette says she thinks it is
extremely cheeky to write in such a way.
Hallidays crew enrages Gudrun, and she tells Gerald she wants to leave. While he pays the bill, Gudrun rises and walks over to
the other table. She asks Halliday if the letter he has is genuine, and he assures her it is. She asks to see it, and when he hands it
over she walks out of the caf with it. The crowd boos Gudrun, as Gerald follows her outside and into a taxi. He asks her what
happened, and when she tells him she took Birkins letter he is extremely pleased, saying the table was a bunch of jackasses.
Gudrun calls them dogs and says that she never wants to return to London again.
Analysis
D.H. Lawrence further explores the pitfalls of marriage in chapters 25 and 26, through two different aspects of Birkins desire. The
first is the male bond between Birkin and Gerald, which marriage potentially threatens. Birkin wants to preserve this bond with
Gerald by treating it as an addition to his relationship with Ursula. When Gerald suggests that he and Gudrun might join with
Birkin and Ursula in a double marriage, his idea implies that Gerald also feels at least as strong, if not stronger, a connection with
Birkin. But Gerald hesitates to enter into a marriage that might divide them, while he also considers the possibility that marrying
Gudrun, Ursulas sister, could be a way of paradoxically bringing the men closer together.
In chapter 26 Birkin and Ursula visit a junk market, and their discussion of the future of the young couple they meet there
becomes a discussion of their own future, and of the form of marriage that they want. Birkin continues to illustrate his strong
desire to remain close to Gerald. He and Ursula agree that they want to care only about their own relationship, and imagine
wandering the earth together as a way of creating their own world apart. But then Birkin tells her that perhaps theres Gerald
and Gudrun which suggests that like Gerald he cannot bear the thought of his marriage dividing the bond between the two men.
Ursula finds Birkins position confusing, and tells him that he must learn not to try and bully other people into loving him he has
Ursula, and that should be enough. But Birkins insistence illustrates the novels theme of the strong connection between desire
and repression, since he cannot abandon his love for Gerald.

Chapter 27 further develops the theme of repressed desire between the two men. After Ursula flees her parents home, she lives
with Birkin at the mill house and Gerald visits her one afternoon. Geralds averted gaze during his talk with Ursula is telling. His
desire to marry Gudrun is equally tied to his desire to preserve his close bond with Birkin. This is clear when Ursula asks Gerald if
he thinks that Birkin seems happier now that the two are living together, and Gerald says yes but averts his face from Ursulas
gaze. He finds it difficult to admit that Birkin is happy being with Ursula, but he knows it to be true, even while he cannot let go
of his love for Birkin. This is why Gerald suggests that Ursula and Birkin might join him and Gudrun on their trip. From Ursulas
perspective, this seems to be a good idea because she worries that Gudrun may not be entirely open to the idea of marrying
Gerald, but also since she knows Birkin is happy being near Gerald. The trip appears to promise an opportunity to resolve the
competing desires and frustrations that are circulating among the group.
The novels focus turns to the two sisters and their views of love later in chapter 27, as they sit in the empty Brangwen home and
reflect upon their parents lives and marriage. The desolate setting and emptiness of the house reflects the feelings of alienation
and uncertainty that the sisters share. They find themselves in marriages or potential marriages with men they love, but both want
to hold strong to their independent spirits and resist the conventional lifestyle that their parents have lived. Gudrun passionately
defends the need for freedom, but soon after her talk with Ursula realizes that part of her also wants to be his wife and to have a
home at Shortlands. Her inability to resolve this tension causes emotional turmoil, and she find herself refusing Ursula and
Birkins invitation to tea, even though she desperately wants to accept it.
The next chapter makes a dramatic shift in setting, from Beldover to the Caf Pompadour in London. This change also illustrates
an aspect of Gudruns character that is sharply distinct from the previous chapters emphasis on her frustrated desires. At the caf,
Gudrun is horrified and enraged when she overhears Halliday and his table reading aloud and mocking one of Birkins letters. She
displays creative ingenuity and strength of will when she approaches the table, tricks Julius into giving her the letter and calmly
strides out of the caf with it. Earlier in the novel, the setting at Caf Pompadour illustrated Geralds uncertainty in the Bohemian
atmosphere, and his reliance on wealth and social status to seduce Minette. But during this episode, the novel shows that Gudrun
has a powerful ability to master the environment of the Bohemians, with which she is familiar from her time in London as an
artist. Her spirited and quick-witted actions account for Geralds compulsive attraction to Gudrun, as illustrated by his admiration
at the chapters close and the couples decision to leave London immediately.
Chapters 29-31
Summary
Chapter 29: Continental
Ursula and Birkin depart from England, and travel on a boat from Dover to Ostend. Ursula senses a paradise unknown and
unrealized in the world ahead of them. They arrive at Ostend, and take a long train ride to Basle. They spend one night in a hotel
there, where Ursula feels restless and detached. The next day they take a train to Innsbruck, and arrive to find it wonderful and
deep in snow. In the hotel lobby, Ursula sees Gudrun and calls out to her. The sisters are excited and happy to see each other.
They wash and change, and send Birkin to smoke with Gerald while they catch up in Gudruns bedroom. Gudrun tells Ursula
about the letter incident in London, as well as her and Geralds time in Paris with a group of artists, with whom Gerald was a great
hit. The group goes to dinner and begins to talk about how refreshing it is to take leave of England. Birkin suggests that England is
dying, and must transform itself. Gudrun and Gerald respond sarcastically, and Birkin feels that Gudrun is sucking the life out of
Gerald.
The next day they decide to go deeper into the mountainous countryside. After trekking through a snow-filled valley and up into
higher elevations, they arrive at a barebones hostel and take rooms. Gudrun and Gerald go to their bedroom and look out at the
panoramic view. Gudrun is filled with pleasure and absorbed by the scene, but Gerald feels that she is suddenly detached from
him, and an icy vapour covers his heart. He notices Gudrun is crying as she looks out the window, and a passion rises in him. He
pulls her to him and tells her he loves her, but she does not respond. They go downstairs to meet Ursula and Birkin, and the friends
enter the dining room to have coffee. They decide to go into the common room and meet the other guests. They are introduced to
Herr Professor, a German professor who then introduces the two couples to a group composed of the professor's two daughters,
three students, Herr Loerke and his companion a large and fair young man. They begin to observe a comedic lecture given in
German by Herr Loerke, which the sisters cannot understand. At its conclusion the German guests welcome the English group into
their company. Ursula sings and they are impressed by her voice. The four companions decide to take a short walk outside, and the
two couples break off, with Ursula and Birkin looking out into the night sky while Gudrun leads Gerald on a walk. They all
eventually return to the hostel, to dance and party with the Germans. Ursula senses a strange licentiousness in Birkin as they
dance.
Upon returning to their bedroom, Ursula continues to feel an oddly brutish desire coming from Birkin, which is both attractive and
repulsive to her. Meanwhile, Gudrun and Gerald return to their room and feel increasingly alienated. Gudrun is quite nervous and
uncomfortable with Gerald, who is equally uncertain of how to respond to Gudrun. Eventually they sleep, and Gudrun wakes up
the next morning before Gerald. As she watches him sleep, she thinks about his efforts to reform his familys mining company,
and realizes that he is a perfect instrument and nearly superhuman in his abilities. She wonders if there is in fact room for her in
his world, as it is so defined by the interests of industry, politics, and high society. She imagines that Geralds greatness is wasted
on such games, and wants him to wake up and convince her that the two can create a life of more perfect moments. He awakens,
and his smiling face fills Gudrun with joy. She tells him that he has convinced her, and he knows that she means he has convinced

her to marry him. It is a beautiful day, and they decide to go out into the countryside on a toboggan, leaving Ursula and Birkin
behind. Several fun days pass with the two couples skiing, sledding, and tobogganing to the point of physical exhaustion.
A day arrives when the snow falls relentlessly and the group must stay indoors. Ursula goes into the common room and begins a
conversation with Loerke. It has become apparent to her and the others that Loerke and Leitner are together, but they are fighting
and loathe each others company. Gudrun enters and sits with Ursula and Loerke, and the group talks about a large sculpture he is
working on for a granite factory in Cologne. Loerke speaks quickly in German, and Ursula translates for Gudrun. Slowly, Loerke
and Gudrun begin to find a common interest in one another, through their discussion of art, industry, and work. Loerke reveals that
he once suffered great poverty, which Gudrun finds alluring. Ursula also likes Loerke, but both Gerald and Birkin find him
disgusting. Birkin compares him to a rat in the river of corruption and says that women for some strange reason are drawn to
such dark and repulsive qualities.
The sisters continue to develop their acquaintance with Loerke, which the men resent. One afternoon Ursula, Gudrun, and Loerke
discuss a photograph of an old sculpture by Loerke. The figure is of a young, naked girl sitting on a powerfully upright stallion.
Ursula and Gudrun ask Loerke penetrating questions, leading to a disagreement between the two sisters about arts connection to
reality. Ursula finds the statute repulsive because it implies that Loerke is the stallion and the young girl was someone he loved
and tortured and then ignored. Gerald enters and joins the conversation, as Ursula leaves. She finds Birkin and tells him that she
wants to depart from the snow and the cold, perhaps visiting Verona where the two can pretend to be Romeo and Juliet. The two
make preparations, and that evening go to Gudrun and Geralds room to tell them. Gudrun and Gerald are sad to hear the news,
and it is clear that Birkin and Gerald are cross with each other. The next day, Gudrun visits Ursula and they share a bittersweet
goodbye. Meanwhile Gerald and Birkin speak briefly while waiting for the sledge, and Birkin tells Gerald that he has loved him
as well as Gudrun, dont forget. Gerald responds skeptically, asking him Have youOr do you think you have? Birkin feels
his heart freeze as the sledge takes off.
Chapter 30: Snowed Up
After Birkin and Ursula leave, Gudrun finds that Gerald pushes on her more and more, leaving her no room for freedom or
privacy. One night he comes to her when she is sitting alone in the dark, and she tells him she thinks that he has never loved her.
When she asks him if he ever could truly love her, he coldly tells her no. Gerald briefly fantasizes about killing Gudrun, and then
asks her why she tortures him. This causes her to pity and comfort him, and she coaxes him to say he loves her and will love her
forever. He does so, and she tells him Try to love me a little more, and to want me a little less. They have sex and Gudrun feels
that Gerald is destroying her. The next day they both imagine leaving each other. But Gerald realizes that if he leaves Gudrun he
must face the prospect of being utterly alone, and he is unprepared for it. Both Gudrun and Gerald continue to feel tortured by
their vulnerability. As they watch the sunset one evening, Gerald tells Gudrun that some day he will destroy her because she is
such a liar.
Gudrun and Loerke continue to meet to talk about art and life. They grow closer as Gerald watches with animosity. One afternoon
Gerald and Loerke are in a heated conversation that becomes a conflict of spirit between the two men. Loerke looks to Gudrun
and addresses her as Mrs. Crich, and she explains that she is not married to Gerald even though they had been putting on that
appearance during their travels. Gerald takes this as a direct insult and attack against him. He withdraws, which only heightens
Gudruns attraction to him. At the same time, she slowly comes to realize that Geralds lingering attachment to the social world
prevents him from truly connecting with the deepest part of Gudruns soul. She thinks that Loerke is capable of this connection,
because he does not care for the world. Gerald confronts her about Loerke, asking why she finds him appealing. Gudrun tells him
it is because that Loerke isnt stupid and has some understanding of a woman.
Loerke continues to pursue Gudrun. One afternoon while Gerald is off skiing, he tells her he desires her because they share an
intelligent understanding, which surpasses physical beauty. Later that evening Gerald returns to the hostel, and when he sees
Gudrun talking with the Germans in the common room, he feels an overwhelming desire to kill her. She comes to his room that
night and tells him she wants to return to England, and that their attempt at being lovers has failed. Gerald is enraged and feels
ready to attack Gudrun, but she perceives his madness and flees to safety in her room. She contemplates the men in her life
Gerald, Birkin, Loerke and finds them all frustratingly mechanical and cruel. Gerald meanwhile passes the night reading, and
sleeps only a couple of hours.
The following morning Gudrun tells Gerald that she plans to leave the next day. He makes arrangements for their departure,
asking if she will at least go with him as far as Innsbruck. She says perhaps, but finds pleasure in leaving open the question of
where she will go next. She considers returning to England with Gerald, going to Dresden with Loerke, or on her own to visit a
girlfriend in Munich. She goes to see Loerke, and the two trek into the snow with a toboggan and picnic. They discuss Gudruns
plans to travel, and she tells him she doesnt know where she will go. Suddenly Gerald appears. Loerke offers Gudrun some
schnapps, and Gerald smacks the bottle out of his hand. Loerke begins to joke about it, and Gerald attacks him, hitting him
violently upside the head. Gudrun intervenes, and Gerald clutches her throat and begins to strangle her. Loerke calls out and
Geralds madness breaks. He releases Gudrun, saying that he has had enough and I want to go to sleep.
Gerald leaves Gudrun and Loerke and marches off into the mountains. He keeps walking as the sun goes down, deeper and deeper
into the wild. He comes upon a crucifix half-buried in the snow and believes that death is near. As he wanders into a deep, hollow
basin of snow he slips and falls, feeling something break in his soul. He sleeps.
Chapter 31: Exeunt

The next morning, Gudrun is shut up in her room when they return with Geralds body. She feels no emotion, only coldness, and
writes a telegraph to Birkin and Ursula telling them what has happened. She finds Loerke, who is just as emotionless and barren
as Gudrun. She goes back to her room and waits for her sister and Birkin to arrive the following day.
When Ursula and Birkin return, Gudrun remains cold and detached. Birkin asks her to tell him exactly what was said when Gerald
confronted her and Loerke. She tells him that Gerald said nothing, he only knocked Loerke down and half strangled me, then he
went away. In her mind, she says it is A pretty little sample of the eternal triangle! Birkin leaves, and returns to Geralds body.
As Birkin looks at Geralds frozen body he feels disgust and horror, even though he loved him. Touching Geralds icy cold hair
and face, Birkin feels himself freezing on the inside. He goes out to the slopes to see where Gerald froze to death, and finds
himself consoled to think that it is best not to care at all about the universe, since the eternal creative mystery could dispose of
man so easily and create a newer, finer being.
Birkin returns to the hostel and again goes to look at Geralds body, continuing to think it best to remain quiet, patient, and
emotionless. He alludes to a passage in Hamlet that mentions the death of Julius Caesar. But when he and Ursula go in to see
Geralds corpse once again that evening, he breaks out in tears of anguish, which repulses Ursula. Birkin laments that He should
have loved meI offered him. Ursula tells him it would have made no difference, and he disagrees.
Birkin wants to leave Geralds body in the Alps, but they bring it home to England at the insistence of the Crich family. Gudrun
goes to Dresden and writes no particulars of herself. Ursula returns to the mill with Birkin. One evening she asks Birkin if he
needed Gerald, and Birkin replies affirmatively. Ursula asks, Arent I enough for you?, and he tells her that she is enough as any
woman could be, but that he wanted a man friend, as eternal as you and I are eternal. Ursula tells him he is being obstinate and
perverse, and that he cannot have two kinds of love because such a thing is false, impossible. The novel ends with Birkin
insisting I dont believe that.
Analysis
When Birkin, Gerald, Ursula and Gudrun decide to travel to Innsbruck for a winter trip, they are happy to have escaped England,
and look forward to their time abroad. Birkin in particular is pleased because he so detests the social standards and modern values
that define England. For Birkin, the English political body is dead and spiritless, in part because of the modern rule of industrial
production and the overvaluation of work. He believes that this is sucking the vital and creative spirit out of England and its
inhabitants. But his comparison is also shrewdly self-deprecating, since he imagines himself to be nothing more than a lice
crawling off the corpse of England. The image reinforces Birkins view of life as a cycle of decay and death.
Birkins comparison of England to a dead body also recalls the demise of Mr. Crich, whose decaying body can be identified as a
metonymic image for England. Mr. Crichs death represents the passing away of older Christian values and moral beneficence,
and the emergence of Gerald Crichs attempt to master the natural world through the labors of mechanical reproduction. As the
end of the novel suggests, however, Gerald in fact remains bound to the tumultuous energy of his desire for Birkin, as well as his
strangely compulsive attraction to Gudrun, because both of these individuals represent antitheses or direct foils to Geralds faith in
the power of industry and advanced technology.
Later, when Ursula and Gudrun converse with Loerke about his artwork, he brings out a photograph of an old sculpture. Titled
Lady Godiva, it is the figure of a proud, erect stallion and a young girl, cast in green bronze. The subject matter immediately
recalls the novels many images of horses, which symbolize the contradictory nature of human desire and the difficult attempt to
master the passions. In this instance, however, the sculpture serves as an occasion for the Brangwen sisters and Loerke to discuss
their different perspectives on art and life. Ursula finds the image repulsive, because she connects art and life deeply, as does
Birkin, and believes that the work implies Loerke is the proud stallion and the young girl is someone he once loved and discarded
without second thought. But Gudrun believes, like Herr Loerke, that art and life must be strictly separate. In a later conversation
with Loerke, she claims that life doesnt really matter it is ones art which is central. For Gudrun, art is a supreme reality, and
life is a form of unreality. This is because she believes that art elevates ones being above the muck of life, making it the purest
form of human expression in its ideal state.
Near the end of the novel, Ursula feels a coldness overtaking her and she tells Birkin that she wants desperately to leave the wintry
environment of Innsbruck. Birkin suggests that they can leave the next day, and perhaps go to Verona which is the setting of
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. Birkin alludes directly to the play when he tells Ursula that they can go to Verona and sit in the
ampitheatre. Ursula is greatly relieved by this prospect, and tells Birkin that she would love to. Her enthusiasm is odd, however,
since Romeo and Juliet both die at the end of the play. The pair is also famously described as star-crossed lovers, which
connects Birkins Shakespearean allusion to his own idea of wanting to be held in a stellar conjunction with Ursula. The
comparison to Romeo and Juliet is therefore ominous, although on the surface it appears to be romantic.
Later, Birkin makes another Shakespearean allusion, to Hamlet, as he watches Geralds corpse and says Imperial Caesar dead,
and turned to clay / Would stop a hole to keep the wind away. The line Birkin quotes is spoken by Prince Hamlet to Horatio at the
end of the play. Hamlet contemplates the fact that all mortal bodies must eventually be reduced to nothing more than dust, no
matter how powerful or regal they were in life. Even great rulers such as Julius Caesar end up as inert, lifeless matter turned to the
most base of uses. Like the mighty Caesar, Birkin feels that Gerald was a magnificent entity in life, and Birkin loved him deeply.
But now Geralds lifeless corpse is cold and spiritless, nothing more than its purely physical material. Birkins final two allusions
to Shakespeare present tragic images of failed romance: one for the star-crossed lovers, Ursula and Birkin, and another for the two
men, Gerald and Birkin. Although the novel ends with Ursula and Birkin together, Birkins insistence on his deep bond with
Gerald implies that his marriage to Ursula will never be entirely fulfilling.

Character List
Ursula Brangwen
The older Brangwen sister, Ursula is a schoolteacher. She is somewhat less worldly than her sister, Gudrun. She falls in love with
Rupert Birkin after seeing him at the Crich wedding at the beginning of the novel. Though at first she believes marriage is a trap
for women like her, she finds a way to navigate what is expected of women of her time, and what she desires.
Gudrun Brangwen
The younger Brangwen sister, she has recently returned from a life in the arts in London, where she spent time among the social
elite. She falls for Gerald Crich upon seeing him at his sisters wedding at the beginning of the novel. Gudrun is unique and
temperamental, yearning for an artist's way of life as an escape from the drudgery of reality. But she struggles to reconcile her
animalistic passion with her convictions.
Gerald Crich
The oldest son of Thomas Crich, he falls in love with Gudrun Brangwen. Geralds character is divided between a heroic, mythical
soul of the past, and a keen modern intellect for pushing technological advancement in his family's mining company.
Rupert Birkin
A country school inspector who falls in love with Ursula Brangwen. Birkins character can be loosely associated with D.H.
Lawrence himself. He is a spirited character with passionate ideas about developing creative souls, but he also suffers many
physical ailments and sickness.
Hermione Roddice
A friend of the Crich family, she is also Rupert Birkins sometime lover. She is in love with Birkin, and wants to subjugate herself
to him completely.
Mr. Thomas Crich
The chief owner of mines in the region around Beldover. His character represents a bygone era of English industry, and a Christian
morality based on beneficence toward the poor and the working class.
Mrs. Christiana Crich
Thomas Crichs wife and mother to Gerald. She is portrayed as a cold and distant women largely uninterested in her children's
lives.
Laura Crich
One of the Crich daughters, her wedding takes place at the beginning of the novel
Lupton
Laura Crichs husband.
Minette Darrington
Also referred to as the Pussum, a young Bohemian Londoner whom Birkin knows and introduces to Gerald Crich. Gerald and
Minette have a brief affair.
Julius Halliday
A roguish Bohemian of London, who owns the house in Soho where Rupert rents a room.
Maxim Libidnikov
A young Russian living in London, who is friends with Julius Halliday.
Miss Bradley
A guest at Hermione Roddices estate.
Palestra, the Italian Contessa
A guest at Hermione Roddice's estate.
Fraulein Marz
A guest at Hermione Roddice's estate.
Sir Joshua Mattheson
An English Baronet and famous sociologist, a guest at Hermione Roddices estate.
Alexander Roddice
Hermiones brother and a member of the British Parliament.
Mrs. Salmon
The laborers wife at the mill house, where Rupert Birkin rents rooms.
Mrs. Daykin
Rupert Birkins landlady and servant at the mill house.
Dr. Brindall the younger
A guest at the Crich party who drowns in an attempt to save Diana Crich.
Tom Brangwen
Ursula and Gudruns father, he is a handicraft teacher with very conventional moral standards and beliefs. He resents Ursula and
Gudruns independence.
Anna Brangwen
Ursula and Gudruns mother, she is fairly quite and reserved, but compassionate.
Billy Brangwen

Ursula and Gudruns young brother.

Dora Brangwen
Ursula and Gudruns young sister.
Mrs. Kirk
A Beldover resident. The Brangwen sisters stop at her cottage to buy honey.
Winifred Crich
Geralds youngest sibling and the apple of Mr. Crichs eye, Winifred is artistically inclined and becomes Gudruns pupil.
Herr Professor
A German professor that Ursula, Gudrun, Gerald and Birkin meet in a hostel near Innsbruck.
Herr Loerke
A sculptor who is one of the hostel guests. He is a tiny and odd-looking man, who develops an affinity with Gudrun based on their
mutual estimation of art.
Leitner
Loerkes companion, he is young and athletic and stands out against Loerke's creaturely appearance.
Diana Crich
Gerald's younger sister. She drowns during the Crich family water-party.
Doctor Brindell
The young doctor who dies while trying to save Diana Crich. Their bodies are found together the next morning, the girl's hands
around the man's throat.

The Remains of the Day Summary

The Remains of the Day, the third novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, was published in 1989 to great acclaim, winning the Man Booker Prize for
Literature. The book tells the story ofStevens, an English butler working at Darlington Hall. At the start of the novel, he is encouraged to take a
vacation by his employer, Mr. Farraday, an American gentleman who believes Stevens needs a break from his duties. Stevens believes the
suggestion dovetails nicely with his desire to visit a former colleague at Darlington Hall - Miss Kenton, now Mrs. Benn, residing in West
England. Twenty years ago, Miss Kenton and he worked at Darlington Hall together, he as butler, she as maid, but she left upon her marriage,
and now twenty years later, she is divorced, and Stevens looks forward to bringing her back to Darlington Hall to help with his increasing staff
problems. Specifically, Stevens has had trouble since the end of the second World War finding a large enough staff to handle the work at the
estate. An act of Parliament in England severely limited the power of the aristocracy and ultimately began to break up these huge estates Darlington Hall is one of the last few.
The book spans his one week trip to visit Miss Kenton and involves a mainly stream-of-consciousness 'moral inventory' of Stevens' life. It's as
if he's creating a mental diary of his life over this trip, aiming to come to terms with his life choices and his ultimate direction. He first reflects
upon what makes a butler a 'great' one, something he clearly has aspirations to achieve. In his eyes, a great butler is what the Hayes Society
describes as a man of a distinguished household and a man of dignity. It is this definition of dignity that most concerns Stevens - and he
believes it reflects a man who maintains his professionalism no matter what the circumstances. Much of the book, then, is dedicated to
providing accounts of Stevens' exhibiting this professionalism at the expense of his human feelings.
For instance, during a great convention at Lord Darlington's house in 1923, Stevens had to handle his dying father in an upstairs room all the
while managing the guests of the convention. Ultimately he forgoes his father to focus on the guests, and ultimately misses his father's passing.
Stevens looks back on this moment with pride. At the same time, he looks back on the fact that he resisted his attraction to Miss Kenton and
stayed faithful to Darlington Hall, even after she left. In his eyes, there is triumph in sacrifice for the sake of one's own employer. Even small
anecdotes reveal this - like when Stevens fires two Jewish maids at the behest of Lord Darlington even though he doesn't agree with his
employer's politics.
But the majority of the novel is dedicated to Stevens and his relationship with Miss Kenton over the course of their 20 years at Darlington Hall.
Miss Kenton arrived at a time when Stevens and his father both worked at the estate. It is Miss Kenton who informs Stevens that his father no
longer can do the work required and must be stripped of his major duties. And indeed, though Stevens is offended, it is Miss Kenton who
ultimately stays with Stevens' father as he lays dying. Upon Stevens' father's death, Miss Kenton becomes almost a substitute for him in
Stevens' life - the only person who seems like family, the only person who can provide him love. When the novel begins, then, she's been gone
nearly twenty years, but Stevens seizes upon the fact that her marriage might be crumbling as a reason to visit her. Twenty years before,
however, Miss Kenton had given Stevens an opportunity to stop her marriage and take her for himself - an opportunity he let go.
Stevens finds his car runs aground in Moscombe and spends the night with the Taylors. They have a dinner there, where Stevens speaks of his
past meetings with dignitaries, never once revealing that he is, in fact, a butler. When Dr. Carlisle drives him back to his car the next day, the
doctor pokes a hole in the facade and Stevens finally admits that he is, in fact, the butler at Darlington Hall. With this revelation, Stevens finally
makes the last part of his journey to meet Miss Kenton.
But when Stevens finally does meet her, with full plans to bring her back to Darlington Hall and perhaps confess his love, he finds that the
spirit has gone out of her. She reveals that she is going back to her husband. Even though she may not love him, he has always been there for
her. Stevens realizes he's too late and sends her off with well-wishes and returns to Darlington Hall to fulfill the 'remains of his day.'

About The Remains of the Day

Remains of the Day, published in 1989 is the third novel by Kazuo Ishiguro after A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the
Floating World. Remains of the Day has since become a modern classic after it won not only the Man Booker Prize in 1989, but
also was turned into an 1993 film by James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, which
went on to win a slew of major international awards.
Ishiguro had already developed a penchant for first-person narration, which Remains of the Day epitomizes through its stream-ofconscious writing. Indeed, Remains of the Day seems similar to epistolary novels, comprised of letters, in that it renders clearly
the thoughts of a hero with no objective reporting from the outside world to verify or disprove given assumptions. Though
Remains of the Day was faithful to this first-person trend in Ishiguro's work, it departed in that it was not based in Japan or
involved a Japanese main character.
Historical context is a key aspect of Remains of the Day, and in this case, the novel takes place during the years leading up to
World War II. Indeed, major sections of the novel consider Lord Darlington's response to various climaxes of the war - specifically
the Treaty of Versailles, which he felt unfairly punished Germany and set out to ruin the country economically. The purpose of this
historical context is to suggest that the main character had a front seat to major goings-on during this crisis in international affairs,
while also symbolizing the deterioration of 'old Britain.' Most crucially, it is important to note that Stevens' employer - Lord
Darlington - seems to be a sympathizer of Hitler, adding more burdens to Stevens as an employee who must cast off his boss'
political allegiances. At the same time, the novel's title - The Remains of the Day - serves to highlight the decline of British
aristocracy, linked specifically to an act of parliament in the early 20th century which levied large inheritance taxes to break up the
manorial estates which had become a major source of accumulated wealth.

Ultimately, Remains of the Day doesn't necessarily reflect Ishiguro casting negative aspersions or nostalgia upon a time in
Britain's history when the aristocracy ruled so dominantly. That said, Stevens' deep examination of the aristocracy's place in
England suggests that the novel is less a critique of imperialism and more a struggle to evaluate its legacy.
Character List
Stevens
Stevens is one of the most beloved characters in modern literature because his emotional arc is so clear. At the beginning of the
novel, he is hopeful and anticipatory of a new adventure - one that he hopes will bring him personal fulfillment. By the end, he
finds his dream quashed, and limps back to his old life to bear out the 'remains of his day.' Stevens very much owns every cell of
Ishiguro's creation. He is the sole narrator and has full domain over every assumption, assertion, and thought. At no point can we
question Stevens' veracity or retelling of events because there is no arbiter of truth in the novel, aside from his own recollections
and comprehension of his own memories. Indeed, Stevens is so self-aware and clear about his own shortcomings and mistakes that
we fully trust his rendition of events. At the same time, we're also clearly aware of Stevens' shortcomings in self-analysis. He is
terribly blind to his own repression and inability to let go of work and pursue his own human desire. As the novel progresses,
Stevens becomes a prisoner of his own fear, ultimately destroying his chance for true love. By the time he finally comes to terms
with his own weaknesses, it is, in fact, far too late.
Miss Kenton
Miss Kenton is Stevens' object of desire, despite his inability to truly confess it. Miss Kenton, when the novel opens, has long left
Darlington Hall. Indeed, the book begins nearly twenty years after her departure, which came before the start of World War II. The
book, then, is Stevens' recollection of his time working alongside her as he begins his journey to go meet her. Miss Kenton clearly
harbored her own affections for Stevens and tried deeply to get him to admit his affections for her. And yet, Stevens never could.
As a result, Miss Kenton ends up marrying a man that she does not even love, it seems. The pivotal moment of her own personal
journey comes when she tells Stevens of her engagement, hoping it seems that he might stop her. He doesn't, and as a result,
twenty years later, when he arrives at her door, it's too late. She's already committed to a loveless marriage - one that she's grown
accustomed to and settled for.
Lord Darlington
Lord Darlington is Stevens' and Miss Kenton's employer in the years leading up to WOrld War II. Darlington, himself, appears to
be a German-sympathizer - specifically a Hitler sympathizer, as he seeks to keep Germany from falling apart in the wake of the
Treaty of Versailles. That said, Darlington is a gentle man and treats Stevens and his staff delicately - except for one moment when
he does fire two Jewish maids because of his German sympathies. Ultimately, Darlington is considered honorable by Stevens and
a man worthy of deep respect.
Stevens' Father (William Stevens)
Stevens' father works at Darlington Hall with Stevens and Miss Kenton up until his death. Stevens' father is even more dutiful and
devoted to his profession than Stevens. Indeed, Stevens refers to him as a great butler because of his prodigious skill and
commitment. But his relationship with his son suffers greatly because of this devout dedication to work.
Mr. Farraday
Mr. Farraday is an American aristocrat who takes over from Lord Darlington upon his death, and thus becomes Steves' employer.
Compared to Lord Darlington, Mr. Farraday is nowhere near as formal -- and teases Stevens at his inability to be more casual and
relaxed.
Sir David Cardinal
Sir David Cardinal is a friend of Lord Darlington's who shares his pro-German sympathies. SPecifically, David Cardinal believes
that Germany should not have to pay reparations or suffer tremendously as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. He also asks Lord
Darlington, who in turn asks Stevens, to teach his son Reginald about the birds and the bees.
Sir Reginald Cardinald
Reginald Cardinal is quite different from his father in that he is anti-fascist and anti-Nazi. Indeed, Sir Cardinal tells Stevens that
Lord Darlington is being unduly influenced by his father to take pro-German action and ultimately help prop up the Nazis.
Herr Ribbentrop
Herr Ribbentrop becomes a close friend to Lord Darlington while serving as the German Ambassador during World War II. He
becomes a chief source of propagating Lord Darlington's pro-German sentiments.
Mr. Lewis
Mr. Lewis is an American senator who visits Lord Darlington's convention that aims to lift German penalties for supporting the
World War I Axis. In the end, he denounces Lord Darlington as an amateur politician.
Mr. Dupont
Mr. Dupont is a friend of Lord Darlington who attends his seminal 1923 conference to help alleviate the penalties on the Germans
post WW1. He arrives with sores on his feet and makes it a point of constantly harassing Stevens for medicine, ultimately leading
Stevens to spend more time with him than his dying father.
Herr Breman
Herr Breman is another German friend of Lord Darlington's who ultimately kills himself. Lord Darlington uses him as an example
of the terrible conditions in post WW1 Germany.

Mr. John Silver

Mr. Silver is Stevens' father's employer before Lord Darlington.
Rosemary and Agnes
Stevens' current staff at Darlington Hall includes Rosemary and Agnes, two young girls.
Mrs. Clements and Mrs. Mortimer
Mrs. Clements is the current cook at Darlington Hall while Mrs. Mortimer worked there during the time of Lord Darlington, Miss
Kenton, and Stevens' father.
Lord Halifax
Lord Halifax is the correspondent to Germany during World War II from Britain, who is also the Foreign Secretary of the country.
Lady Astor
Lady Astor convinces Lord Darlington to fire his two Jewish maids because she is pro-Nazi and pro-fascist (and a member of a
British fascist sympathizer group.)
Mr. Taylor
Mr. Taylor lives in Moscombe with his wife and takes Stevens in when his car runs aground.
Harry Smith
Harry is a friend of the Taylors who has dinner with them the night Stevens arrives. He tells Stevens he is a politician and that it is
man's moral duty to speak up when it comes to his opinions.
Ruth and Sarah
Ruth and Sarah are the two Jewish girls that Lord Darlington fires upon the suggestion of Lady Astor. Miss Kenton tells Stevens
she will quit if they are indeed fired, but later reneges on her vow.
Lloyd George
Lloyd George is the prime minister of England in the years following WW 1, and thus Lord Darlington's efforts on behalf of
Germany are meant mainly to convince Mr. George to change England's harsh policies in the wake of the Treaty of Versailles.
Dr. Carlisle
Dr. Carlisle meets Stevens at the Taylors and offers to give him a ride back to his car after hearing of Stevens' problems. He also
says that he knows Stevens was a servant, and not a dignitary.
Dr. Meredith
Dr. Meredith attends to Stevens' dying father on the pivotal night of Lord Darlington's convention in 1923.
Major Themes
Duty vs. Desire
Perhaps the deepest theme of Ishiguro's novel involves the conflict between Stevens' duties and his personal desires which in his
mind are in profound conflict. Stevens always believed that a dignified butler never let his facade go - never let go of the
professionalism no matter the circumstances. Thus, though he is deeply in love with Miss Kenton, Stevens cannot express it - both
because he believes it improper to fall in love with one who serves below him in the staff hierarchy, but moreso because he
believes that such love would be a distraction. The other thing to note is that Stevens is so determined to hold onto his dignity that
he creates a straightjacket for himself that prevents him from feeling emotions or even recognizing them. Indeed, Stevens takes
pleasure in his own asceticism - in his ability to ignore his dying father and focus on the sore foot of a visiting French ambassador,
or in his ability to accept his employer's pro-Nazi sympathizers. What's created, then, is an inverse relationship between duty and
authenticity, leaving Stevens emotionally bankrupt by the end of the novel. At the end, he has nothing but duty and must finally
sacrifice his desires entirely.
Dignity vs. Authenticity
One of the more compelling aspects of Stevens' philosophy involves his definition of dignity. According to Stevens, a butler has
dignity if he is able to maintain his professionalism no matter what the circumstances. According to Stevens, dignity is holding on
to one's duty no matter what's happening around you. But he finds others with competing definitions. At the Taylor's house in
Moscombe, he meets a man who believes that dignity comprises quite the opposite - namely the ability to express oneself fully,
authentically. In this man's definition, a person who represses his own feelings and opinions in the name of professionalism would
be considered "undignified". Thus part of the point of Ishiguro's story is to lay out the basis for two different understandings of
what dignity means and offer a character stranded between them. Ultimately, of course, Stevens follows his own definition, but
suffers the consequences of finding his deep feelings sublimated, crying out for acknowledgment. In the end, he loses his dignity
by recognizing his feelings and discovering that he indeed had followed the wrong definition all along.
Formal vs. Informal Relationships
In the course of the novel, we're exposed to a slew of different social interactions - many of which demand formal interaction and
others which can subsist on more casual engagement. All are dictated by class hierarchy, specifically associated with the British
aristocracy in the time the novel takes place - namely the early twentieth-century. Stevens is extremely fastidious about the
formality of his interactions. We sense that he learned this from his father, who treats his son with the utmost formality. Even close
to death, Stevens' father is concerned with his duties - only able to acknowledge his relationship with his son as he takes his last
breaths. Stevens, meanwhile, is so tied to his own formal nature that he is unable to 'banter' or joke with his new employer, Mr.
Farraday, without having to practice incessantly. Stevens even goes so far as to try out his new bantering skills when he visits

Moscombe, but finds that in his new context as an individual, not a servant, his bantering is taken differently. Stevens, upon
leaving Darilngton Hall, suddenly realizes that there is a world outside rigid formality.
Aspiring vs. Settling
By the end of the novel, we find ourselves with characters that much choose between seeking to fulfill their dreams or settling for
what's most readily available. In the case of Miss Kenton, for instance, she always loved Stevens and fully gave him the chance to
intervene in her marriage before she accepted her husband's proposal. When he doesn't, however, Miss Kenton makes the choice
to marry a man she doesn't necessarily love. But at the end of a twenty-year journey, when Stevens finally does find her again, we
discover that Miss Kenton never did come to terms with her settling - but only recently has accepted that she will never find the
passionate love to which she aspired. Stevens ultimately makes the same decision when faced with Miss Kenton's story of the last
twenty years. Instead of confessing his love for Miss Kenton at this pivotal moment, then, he agrees with her and tells her to go
back to her husband. He heads back to Darlington Hall, settling for his duty and renouncing love.
Upstairs vs. Downstairs
Stevens inhabits two worlds. There is the 'upstairs' world which involves serving Lord Darlington and Mr. Farraday and all their
guests -- a world in which he must maintain rigid formality and attentiveness at all times. Stevens sees himself fully as an
extension of Lord Darlington at this point - without his own desires or identity. In the 'downstairs' world, however, Stevens is not
subservient, and instead fully in charge of his own staff. In one world then, he is acquiescent, while in the other he takes the reins.
These two worlds come into conflict precisely because they require different conceptions of identity. Upstairs, Stevens must learn
to let go of his own ego, feelings, and desires in order to do his job as professionally as he can. Downstairs, however, Stevens
finds his feelings constantly stirred by human events - the death of his father, falling in love with Miss Kenton, the firing of two
maids because of their religious faiths. Upstairs, then, he wears a mask, while downstairs he takes it off. The question is whether
Stevens can reconcile these two worlds - a feat which he ultimately fails to achieve.
Ego vs. Subservience
Perhaps one of the more compelling moments in The Remains of the Day comes when Stevens has dinner at the Taylors' house in
Moscombe and details the stories of his time at Darlington Hall without revealing that he was a butler during the time. At this
precise moment, then, we see the conflict between a man who still preserves his own sense of ego and integrity and a man who's
given his life over to another. Outside of Darlington Hall, Stevens finds power in appropriating the power of an aristocrat, if even
fleetingly. To be his own man, even for this brief moment, is enough to give him an intoxicating feeling of freedom. When he's
discovered, however, he feels relieved - as if finding his place as a butler again reminds him of the truth and makes him feel less
ashamed. Indeed, there is a deep part of Stevens that is afraid to come into his own as a man and make his own decisions. Taking
orders and executing them to the best of his ability is what gives him his self-esteem.
Sexual Desire vs. Sexual Repression
Miss Kenton has managed to find a balance between her duties and her own human qualities - specifically her ability to temper
human sexual desire with her ability to remain a professional. On her vacation days, she visits with a man, and sees a future as a
servant not in conflict with that as a wife. Stevens, however, cannot speak in terms of love or human desire. Every time he wants
to compliment Miss Kenton or reach out to her romantically, he can only do it in the context of their work. Miss Kenton grows
increasingly frustrated by his limitations and subtly begs him to just confess his love for her so they might both live their lives to
fulfillment. But Stevens cannot separate his human desire from work - and cannot find any other way of framing his own identity
or sexuality without contextualizing it in work. Ultimately, this enables Miss Kenton to leave Darlington Hall and find life as her
own person - as a wife and mother - while Stevens is condemned to spend the rest of his life alone at Darlington Hall, as if he's a
prisoner.
Prologue - Darlington Hall (July 1956)
Summary:
Stevens, the narrator of Ishiguro's novel, is the head butler to Mr. Farraday, the Lord of Darlington Hall. The story opens with
Stevens prepared to take an 'expedition,' for which he has full permission of Mr. Farraday - including the use of his Ford car - and
for which he has been planning quite some time. Mr. Farraday is on his way to the United States for five weeks in August and
September and has encouraged him to take a break, and drive off somewhere in the country.
At first, Stevens is a bit incredulous, assuming there is little behind Mr. Farraday's suggestion. But his employer presses him,
saying he should take a break from the big house - and he'd even foot the bill for gas. Still, Stevens does not take the prospect of a
'vacation' seriously - until a letter arrives for him. The letter is from Miss Kenton, a former housekeeper at Darlington Hall, who
he has not heard from in seven years. In the letter, Stevens believes he picks up subtle cues from Miss Kenton that she would like
to return to her work at Darlington Hall. And it is for this reason that Stevens plans to undertake the expedition to fully convince
her that such a return would be fully welcome.
Indeed, Stevens has been troubled by his own performance of late. He considers his recent work patchy - riddled with the smallest
of errors that suggest that he is overworked, and may soon make an even bigger error. At present, there are only four staff
members in the house - Mrs. Clements, the new housekeeper, and Rosemary and Agnes, the two girls that help her. But he
believes they are woefully understaffed and that he has given himself far too much to do. The return of Miss Kenton would save
them and the house from inevitable catastrophe.

Stevens takes up the mundane details of planning the trip with extreme care. He fusses about the cost of gas, hotels, snacks and
meals; what to wear, since most of his outfits are formal suits; and a course of itinerary, carefully divined from an encyclopedic
book called The Wonder of England. It is in reviewing the latter - a seven-part photographic epic about the country - that Stevens
sees great possibilities in not only meeting Miss Kenton, but also exploring the England he hasn't seen. He also has quite a bit of
curiosity to see where Miss Kenton ultimately moved in order to get married and live as a wife.
Stevens decides to bring the matter up again with Mr. Farraday. He worries that when his employer brought up the idea earlier, it
was just a momentary impulse, but settles upon broaching the subject during afternoon tea. When he explains the purpose of his
trip, Stevens mentions the plan to visit Miss Kenton, but suddenly loses his conviction, realizing he hadn't cleared with his
employer his plot to add to the staff once more nor made any advances to Miss Kenton to ensure that she did desire to return to
Darlington Hall. His awkwardness produces a single response in Mr. Farraday: 'My, my Stevens. A lady-friend. And at your age?'
Stevens is aghast and embarrassed but secures the necessary permission to go on his trip.
Stevens makes note of his employer's quick wit with words and his ability to banter and make jokes. Stevens himself wishes he
had such facility. He regularly finds himself before Mr. Farraday, the butt of a joke, unable to come up with an appropriate
response. He is sure that bantering is just a sign of friendliness - and there's never any harmful or mean-spirited ribbing involved.
But it requires a sense of casualness which he is not used to, nor has practiced.
Stevens himself, believes that only through practice can he appropriately be up to standards with rejoinders to Farraday's
bantering. He notes that he is quite sure that Farraday is not satisfied with his responses, and even notes that his employer makes
even more stinging barbs these days in an effort to provoke a response. Simply put, Stevens notes that he cannot think of
witticisms quickly enough. He vows to work on his bantering. And with that, he sets out on his trip to meet Miss Kenton in West
England.
Analysis:
Remains of the Day is a remarkable novel for its sheer force of point of view. This is a story told entirely through the protagonist
Stevens' eyes, and is thus one of the most in-depth character studies that classic literature claims - and one the reasons for its
vaunted status. The prologue, then, besides establishing the basic narrative devices that will drive the story forward, does more to
introduce us to the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of the butler of Darlington Hall. Stevens is, to put it mildly, quite detail-oriented,
and certainly obsessive about his duties. But what we first notice about him is a remarkable lack of shame or resentment about his
position. This is not the story of a butler who wants to ascend ranks or secretly despises his master - or ever sees himself equal to
his Lord. Rather, Stevens has one goal and one goal only - to serve the wishes of Mr. Farraday and to do his job as best he can.
But immediately, we begin to see cracks in the facade that suggest that Stevens cares about nothing else but his job. For one thing,
Mr. Farraday is quite adamant that Stevens take a vacation from Darlington Hall, perhaps implying that one might be necessary
for Steven's mental health. Moreover, Stevens seems preoccupied with a letter that's arrived from Miss Kenton - so much so that
when Mr. Farraday alludes to his potential crush on the former Darlington Hall housekeeper, he's simply stating the obvious
subtext of Stevens ruminations on Miss Kenton. Stevens seems particularly regretful of a number of small errors that he's made in
the house, of late, but underneath it is the feeling that he's incredibly lonely - that the absence of Miss Kenton has left him in a
giant manor with no one to talk to. The replacements - Mrs. Clements and the two assisting girls - are simply his employees and
he manages them and thinks of them as nothing more. The idea that Stevens regrets his treatment of Miss Kenton, then, offers the
reader foreshadowing for what will most likely be the climax of the novel - a meeting between the two of them to address the
unfinished business of the past.
As a reader, it's crucial to view Stevens' surface narrative as highly unreliable. Everything he says is weighted with the utmost
subtext. He may extol the The Wonders of England as his inspiration for his trip to the west country, but then a small blip reveals
the truth - that he's curious where Miss Kenton has taken up her married life. He might pontificate about his awkwardness when
bantering with his master, and then offer the quick commitment to becoming better at witticisms - revealing a profound insecurity,
and an even deeper fear of being abandoned or unloved. Miss Kenton has left Darlington Hall to start a new life, to become
married, but Stevens, perhaps out of desperation, perhaps out of desolation, resolves to bring her back and sets out with hope and
fervency. The tone, then, of this opening section is one feverish with hope, buoyed by a sense of renewal and possibility for
Stevens.
The prologue also has a melancholy undertone to it because we realize that Stevens is quite advanced in his years - and perhaps
has reached the twilight of life (or at least the beginning of sunset). Somehow, despite his relentless pursuit of perfection, his
commitment to serving his master, his quest to become a great butler and a great man... it's all not enough. There is an emptiness
in him, a void that he must fill - and one that takes him away from the house and on what may likely be a futile journey. But in the
end, it is for the cause of something he has never had - love.
Besides the rigorous control over point of view, Ishiguro also employs a subtle use of time jumps that suggest a deep 'stream of
consciousness' feel to Stevens' recollections. As the novel continues, pay close attention to how often Stevens takes detours in his
memory, to beef up an assertion or to question one of his own conclusions. What Ishiguro seems to be after is the sense that this
man has come to live his entire life in his mind -- to have lost the desire to engage people, to find true love -- and rather embraced
the narratives of his own head. Only after these narratives have failed to satisfy him does he realize that he is unfulfilled. And so
with that, the journey begins.

Day One (Evening) - Salisbury

Summary:
Stevens sits in a guesthouse in Salisbury and looks back over the first day of his trip. All in all, he says he is quite satisfied. He left
Darlington Hall with an odd feeling, since without him and Mr. Farraday there, it would stand empty for the first time since
perhaps the estate was built. He checks the house again and again to make sure things are in order before he goes. Once he leaves,
he finds himself overtaken with excitement - and alarm - for having journeyed far beyond where he ever had before.
He steps out to stretch his legs and meets a stranger who urges him to walk all the way to the top of the hill, where Stevens will
find a beautiful vista - "You won't get a better view anywhere in the whole of England," says the stranger. Stevens takes up the
man on his challenge and walks to the top of the hill where he finds a magnificent view of the countryside. He is buoyed by the
sight and proceeds with firm resolve to findMiss Kenton and bring her back to solve his current staffing problems.
That afternoon, Stevens arrives at a Salisbury guest house, where he makes up his room, and then ventures out into the streets. He
marvels at the wide, airy nature of the city, at the looming cathedral, but says everything he's seen pales in comparison to the
remarkable view of the countryside he had in the morning. The view reminds him of why the country is called "Great" Britain, and
Stevens begins to consider what it is about a country or a person that makes them great. In particular, he thinks, what is it that
makes a "great butler"?
In the 1920s and 30s, there existed an organization known as the Hayes Society, which held considerable influence over London
and other Counties. The Hayes Society only admitted butlers 'of the very first rank,' and had several criteria for membership.
These included that an applicant be attached to a distinguished household, and that the applicant be possessed of a dignity in
keeping with his position. This word 'dignity' preoccupies Stevens - and he realizes that it is in fact true that all the butlers he
considers great did, in fact, possess true 'dignity.'
Stevens points to his father as one of the 'great' butlers precisely because he maintained such a remarkable sense of dignity. He
recalls one story his father told over the years about a butler he had heard of in India. One afternoon, the butler entered the dining
room and noticed a tiger under the dining table. He then proceeded to the drawing room, where his employer was having tea with
a number of visitors. He calmly attracted his master's attention, whispered to him of the tiger's presence, asked for permission to
shoot it, which he duly received. He then shot the tiger, calmly disposed of the carcass, and when he returned, informed the men
that dinner would be served at the usual time with no discernible traces of the recent occurrence.
Stevens recounts another story that Mr. Charles, an industrialist, tells him about his father's service at Darlington Hall. One
evening, two drunk guests of his Lord asked Stevens to take them on a drive around the local villages. They persuaded Mr.
Charles to accompany them as well. The men were so unruly and loud and vulgar, but still Stevens' father said nothing. Then the
men began to insult Stevens' employer - Mr. John Silver. Stevens' father stopped the car, got out, opened their car door and looked
at them with such authority that the two drunken men 'seemed to cower back like small boys caught by the farmer in the act of
stealing apples.' Under his glare, finally the men apologized, and Stevens' father resumed the journey.
Another story involved Stevens' father and a General who he deeply loathed. Specifically, Stevens' father hated the general
because the General's policies in the Southern African War had led to the death of his second son - Stevens' older brother. The
General came to Stevens' fathers employer's house, and Mr. Silver offered Stevens' father the option of not working those days.
But Stevens' father refused and waited on the General for several days, despite his terrible manners - and did so well, in fact, that
the General left him a substantial tip that Stevens' father donated to charity in disgust.
'Dignity,' then, says Stevens has to do crucially with a butler's ability not to abandon the professional being he inhabits. In other
words, a butler must be a tremendous actor - never to react to provocation and drop their facade. They can inhabit their role,
maintain it, and not be shaken out, no matter what the circumstances.
Analysis:
If the first chapter of Remains of the Day set up the narrative frame for the novel - namely Stevens' trip to West England, then this
second chapter sets up the figurative and thematic frames. Here, Stevens ruminates on what it is that makes a great butler - what
separates one from the masses that populate the history of the profession. He settles upon the word 'dignity' as that which
distinguishes the cream of the crop and even comes to establish a definition. Stevens is extremely ordered in his thinking. For even
though Remains of the Day is a stream-of-consciousness character study - a peek inside Stevens' head - he thinks in paragraphs
that often begin with a hypothetical question, and end with a conclusion. The paradox of Stevens is that no matter how terse or
concise he is with his actual speaking, he is a loquacious thinker - prone to diversion, exposition, and long stretches of
contemplation.
The definition of 'dignity' that Stevens establishes seems at once honorable and disturbing. Dignity, in his eyes, is the ability to
inhabit the professionalism of the butler and never drop the facade. In other words, to lose ones natural instincts and become
unflappable in the name of service is the highest aim of one who undertakes the profession. It is no wonder, then, that Stevens is
so uncomfortable in moments of silence, solitude, purposelessness. He has, quite simply, abdicated his own soul in order to be a
better butler.
Most defining characters of classic literature have a crucial 'want' that defines their life. Some, for instance, want to find their
identiy, others to prove their manhood, others to find love. But for Stevens, here we see that his defining quest is to prove his
worth as his father's son - to become a great butler in order to honor his father. But Stevens doesn't seem to consider himself a
great butler. There is a sense of melancholy in his inability to completely relinquish feelings in the same way that his father did able to even stomach his son's de facto killer in the name of serving his employer.

What Stevens, of course, wants deep down is love. It is perhaps obvious that he didn't receive it from his father, has yet to receive
it from a woman, and he has now began to face that chasm of unfulfillment that comes once one reaches the twilight of life. He
had never left Darlington Hall before, and now sets out with the purpose of bringing a woman back - for staffing needs, perhaps,
but more to find a way to have his professional and personal desires coalesce. For bringing back Miss Kenton will not only enable
Stevens to improve the household - and thus his chances of greatness as a butler - but to also fulfill a profound emptiness that has
begun to impede his professional work. The irony of Stevens is that without Miss Kenton at the house, he should be able to focus
even more clearly on his work. But without her there, he's become increasingly distracted and careless.
Mr. Farraday is a bit of a nebulous character, but we should not necessarily attribute this to Mr. Farraday himself. It is Stevens,
after all, who defines him - and Stevens seems only to remark about the instances where he's frustrated by his employer's sense of
ease and banter. Because what Farraday has that makes Stevens respect him so much is that delicious sense of ease within himself
that Stevens envies, perhaps fears. Where some masters are intimidating, Farraday is quite the opposite - casual, loose - and this
terrifies Stevens. So much so that he resolves to practice being casual in order to be more at ease in front of his employer - one of
the remarkable ironies of Stevens' characters that will develop even more as we proceed.
Day One (Evening) - Salisbury
Summary:
Stevens sits in a guesthouse in Salisbury and looks back over the first day of his trip. All in all, he says he is quite satisfied. He left
Darlington Hall with an odd feeling, since without him and Mr. Farraday there, it would stand empty for the first time since
perhaps the estate was built. He checks the house again and again to make sure things are in order before he goes. Once he leaves,
he finds himself overtaken with excitement - and alarm - for having journeyed far beyond where he ever had before.
He steps out to stretch his legs and meets a stranger who urges him to walk all the way to the top of the hill, where Stevens will
find a beautiful vista - "You won't get a better view anywhere in the whole of England," says the stranger. Stevens takes up the
man on his challenge and walks to the top of the hill where he finds a magnificent view of the countryside. He is buoyed by the
sight and proceeds with firm resolve to findMiss Kenton and bring her back to solve his current staffing problems.
That afternoon, Stevens arrives at a Salisbury guest house, where he makes up his room, and then ventures out into the streets. He
marvels at the wide, airy nature of the city, at the looming cathedral, but says everything he's seen pales in comparison to the
remarkable view of the countryside he had in the morning. The view reminds him of why the country is called "Great" Britain, and
Stevens begins to consider what it is about a country or a person that makes them great. In particular, he thinks, what is it that
makes a "great butler"?
In the 1920s and 30s, there existed an organization known as the Hayes Society, which held considerable influence over London
and other Counties. The Hayes Society only admitted butlers 'of the very first rank,' and had several criteria for membership.
These included that an applicant be attached to a distinguished household, and that the applicant be possessed of a dignity in
keeping with his position. This word 'dignity' preoccupies Stevens - and he realizes that it is in fact true that all the butlers he
considers great did, in fact, possess true 'dignity.'
Stevens points to his father as one of the 'great' butlers precisely because he maintained such a remarkable sense of dignity. He
recalls one story his father told over the years about a butler he had heard of in India. One afternoon, the butler entered the dining
room and noticed a tiger under the dining table. He then proceeded to the drawing room, where his employer was having tea with
a number of visitors. He calmly attracted his master's attention, whispered to him of the tiger's presence, asked for permission to
shoot it, which he duly received. He then shot the tiger, calmly disposed of the carcass, and when he returned, informed the men
that dinner would be served at the usual time with no discernible traces of the recent occurrence.
Stevens recounts another story that Mr. Charles, an industrialist, tells him about his father's service at Darlington Hall. One
evening, two drunk guests of his Lord asked Stevens to take them on a drive around the local villages. They persuaded Mr.
Charles to accompany them as well. The men were so unruly and loud and vulgar, but still Stevens' father said nothing. Then the
men began to insult Stevens' employer - Mr. John Silver. Stevens' father stopped the car, got out, opened their car door and looked
at them with such authority that the two drunken men 'seemed to cower back like small boys caught by the farmer in the act of
stealing apples.' Under his glare, finally the men apologized, and Stevens' father resumed the journey.
Another story involved Stevens' father and a General who he deeply loathed. Specifically, Stevens' father hated the general
because the General's policies in the Southern African War had led to the death of his second son - Stevens' older brother. The
General came to Stevens' fathers employer's house, and Mr. Silver offered Stevens' father the option of not working those days.
But Stevens' father refused and waited on the General for several days, despite his terrible manners - and did so well, in fact, that
the General left him a substantial tip that Stevens' father donated to charity in disgust.
'Dignity,' then, says Stevens has to do crucially with a butler's ability not to abandon the professional being he inhabits. In other
words, a butler must be a tremendous actor - never to react to provocation and drop their facade. They can inhabit their role,
maintain it, and not be shaken out, no matter what the circumstances.
Analysis:
If the first chapter of Remains of the Day set up the narrative frame for the novel - namely Stevens' trip to West England, then this
second chapter sets up the figurative and thematic frames. Here, Stevens ruminates on what it is that makes a great butler - what
separates one from the masses that populate the history of the profession. He settles upon the word 'dignity' as that which
distinguishes the cream of the crop and even comes to establish a definition. Stevens is extremely ordered in his thinking. For even
though Remains of the Day is a stream-of-consciousness character study - a peek inside Stevens' head - he thinks in paragraphs

that often begin with a hypothetical question, and end with a conclusion. The paradox of Stevens is that no matter how terse or
concise he is with his actual speaking, he is a loquacious thinker - prone to diversion, exposition, and long stretches of
contemplation.
The definition of 'dignity' that Stevens establishes seems at once honorable and disturbing. Dignity, in his eyes, is the ability to
inhabit the professionalism of the butler and never drop the facade. In other words, to lose ones natural instincts and become
unflappable in the name of service is the highest aim of one who undertakes the profession. It is no wonder, then, that Stevens is
so uncomfortable in moments of silence, solitude, purposelessness. He has, quite simply, abdicated his own soul in order to be a
better butler.
Most defining characters of classic literature have a crucial 'want' that defines their life. Some, for instance, want to find their
identiy, others to prove their manhood, others to find love. But for Stevens, here we see that his defining quest is to prove his
worth as his father's son - to become a great butler in order to honor his father. But Stevens doesn't seem to consider himself a
great butler. There is a sense of melancholy in his inability to completely relinquish feelings in the same way that his father did able to even stomach his son's de facto killer in the name of serving his employer.
What Stevens, of course, wants deep down is love. It is perhaps obvious that he didn't receive it from his father, has yet to receive
it from a woman, and he has now began to face that chasm of unfulfillment that comes once one reaches the twilight of life. He
had never left Darlington Hall before, and now sets out with the purpose of bringing a woman back - for staffing needs, perhaps,
but more to find a way to have his professional and personal desires coalesce. For bringing back Miss Kenton will not only enable
Stevens to improve the household - and thus his chances of greatness as a butler - but to also fulfill a profound emptiness that has
begun to impede his professional work. The irony of Stevens is that without Miss Kenton at the house, he should be able to focus
even more clearly on his work. But without her there, he's become increasingly distracted and careless.
Mr. Farraday is a bit of a nebulous character, but we should not necessarily attribute this to Mr. Farraday himself. It is Stevens,
after all, who defines him - and Stevens seems only to remark about the instances where he's frustrated by his employer's sense of
ease and banter. Because what Farraday has that makes Stevens respect him so much is that delicious sense of ease within himself
that Stevens envies, perhaps fears. Where some masters are intimidating, Farraday is quite the opposite - casual, loose - and this
terrifies Stevens. So much so that he resolves to practice being casual in order to be more at ease in front of his employer - one of
the remarkable ironies of Stevens' characters that will develop even more as we proceed.
Day Two (Morning) - Salisbury
Summary:
Stevens has a rough time sleeping and awakes in the dark. In these quiet moments, he finds himself going over passages
from Miss Kenton's letter. He says that Miss Kenton should be called Mrs. Benn, since she has now been married for twenty years.
But because he knew her only during her maiden years, he continues calling her Miss Kenton. Stevens now reveals that Miss
Kenton's marriage has come to an end. She has moved out of Mr. Benn's house and is living with an acquaintance in a nearby
village. Stevens says that it is tragic that her marriage is ended, but he wonders whether coming back to Darlington Hall might
relieve her of her loneliness. Stevens has read her letter closely, and believes he has found a running subtext of despair. He sees
emptiness, unfulfillment in Miss Kenton's tone, and the change in her makes him reminisce back to her days working alongside
him and her father at Darlington Hall.
Miss Kenton and Stevens' father both arrived at Darlington Hall in the Spring of 1922. Stevens says they came at the same time
because an underbutler and housekeeper had a secret affair and then left the house to marry. Stevens makes it clear he finds such
liaisons a threat to the order of the house, and is especially disdainful of those who jump from house to house looking for romance
with little sense of responsibility to their profession. (But he does not include Miss Kenton in this description for he always found
her work of the highest quality.)
Stevens' father had come to the house of the death of his previous employer and was suffering from arthritis. WIth Stevens's father
in the house, Stevens and Miss Kenton often found themselves at odds over him. The first battle comes when Miss Kenton address
his father as 'William,' prompting Stevens to ask her to call him 'Mr. Stevens senior,' despite Miss Kenton's higher rank. Stevens
implies that his father is superior at his job, which Miss Kenton begins to take issue with when Stevens' father makes a number of
errors. First, he leaves a dust-pan in the hall, in plain view of those who might visit the house. Then he leaves traces of polish on
the silver, and then manages to reverse two sculptures. The last error leads to a blowup where Miss Kenton tells Stevens that his
father has been entrusted with far more than he can handle. Steven retorts that she is foolish.
Things come to a head, however, when Stevens' father suffers a terrible fall while carrying a tray out to guests on the lawn. The
doctor arrives and lets Lord Darlingtonknow that Stevens' father is overworked. Stevens speaks to his father privately, and quickly
we see that their relationship is stilted and dominated by work. Stevens tells his father that his workload will be reduced, and his
father is at once embarrassed and quick to blame the fall on the crookedness of the lawn steps. Later that evening, Miss Kenton
and Stevens see Stevens' father on those same steps, walking up and down them "as though he hoped to find some precious jewel
he had dropped there."
Stevens realizes he may have treated his father brusquely, and proceeds to tell a story that he considers the 'turning point of his
life,' one that might further explicate his relationship with his father. The story involves a conference held at Darlington Hall in
March 1923, convened partly because of Lord Darlington's friendship with Herr Bremann, an officer in the German army during
World War I. Herr Bremann returned to Darlington Hall in the years after the war, and looked increasingly gaunt and disheveled

each time. Seeing his friend deteriorate, Lord Darlington had become preoccupied with how the treaty that ended World War I had
left Germany to fend for itself - and England had disgraced its own values by neglecting a defeated foe so obviously.
Soon after, Herr Bremann shoots himself, which Lord Darlington harbors deep guilt and resentment over. In his eyes, England was
responsible for the officer's death for not helping the Germans after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. As a result, then, this
convention at Darlington Hall will assemble Britons, Germans, Belgians, French, Italians, and Swiss in all ranks - clergymen,
military gentlemen, writers and thinkers - in order to determine how to correct the Treaty of Versailles to that Germany and its
inhabitants were not punished so severely and forced into economic chaos. Indeed, Lord Darlington believed that if the economic
spiral of Germany were not stopped, it could spread with alarming rapidity to the world at large.
Stevens notes that the preparations for the conference are increasingly hectic and stressful. He takes an enormous amount of
responsibility on his shoulders, believing that if the conference does not go perfectly - and any guests find their stay
uncomfortable - it would have terrible repercussions. Stevens notices that Miss Kenton is particularly piqued. When he points out
to her that the bed linens upstairs have to be changed, she retorts that she not only has it under control, but that if she were had as
much time as he apparently does, she would go around the house reminding him of tasks that he had 'perfectly well in hand.'
Stevens offers his own rejoinder attesting to Miss Kenton's lack of experience, which seems to be the last straw. She insists that
Stevens not speak to her directly ever again and use a messenger or go-between instead. She leaves him and goes back to his
work. Stevens has no time to consider this incident for the guests have just begun to arrive.
Analysis:
Time is always fluid in _Remains of the Day_, so often we lose track of whether we are in the present or the past, and the status of
the relationships. It is a novel of stream-of-consciousness reminiscence, and it is only because Stevens' mind is so ordered that we
end up having a picaresque view of events - in other words, one that is episodic and anecdotal. In this particular section, we see
the convergence of a few streams in the narrative. First off, we begin to understand the fraught, frigid relationship between
Stevens and his father. Second, we begin to see that sexual tension appears to overwhelm the relationship between Stevens and
Miss Kenton. And finally, we're poised for a key event at the end of the sequence that will likely bring all these matters to a head namely the conference at Lord Darlington Hall to suggest revisions to the Treaty of Versailles. The political machinations of the
conference provide context as well as parallelism to the more domestic dramas between Stevens and the rest of the staff that
unfold during the conference.
To begin with Stevens and his father, it's quite clear that Stevens is truly awed by his father's devotion to service and his father's
'dignity' in maintaining his professionalism at all times. Thus when Stevens' father begins to lose his step a bit - making errors that
Stevens is not used to seeing from him - he reacts with denial at first. Deep down, Stevens knows two things - that his father is a
'great' butler, and that for him to give up his profession would most certainly lead to his death. He finds that Miss Kenton will
conspire on neither count - that she calls his father 'William' because he is of junior rank, and she agrees that he should be relieved
of some of his duties. It is the first seed of tension between Stevens and Miss Kenton.
Stevens, himself, is completely uncomfortable talking to his father. It is clearly apparent that Stevens' father commitment to his
duties has become his primary relationship and overwhelmed any sense of responsibility to his son. His son is merely a worker in
the same house, it seems - and they maintain a relationship that is burdened with formalism, decorum, and impersonal
communication. It is perhaps clear, then, that Stevens can only communicate his emotions in terms of work. When he is frustrated,
he lashes out at another's work habits; when he is amorous, he compliments one's work - everything must be conveyed through
professionalism.
This tendency to sublimate emotions into work is what brings Stevens and Miss Kenton's relationship to a head. By now, it is quite
apparent that Stevens has taken a liking to Miss Kenton. And indeed, when he wants to engage her, he says simply that she should
clean the upstairs. Miss Kenton, for her part, wants no part of such work-related flirtation, and in fact, takes his comments quite
literally. When Stevens labels Miss Kenton 'inexperienced,' it seems to be done with the utmost affection, but she is enraged by it.
Something about Stevens' tendency to operate in subtext consistently sets her off and ultimately leads to her severing
communication altogether. Remember, Stevens is most definitely the protagonist of the novel, while there seems to be an absent
antagonist. Every episode seems to have its own - Miss Kenton at times, perhaps Lord Darlington - but overall, the antagonist
seems to be Stevens himself.
The conference that Lord Darlington organizes is one with an explicitly political purpose - namely to revise the Treaty of
Versailles. What we must remember in all the political machinations that follow is that Stevens ultimately has no power to affect
the dealings of his master. It is a classic upstairs-downstairs narrative where Stevens has full power to comment on the goings-on
and make his observation, but cannot actually interfere in them. The irony, however, is that Stevens ultimately feels more
responsibility for his employer's life, then for his own. We get exposition, often as a result, as opposed to introspection. As a
result, then, he is not a classical hero - and is forced into a passivity unusual to protagonists of character novels.
Day Two (Morning) - Salisbury (PART 2)
Summary:
As the preparation for the convention continues, Lord Darlington calls Stevens in to give him an unusual and confidential task. Sir
David Cardinal, instrumental in organizing the convention, has brought his son Mr. Reginald, who is twenty-three and engaged to
be married. Lord Darlington is the young man's godfather and has been entrusted by Sir David with the responsibility of teaching
his son 'the facts of life' before his wedding day. Lord Darlington tells Stevens that he's terribly busy and simply can't find the time

to do it - and asks that Stevens does it instead. Stevens obliges but fails on two occasions and finally gives up, since Mr. Lewis, the
American senator arrives two days early.
The major guests at the conference include Mr. Lewis and M. Dupont from France. Before the Frenchman arrives, Lord
Darlington tells Mr. Lewis that he's aghast by the French attitude towards the Germans. It is unbecoming to hate an enemy once
they are defeated - and he is insistent that the British do not adopt this same bullying mentality. The next morning two countesses
around from Germany, as well as an Italian, and soon enough the rest of the guests begin to arrive. Stevens tries one last time to
talk to Mr. Cardinal about the birds and the bees, but has to abort the plan when he finds out that M. Dupont has arrived - and in a
most foul temper.
Mr Dupont is a tall, elegant gentleman who arrives upset because some sores on his feet are growing septic. But ironically on the
first day of the conference, it's not M. Dupont that requires severe medical attention - but rather Stevens' father. Stevens runs up to
his room to find his father ashen, feverish, and Miss Kenton duly informs him that she will take over monitoring him - and that
Stevens should return to work. That evening, Stevens overhears a conversation between Dupont and Mr. Lewis where Mr. Lewis
tells the Frenchman of his conversation with Lord Darlington earlier - the one in which he called the French 'despicable' and
'barbarous'.
This seems to cause the next day's conference discussions to be heated and intense. Stevens tries to keep track of what's
happening, but he also must attend to his father. Stevens finally speaks to his sick father, and his father says that he's 'proud' of
him - he's been a 'good son' and he hopes he's been a 'good father,' ending only with 'I suppose I haven't.' Stevens replies that the
can talk in the morning as they're extremely busy.
On the last night of the conference, Dupont gives a speech where he says that he's been eminently impressed by Lord Darlington's
efforts and the attempts to ensure German quality of life after the Treaty of Versailles. He says he is determined to lessen the
scornful attitude of the French towards the Germans, and here stops to mock Mr. Lewis, who he said secretly spoke behind
everyone's back. Mr. Lewis is humiliated, and the rest of the table goes on to toast Lord Darlington. Lewis stands up to make his
own speech, and declares that they are all intensely naive and that Darlington is an amateur. Darlington closes by saying simply
that he believes in honesty and truth - and his amateurism should actually be called 'honour.'
Miss Kenton comes immediately to tell Stevens that his father has become very ill. Stevens runs upstairs, but then has to come
back down to check on the guests. Darlington asks him whether anything's wrong, but Stevens says its merely been the strain of a
hard day. Miss Kenton comes down and informs him that his father has passed away. Miss Kenton asks if he will come up and see
his father now, but Stevens says he is quite busy and his father would have preferred that he 'carry on.' Stevens takes care of
Dupont, whose feet are giving him trouble, and then finally attends to Dr. Meredith, who informs Stevens that his father died as
the result of a massive stroke. Stevens asks the doctor to attend to Mr. Dupont.
We return to the present day, then, where Stevens recalls all these events. He looks back and says that that night he displayed the
level of 'dignity' that would make him a great butler. He remembers that day not for its sense of sadness, but for the triumph of
maintaining his professionalism even in the harshest of circumstances.
Analysis:
In perhaps one of the most heartbreaking moments of the novel, Stevens cannot attend to his own father on his deathbed because
of his piety to his professional duties. Perhaps even more heartbreaking is that looking back at this confluence of events, Stevens
views it as a triumph, rather than a tragedy. He does not look back with sadness on his father's death, rather pride that he was able
to maintain his dignity and professionalism in the face of such chaos and pain. This single moment, it seems, makes him believe
that he was worthy of being called a 'great' butler. The paradox of this moment, of course, is that what makes Stevens a great
butler also makes him an unfulfilled human.
The idea of 'confidence' seems to permeate the novel at every level of the term - confidence in terms of trust, confidence in terms
of secrecy, even confidence in terms of self-belief. In the case of Stevens, he is entrusted by Lord Darlington with the most
delicate and seemingly inappropriate matters - for instance, informing Mr. Cardinal about sex. At the same time, though, Stevens
does not trust Lord Darlington enough to let him know the goings-on in his own life. Truly he would see this as a disruption of his
professionalism, but there is also the implicit sense that Stevens is afraid of being seen as weak. The situation with the young Mr.
Cardinal is a larger metaphor for Stevens' own reluctance to find comfort in his own sexuality.
In the earlier chapter, Miss Kenton noted that she no longer wished to speak to Mr. Stevens directly and it would have to be done
through a messenger from now on. Ironically that messenger turns out to be Stevens' father. Indeed, it is Stevens' father in his
illness that brings them back together, as Miss Kenton vows to stay by his side even though Stevens must press on with his work.
In many way,s Miss Kenton comes to symbolize Stevens' severed heart. She understands the tenor of a man who would relinquish
his own father in order to preserve the semblance of his duties. Suddenly she does not take Stevens' slights so personally.
Stevens, even more than his father though, does actually have emotions that overtake him. Where Stevens' father learned to quell
his emotions entirely - hence leading to Stevens' belief that he pales in comparison to his father's greatness - Stevens occasionally
must surrender. Indeed, when he's running upstairs and downstairs, between jolly guests and his dying father, he can't help but
shed tears. But when confronted with this by Lord Darlington, Steven wipes his tears as if they're sweat, and attests only to the
hard work of a long day.
Perhaps one of the odder moments in the novel comes when Stevens is asked by Lord Darlington to inform Mr. Cardinal about the
'facts of life.' Suddenly reading these passages, we're terribly concerned as to whether Stevens himself has ever experienced carnal
love. The discomfort of having to explain biological processes to a young man engaged to be married can only be more

humiliating to one who never managed to find his own love. Again, Stevens finds a way to be distracted by his duties. But slowly
we see that all the aspects of life he should have enjoyed - family, love, marriage, children - have never been broached, merely
swept away in the name of work.
Day Two (Afternoon) - Mortimer's Pond, Dorset
Summary:
Stevens returns to the definition of a 'great' butler as determined by the Hayes Society - namely the butler must be a member of a
'distinguished' household. Stevens says his generation has a much more idealistic view of this definition of the word
'distinguished.' His generation believes that a distinguished man furthers the progress of humanity and aspires to noble causes. In
his generation, other butlers are willing to leave not just over wages, but also over the moral worth of one's employers.
Butlers of Stevens' father's generation tended to see the world in terms of a ladder - and thus a distinguished household often
represented the houses of royalty or the houses of lords. Any butler in his father's generation, then, simply climbed the ladder as
high as possible - and the higher he went, the more professional prestige he accumulated. The Hayes Society endorsed this view as
well. But later, the new generation viewed the world not as a ladder, but more as a 'wheel' - meaning that they cared about who
they served, and they wanted to serve those to whom civilization was entrusted.
Stevens is taking a drive through Dorset, and suddenly realizes that his employer's Ford is emanating a weird smell. he parks the
car, and finds a Victorian house a ways away. At the house, he meets a man who puts water in the Ford's radiator, which promptly
gets it going again. Stevens asks him how many people are employed at the house, but the man tells him that his employer, the
Colonel, is trying to get rid of the house. The man asks Stevens whether he worked for Lord Darlington, but Stevens says no. They
part with the man telling Stevens to visit a local pond so he can meet his employer, the Colonel.
At Mortimer's Pond, Stevens begins to think about why he denied working for Lord Darlington. He did this once before, when Mr.
and Mrs. Wakefield, an American couple that moved to England, came to visit Darlington Hall. Stevens realizes that he isn't
necessarily ashamed of working for Mr. Darlington, but there are just too many foolish things said about Lord Darlington for him
to take responsibility for correcting. He says Lord Darlington was a man of great moral stature, no matter what people say, and he
is proud and grateful to have been given the privilege to work for him.
Stevens lodges at the Couch and Horses outside of Taunton, Somerset, a cottage by the roadside. He ventures down to the bar,
where one of the men tells him he won't get much sleep because of the master and mistress' arguing. Stevens uses the opportunity
to make a joke back: 'A local variation on the cock crow, no doubt.' But clearly they don't get it. Stevens is upset that his joke
didn't work, especially since he's been listening to a broadcast humor show on the ratio regularly and studying the programme.
Later, he considers all the reasons his joke didn't work.
Stevens sits and has tea in Taunton close to the Market Square. He muses about the nearby village of Mursden, where a famous
firm named Giffen and Co. used to manufacture a silver polish that put the town on the map. He believes that silver polish came to
be one of the key shifts in his profession - the emphasis on silver-polishing as one of the key duties of a butler. He looks back on
one butler named Mr. Marshall, who achieved greatness because of his famous silver polishing skills.
Stevens recalls that polishing silver at Darlington Hall often had a pleasing impact on observers. He remembers Lady Astor and
George Bernard Shaw both taking note of the beauty of his polishing work. Even Lord Halifax told Lord Darlington that the silver
in the house was a delight. Stevens continues his stream of consciousness reminiscing and remembers Herr Ribbentrop, a man
who people believed was determined to deceive England about Hitler and Germany's true intentions in 1936-1937. Stevens,
however, believed Herr Ribbentrop was an honorable gentleman, and Lord Darlington frequently stayed with Nazi sympathizers
because at the time, they were considered significant people in the German administration and extremely hospitable.
Stevens says that his work as a butler often influenced the mood of important political guests and led to them admiring his
employer, Lord Darlington. He was particularly proud of his silver polishing skills back then and found that even the most
demanding guests were impressed by it. But now his work has slipped. Only recently, he saw Mr. Farradayscrutinizing a dirty fork
-- which Stevens had to promptly replace. Stevens again blames the mistake on the staff shortage and looks forward to correcting
the error once Miss Kenton arrives.
Analysis:
The last moments of the chapter bring what is a rather aimless section to a dramatic close. For a good portion of this section,
Stevens waxes rather oddly upon the importance of silver polishing. The subtext of all this is how deeply he believed in the
significance of the details of his work. Indeed, in Stevens' mind, the quality of his work had an undue influence on the attitude of
his guests towards his employer. If he did good work with the silver, then inevitably, even the most exacting guests would
compliment the silver to Lord Darlington, leading to Stevens essentially changing the mood of the household. If a guest entered
the house in a foul mood, then he might leave much more content upon seeing the care with which Darlington took care of his
house.
But now, it seems, there's a crack in Stevens' facade. He no longer seems to have the same attention to detail as he used to - and in
fact, Lord Farraday has noticed the lapse in his work. Stevens blames it on his staff shortage, but it's clear that he's lost a little bit
of his own motivation and self-belief. He's looking for something bigger it seems than just clean silver. And indeed, what he's
looking for seems to be layered in with his search for Miss Kenton - she will at once provide him the staff necessary to bring the
silver back to its previous quality and to also fulfill the emptiness that has begun to distract him and which is slowly creeping over
and dominating his life.

Stevens is an interesting character in that he is not completely of the old guard, but rather a transitional generation. Indeed, most of
this section concerns itself with what his peers look for when choosing an employer. In his father's day, Stevens believed that a
person's worth as a butler was tied entirely to that of his employer. In other words, one simply absorbed the rank and reputation of
his boss. But in Stevens' generation, the principles changed slightly - so that butlers now cared deeply about the moral reputation
of their employers rather than just their actual rank in society. The butlers, then, have to be extremely conscious of their
employer's politics, which explains Stevens' deep knowledge about Darlington's inner consciousness. Moreover, it explains the
constant need for Stevens to explain his employer's friendships and relationships.
Stevens puts such deep emphasis on practicing and training and work ethic that we can't be surprised by t relentless effort he puts
into becoming better at bantering. In this particular instance, he listens to a radio program with an emphasis on humor, in order to
develop his comic witticisms. When he arrives at the lodge in Somerset, he sees an opportunity to put his learnings to use, but his
joke falls flat. We can feel the disappointment. Deep down, we get the sense that Stevens wants to be as normal as the commoners
he meets - at ease in his own skin. But he is so deeply ensconced in the idea of being a 'great' butler that he cannot let go of his
armor. He has lost touch with his own soul.
Deep down, Stevens seems deeply repressed about his own desires. In many ways, he is attempting to construct a narrative of
consciousness and introspection in order to find the Holy Grail - happiness. For so many years, he found distraction, fulfillment in
his work, but we sense that the moment Miss Kenton left, he began a slow decline, even though his desire for her was probably
subconscious. At the same time, there wasn't much Stevens could do - so tied to propriety, he had to wait until Miss Kenton's
marriage had ended. The moment it does, he seizes upon her latest letter as evidence that she is waiting for him to come and
rescue her - and bring her back to his castle, like a prince in a fairy tale.
Day Three (Evening) - Moscombe Near Tavistock, Devon
Summary:
Stevens feels he has to qualify some of his statements from earlier, and returns to the idea of Lord Darlington's purported antiSemitism. According to Stevens, there was the rumor that people of Jewish faith were not allowed on the staff of Darlington Hall.
Stevens says he can refute this with authority. There was one incident, however, when Mrs. Barnet, a member of a local
'blackshirts' organization and friend of Lord Darlington, spent a good deal of time visiting one summer. Soon after, Lord
Darlington barred Jews from the staff of the Hall and Stevens was forced to fire two maids.
Later that night, Stevens informs Miss Kenton that they will have to fire the two Jewish maids. Stevens is himself clearly
concerned by Lord Darlington's request but he says they must fulfill Lord Darlington's orders, since he is their employer. Miss
Kenton, on the other hand, is completely aghast. She says that if Stevens agrees that the girls are good workers, then he's wrong to
let them be fired just because they are Jewish. It is his responsibility, she says to take a stand. If the girls are fired, says Miss
Kenton, then she will quit as well.
Stevens fires the girls, but Miss Kenton doesn't leave. She tells Stevens repeatedly that she has every intention of handing in her
notice, but simply hasn't had the time. Eventually, though, Miss Kenton stays. A year later, Darlington comes to Stevens and asks
him to trace the whereabouts of the maids - as he is terribly sorry for firing them. Stevens goes to Miss Kenton and tells him of
Lord Darlington's aboutface on the maids, and Miss Kenton is surprised to see that Stevens felt the same way she did. In her eyes,
she thought he didn't care at all about the girls - that he, in fact, agreed with Lord Darlington. She asks Stevens why he always has
to pretend, and he avoids the question.
After the firing of the maids, a new housekeeper arrives named Lisa. Stevens is not a terrible fan of the girl, but Miss Kenton does
a good job training her and Stevens is forced to admit she's doing a good job. Miss Kenton departs from her usual decorum and
says she is surprised Stevens can admit that Lisa is competent because he always had such a strong aversion to having pretty girls
on the staff of Darlington Hall. Stevens is embarrassed by such talk, but Miss Kenton reiterates that perhaps Stevens is flesh and
blood after all and can't trust himself in the presence of pretty women. Eventually, however, Stevens is proved right in his
suspicions when Lisa runs off with the footman. Miss Kenton agrees that Stevens was right to suspect her, and Stevens tries to say
that Miss Kenton did her best with her. They both come to the agreement that giving up one's profession for romance is not only
naive but also improper.
Stevens realizes that his relationship with miss Kenton changed quite dramatically around 1935 or 1936 after they maintained a
proper and professional dynamic for so many years. Stevens thinks of an incident in the pantry as perhaps the biggest turning
point. Miss Kenton had a habit of coming into the pantry with flowers to brighten it up, and one night she comes in while Stevens
is reading. She asks him what it is he is reading, but Stevens refuses to tell her, saying it's private. miss Kenton says she suspects
it's something 'racy,' and manages to pry it out of his hands. It's a sentimental love story. He shows her out of the pantry firmly.
Stevens qualifies the incident heavily, saying he was reading the book only to improve his command of the language, and though
he certainly enjoyed the romance, he thinks the nature of the book is irrelevant. Instead, he was embarrassed that he was seen 'off
duty' in the presence of others. A butler must never be seen off-duty. He resolves to make sure he reestablishes the professionalism
of his relationship with Miss Kenton.
Miss Kenton had two days off every six weeks. Usually on her days off, she might stay in Darlington Hall and just rest, but all of a
sudden, Stevens notices that she is taking full advantage of her time off - disappearing for the full two days. She finds out that she
has been visiting an 'acquaintance,' who used to be a butler with her at Granchester Lodge. Miss Kenton tells Stevens he seems
like a well-contented man, for he is at the top of his profession, with every aspect of Darlington Hall under his control. Stevens

replies that he will not be fulfilled until he can do all he can to fulfill Lord Darlington's wishes for the house. Another day, Stevens
comes to Miss Kenton for their cocoa chat, but Miss Kenton says she is very tired. Hurt, Stevens says they should stop meeting for
cocoa and despite Miss Kenton's protests, ends the meetings entirely and says she can leave him written messages.
Stevens returns to the present day, where he has parked his Ford on a dark road after breaking down. He walks down to the village
where is hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Stevens has dinner with the Taylors' friends, and they are deeply impressed by him as a
gentlemen and believe that he is of a high rank. Stevens, for his part, says it is 'dignity' which makes a gentlemen. They ask him if
he has met Churchill and Halifax, and Stevens says he has indeed, since he was involved in international affairs before war. Dr.
Carlisle, a friend of the Taylors, arrives, and finds all the fuss over Stevens' celebrity connections a bit odd. Stevens says he felt
terribly embarrassed over all the guests' misimpression of him.
Analysis:
Stevens usually seems to ramble a bit in his reminiscences, aimlessly exploring his memory before settling on a telling anecdote to
end each section. In this particular instance, he ends on the story of attending the Taylor dinner, where he seems to have totally
morphed into a man aspiring to gentlemanly status. Already we can see the difference between Stevens and a man like his father.
Where Stevens' father would have never pretended to be of higher rank in order to curry favor, Stevens can't resist. He excuses
away the entire episode as a misunderstanding, but deep down, he deeply wants the approval and rank of others to fulfill the void
he feels inside.
Miss Kenton alludes to this tendency of Stevens when she asks him why he always has to pretend - why he can't simply relax and
tell the truth. Stevens says he does not know what she's talking about, but at the end, we see this literal instance of pretending, and
realize that Miss Kenton saw all along that he is shielded in a thick coat of armor through which most people cannot penetrate. By
now, however, Stevens has clearly fallen in love with Miss Kenton. So deeply that he cannot seem to bear her taking her full
vacation days to visit another acquaintance. Indeed, he seems passive aggressive in stating that his only need for contentment
comes in service - and he has no other desires. It's as if he wants to make Miss Kenton feel guilty for her own human instincts.
Perhaps one of the less effective devices in the novel involves the constant returns to Lord Darlington's political views. Stevens
has to reveal how he became enmeshed in his master's own politics, but we never seem to get a full grasp of what Darlington is
actually like. We do sense, however, that he is fallible, and as he comes to admit this fallibility, Stevens begins to lose his complete
filial devotion to him, and discovers his own self-esteem. The incidents of the maids, meanwhile, is less crucial for illuminating
Darlington's politics and more of Stevens. Stevens is willing to subordinate his personal views in order to maintain his 'dignity.'
For Miss Kenton, however, dignity comes in casting off the views of one's employer if they do not agree with one's own. In the
end, however, she is practical enough to stay with Darlington even though she disagrees with his politics.
Stevens himself is extremely passive-agressive in his romantic strategies. The most illuminating moment of the opening section
comes, of course, when he is caught reading a romantic novel. Immediately we see the veneer fall away and his true sentimental
instincts emerge - his true fragility. But he cannot admit them to Miss Kenton and upon discovery of the novel, ushers her out with
the resolve to reinforce their domestic relationship. Later, instead of confessing his love to her over their cocoa chats, he
obfuscates his intentions, frustrates her, and ends up cancelling their chats to punish her for not putting up with his steel facade.
What we begin to see, then, is Miss Kenton losing interest with Stevens as he fails in his ability to engage her on a deeper level.
The more he comes to realize his love for her, the more he resists it.
Deep down, Stevens now seems at a crossroads. The reminiscing on his trip has seemingly made him realize the freedom of being
a man. He has the time to see himself outside of his duties, outside of his comfort zone and we sense that he has renewed in
confidence and vitality. As he nears Miss Kenton's house, we begin to sense his dramatic momentum - that he now has the
opportunity to fully achieve self-fulfillment by embracing his love for her and declaring it.
Day Four (Afternoon) - Little Compton, Cornwall - Day Six (Evening) - Weymouth
Summary:
Stevens sits in the dining hall of the Rose Garden Hotel in Little Compton after finishing lunch. He will meet Miss Kenton in forty
minutes at her current residence. He notes now that he never received a reply from Miss Kenton confirming that she wanted to
meet, but he says knowing her, a lack of letter means she is more than happy to meet. Stevens returns to his night with the Taylors
in his memory and says that when Dr. Carlisle drove him to his car, he asked Stevens simply if he was a 'manservant.' Stevens was
relieved and said that he was in fact the butler at Darlington Hall. Carlisle said he suspected as much and here in a small town,
people would likely view Stevens as some form of royalty.
Stevens returns to one memory in particular - an evening a few months after the death of Miss Kenton's aunt, when the young Mr.
Cardinal turns up at Darlington Hall. Sir Reginald Cardinal's father, David Cardinal, had been killed in a riding accident a few
years earlier. The young Mr. Cardinal had been building a name for himself in international affairs. The young Mr. Cardinal says
he is in a jam at the moment and wonders if Mr. Darlington could put him up for the night. Stevens goes to tell Miss Kenton of
Mr. Cardinal's arrival and is a bit spooked, because earlier he had stood outside her door, contemplating whether to go in and
comfort her over the loss of her aunt. Miss Kenton had been extremely close to her relative and Stevens knew he should assuage
her over her loss - but yet didn't know how to do it. Stevens goes in to find Miss Kenton quiet and contemplative. He tells her that
Mr. Cardinal has arrived - and she reminds him it is her day off. She then tells Stevens that her aquaintance has asked her to marry
him. Stevens can only say that it is 'interesting,' and Miss Kenton says she is thinking it over. Tension hangs in the air, as if she
expects him to do something.

Miss Kenton returns from her day off and tells Stevens she has accepted her acquaintance's marriage proposal. Stevens can't seem
to formulate his thoughts, and Miss Kenton is a bit surprised by his lack of response. She wonders why he doesn't have more to
say, but Stevens says there are events of 'global significance' unfolding upstairs. Miss Kenton seems frustrated and says that she
and her fiancee pass their time with her recounting amusing anecdotes about Stevens' fastidity. Stevens leaves, obviously hurt.
Stevens attends to the guests upstairs and they ask for a bottle of port. He runs downstairs to get it and finds Miss Kenton in the
doorway.
Miss Kenton apologizes for her comments about Stevens earlier. He pretends to not recall what she said and says he's too busy for
them to talk right now. When he comes back up after fetching the port, however, he hears Miss Kenton crying in her room. He
stands outside her room for some time, debating what to do. But then he continues on his way up to the drawing room to serve the
port. He remembers that subsequent hour so vividly -- torn between his duties, his 'dignity', and his deeper desires. He was so
proud of his ability to serve the highest ranking gentlemen and not let his feelings get in the way. And indeed, even though Miss
Kenton is crying in her room at that precise moment, Stevens feels a sense triumph at having maintained his professionalism.
Stevens next writes from Weymouth, where he recalls his meeting with Miss Kenton two days earlier in the tea lounge of the Rose
Garden Hotel. He says Miss Kenton arrived looking quite similar to the person he remembered from twenty years earlier, only
with a few more wrinkles. For the first twenty minutes or so, they exchange pleasantries, small talk, about Stevens' journey thus
far. Once the awkwardness dissipates, they reminisce about people from the past, and slowly Stevens begins to glean some facts
about her present circumstances. For one thing, Miss Kenton's marriage is not so far gone as she made it seem -- she returned
home to find Mr. Benn pleased to have her back. She says it's best to be sensible about these things, as if she's resigned to
reconciliation.
Miss Kenton goes on to talk more generally about her husband, who will retire soon, and asks Stevens to visit their daughter in
Dorset on his way back. Stevens says it's unlikely he'll pass by Dorset, but Miss Kenton insists, saying that Catherine's heard all
about you. Stevens tries to tell Miss Kenton of the current state of Darlington Hall, and explains how Lord Darlington became an
invalid and eventually lost his reputation. Stevens wonders aloud why Miss Kenton seemed so dire in her letter, even mentioning
that her life seemed empty. Miss Kenton seems surprised that she wrote such a thing, and backs off from it - saying that her life
does not seem empty now, and they are even looking forward to grandchildren now.
Stevens finally asks her directly - in her letters, she made it seem like she was unhappy, and he just wanted to make sure she
wasn't. Miss Kenton says that she is absolutely fine - her husband is not cruel or ill-tempered. She says that she never loved her
husband at first - and was surprised she was marrying him at all. but she grew to love him. There are times, where she wonders
what she did with her life - whether she could have had a better one with Stevens. But she doesn't look back any more, and thinks
her life has been good enough, if not ideal. Stevens tells Miss Kenton that it's time she enjoy her life now - and make her years
happy for herself and her husband. He says they may never meet again. The bus arrives, and Miss Kenton leaves. Stevens sees that
she is crying as she leaves.
Stevens sits on a pier bench, and is joined by a stranger who Stevens confesses virtually his whole life to - even the fact that he's
been making too many mistakes as the butler of Darlington Hall. The stranger offers Stevens a handkerchief when he sees he's
been crying. Stevens realizes that perhaps he has wasted his life because he never made his own mistakes - and lived simply as the
vehicle of another. He confesses that perhaps there is no dignity in not being able to say he made his own mistakes. But he
resolves not to look back and to continue to move forward with the remains of his day. He vows first to return to Darlington Hall
and surprise Mr. Farraday with his new bantering skills.
Analysis:
The last section of Remains of the Day is at once the anticipated climax because of Stevens' meeting with Miss Kenton and a bit
of a false tease, since we do not see it unfold in real time. Instead, the narrative jumps, and we hear about Stevens' recollection of
it two days later. One of the interesting things that's easy to forget in Ishiguro's novel is that Stevens is recounting events that
happened twenty years ago. That gap in time is difficult to convey through the text since so little of it unfolds in real time. Instead,
we must make conjectures as to how Miss Kenton might react to Stevens' suggestion that she return to Darlington Hall, even after
setting up her new life for more than two decades. We realize the answer to this when we discover that she had many moments
when she may have returned, but now it is too late - she already had a number of doubting moments, when she wondered about
the cosmic path of her life, but Stevens has come when she has already become complacent, and already let go of her need for a
better life.
Stevens, for himself, seems to reach his breaking point here. He is so deeply in love with Miss Kenton and has built up such fierce
expectations and a desperation for her love - but when the moment comes, he cannot confess it. In a moment of perhaps supreme
self-sacrifice - or perhaps cowardice - he caves, and says simply that he wishes she remains happy with her husband and that she
enjoy the rest of her life. Just as Miss Kenton acknowledges thatt the time for regrets is gone, Stevens does too, and they part way
with no possibility of reconciling for it is simply too late. Inertia has taken them too far.
Stevens does finally break, however, to a stranger, to whom he confesses that he never did have his own life. He was so concerned
with dignity, with being a great butler to someone else, that he never followed his own dreams. As a servant, Stevens was so
terrified of making mistakes, so terrified of having his own identity. In his eyes, it was his duty to renounce his own soul in order
to be the best employee possible. It's taken his whole life for him to realize what a mistake it is. In other chapters, Stevens
recounted stoies with similar themes but in the end, always confessed that he felt triumph upon remembering that he preserved his

professionalism at all costs. But for the first time, he says here that it has afforded him nothing. but it is too late. He will go on
with the remains of his day - the remains of his life - trying to hold on to his dignity.
Ishiguro's novel, first and foremost, is a portrait of a man broken by his own life choices. Over and over, he looks back and sees
the opportunities in his life he should have taken but cannot admit defeat. If he can get Miss Kenton to come back to Darlington
Hall, if he can get her to wipe the slate clean, then he'll have another chance. What Stevens wants then is a do-over - a chance to
relive his own life. He does this through his memory, but he comes to the realization that to find fulfillment, he will have to
actually take action in real life. But at the crucial moment, he can't do it -- because it's too late. Miss Kenton has already steered
onto the course of least resistance. And now Stevens will have to also.
Ishiguro's novel achieves such masterclass status because of its intense subtext. So rarely do novels manage to create such a fluid
sense of consciousness and then use memory to achieve an apotheosis or epiphany. For all its lack of a narrative, The Remains of
the Day has the power of a thriller precisely because we want Stevens to find happiness. We want him to find peace once and for
all. But in perhaps the cruelest twist of all, when it comes time for him to take action and strike out in search of fulfillment... it's
too late.
Suggested Essay Questions
1. What does Stevens see as the paramount virtue in a butler?
Answer: Stevens believes that a butler first and foremost should exhibit dignity, or rather the ability to remain professional no
matter what the situation. Even in the most dire of circumstances, a butler is responsible for maintaining his facade.
2. Why does Stevens choose not to reveal his position as a butler during his dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Taylor in Moscombe?
Answer: Deep down, Stevens is seeking to finally build his own identity, and he finds tremendous freedom in pretending as if he
had met all the British luminaries as a result of his own professional prowess. But when it is finally revealed that he is a butler by
Dr. Carlisle, he feels tremendous relief.
3. What is Stevens' only regret as the novel comes to an end?
Answer: At the end of The Remains of the Day, Stevens has one overhwleming regret - that he never got to be his own man, make
his own decisions, and stand up for himself. He realizes that he has been merely an extension for his various employers and never
truly had the chance to follow his own desires or make his own life.
4. Why does Stevens not confess his love to Miss Kenton at the end of the novel?
When Stevens meets Mrs. Benn at the end of the book, she has already come to terms with her own loveless marraige and given
up on the dream of love. Stevens sees that she's agonized with the decision and thus does not pursue her, knowing the cause is lost.
5. What is meant by the title The Remains of the Day? Answer: Stevens invokes the title to mean what is left of his life. At
the end of his story, he returns to Darlington Hall to live out what remains, unsure whether he's lived a life he can be
proud of. One can also take the novel's title to refer to the last days of the British aristocracy.
6. Why does Stevens not protest Lord Darlington's anti-Semitism? Answer: In Stevens' view, a butler must always be an
extension of his master's wishes. It is not his place, therefore, to contradict Lord Darlington's orders, even if he finds them
morally repugnant. Miss Kenton on the other hand vows to quit if Lord Darlington goes through with his plan to fire the
maids.
7. Why does Stevens initially set out on his journey to Mrs. Benn? Answer: Stevens has clearly been devastated by Mrs.
Benn's departure from Darlington Hall - an event that happened twenty years ago. But in recent days, she has announced
the end of her marriage and also sent him a letter suggesting that she may wish to return to her duties at Darlington.
Stevens ventures to convince her to return.
8. At the Taylor's dinner, what is the alternative definition of dignity that Stevens hears presented? Answer: Mr. Harris tells
Stevens that dignity is in no way a simple acquiescence to professionalism, but rather quite the opposite - the ability of a
man to speak his opinions and truth no matter the circumstances. He believes freedom of expression is what makes a man
ultimately dignified and honorable.
9. How would you best describe Stevens' relationship with his father? Answer: Though Stevens loves his father, there is
clearly a thick wall between them precisely because his father is so deeply mired in work. Indeed, even on Stevens' father
deathbed, he can only muster one last thought - that he likely wasn't a good father.
10. Why can't Stevens tell Miss Kenton he loves her? Answer: Stevens isn't necessarily 'repressed' as much as he is torn
between his duties and his desire. In his eyes, a butler cannot embrace human emotion and thus human frailties without
likely being disassembled completely. And thus, whenever he wants to show his love for Miss Kenton, he does so in the
context of her work - something she inevitably rejects.
]

Animal Farm Summary

Animal Farm is a satirical fable set on Manor Farm, a typical English farm. Orwell employs a third-person narrator, who reports
events without commenting on them directly. The narrator describes things as the animals perceive them.
Old Major calls a meeting of all the animals in the big barn. He announces that he may die soon and relates to them the insights he
has gathered in his life. Old Major tells the animals that human beings are the sole reason that No animal in England is free and
that The life of an animal is misery and slavery. Therefore the animals must take charge of their destiny by overthrowing Man in
a great Rebellion. He relates his dream of rebellion.
Old Major dies soon after the meeting and the other animals prepare for the Rebellion under Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealers
leadership. One night, Mr. Jones passes out drunk, creating the perfect opportunity for the animals to rebel. They are so hungry
that they break into the store-shed. When Jones and his men try to whip them into submission, the animals run them off the farm.
The animals burn all reminders of their former bondage but agree to preserve the farmhouse as a museum. Snowball changes the
name of the farm to Animal Farm and comes up with Seven Commandments, which are to form the basis of Animalism. They
are:
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animals shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
The pigs milk the cows, and then the animals go out to begin the harvest. When they return, the milk has disappeared
mysteriously. The first harvest is a great success. The animals adhere to the tenets of Animalism happily, and with good result.
Each animal works according to his ability and gets a fair share of food.
Every Sunday, Snowball and Napoleon lead a meeting of all the animals in the big barn. The pigs are the most intelligent animals,
so they think up resolutions for the other animals to debate. Soon after, the pigs set up a study-center for themselves in the
harness-room. Snowball embarks on various campaigns for social and economic improvement. Napoleon opposes whatever
Snowball does. Because most of the animals lack the intelligence to memorize the Seven Commandments, Snowball reduces them
to the single maxim, Four legs good, two legs bad. The sheep take to chanting this at meetings.
As time goes by, the pigs increase their control over the animals and award themselves increasing privileges. They quell the
animals questions and protests by threatening Mr. Joness return. During this time, Napoleon also confiscates nine newborn
puppies and secludes them in a loft in order to educate them.
By late summer, Snowballs and Napoleons pigeon-messengers have spread news of the Rebellion across half of England.
Animals on other farms have begun lashing out against their human masters and singing the revolutionary song Beasts of
England. Jones and other farmers try to recapture Animal Farm but fail. The animals celebrate their victory in what they call
The Battle of the Cowshed.
The animals agree to let the pigs make all the resolutions. Snowball and Napoleon continue to be at odds and eventually clash over
the windmill. Snowball wants to build a windmill in order to shorten the work week and provide the farm electricity, but Napoleon
opposes it. Napoleon summons nine fierce dogs (the puppies he trained) to run Snowball off the farm. Napoleon announces that
Sunday meetings will cease and that the pigs will make all the decisions in the animals best interest. At this point, Boxer takes on
his own personal maxims, I will work harder and Napoleon is always right. In the spring, Napoleon announces plans to build
the windmill, claiming that it was his idea all alongrewriting history.
Building the windmill forces the animals to work harder and on Sundays. Shortages begin to occur, so Napoleon opens up trade
with the human world. Through Squealer, he lies that no resolutions against interaction with humans or the use of money had ever
been passed. Napoleon enlists Whymper to be his intermediary, and the pigs move into the farmhouse. Squealer assures the
animals that there is no resolution against this, butClover and Muriel discovers that one of the resolutions has been changed to:
No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. Squealer convinces her that there was never a resolution against beds at all.
One night, strong winds shake the farm and the animals awake to discover the windmill destroyed. Napoleon blames Snowball
and sentences the expelled pig to death.
In the winter, as conditions become worse on Animal Farm, Napoleon deceives the human world into thinking Animal Farm is
prospering. He signs a contract for a quota of four hundred eggs per week, inciting a hen rebellion that results in several deaths.
Around the same time, Napoleon begins negotiating with Frederick and Pilkington to sell Animal Farms store of timber. He also
spreads propaganda against Snowball, claiming that Snowball was always a spy and a collaborator while Napoleon was the true
hero of the Battle of the Cowshed, and Squealer warns against Snowballs secret agents.
Four days later, Napoleon holds an assembly in which he makes several animals confess to treachery and then has the dogs
execute them. The dogs try to get Boxer to confess but leave him alone when they cannot overpower him. Afterwards, Clover and
some other animals huddle together on a hill overlooking the farm. They reminisce about Animalisms ideals and consider how
much they differ from the violence and terror of Napoleons reign. They sing Beasts of England, but Squealer informs them that
the song is useless now that the Rebellion is completed and that it is now forbidden. The new anthem begins with the lyrics:
Animal Farm, Animal Farm, / Never through me shalt thou come to harm!

Another commandment is changed to read: No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. Clover and Muriel convince
themselves that the commandment has always been this way. Squealer begins reading the animals statistics regularly to convince
them that production is increasing. Napoleon seldom appears in public. The animals now call him our Leader, Comrade
Napoleon. They attribute all misfortunes to Snowball and all success and luck to Napoleon.
Napoleon continues to negotiate with the farmers and eventually decides to sell the timber to Mr. Pilkington. At last, the windmill
is finished and named Napoleon Mill. Soon after, Napoleon announces that he will sell the timber to Frederick, quickly
changing his allegiance and disavowing his earlier vilification of Frederick. Napoleon says that Pilkington and Snowball have
been collaborating. Frederick pays for the timber in fake cash, and the next morning, Frederick and his men invade the farm and
blow up the windmill. The animals manage to chase the humans off, though many die or are injured in what they call The Battle
of the Windmill.
After the battle, the pigs discover a case of whisky in the farmhouse. They drink to excess and soon, Squealer reports that
Napoleon is dying and, as his last action, has made the consumption of alcohol punishable by death. But Napoleon recovers
quickly and then sends Whymper to procure manuals on brewing alcohol. Squealer changes another commandment to No animal
shall drink alcohol to excess.
Napoleon plans to build a schoolhouse for the thirty-one young pigs he has parented. Towards the end of the winter, Napoleon
begins increasing propaganda to distract the animals from inequality and hardship. He creates special Spontaneous
Demonstrations in which the animals march around and celebrate their triumphs.
In April, Napoleon declares the farm a Republic and is elected unanimously as President. The animals continue to work feverishly,
most of all Boxer. One day, Boxer collapses while overexerting himself. Napoleon promises to send him to the veterinarian in
Willingdon. A few days later, a horse-slaughterer takes Boxer away in his van. The animals are none the wiser
until Benjamin reads the lettering on the side of the van. A few days later, Squealer reports that Boxer died in the hospital despite
receiving the best possible care. He claims that Boxers last words glorified Animal Farm and Napoleon. He also claims that the
van belongs to the veterinarian, who recently bought it from the horse slaughterer and had not yet managed to paint over the
lettering. Napoleon promises to honor Boxer with a special banquet. But the pigs use the money from his slaughter to buy a case
of whisky, which they drink on the day appointed for the banquet.
Years go by, and though Animal Farms population has increased, only a few animals that remember the Rebellion remain.
Conditions are still harsh despite technological improvements. The pigs and dogs continue to do no manual labor, instead devoting
themselves to organizational work. One day, Squealer takes the sheep out to a deserted pasture where, he says, he is teaching them
a song. On the day the sheep return, the pigs walk around the yard on their hind legs as the sheep chant, Four legs good, two
legs better. The other animals are horrified. Clover consults the barn wall again. This time Benjamin reads to her. The Seven
Commandments have been replaced with a single maxim: All animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than others.
The pigs continue the longstanding pattern of awarding themselves more and more privileges. They buy a telephone and subscribe
to magazines. They even wear Joness clothing. One night, Napoleon holds a conciliatory banquet for the farmers. Pilkington
makes a speech in which he says he wants to emulate Animal Farms long work hours and low rations. Napoleon announces that
the farm will be called Manor Farm again, the animals will call each other Comrade no longer, and they no longer will march
ceremoniously past Old Majors skull (a practice he denies understanding). He also declares that the farms flag will be plain
green, devoid of the symbols of the Rebellion. As the animals peer through the windows to watch the humans and pigs play poker,
they cannot distinguish between them.
About Animal Farm
Animal Farm was published on the heels of World War II, in England in 1945 and in the United States in 1946. George
Orwell wrote the book during the war as a cautionary fable in order to expose the seriousness of the dangers posed by Stalinism
and totalitarian government. Orwell faced several obstacles in getting the novel published. First, he was putting forward an antiStalin book during a time when Western support for the Soviet Union was still high due to its support in Allied victories against
Germany. Second, Orwell was not yet the literary star he would quickly become. For those reasons, Animal Farm appeared only at
the wars end, during the same month that the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The tragically
violent events of the war set the stage well for Orwells fictional manifesto against totalitarianism.
Animal Farm was Orwells first highly successful novel (the second being 1984), and it helped launch him out of the minor fame
of an essayist into the stratosphere of acclaimed fiction. Despite publishers initial hesitance toward the book, the public in both
Britain and the United States met it with enthusiasm. In the United States alone, it sold 600,000 copies in four years. Animal Farm
was translated into many languages, proving its universal reach.
Animal Farm is an allegory or fable, a fairy tale for adults. Orwell uses animal characters in order to draw the reader away from
the world of current events into a fantasy space where the reader can grasp ideas and principles more crisply. At the same time,
Orwell personifies the animals in the tradition of allegory so that they symbolize real historical figures. In their own universe,
people can become desensitized even to terrible things like deception, mistreatment, and violence. By demonstrating how these
things occur in an allegorical world, Orwell makes them more clearly understood in the real world. For instance, in Animal Farms
public execution, Orwell lays bare the matter of execution by having the dogs rip out the supposed traitors throats. In this scene,
the reader is led to focus not as much on the means of execution as on the animalistic, atrocious reality of execution itself.
Animal Farm is also a powerful satire. Orwell uses irony to undermine the tenets of totalitarianism, specifically that of Stalinism.

Almost instantly after the novels publication, it became the subject of revisionism. In one instance, the CIA made an animated
film version of the book in which they eliminated the final scene and replaced it with a new revolution in which the animals
overthrow the pigs (see the 1999 Hallmark film version for another change in ending). They distributed the film as anticommunist propaganda, which is ironic when one considers the novels own censure of the propagandist rewriting of history. This
revision and others over the years (whether in changing the story or interpreting it) contributed to the publics general
misunderstanding of Orwell. Though he was staunchly anti-Stalinist, he was certainly not a capitalist. In fact, he was a
revolutionary socialist. During his lifetime, Orwell did little to detract from his skewed public image. He was a man of
contradictions--Louis Menand calls him a middle-class intellectual who despised the middle class and was contemptuous of
intellectuals, a Socialist whose abuse of Socialists ... was as vicious as any Torys.
Animal Farm is universally appealing for both the obvious and the subtle messages of the fable. While the allegorys characters
and events are deeply or specifically symbolic, Orwells narrator softens some of the punches by including a gentle and unopinionated narrator. The third-person narrator is outside the animals world, so he does not relate any of the lies, hardships, or
atrocities firsthand. Rather, he is a quiet observer.
Moreover, the narrator relates the tale from the perspective of the animals other than the dogs and pigs. In this way, the narrators
approach to the story resembles Orwells approach to life. That is, just as Orwell developed empathy for the working class by
experiencing working-class life firsthand, the narrators tale is based on the experience of someone who is not quite an insider but
no longer just an outsider. The narrators animal perspective, as well as his reluctance to opine, fits well with the naivete of the
animal characters.
One example of the narrators indifferent approach to the tale is evident when the pigs use the money from Boxers slaughter to
buy a case of whisky. Rather than relating this event in stark terms, the narrator states impartially that on the day appointed for
Boxers memorial banquet, a carton arrives at the farmhouse followed by loud singing and the word went round that from
somewhere or other the pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whisky (126). The scene also exemplifies
how the narrators nave perspective produces an drily ironic effect.
Here are two other examples of ironic humor in the novel. In Chapter I, the narrator describes Beasts of England as a stirring
tune, something between Clementine and La Cucaracha (32). Anyone familiar with those two songs knows that they are
childish ditties. In Chapter IX, the narrator reports that the pigs find a large bottle of pink medicine in the farmhouses medicine
cabinet. They send it out to Boxer, who is deathly ill. We can assume that the medicine, being pink, is the antacid Pepto-Bismol,
hardly useful to someone on his deathbed. By lightening his allegory with ironic humor, Orwell makes the story more palatable
without taking away from his message.
Character List
Benjamin
The donkey. He is the oldest animal on the farm and stereotypically stubborn and crotchety. He is also intelligent, being the only
animal (aside from the pigs) that can read fluently. He never laughs, preferring to make cynical comments, especially the cryptic
line, donkeys live a long time. Despite Benjamins unfriendly nature, he has a special affinity for Boxer. The Rebellion does not
change Benjamins personality, although he eventually helps the animals read the lettering on the side of the van and the maxim
that replaces the Seven Commandments. Benjamin represents the human (and also stereotypically Russian) tendency towards
apathy; he holds fast to the idea that life is inherently hard and that efforts for change are futile. Benjamin bears a similarity to
Orwell himself. Over the course of his career, Orwell became politically pessimistic and predicted the overtake of the West by
totalitarian governments.
Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher
The dogs. When Bluebell and Jessie give birth to puppies, Napoleon confiscates them and secludes them in a loft, where he
transforms them into fierce, elitist guard dogs.
Boxer
The male of the two horses on the farm. He is an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary
horses put together. A white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance, and in fact he was not of first-rate
intelligence, but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character and tremendous powers of work (26). Boxer has a
special affinity for Benjamin. With his determination to be a good public servant and his penchant for hard work, Boxer becomes
Napoleons greatest supporter. He works tirelessly for the cause of Animal Farm, operating under his personal maxims, I will
work harder and Napoleon is always right. The only time Boxer doubts propaganda is when Squealer tries to rewrite the story
of Snowballs valor at the Battle of the Cowshed, a treachery for which he is nearly executed. But Boxer recants his doubts
when he learns that the altered story of the battle is directly from Napoleon. After Boxer is injured while defending the farm in the
Battle of the Windmill, Napoleon sends him to be slaughtered for profit. The pigs use the money from the slaughter to buy
themselves a case of whisky. Boxer is not pugnacious despite his name, but he is as strong as his name implies. In this way, Boxer
is a painfully ironic character. He is strong enough to kill another animal, even a human, with a single blow from his hoof, and the
dogs cannot manage to overpower him in Chapter VII. Still, Boxer lacks the intelligence and the nerve to sense that he is being
used. Boxer represents the peasant or working class, a faction of humanity with a great combined strength--enough to overthrow a
manipulative government--but which is uneducated enough to take propaganda to heart and believe unconditionally in the
governments cause.
the Cat

The only cat on Manor Farm. She is lazy and indifferent, but she does participate in the Battle of the Cowshed.
Clover
The female of the two horses on the farm. She is a stout motherly mare approaching middle life, who had never quite got her
figure back after her fourth foal. Clover is Boxers faithful companion as well as a motherly figure to the other animals. Like
Boxer, Clover is not intelligent enough to read, so she enlists Muriel to read the altered Seven Commandments to her. She sees the
incongruities in the governments policies and actions, but she is not smart or defiant enough to fight for the restoration of justice.
Clover represents those people who remember a time before the Revolution and therefore half-realize that the government is lying
about its success and adherence to its principles, but are helpless to change anything.
the Dogs
Nine puppies, which Napoleon confiscates and secludes in a loft. Napoleon rears them into fierce, elitist dogs that act as his
security guards. The dogs are the only animals other than the pigs that are given special privileges. They also act as executioners,
tearing out the throats of animals that confess to treachery. The dogs represent the NKVD and more specifically the KGB,
agencies Joseph Stalin fostered and used to terrorize and commit atrocities upon the Soviet Unions populace.
Frederick
The owner of Pinchfield, the small farm adjacent to Manor Farm. He is a hard-nosed individual who is known for his frequent
legal troubles and demanding business style. He cheats the animals out of their timber by paying for it with fake banknotes.
Frederick represents Adolf Hitler. Rumors of the exotic and cruel animal tortures Frederick enacts on his farm are meant to echo
the horror stories emerging from Nazi Germany. Fredericks agreement to buy the timber represents the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression treaty, and his subsequent betrayal of the pact and invasion of Animal Farm represents the Nazi invasion of the Soviet
Union.
Jones
The owner of Manor Farm and a drunkard. His animals overthrow him in the Rebellion. When he tries to recapture his property,
they defeat him, steal his gun, and drive him off again. Mr. Jones dies in a home for alcoholics in another part of the country. He
represents the kind of corrupt and fatally flawed government that results in discontent and revolution among the populace. More
specifically, Jones represents the latter days of imperial Russia and its last leader, the wealthy but ineffective Czar Nicholas II.
Minimus
A pig with a remarkable gift for composing songs and poems. Under Napoleons rule, Minimus sits with him and Squealer on
the barn platform during meetings. Minimus composes propaganda songs and poems under Napoleons rule. Though we never
hear Minimus complain about his duties as propaganda writer, he represents the Soviet Unions artists, who were forced to use
their talents to glorify communism rather than express their personal feelings or beliefs.
Mollie
The white mare that draws Mr. Joness trap. Her personality is superficial and adolescent. For example, when she arrives at the big
meeting in Chapter 1, Orwell writes, Mollie Came mincing daintily in, chewing a lump of sugar. She took a place near the
front and began flirting her white mane, hoping to draw attention to the red ribbons it was plaited with (27). Mollie is the only
animal not to fight in the Battle of the Cowshed, instead hiding in her stall. She eventually flees the farm and is last seen,
bedecked in ribbons, eating sugar and letting her new owner stroke her nose. Mollie represents the class of nobles who, unwilling
to conform to the new regime, fled Russia after the Revolution.
Moses
A tame raven that is Mr. Joness especial pet. He is a spy, a gossip, and a clever talker (37). He is also the only animal not
present for Old Majors meeting. Moses gets in the way of the pigs efforts to spread Animalism by inventing a story about an
animal heaven called Sugarcandy Mountain. Moses disappears for several years during Napoleons rule. When he returns, he still
insists on the existence of Sugarcandy Mountain. Moses represents religion, which gives people hope of a better life in heaven.
His name connects him to the Judeo-Christian religions specifically, but he can be said to represent the spiritual alternative in
general. The pigs dislike Mosess stories of Sugarcandy Mountain, just as the Soviet government opposed religion, not wanting its
people to subscribe to a system of belief outside of communism. Though the Soviet government suppressed religion aggressively,
the pigs on Animal Farm let Moses come and go as he pleases and even give him a ration of beer when he returns from his long
absence.
Muriel
The white goat. Muriel can read fairly well and helps Clover decipher the alterations to the Seven Commandments. Muriel is not
opinionated, but she represents a subtle, revelatory influence because of her willingness to help bring things to light (as opposed to
Benjamin).
Napoleon
One of the leaders among the pigs, Napoleon is a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar that is up for sale. He is the only
Berkshire boar on the farm. He is not much of a talker and has a reputation for getting his own way (35). Napoleon expels
Snowball from the farm and takes over. He modifies his opinions and policies and rewrites history continually to benefit the pigs.
Napoleon awards special privileges to the pigs and especially to himself. For example, he dines on Mr. Joness fine china, wears
Mr. Joness dress clothes, and smokes a pipe. As time goes on, Napoleon becomes a figure in the shadows, increasingly secluding
himself and making few public appearances. Eventually, Napoleon holds a conciliatory meeting with the neighboring human
farmers and effectively takes over Mr. Joness position as dictator. Napoleon represents the type of dictator or tyrant who shirks

the common good, instead seeking more and more power in order to create his own regime. Orwell reflects Napoleons greed for
power with a name that invokes Napoleon Bonaparte, the very successful French leader who became Emperor and brashly
invaded Russia before being defeated by Russia. But Napoleon the pig more directly represents Stalin in his constantly changing
policies and actions, his secret activities, his intentional deception and manipulation of the populace, and his use of fear tactics and
atrocities.
Old Major
A prize Middle White boar that the Joneses exhibited under the name Willingdon Beauty. He is, stout But still a majesticlooking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance (26). In addition to his laurels in the exhibition world, Major is highly
respected among his fellow farm animals. His age is twelve years, which makes him a senior among them, and he also claims to
have had over four hundred children. He is the one who calls the meeting in the first chapter to discuss his strange dream. Major
claims to understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living (28). Months after his death, the pigs
disinter his skull and place it at the base of the flagpole beside the gun. Major symbolizes two historical figures. First, he
represents Karl Marx, the father of Marxism. Marxs political hypotheses about working-class consciousness and division of labor
worked infinitely better in theory than in practice, especially when corrupt leaders twisted them for their personal gain. Second,
Major represents Vladimir Lenin, the foremost of the three authors of the Russian Revolution and the formation of the Soviet
Union. Lenin died during the Soviet Unions early years, leaving Trotsky (Snowball) and Stalin (Napoleon) to vie for his
leadership position.
Pilkington
The owner of Foxwood, the large, unkempt farm adjacent to Manor Farm. He is an easy-going man who prefers pursuing his
hobbies to maintaining his land. At the books end, Mr. Pilkington offers a toast to the future cooperation between human farms
and Animal Farm. He also says he plans to emulate Animal Farms low rations and long work hours. Pilkington can be seen to
represent the Allies. Allied countries explored the possibility of trade with the Soviet Union in the years leading up to World War
II but kept a watchful distance. Ominously, as Friedrich Hayek points out in The Road to Serfdom (1944), communist principles
had strong proponents among many Allied nations as well. Pilkingtons unwillingness to save Animal Farm from Frederick and his
men parodies the Allies initial hesitance to enter the War. Napoleons and Pilkingtons poker game at the end of the book suggests
the beginnings of a power struggle that would later become the Cold War.
Pinkeye
A pig that Napoleon enlists as his taster, lest someone try to poison him.
the Sheep
The sheep are loyal to the tenets of Animal Farm, often breaking into a chorus of Four legs good, two legs bad and later, Four
legs good, two legs better! The Sheep--true to the typical symbolic meaning of sheep--represent those people who have little
understanding of their situation and thus are willing to follow their government blindly.
Snowball
One of the leaders among the pigs, Snowball is a young pig that is up for sale. He is more intelligent than Napoleon but lacks
Napoleons depth of character. He is also a brilliant orator. Snowball, who represents Leon Trotsky, is a progressive politician and
aims to improve Animal Farm with a windmill and other technological advances, but Napoleon expels him before he can do so. In
his absence, Snowball comes to represent an abstract idea of evil. The animals blame misfortunes on him, including the windmills
destruction, and entertain the idea that he is lurking on one of the neighboring farms, plotting revenge. Napoleon uses the animals
fear of Snowball to create new propaganda and changes history to make it seem as though Snowball was always a spy and a
traitor. Snowballs name is symbolic in this way. Napoleon encourages the animals fear of him to grow or snowball so that it
becomes so great it is almost palpable. Snowballs name may also refer to Trotskys call (following Marx) to encourage a
revolution outside the Soviet Union that would snowball into an international proletariat revolution. Snowball can more
generally be said to represent systems of belief outside of communism, which the government demonizes in order to lionize its
own system.
Squealer
The best known of the porker pigs, Squealer has very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He is
also a brilliant talker who is talented in the art of argument. The other pigs say Squealer could turn black into white (35).
Under Napoleons rule, Squealer acts as the liaison to the other animals. He lies to them, rewriting history and reading them
encouraging, but false, statistics. Squealer is especially good at playing on the animals ignorance and gullibility. He represents the
propaganda machine of a totalitarian government.
Whymper
A solicitor in Willingdon who acts as Animal Farms intermediary to the human world. He is a sly-looking little man with side
whiskers. He visits the farm every Monday to get his orders and is paid in commissions. Mr. Whympers business-minded
attitude towards Animal Farm, which allows him to ignore the injustices and atrocities committed there, make him a parody of
nations that conducted business with the Soviet Union while turning a blind eye to its internal affairs.
Major Themes
The Soviet Union under Stalinism

Animal Farm is a satire of totalitarian governments in their many guises. But Orwell composed the book for a more specific
purpose: to serve as a cautionary tale about Stalinism. It was for this reason that he faced such difficulty in getting the book
published; by the time Animal Farm was ready to meet its readers, the Allies were cooperating with the Soviet Union. The
allegorical characters of the novel represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet
society. These include Karl Marx (Major), Vladimir Lenin (Major), Leon Trotsky (Snowball), Joseph Stalin (Napoleon), Adolf
Hitler (Frederick), the Allies (Pilkington), the peasants (Boxer), the elite (Mollie), and the church (Moses).
The resemblance of some of the novels events to events in Soviet history is indubitable. For example, Snowballs and Napoleons
power struggle is a direct allegory of Trotskys and Stalins. Fredericks trade agreement with Napoleon, and his subsequent
breaking of the agreement, represents the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact that preceded World War II. The following Battle of the
Windmill represents World War II itself.
Despite his fairy-tale clarity in satirizing some historical events, Orwell is less specific about others. For example, the executions
in Chapter VII conflate the Red Terror with the Great Purge. The executions themselves bear resemblance to both events, although
their details connect them more to the Moscow Trials than to the Red Terror. Squealers subsequent announcement that the
executions have ended the Rebellion connects them to the period of the Red Terror, however. Orwell leaves some ambiguity in the
identities of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed. These ambiguities help the reader focus on the overall satire of
Stalinism and the broader warning about the evils of totalitarian government.
The Inevitability of Totalitarianism
Orwell held the pessimistic belief that totalitarianism was inevitable, even in the West. According to Russell Baker, who wrote the
preface to Animal Farms 1996 Signet Classics version, Orwells pessimism stemmed from his having grown up in an age of
dictatorship. Witnessing Hitlers and Stalins movements from afar, as well as fighting totalitarianism in the Spanish Civil War,
Orwell came to believe in the rise of a new species of autocrat, worse even than the tyrants of old. This cynicism is reflected in
both of his highly successful novels, Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell emphasizes the insidiousness of totalitarianism early in the
novel, when the pigs take the fresh milk and apples. The pigs justify their actions on the basis of their superiority; they are smart
and need more nutrition than the other animals to fuel their brainpower. There is no scientific basis for the pigs claimin fact, if
anyone needs more food to fuel their labor, it is the manual laborersbut they can count on the animals being too ignorant to
realize that. In this way, Orwell makes the point that totalitarianism need not be blatant in order to be operating. It can hide under
the guise of the greater good as it did in the Soviet Union before the totalitarianism became obvious.
Orwell uses a cyclical structure in Animal Farm, which helps advance the idea of totalitarianisms predictability. The novel begins
with Jones as autocratic tyrant and ends with Napoleon not only in Joness position, but in his clothes as well. Over the course of
the novel, Napoleon essentially becomes Jones just as Stalin becomes an autocrat after pretending to espouse equality and
freedom. Orwell cements this idea in the books final scene, where he writes, Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they
were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and
from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which (139). The circularity of
Orwells story prevents the reader from imagining a better future for Animal Farm. After all, even if another Rebellion were to
take place, its leaders would eventually come to emulate Napoleon.
According to Baker, technology turned out to be the force freeing people from Orwells age of dictators. But technology can be
just another banner under which to rally the people. While Orwell does portray technology as a source of progress in Animal
Farm, he points out that it is useless unless it is in the peoples hands. Most notably, even when the windmill is finished it is used
for milling corn instead of its original purpose of supplying the animals with electricity in their stalls.
Intelligence and Education as Tools of Oppression
From the very beginning of the novel, we become aware of educations role in stratifying Animal Farms population. Following
Majors death, the pigs are the ones that take on the task of organizing and mobilizing the other animals because they are
generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals (35). At first, the pigs are loyal to their fellow animals and to the
revolutionary cause. They translate Majors vision of the future faithfully into the Seven Commandments of Animalism. However,
it is not long before the pigs intelligence and education turn from tools of enlightenment to implements of oppression. The
moment the pigs are faced with something material that they wantthe fresh milkthey abandon their morals and use their
superior intellect and knowledge to deceive the other animals.
The pigs also limit the other animals opportunities to gain intelligence and education early on. They teach themselves to read and
write from a childrens book but destroy it before the other animals can have the same chance. Indeed, most of the animals never
learn more than a few letters of the alphabet. Once the pigs cement their status as the educated elite, they use their mental
advantage to manipulate the other animals. For example, knowing that the other animals cannot read the Seven Commandments,
they revise them whenever they like. The pigs also use their literacy to learn trades from manuals, giving them an opportunity for
economic specialization and advancement. Content in the role of the intelligentsia, the pigs forgo manual labor in favor of
bookkeeping and organizing. This shows that the pigs have not only the advantage of opportunity, but also the opportunity to
reject whatever opportunities they like. The pigs intelligence and education allow them to bring the other animals into submission
through the use of propaganda and revisionism. At the books end, we witness Napoleons preparations to educate a new
generation of pigs and indoctrinate them into the code of oppression.
Propaganda and Duplicity

Working as a propagandist during World War II, Orwell experienced firsthand both the immense power and the dishonesty of
propaganda. Many types of governments make use of propaganda, not only totalitarian ones. Consider, for instance, the arguments
that led many United States citizens to go along with the idea of invading Iraq after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Propaganda serves the positive task of uniting the people, sometimes at the cost of misleading them. Orwell takes a firm stance on
the harmfulness of propaganda in Animal Farmwhile acknowledging its value for rallying a mistreated and disillusioned populace.
In Chapter IX, Orwell demonstrates the positive value of propaganda. By this point, the animals are so downtrodden that they are
desperate for something in which to believe. (Note the irony, though: it is Napoleon who has robbed them of their belief in the
original version of Animalism.) The falsely optimistic statistics, the songs, and especially the Spontaneous Demonstrations give
the animals something to live for. This chapter is an exception in terms of portraying propaganda in a positive light. For the
majority ofAnimal Farm, Orwell skewers propaganda and exposes its nature as deception.
Squealer represents a totalitarian governments propaganda machine. Eloquent to a fault, he can make the animals believe almost
anything. This fact is especially clear in Squealers interactions with Clover and Muriel. Each time Clover suspects that the Seven
Commandments have been changed, Squealer manages to convince her that she is wrong. After the executions, Napoleon
abolishes the singing of Beasts of England in favor of a new anthem, the lyrics of which contain a promise never to harm
Animal Farm. In this propagandist maneuver, Napoleon replaces the revolutionary spirit of Beasts of England with the exact
opposite, a promise not to rebel. In addition to being a source of manipulation, propaganda is an agent of fear and terror. Orwell
demonstrates this quite clearly with Napoleons vilification of Snowball and his assurances that Snowball could attack the animals
at any minute. He uses similar fear tactics regarding Frederick and Pilkington. The most egregious example of propaganda in the
novel is the maxim that replaces the Seven Commandments: All animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than
others. The idea of more equal is mathematically improbable and a nonsensical manipulation of language, but by this time, the
animals are too brainwashed to notice.
Violence and Terror as Means of Control
In Animal Farm, Orwell criticizes the ways that dictators use violence and terror to frighten their populaces into submission.
Violence is one of the yokes from which the animals wish to free themselves when they prepare for the Rebellion. Not only does
Jones overwork the animals and steal the products of their labor, but he can whip or slaughter them at his discretion. Once the pigs
gain control of the animals, they, like Jones, discover how useful violence and terror can be. They use this knowledge to their full
advantage. The foremost example of violence and terror in the novel is the pattern of public executions. The executions can be
said to represent both the Red Terror and the Great Purge, but they stand more broadly for the abuse of power. For example, they
are also similar to the Talibans public executions in Kabuls soccer stadium in modern Afghanistan.
Capital punishment for criminals is a hotly debated issue. Killing suspected criminals, as Napoleon does, is quite another issue.
The executions perhaps best symbolize the Moscow Trials, which were show trials that Stalin arranged to instill fear in the Soviet
people. To witnesses at the time, the accused traitors confessions seemed to be given freely. In fact, they were coerced. Napoleon
likely coerces confessions from many of the animals that he executes. Orwells use of the allegory genre serves him well in the
execution scene. Execution with weapons is a violent and horrifying act, but many people have become desensitized to it. Orwells
allegorical executioners, the dogs that kill cruelly, portray the bloody and inescapably animalistic side of execution.
Terror comes also in threats and propaganda. Each time the animals dare to question an aspect of Napoleons regime, Squealer
threatens them with Joness return. This is doubly threatening to the animals because it would mean another battle that, if lost,
would result in a return to their former lifestyle of submission. Joness return is such a serious threat that it quashes the animals
curiosity without fail. The other major example of fear tactics in the novel is the threat of Snowball and his collaborators.
Napoleon is able to vilify Snowball in the latters absence and to make the animals believe that his return, like Joness, is
imminent. Snowball is a worse threat than Jones, because Jones is at least safely out of Animal Farm. Snowball is proved to be
not only lurking along Animal Farms borders but infiltrating the farm. Napoleons public investigation of Snowballs whereabouts
cements the animals fear of Snowballs influence. In modern language, Snowball is pegged as the terrorist responsible for the
infringements on the rights and liberties instigated by the pigs.
Exploitation and the Need for Human Rights
Exploitation is the issue around which the animals unite. Initially, the animals do not realize Jones is exploiting them. For this
reason, Old Majors speech is a revelation of momentous proportions. Major explains to the animals that they are enslaved and
exploited and that Man is to blame. He teaches them not only what exploitation means, but also the fact that it is not inevitable.
Orwell suggests that exploitation is, in fact, bound to happen when one class of society has an advantage over another. The
opposite of exploitation, according to Major, is the state of being rich and free. Majors ideas about animal rights symbolize the
importanceand scarcityof human rights in an oppressive regime. Gaining freedom does not necessarily lead people also to
become rich, but it is better to be poor and free than poor and exploited.
All the animals on Animal Farm are exploited under Napoleons control, save the pigs. Even the dogs, which work closely with
the pigs, are exploited. The dogs face perhaps even a worse form of exploitation than the other animals, because they are made
into agents of intimidation and death. Whereas Napoleon exploits the other animals physical strength and their ignorance, he
exploits the dogs viciousness and turns them into villains against their parents wishes.
Boxers life is a particularly sad example of exploitation because he exploits himself, believing wholeheartedly in Napoleons
goodness. In the end, Napoleon turns the tables and exploits Boxer, having him slaughtered for profit. By the end of the novel, we
see clearly how the animals participate in their own exploitation. They are beginning to build a schoolhouse for the thirty-one

young pigs Napoleon has fathered (perhaps an oblique reference to the Thirty Tyrants of ancient Greece). That schoolhouse will
never benefit the animals that build it; rather, it will be used to educate the pigs and indoctrinate them into the cycle of exploiting
others. Throughout the novel, Orwell shows us how the lack of human rights results in total helplessness. However, though it
underscores the need for human rights, the novel does not suggest how to achieve them. After all, once the animals expel Jones
and gain rights for themselves, the pigs take those rights away and the cycle of exploitation continues with new players.
Apathy and Acceptance
In the beginning of Animal Farm, the idea of freedom rouses the animals as if from a long slumber. Immediately following
Majors death, the animals begin preparing themselves for the Rebellion; just the idea of revolution is enough to motivate them,
since they do not expect it to happen in their lifetimes. By the books end, the animals have become as apathetic as Benjamin
always was. Despite the many hardships and injustices they face, the animals pride as well as Napoleons propaganda keep them
invested in the greater good and the illusion of freedom. If Benjamin is the harbinger of apathy, Boxer is its antithesis. Strong
not only in body but also in spirit, Boxer will make any sacrifice for the benefit of Animal Farm. With Boxers eventual betrayal
by the leaders he served so unconditionally, Orwell lays bare another type of apathytheirs. Far from truly considering Boxer a
loyal comrade, the pigs treat him as apathetically as they would a mere object. Symbolically, they even make a profit by having
him turned into literal objectsglue and bone meal.
Boxers enthusiasm does not give him an advantage, but the other animals eventual apathy gives them a defense mechanism
against the painful reality of their lives. It is no coincidence that Animal Farms most apathetic and cynical animal, Benjamin, is
one of those that survives the longest. Benjamins emotional detachment from situations, whether they are good or bad, keeps him
from being disappointed. In his apathy and cynicism, Benjamin represents the stereotypical gloomy Russian and also the
perennially pessimistic Orwell himself.
Chapter I
Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, stumbles drunkenly up to bed as the farm animals wait in still silence. The moment he is out
of sight, they begin to bustle around, preparing themselves for the big meeting that is to take place that night. Old Major has called
the meeting to discuss a strange dream he had the previous night. He is waiting for his fellow animals in the big barn.
The first animals to arrive are the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher, followed by the pigs. Hens, pigeons, sheep, and cows
arrive, as well as the horses, Boxer and Clover. Muriel, the white goat, and the donkey Benjaminfollow. A group of motherless
ducklings wanders in and Clover, being the motherly type, forms a safe place for them to sit with her leg. Mollie, the young mare,
arrives just before the cat, who settles in between Boxer and Clover. The only animal missing is Moses, the raven, who is sleeping
on his perch behind the barn door.
Old Major addresses the animals, calling them, Comrades. He explains that, because he is getting old and may die soon, he
wishes to impart his wisdom. Over his lifetime, he has come to the conclusions that No animal in England is free and The life
of an animal is misery and slavery (28).
Old Major states that animals domination by Man is the sole reason they cannot be free, happy, and fulfilled. Man is the only
creature that consumes without producing. His only job is to be lord of all the animals, which makes him the only real enemy
animals have. Man overworks animals only to rob them of the fruits of their labor, and treats them only well enough to survive
and provide more labor. When Man is done with an animal, he slaughters it cruelly.
According to Old Major, Rebellion is the path to freedom. Overthrowing the human race would make animals rich and free
almost instantly. Old Major begs the other animals to devote the rest of their lives to the cause of Rebellion and to reject the idea
that they have co-dependence with Man. Furthermore, the animals must be united in order to overthrow man: All men are
enemies. All animals are comrades (31). Despite this saying, he is not sure whether wild animals count.
Old Major holds a vote to decide whether domesticated animals should unite with wild animals. Only the dogs and the cat vote no,
although the cat is not paying attention and votes twice. After the vote, Old Major crystallizes his point, stating: Whatever goes
upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. He adds the additional point that, once they
have achieved victory, animals must not emulate Man. They must not wear clothing, live in houses, or copy any of Mans other
evil habits.
Finally, Old Major relates his dream to the animals. His dream was about the state of happiness that will exist once Man is
eliminated. In the dream, a tune his mother and the other sows sang to him in his childhood returned to him, and new words
accompanied the tune. Old Major is sure that he has, in his dream life, uncovered an old animal anthem that has lain dormant for
generations. It is called Beasts of England, and he sings it to the other animals. Orwell describes the song as a stirring tune,
something between Clementine and La Cucaracha (32). The song glorifies the freedom and joy that will follow Tyrant Mans
overthrow, and he urges all animals to toil for freedoms sake, even if they die before the cause is won.
The song rouses the animals, even the dullest of whom learn it in minutes. In fact, the animals are so taken with the song that they
sing it five times in unison. The ruckus awakes Mr. Jones, who fires several bullets from his shotgun into the barn wall. The
animals rush to their sleeping places, and the farm is silent once again.
Analysis
Chapter I introduces us to the idealism upon which Animal Farm and Animalism will later be built. In explicating Animal Farm,
some critics stress Orwells broad focus on totalitarianism over his specific criticism of Stalinism. After all, Orwell saw the threat
of totalitarianism (and elitism) manifested not only in Soviet Russia but also in places such as Spain and colonial Britain.

However, despite Animal Farms far political reach, Orwell did write it as a cautionary tale about Stalinism specifically and, as we
shall see, matched its plot quite closely with Russian history. We can read the novel as both a specific and a general allegory.
Old Major assumes the role of philosopher, creating a detailed model for a utopian society. His role is also that of visionary or
prophet because, smart as he is, part of Majors vision of the future came to him in a dream. In his roles of philosopher and
visionary, Major represents the political theorist Karl Marx. Old Major is older and wiser than the other animals, a fact that
mirrors history. Marx and his theories predated (and therefore influenced) the ideas of Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. All three men
were still children at the time of Marxs death.
Majors vision of mankinds problems and his plan for a utopian society closely match the tenets of Marxism as expressed
in The Communist Manifesto. Majors ideas of the animal and Man correspond with Marxs views of the common man and the
elite. We should bear this symbolism in mind as we examine Majors speech. First, Old Major focuses on the exploitation of the
animal by Man, who is concerned only with making a profit. Although the animal does all the work, it gets no stake in what it
produces because man controls not only the means of production but also the means of distribution. Marxism argues that the
common man becomes confused by the elites self-serving ideology and becomes separated from its true nature. In the same way,
Major says that Man keeps animals in submission only because he is the one creating the ideology and the rules. In order to claim
their destiny of being rich and free, the animals must overthrow Man.
Major also represents Vladimir Lenin, the foremost author of the Russian Revolution and of the formation of the Soviet Union. If
historically Marx played the role of grandfather theorist, then Lenin played that of young interpreter and motivator. Old Major not
only bestows his theory upon the animals, he awakens them from the dreamtime of Mans ideology and rouses them to action. He
does so with the help of Beasts of England, a revolutionary song that helps the animals envision the golden future time when
they will live free of mans (literal and metaphorical) yoke. Orwell also connects Major to Lenin by his use of the word
comrade, which is associated with communism.
If Major represents Marx and Lenin, two revolutionary forces, then Jones represents the existing totalitarian regime. He
symbolizes imperial Russia and the ineffective Czar Nicholas II. Jones stands for an ideology and methodology that have been in
practice for a very long time. In all the history of Manor Farm, the animals have never risen up against him nor thought of doing
so. Though they are superior in numbers and strength, they cannot match his intellectual capabilities (or at least think they cannot).
We should also note that Moses the raven is Joness especial pet. Moses represents the religion that, in the Russian Empire, was
connected closely with the throne. Jones feeds Moses bread soaked in beer to keep him tame, just as the Russian throne
cooperated with the Church but kept it on a tight leash. Under Marxism-Leninism, religion is one of the things that appeases the
common man and makes him easier to subjugate; as Marx famously stated, religion is the opiate of the masses. It has no value
in a truly utopian society, such theorists believe, because people are satisfied in reality and no longer feel the need to rely on faith
or the promise of heaven. It follows that Moses is conspicuously absent from Majors big meeting.
Chapter II
Old Major dies three nights after the meeting that united the animals. Over the next three months, the more intelligent animals
begin to approach life differently. They now anticipate the Rebellion, for which they assume the task of preparing. The pigs take
on the task of organizing and teaching the other animals because they are generally recognized as being the cleverest of the
animals (35).
Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer have taken charge especially, and they have expanded Old Majors concept into a complete
system of thought called Animalism. They hold frequent meetings in the big barn to espouse the views of Animalism to the other
farm animals. At first, the animals are not convinced that they should follow Animalism. Some feel loyalty to Mr. Jones, some
worry that they cannot be self-sufficient, and others, such as Mollie, worry about losing treats such as sugar and ribbons. Snowball
contradicts Mollie, saying that the ribbons are the badge of slavery and that liberty is worth more than ribbons (37).
Moses causes trouble for the pigs by inventing an animal heaven called Sugarcandy Mountain., a utopia for another time. In
contrast, Clover and Boxer are some of the pigs strongest collaborators. Not being very intelligent themselves, Clover and Boxer
memorize simple pro-Animalism arguments that they pass on to the others.
Monetary troubles plague Mr. Jones, leading him to drink excessively. The farmhands are lazy and fail to tend the farm well, yet
hard times for Mr. Jones mean a leg up for the animals. In fact, Mr. Joness misfortune makes the Rebellion come earlier than
expected. On Midsummers Eve in June, Mr. Jones gets so drunk that he passes out and neglects to feed the animals. Having gone
unfed for hours, the animals break into the store-shed and eat. Mr. Jones and the farmhands rush in and begin whipping the
animals indiscriminately, and the animals respond by attacking them in unison. The men are frightened and forced to flee the farm.
After a disbelieving calm, the animals barge into the harness-room and drown or burn all the implements of their former bondage.
Snowball makes sure to burn the ribbons, which he calls tantamount to clothing, and states, All animals should go naked (40).
The animals then help themselves to double servings of food and sleep better than they ever have. When they awake the next
morning, they survey the farm with new eyes, absorbing the fact that it is now their own. Finally, they tour the farmhouse, seeing
in disbelief the unbelievable luxury in which the Joneses had lived. Then the animals agree to leave the farmhouse intact as a
museum. They confiscate a few hams for burial and leave.
The pigs reveal that they have taught themselves to read and write from an old childrens book, which they burned in the bonfire
of human belongings. Snowball uses paint to replace the title Manor Farm with Animal Farm on the farm gate. Back in the
big barn, they reveal that they have reduced Animalism to Seven Commandments. The animals must live by these commandments
for ever after. The commandments, which Snowball writes on the wall with some typographical errors, are:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
After reading the Seven Commandments out loud, Snowball declares that the animals must begin the hay harvest. Three cows
interrupt his thought by lowing in pain, since their udders are full to bursting. Some pigs milk the cows, producing five buckets
of frothing creamy milk (44). The animals wonder what to do with the milk, but Napoleon puts off that decision for a later time.
The animals begin the harvest in the fields, and when they return the milk is gone.
Analysis
Old Majors death represents Lenins death in 1924, which left Stalin (Napoleon) and Trotsky (Snowball) to vie for the leadership
position. Majors meeting changes the animals outlook on life, but Orwell is careful to mention that not all the animals quite
grasp Majors idea of a utopian society. All the animals can learn "Beasts of England," but only those smart enough can truly
assume the revolutionary spirit and the task of preparing for the Rebellion. The pigs become the organizers very quickly. It is
important to note two things about their rise to power. First, the pigs have not always been in charge of the other animals, though
later in the book when the pigs are so thoroughly demonized, Orwell makes it hard for the animalsand the readerto remember
that. But they are superior by natureor at least by traditionwhen it comes to intelligence. Second, the pigs intentions are not
necessarily bad at first. They take on the task of organization because of their reputed superiority rather than a desire to take
control for themselves. Just as Boxer is best suited for hard manual labor, the pigs take their place for organizational work in the
animals division of labor.
Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer organize Majors ideas into the theory of Animalism, which can stand for any complete
system of thought but is meant to evoke Soviet Communism. If Snowball and Napoleon represent the organizers of Communism,
then the other pigs represent those of the Russian intelligentsia who became involved in the revolutionary cause. The Seven
Commandments represent Communism in its theoretical, idealized form. In writing, the Seven Commandments look fair and hold
true to Majors stipulation that the animals not emulate humans. Though the animals intend to live by the Seven Commandments
for ever after, we will learn quickly that the tenets of Animalism do not translate perfectly into reality, especially not with the
seeds of elitism already planted among the pigs.
Like any new theory, Animalism is met with doubt and opposition. The most notable objection comes from Mollie, the fickle mare
that represents Russias elite. Although the common animals also doubt Animalism, Mollie is spoiled by the special treatment she
received under Joness rule (mirroring the czars rule). She also, despite being superficial and fickle, has the intelligence and the
resources to get herself out of Animal Farm, which the peasant animals lack. Historically, many of the Russian elite were
unwilling to give up their privileges, just as Mollie is loath to give up ribbons, sugar, or being petted. Like Mollie, they became
expatriates in capitalist societies where they could retain their advantages (this was a particularly wise move, considering what had
happened to the nobility during the French Revolution). Moses also presents a challenge to Animalism, just as religion presented a
challenge to Communism. Historically, Stalin used intimidation and force to crush religion and promote atheism in the Soviet
Union. However, despite their efforts to promote their ideas over those of Moses, the leadership of Animal Farm allows Moses to
come and go as he pleases. The struggles and inconsistencies of Animalism as practiced can be made softer by belief in an animal
heaven to be enjoyed later.
Mr. Joness monetary troubles mirror the Russian thrones ineffectiveness and dwindling power on the eve of the Revolution. The
air is ripe for revolution, and the animals seize the opportunity to run Jones off his own land. The animals are kinder to Jones than
the revolutionaries were to Czar Nicholas II, who was executed on Lenins orders along with his family.
With Jones gone, the animals begin to realize Majors vision of a utopian, animal-run society that operates under its own ideology.
The Rebellion could represent the February Revolution (though it happens on Midsummer's Eve) or the Russian Revolution as a
whole. The February Revolution did result in Czar Nicholas II's abdication, which Jones's expulsion mirrors neatly. The story,
however, does not need a one-to-one correspondence with history, and Orwell can make his points more crisply by adapting the
history to his carefully crafted allegory.
Although the animals live happily for a while, it is important to note that the pigs have begun their clandestine and elitist activities
already. For example, they order that all artifacts of the animals oppression be burned. The pigs thus burn a childrens book they
used to teach themselves to read and write, but the resource is no longer available after the book-burning. Throughout the novel,
Orwell emphasizes the other animals lack of intelligence, but we can never be sure that the animals ignorance and illiteracy is
due to lack of intelligence rather than an oppressive environment, generation after generation, that has made their lower status and
ability seem natural. When the pigs take the milk for themselves, the reader knows that this is the beginning of a new round of
subjugation and oppression by an elite.
Chapter III
The harvest is more of a success than Mr. Jones and his men ever accomplished, despite the fact that the tools are not well suited
for animals to use, especially without the animals rearing up on their hind legs. The pigs supervise the others but do not participate

in the manual labor. With the parasitical human beings out of the way, the animals enjoy a feeling of abundance for the first
time. They have more leisure, and their food tastes all the better for their having gathered and portioned it out themselves.
On Animal Farm, everyone works according to his capacity. Boxer is invigorated and pushes himself to work harder than ever;
because he is strong and big, he contributes to the most strenuous labor. In contrast, the hens and ducks work at gathering small
bits of corn that the bigger animals would not be able to gather. The system of Animalism is working well: every animal is
satisfied with his share of the labor and its fruits. No one steals or argues, and very few shirk their responsibilities, with the
exception of the cat and frivolous Mollie.
Every Sunday is a day of rest and devotion to Animalism on Animal Farm. The animals hold an hour-long ceremony at which they
raise their new flag. The flag is green to represent Englands pastures and features a hoof and horn that represent the future
Republic of the Animals that will exist when the human race [has] finally been overthrown (48). A gathering called Meeting
follows the flag raising, in which the animals plan the coming week and the pigs present resolutions for debate (none of the other
animals are intelligent enough to think up resolutions). Snowball and Napoleon tend to debate the most and take opposite sides.
The animals end each meeting by singing Beasts of England.
The pigs set up a study center for themselves in the harness-room, where they study trades using Mr. Joness books. Snowball
begins organizing the animals into Animal Committees, including the Egg Production Committee, the Clean Tails League, the
Wild Comrades Re-education Committee (to tame rats and rabbits), and the Whiter Wool Movement. These committees generally
fail to produce results or remain cohesive. Snowball does succeed in teaching some of the animals to read, although most of them
lack the intelligence needed for literacy. In fact, many of the animals lack the intelligence needed to memorize the Seven
Commandments, so Snowball reduces Animalisms tenets to one simple saying: Four legs good, two legs bad (50).
As time goes by, the pigs begin to increase their control over the other animals. For example, when Jessie and Bluebell give birth
to puppies, Napoleon takes them to an isolated loft where he can teach them. Napoleon believes that educating young,
impressionable animals is more important than trying to re-educate older ones. It turns out that the pigs are mixing the cows milk
with their food. When the wind knocks ripe apples out of the orchard trees, the pigs claim the right to take them all, as well as the
bulk of the coming apple harvest. The pigs claim that they need milk and apples in order to power their
brainwork. Squealer says that, were the pigs to stop eating milk and apples, they could lose their powers of organization and Mr.
Jones could come back. The threat of Mr. Joness return is enough to quell the other animals doubts and questions.
Analysis
At first, the animals seem to be living in the utopia Major had imagined for them. Now that they have their own ideology and own
the means of production, they feel rich and free, just as Major predicted. They enjoy a temporary calm as well as a sense of
invigoration after years of discontent, now assume Mans position of control over themselves and nature. In doing organizational
work, the pigs are working in accordance with their capacity. But at the same time, the pigs are fairly large and strong animals that
could surely contribute to the farms manual labor force. They are slowly assuming Mans competitive advantage and becoming
the only creature that consumes without producing.
From the very beginning of the Animal Farm era, Boxer assumes the majority of the burden of labor. Now that he is working for
the animals benefit and not Joness, he feels enlivened and adopts the first of his two personal maxims, I will work harder. In
his heartiness, usefulness, and relative dullness, Boxer represents the faithful peasant. Some critics have pointed out the similarity
of this motto to that of the main character in Upton Sinclairs The Jungle. Indeed, Orwell was certainly familiar with Sinclairs
writings. While Sinclairs novel criticized capitalism, Orwells focuses on Communism. Either way, the point expands the readers
consciousness to see how elitism can result in willing subjugation in very different regimes. Boxer is not pugnacious despite his
name, but he is as strong as his name implies. In this way, Boxer is painfully ironic. He is strong enough to kill another animal,
even a human, with a single blow from his hoof, and the dogs will not be able to overpower him in Chapter VII. Still, Boxer lacks
the intelligence and the nerve to sense that he is being misled and mistreated. He knows how to use his brawn only in submission
to his leaders and not against them.
Chapter III marks the beginning of the dispute between Snowball and Napoleon, which evokes the power struggle between
Trotsky and Stalin. After Trotskys fashion, Snowball is a progressive, eloquent, and public politician. He not only creates
countless plans for reform, but he also dominates the Sunday meetings with his skillful and rabble-rousing orations. Snowball has
the capacity to inspire the animals just as Major did in his big meeting. After Stalins fashion, Napoleon conducts his politics
clandestinely. His public statements are generally limited to rebuttals of Snowballs ideas; he keeps his own plans to himself. For
example, Napoleon secrets the puppies away to a loft and, by keeping out of the public eye, manages to rear them into fierce,
blood-hungry, creatures submissive to him. Napoleons collaboration with and control of the dogs evokes Stalins focus on quietly
gaining support from powerful allies.
Chapter III also introduces the idea of propaganda. Stirring as it may be, Beasts of England is more of a revolutionary anthem
than a piece of propaganda. It is meant to unite the animals in the cause of the Rebellion and help them to envision the utopia for
which they must strive. But most of the animals are not intelligent enough to let the song do more than vaguely inspire their hopes.
Without even being able to remember the Seven Commandments, most of the animals rely merely on the propagandist refrain,
Four legs good, two legs bad. Snowball reduces the Seven Commandments into this single maxim, vastly oversimplifying the
full system of Animalism into a catchphrase. As the animals adopt the phrase, they begin to forget the Seven Commandments,
which gives the pigs the opportunity to change them. In fact, the pigs manage to break every one of the other commandments
without arousing much suspicion. Clover and Muriel, who periodically think about the Seven Commandments, are easily duped in

this regard. Having memorized the simple maxim in their place, they are easily convinced that their doubts about the original
content of the commandments are unfounded.
Squealer, who represents the propaganda machine, introduces fear tactics in this chapter. After convincing the animals that the
pigs have a right to milk and apples, he threatens the animals with Joness return for the first time. The pigs have created an
environment where their rules must be followed out of fear of the return of the old older. It is an easy, winning response to animals
that see only the two alternatives and cannot see a way back to the utopian principles that inspired their rebellion.
Chapter IV
It is late summer. News of the Rebellion has spread to many other farms, thanks to Snowballs and Napoleons pigeon messengers.
Meanwhile, in the human world, Mr. Jonestells other farmers about the Rebellion. The fear of similar revolutions unites the
owners of the farms adjacent to Animal Farm, even though they dislike one another. Easy-going Mr. Pilkington (of large,
neglected Foxwood) and hard-nosed Mr. Frederick (of small, better-kept Pinchfield) spread rumors to discourage their animals
from turning against them. They say that the animals on Manor Farm are starving. When this claim turns out to be clearly untrue,
they claim that the animals are cannibals who practice all kinds of wickedness.
Despite the farmers efforts to subdue ideas of rebellion, their animals begin lashing out against them. The animals resist the
farmers orders. They also adopt the infuriating habit of singing Beasts of England.
In October, accompanied by several other farmers, Mr. Jones tries to recapture Animal Farm. Snowball has already trained the
animals for war, however, and they take their defensive positions. The smaller animals attack the men and then pretend to retreat
into the yard in defeat. Once the men follow, the larger animals ambush them. Mr. Jones kills one sheep and wounds Snowball
several times with his gun, but the animals manage to overpower the humans. Boxer is thought to have killed a stable-lad, which
upsets the stalwart horse. But it turns out that the boy is only injured, and he flees with the other men. The only animal who does
not fight is Mollie, whom the animals discover cowering in her stall.
After the battle, the animals sing Beasts of England yet again. They invent a military honor called Animal Hero, First Class,
which they bestow upon Snowball and Boxer. Then they bury the fallen sheep and confer upon him posthumously the title of
Animal Hero, Second Class. The animals decide to call this conflict the Battle of the Cowshed. The agree to fire Mr. Joness gun
into the air twice a year, on the anniversaries of the battle (October 12) and of the Rebellion (Midsummers Eve).
Analysis
The first part of Chapter IV mirrors the international reaction to the young Soviet Union. For centuries, other nations had been
able to write off Russia as a backwards and disorganized country, despite the size of its territory and population. There had been
socialist uprisings elsewhere, and efforts like the French Revolution had not brought the workers utopia that had been dreamed of.
But after the Russian Revolution, and armed with a new ideology and power structure, the Soviet Union began to garner
international interest due to its prospects for success. Communism thus re-entered the realm of international politics as a possibly
viable alternative to fascism and capitalism, and workers around the world were hopeful that the promises of the Soviets would
come to fruition everywhere. We see this history reflected in the farmers growing awareness of the happenings on Animal Farm
and in the animals rebelliousness on their own farms.
Part of Trotskys politics (called Trotskyism) was the belief that the Revolution should be encouraged in other countries, leading to
an international revolution of the proletariat. Orwell mirrors this view in Snowballs pigeon-messenger missions; he enlists the
birds to spread news of the Rebellion to farms across England. Thus, Animal Farm is not just an example of change but an agent
of the new solidarity of the animals.
Snowballs efforts work to an extent, since animals on other farms not only start disobeying their owners but also agitate the
owners--as Trotskys ideas agitated foreign nations. At once fascinated and threatened by the Soviets increasing power, some
foreign leaders found the need to suppress the seeds of revolution in their own countries. Thus, when Pilkington and Frederick
spread lies about Animal Farm, they represent the Western vilification of Communism. Although the farmers and capitalists to
some degree were just protecting their own investments, it turns out that the villains really are the pigs and the Stalinists after all.
Joness attempt to recapture Animal Farm strengthens the bonds between the animals. The animals, small and large, work together
to successfully overthrow the humans once more. Of course, the animals do not like the war. At the same time, it strengthens their
determination to maintain their freedom and work for the greater good.
The Battle of the Cowshed also creates a legend about Snowballs heroism that will become subject to revisionism throughout the
book. In truth, Snowball leads the charge against Jones and his men, being shot several times in the process. Over time, memories
will fade and the battle will be reinterpreted by those in power.
According to some critics, the Battle of the Cowshed represents the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks replaced the
provisional government. This idea is supported by the battle's date (October 12) and the animals post-battle resolution to fire the
gun on the anniversaries of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed; in that resolution, Orwell seems to liken the two events
to two main turns in the Russian Revolution. But Orwell does not give us a neat parallel with history. Russia was disorganized and
dissatisfied under the provisional government, whereas Animal Farm is already prospering in Chapter IV. Also, the animals are
already living by the Seven Commandments, which symbolize the Soviet decrees passed after the October Revolution. As we will
see in the refiguring of the Red Terror, Orwell does not adhere tightly to historical progression in the novel, letting his own
message take precedence.
Chapter V

As winter approaches, Mollies behavior becomes increasingly perturbed. She is late for work and feigns injury in order to shirk
her duties. More seriously, Clover has spotted Mollie at the border of Foxwood, allowing Mr. Pilkington to stroke her nose and
talk to her. Mollie denies the accusation, but her embarrassment confirms that she is lying. On a hunch, Clover goes to Mollies
stall and finds a hidden stash of sugar and ribbons. Mollie disappears soon after. She is seen in a painted cart, gussied up and
taking sugar from a man who appears to be some kind of manager. The other animals never mention her again.
January brings bitterly cold weather. Since conditions are too harsh for farming, the animals hold many meetings. They have
agreed that the pigs should make all policy decisions, which the other animals are to ratify. Snowball andNapoleon are in constant
disagreement, and the other animals begin to take sides. The sheep support Napoleon and interrupt Snowballs speeches by
bleating, Four legs good, two legs bad. Snowball is the more progressive politician, promoting innovations to make the farm run
more efficiently. Napoleon makes sure to oppose all of Snowballs ideas.
After some time, Snowball and Napoleon come into bitter conflict over a windmill. Snowball designates a piece of land for a
windmill, which will provide electricity for the heretofore-primitive farm. He uses Mr.Joness books to draft a detailed chalk
blueprint, which fascinates the other animals. One day, Napoleon urinates on the blueprint to show his disdain.
Snowball estimates that the animals can complete the windmill with a year of hard labor, after which the time saving machine will
shorten their workweek to three days. Napoleon counters with the idea that they will all starve to death in that time, and that the
farms primary concern should be increasing food production. The animals split into two groups, one called Vote for Snowball
and the three-day week, the other called Vote for Napoleon and the full manger (65). The only animal not to take a side
is Benjamin, who is pessimistic about both plans.
Snowball and Napoleon engage in another major debate about how best to prepare for another human attack. Napoleon advocates
the procurement of firearms as well as firearms training. Snowball advocates sending pigeons to rally the other animals; if
rebellions occur everywhere, then the humans will stay at bay. The other animals do not divide over this issue because they cannot
decide who is right.
Finally, Snowball completes his blueprint for the windmill. The animals hold a meeting at which Snowball wins over the majority
with his descriptions of the leisurely life that the windmill will allow. Suddenly, Napoleon signals nine enormous dogs wearing
brass-studded collars, which barge into the barn and chase Snowball out. Snowball manages to escape through a hedge. The
frightened animals gather once more in the barn. As it turns out, the nine dogs are Jessies and Bluebells puppies. They seem to
consider Napoleon their master. Napoleon takes the stage and announces that Sunday meetings with all their accompanying
debates will cease, and he will lead a small committee of pigs in making decisions. This mandate disturbs the other animals, but
most of them are too dull to argue and too afraid of the dogs to show their disapproval. Four pigs protest briefly.
After the meeting, Squealer explains the new arrangement to the other animals. Just as in the case of the milk and apples, Squealer
claims that taking on leadership responsibilities is a burden for Napoleon and his committee; they do it only for the general
welfare. If left to make their own decisions, he explains, the animals might make a wrong decision. He also calls Snowball a
criminal; even if he was brave in the Battle of the Cowshed (an idea that Squealer also questions), loyalty and obedience are
more important. Squealer tells the animals, Discipline, comrades, iron discipline! That is the watchword for today. Again as in
the case of the milk and apples, Squealer ensures the animals compliance by threatening Mr. Joness return. Of all the
animals, Boxer takes obedience to the pigs to heart most. He now has two personal maxims: Napoleon is always right and I
will work harder (70).
Winter turns into spring. The pigs disinter Old Majors skull and place it at the base of the flagpole beside the gun. When they
meet to receive their orders for the week, the animals no longer sit all together. Rather, the dogs and other pigs gather around
Napoleon, Squealer, and another pig named Minimus. Only three days after Snowballs removal, Napoleon announces plans to
build the windmill and make similar improvements to the farm. Squealer explains to the animals that Napoleon had never really
opposed the windmillin fact, it was his own creation, which Snowball had copied. With evident pride, Squealer explains that
Napoleons feigned opposition to the windmill was simply a maneuver in his plan to expel Snowball for disobedience; it was a
brilliant example of tactics (72).
Analysis
In Chapter IV, we saw conflicting evidence concerning the relationship between the Battle of the Cowshed and the historical
October Revolution. Mollies desertion in the beginning of Chapter V makes a case for the Battle of the Cowsheds representing
the October Revolution. Once both parts of the Russian Revolution were completed (insofar as these were two touchstones of the
revolution), Lenin could begin making major social and economic changes. Again, many improvements have already been instated
on Animal Farm by the time of the Battle of the Cowshed, which would be too early for consistency with historybut not
necessarily out of order for Marxist theory. If the trend toward collectivization after the Rebellion ruffled Mollie, the second
revolutionary struggle, the Battle of the Cowshed, incites her to action. Just as many of Russias former elite emigrated after the
Russian Revolution because they refused to live under Communism, Mollie emigrates in order to avoid living under Animalism.
The fact that Mollie leaves only after the Battle of the Cowshed supports its representing the October Revolution.
After the Battle of the Cowshed, the pigs award themselves the task or burden of making all policy decisions. This fact also
supports the idea that the Battle of the Cowshed represents the October Revolution because, although the Seven Commandments
are already in place, the pigs tighten their control over the populace just as the Bolsheviks did once the Revolution was complete.
In general, Chapter V corresponds to the mid-to-late 1920s, when Trotsky and Stalins power struggle came to a head. Historically,
Trotsky was a brilliant orator, so he was good at inspiring the public on a large scale. Orwell mirrors this in the faction called

Vote for Napoleon and the three-day week. However, Stalin easily outdid Trotsky in his ability to garner not just a wash of
support, but deep-seated and influential support. Snowball may dominate the stage at meetings, but Napoleon gets the sheep to
heckle Snowball by interrupting his speeches by chanting, Four legs good, two legs bad! In their heckling, the sheep represent
those of Stalins supporters who took to disrupting Trotskys speeches at Party meetings.
Orwell does not have a literary reason to follow the details of history and character because he is doing much more than retell a
story in his own way; he chooses his details and his symbols in order to make his own points. The windmill is at the center of
Snowballs and Napoleons fiercest debate. Rather than representing a specific point of debate between Trotsky and Stalin, the
windmill symbolizes Soviet industry, both agricultural and factory. The narrator tells us that, up until the building of the windmill,
Manor Farm has been stuck in the past. It is not technologically advanced, though other farms are. This mirrors the fact that,
coming into the Soviet Era, Russias agriculture and city industry lagged behind other civilized countries. All of the three original
Soviet leaders, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, recognized the need for industrial progress and had varying ideas about how to pursue
it. In his conception and promotion of the windmill, Snowball can be seen to take a turn as Lenin. Lenins New Economic Policy
(NEP) was an attempt to stimulate Russian productivity, one that Stalin ceased and replaced with his own windmills, the Five
Year Plans. On a broader scale, the windmill represents the abstract Soviet cause toward the common good.
Over the years, the animals will work tirelessly to build the windmill, sacrificing everything from their rest days to their rations in
order that it might be completed. In the same way, Soviet citizens labored for an abstract common good, the fruits of which they
never saw. Each time the windmill is destroyed, Napoleon gives the animals new hope that, next time around, they will build it
and reap its benefits. In the same way, Stalin kept the Soviet people trained on a good that, time after time, slipped from their
grasp.
In Chapter V, Orwell also brings up the central difference between Trotskyism and Stalinism. As we have discussed previously,
Trotsky advocated the extension of the Revolution on an international scale. In contrast, Stalin advanced the idea of Socialism in
One Country, in which he stated that, considering the failure of communism in other nations, the Soviet Union should focus its
energy internally. Stalins Socialism in One Country was a revision of Marxism-Leninism. Orwell mirrors these events in
Snowballs and Napoleons debate over how best to protect Animal Farm against another human attack. Snowball wants to send
messengers to spread the message of the Rebellion. Napoleon wants to stockpile weapons and train the animals to use them. Just
as Stalin revised Marxism-Leninism with Socialism in One Country, Napoleon has begun to hijack Animalism to serve his own
ideals.
In 1929, Stalin expelled Trotsky from the Soviet Union. In a similar move, Napoleon ousts Snowball from Animal Farm.
Snowballs rabble-rousing cannot protect him against Napoleons dogs, just as Trotskys oration skills were no match for the
power that Stalin was slowly and steadily cultivating. The revelation of the attack dogs is the first sign of the new violence
between animals on Animal Farm. It is a kind of coup.
Under Napoleon, as under Stalin, propaganda takes on a much-expanded and more powerful role. Specifically, Squealer comes to
represent Stalins revisionist propaganda machine. No sooner than Snowball is gone, Squealer is already questioning Snowballs
bravery in the Battle of the Cowshed. Notably, Squealer claims that the windmill was Napoleons idea all along. Whether this is
true or not, it certainly seems like revisionist history.
With the exhumation of old Majors skull, Orwell makes the point that propaganda is often effective not simply for its message
but for the atmosphere of domination it creates. Napoleon is changing Majors ideas in order to create his own personal regime in
the same way that Stalin changed Marxism-Leninism. Still, he makes the animals march past Majors skull as though they are still
adhering to the old boars exhortations.
Chapter VI
The animals work sixty-hour weeks all spring and summer in order to build the windmill, but none begrudges the
extra labor. In August, Napoleon instates strictly voluntary labor on Sundays: animals may choose not to come,
but they will have their rations reduced by half. There are plenty of building materials on the premises, and the
animals discover that they can break limestone into pieces by using the force of gravity. However, the process of
dragging boulders to the top of the quarry and throwing them down is very taxing. Boxer compensates by picking
up the other animals slack, for which they admire him.
Shortages begin to occur. The animals require things, such as iron for horseshoes and machinery for the windmill,
that they cannot produce on the farm. To provide a solution, Napoleon opens trade with the neighboring farms
and says that the animals may need to sell some of the hens eggs in the nearby town of Willingdon. He makes
sure to stress the fact that the windmill should be the animals first priority. The other animals are conscious of a
vague uneasiness because the Seven Commandments forbid trade with humans and the use of money. Napoleon
assures the animals that they, at least, will not have to make contact with human beings. He has already set up
an agreement with a solicitor in town named Mr. Whymper, who will act as their intermediary to the human
world.
After the meeting, Squealer assures the animals that trade and the use of money are allowed after allthat no
resolution against those activities has ever been passed. He convinces them that their memory of such a
resolution is mistaken. Mr. Whymper visits the farm every Monday to get his orders. Meanwhile, in the human
world, humans are more opposed than ever to Animal Farms existence. They hope that the windmill will fail and

the farm will go bankrupt. Still, they secretly admire Animal Farms efficiency, which they have begun to call by
its new name. They even stop valorizing Mr. Jones, who has moved away.
One day, the pigs move into the farmhouse. The other animals again feel uneasy, remembering faintly a
resolution that forbade such an action. Again, Squealer convinces them that they are mistaken. Napoleon, whom
Squealer now calls The Leader, should be granted the honor of living in a house. Furthermore, the pigs need a
quiet workplace. Squealers lies satisfy some of the animals. But Clover decides to investigate when she learns
that the pigs have taken to sleeping in beds. She tries to read the Seven Commandments on the barn wall, but
she cannot. Muriel is able to read it for her. One resolution has been changed to: No animal shall sleep in a bed
with sheets (79). At this point, Squealer approaches and denies that there was ever a rule against bedsonly
sheets. As usual, he justifies the pigs actions by threatening Mr. Joness return. Soon after, the pigs award
themselves the additional privilege of waking up an hour late.
By autumn, the windmill is half finished. One night in November, violent winds ravage the farm and destroy the
windmill. Napoleon quickly blames the destruction on Snowball. He sentences Snowball to death and offers half a
bushel of apples and the title of Animal Hero, Second Class to any animal that detains him. There is a track of
pig footprints leading to the hedge, which Napoleon attributes to Snowball. Then Napoleon rouses the animals to
action, saying, Forward, comrades! Long live the windmill! Long live Animal Farm! (83).
Analysis
In Chapter VI, the animals begin working tirelessly to complete the windmill. In this case, we can see the
windmill as the first of Stalins Five Year Plans. The Five Year Plans had the same aim as Lenins New Economic
Policy, which was to stimulate Russian industry and help bring it into the 20th century. Unlike the NEP, which left
some control of industry in the peoples hands, Stalins Five Year Plans brought Russian industry under complete
government control. Orwell mirrors this pattern in Napoleons tightening of the reigns on the animal workforce.
Napoleons supposedly voluntary but actually compulsory Sunday labor sets him even farther apart from
Snowball, who advocated a shorter workweek.
This episode also reflects Stalins reliance on tactics of deception. Although Stalin was clear with industry leaders
about the goals of the Five Year Plans, he continued manipulating the public to foster increasedalbeit successful
labor. As in history, the animals of Animal Farm are able to achieve great productivity but do not benefit
personally from their efforts. They suffer shortages because for all their work, the windmill (like the heavy
industry on which Stalin focused Soviet efforts) cannot yet provide them with energy, much less the basic things
they need.
Unlike Napoleon, who opens trade relations with neighboring farms, Stalin was conservative about foreign trade.
Rather than representing a specific event in history, Napoleons decision to conduct business with other farms is
another opportunity for Orwell to point out Stalins hypocrisy and revisionism by means of the pigs rejection of
the original principles of the Rebellion. The very basis for Animalism is the idea that humans are the enemy and
not to be trustedfour legs good, two legs bad. By negotiating with humans, Napoleon undermines Animalism
completely at the same time he is reminding the animals that the windmill should be their first priority. By having
Napoleon show such disregard for Animalisms tenets, Orwell suggests that Stalin was more a proponent of his
personal interests than he was of the cause of Communism. Like Napoleon, Stalin did not seem to believe in the
greater good for which he forced his people to work so tirelessly.
Orwell mirrors Stalins caution in dealing with foreign nations in Napoleons procurement of an intermediary, Mr.
Whymper. Additionally, Whymper represents those countries that traded with the Soviet Union while turning a
blind eye to Stalins abuses. Whymper (whose name suggests whimpering or docility) works purely for profit and
never interferes in Animal Farms affairs.
Orwell also expands his critique of Stalins revisionist propaganda. The pigs break another of the Seven
Commandments when they begin living in the farmhouse and sleeping in beds. Clover and Muriel investigate,
only to discover that the commandment has been changed to suit the pigs desires. Through his smooth talking,
Squealer convinces Clover and Muriel that the commandment has always concerned the use of sheets and not
beds. In this revision, the allegory serves Orwell particularly well. Stalin and his propagandists plastered the
Soviet Union with propaganda in the form of posters, songs, art, and countless other media. Squealers version of
this pattern is to continually re-paint the Seven Commandments to reflect Napoleons changes in policy. Orwell
humorously suggests a Soviet agent going around the Soviet Union, personally scratching out and rewriting the
slogans on posters. The point is that the propaganda changes to suit those in power and to keep a controlled
acquiescence among the rest.
Chapter VI also continues Orwells critique of the tactic of intimidation. When Clover and Muriel question the
Seven Commandments accuracy, Squealer threatens them (as usual) with Joness return. In this chapter,
Napoleons fear tactics culminate with the windmills destruction. Though natural forces are to blame, Napoleon

blames the disaster on Snowball in the same way Stalin considered Trotsky a threat even in exile. In the novel,
Napoleon sentences Snowball to death, but we never find out whether his orders are carried out, or if Snowball is
even still alive at the time of his sentencing. In history, Stalin eventually did have Trotsky assassinated by a
Soviet agent in 1940. Whether Snowball is a true threat to Animal Farm or not, Napoleon makes sure the animals
believe Snowball is. In this sense, Snowball represents the nebulous foreign threat of which Stalin kept his people
wary. There are now two terrorist enemies to fear, Mr. Jones (even if he has left town, other men remain to be
afraid of) and Snowball.
Orwell makes the connection between fear tactics and economic strategy very clear at the end of Chapter VI.
Napoleon moves directly from accusing Snowball of destroying the windmill to urging the animals, Forward,
comrades! Long live the windmill! Long live Animal Farm (83). Napoleon remains a leader the animals are willing
to followthey cannot see another choice, anyway, especially with Mr. Jones and Snowball cast as enemiesbut
the legitimacy of Napoleons authority is becoming more and more suspect to the reader.

Chapter VI
The animals work sixty-hour weeks all spring and summer in order to build the windmill, but none begrudges the extra labor. In
August, Napoleon instates strictly voluntary labor on Sundays: animals may choose not to come, but they will have their rations
reduced by half. There are plenty of building materials on the premises, and the animals discover that they can break limestone
into pieces by using the force of gravity. However, the process of dragging boulders to the top of the quarry and throwing them
down is very taxing. Boxer compensates by picking up the other animals slack, for which they admire him.
Shortages begin to occur. The animals require things, such as iron for horseshoes and machinery for the windmill, that they cannot
produce on the farm. To provide a solution, Napoleon opens trade with the neighboring farms and says that the animals may need
to sell some of the hens eggs in the nearby town of Willingdon. He makes sure to stress the fact that the windmill should be the
animals first priority. The other animals are conscious of a vague uneasiness because the Seven Commandments forbid trade
with humans and the use of money. Napoleon assures the animals that they, at least, will not have to make contact with human
beings. He has already set up an agreement with a solicitor in town named Mr. Whymper, who will act as their intermediary to the
human world.
After the meeting, Squealer assures the animals that trade and the use of money are allowed after allthat no resolution against
those activities has ever been passed. He convinces them that their memory of such a resolution is mistaken. Mr. Whymper visits
the farm every Monday to get his orders. Meanwhile, in the human world, humans are more opposed than ever to Animal Farms
existence. They hope that the windmill will fail and the farm will go bankrupt. Still, they secretly admire Animal Farms
efficiency, which they have begun to call by its new name. They even stop valorizing Mr. Jones, who has moved away.
One day, the pigs move into the farmhouse. The other animals again feel uneasy, remembering faintly a resolution that forbade
such an action. Again, Squealer convinces them that they are mistaken. Napoleon, whom Squealer now calls The Leader, should
be granted the honor of living in a house. Furthermore, the pigs need a quiet workplace. Squealers lies satisfy some of the
animals. But Clover decides to investigate when she learns that the pigs have taken to sleeping in beds. She tries to read the Seven
Commandments on the barn wall, but she cannot. Muriel is able to read it for her. One resolution has been changed to: No animal
shall sleep in a bed with sheets (79). At this point, Squealer approaches and denies that there was ever a rule against bedsonly
sheets. As usual, he justifies the pigs actions by threatening Mr. Joness return. Soon after, the pigs award themselves the
additional privilege of waking up an hour late.
By autumn, the windmill is half finished. One night in November, violent winds ravage the farm and destroy the windmill.
Napoleon quickly blames the destruction on Snowball. He sentences Snowball to death and offers half a bushel of apples and the
title of Animal Hero, Second Class to any animal that detains him. There is a track of pig footprints leading to the hedge, which
Napoleon attributes to Snowball. Then Napoleon rouses the animals to action, saying, Forward, comrades! Long live the
windmill! Long live Animal Farm! (83).
Analysis
In Chapter VI, the animals begin working tirelessly to complete the windmill. In this case, we can see the windmill as the first of
Stalins Five Year Plans. The Five Year Plans had the same aim as Lenins New Economic Policy, which was to stimulate Russian
industry and help bring it into the 20th century. Unlike the NEP, which left some control of industry in the peoples hands, Stalins
Five Year Plans brought Russian industry under complete government control. Orwell mirrors this pattern in Napoleons
tightening of the reigns on the animal workforce. Napoleons supposedly voluntary but actually compulsory Sunday labor sets
him even farther apart from Snowball, who advocated a shorter workweek.
This episode also reflects Stalins reliance on tactics of deception. Although Stalin was clear with industry leaders about the goals
of the Five Year Plans, he continued manipulating the public to foster increasedalbeit successfullabor. As in history, the
animals of Animal Farm are able to achieve great productivity but do not benefit personally from their efforts. They suffer
shortages because for all their work, the windmill (like the heavy industry on which Stalin focused Soviet efforts) cannot yet
provide them with energy, much less the basic things they need.
Unlike Napoleon, who opens trade relations with neighboring farms, Stalin was conservative about foreign trade. Rather than
representing a specific event in history, Napoleons decision to conduct business with other farms is another opportunity for
Orwell to point out Stalins hypocrisy and revisionism by means of the pigs rejection of the original principles of the Rebellion.

The very basis for Animalism is the idea that humans are the enemy and not to be trustedfour legs good, two legs bad. By
negotiating with humans, Napoleon undermines Animalism completely at the same time he is reminding the animals that the
windmill should be their first priority. By having Napoleon show such disregard for Animalisms tenets, Orwell suggests that
Stalin was more a proponent of his personal interests than he was of the cause of Communism. Like Napoleon, Stalin did not seem
to believe in the greater good for which he forced his people to work so tirelessly.
Orwell mirrors Stalins caution in dealing with foreign nations in Napoleons procurement of an intermediary, Mr. Whymper.
Additionally, Whymper represents those countries that traded with the Soviet Union while turning a blind eye to Stalins abuses.
Whymper (whose name suggests whimpering or docility) works purely for profit and never interferes in Animal Farms affairs.
Orwell also expands his critique of Stalins revisionist propaganda. The pigs break another of the Seven Commandments when
they begin living in the farmhouse and sleeping in beds. Clover and Muriel investigate, only to discover that the commandment
has been changed to suit the pigs desires. Through his smooth talking, Squealer convinces Clover and Muriel that the
commandment has always concerned the use of sheets and not beds. In this revision, the allegory serves Orwell particularly well.
Stalin and his propagandists plastered the Soviet Union with propaganda in the form of posters, songs, art, and countless other
media. Squealers version of this pattern is to continually re-paint the Seven Commandments to reflect Napoleons changes in
policy. Orwell humorously suggests a Soviet agent going around the Soviet Union, personally scratching out and rewriting the
slogans on posters. The point is that the propaganda changes to suit those in power and to keep a controlled acquiescence among
the rest.
Chapter VI also continues Orwells critique of the tactic of intimidation. When Clover and Muriel question the Seven
Commandments accuracy, Squealer threatens them (as usual) with Joness return. In this chapter, Napoleons fear tactics
culminate with the windmills destruction. Though natural forces are to blame, Napoleon blames the disaster on Snowball in the
same way Stalin considered Trotsky a threat even in exile. In the novel, Napoleon sentences Snowball to death, but we never find
out whether his orders are carried out, or if Snowball is even still alive at the time of his sentencing. In history, Stalin eventually
did have Trotsky assassinated by a Soviet agent in 1940. Whether Snowball is a true threat to Animal Farm or not, Napoleon
makes sure the animals believe Snowball is. In this sense, Snowball represents the nebulous foreign threat of which Stalin kept his
people wary. There are now two terrorist enemies to fear, Mr. Jones (even if he has left town, other men remain to be afraid of)
and Snowball.
Orwell makes the connection between fear tactics and economic strategy very clear at the end of Chapter VI. Napoleon moves
directly from accusing Snowball of destroying the windmill to urging the animals, Forward, comrades! Long live the windmill!
Long live Animal Farm (83). Napoleon remains a leader the animals are willing to followthey cannot see another choice,
anyway, especially with Mr. Jones and Snowball cast as enemiesbut the legitimacy of Napoleons authority is becoming more
and more suspect to the reader.
Chapter VII
The animals work to rebuild the windmill through a bitter, stormy winter, well aware that the human world is watching and hoping
for their failure. Because of increasing food shortages, the animals begin to go hungry. Knowing that the humans must not hear
ofAnimal Farms hardships, Napoleon enlists the sheep to comment about their increasing rations when within earshot of
Mr. Whymper. He also has someone lead Mr. Whymper past the food bins, which are filled with sand and topped with grain to
look full.
Napoleon appears in public less and less, and when he does, six fierce dogs act as his guards. As there is need for more grain, he
has Mr. Whymper arrange a contract to sell four hundred eggs per week. The hens rebel by laying their eggs in the rafters so that
the eggs smash on the floor. Napoleon stops the hens rations and makes feeding a hen punishable by death. Nine hens die,
supposedly of coccidiosis, during the five-day strike, after which the hens surrender.
Napoleon negotiates with Mr. Frederickand Mr. Pilkington, who wish to buy Animal Farms supply of timber. A rumor begins
circulating among the animals that Snowball is sneaking into the farm at night and causing mischief. From then on, the animals
attribute any misfortune to Snowballs interference. Napoleon arranges a public investigation of Snowballs activities. He surveys
the farm and claims to smell Snowballs scent everywhere. The animals are terrified. That evening, Squealer tells the animals that
Snowball now belongs to Mr. Frederick, with whom he is plotting to overtake Animal Farm. He claims that Snowball was
collaborating with Mr. Jones from the very beginning and claims to have supporting evidence. Squealer also claims that Snowball
intended to get the animals killed in the Battle of the Cowshed. When the animals, including Boxer, protest, Squealer invents yet
another lie. He claims that Napoleon cried, Death to Humanity! during the battle and bit Mr. Jones in the leg. Boxer continues to
protest until Squealer tells him that the news is directly from Napoleon. Boxer replies, If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be
right (91). Before leaving, Squealer gives Boxer a nasty look and warns the animals that Snowballs secret agents are lurking
among them.
Four days later, Napoleon calls an assembly. He wears the medals of Animal Hero, First Class and Animal Hero, Second
Class, which he has awarded himself. Napoleons dogs drag out of the crowd the four pigs that had opposed the cessation of
Sunday meetings. The dogs try to drag Boxer out as well, but he deflects them. The pigs confess that they collaborated with
Snowball in destroying the windmill and were planning to help Mr. Frederick overtake Animal Farm. They also confess to
knowing of Snowballs partnership with Mr. Jones for years. Then the dogs tear out the four pigs throats. Napoleon asks whether
any other animal wishes to confess. Three hens, which had led the hen rebellion, confess that Snowball incited them to revolt in a

dream vision. After this, several other animals confess to crimes both great (murder) and small (stealing). Napoleon has them all
murdered.
After the public executions, the horrified animals slink away. Boxer blames the evil among them to some fault in themselves
and suggests that the way to quash it is to work harder. As Clover sits on the knoll with the other animals, she considers how
different their current situation is than the ideal Old Major put forth. The animals were supposed to create a society of equality and
freedom, not one of terror and slaughter (95). Still, Clover thinks Animal Farm is better than it was in the days of Mr. Joness
rule, and her heart remains faithful to it. Unable to put her thoughts into words, Clover leads the animals in singing Beasts of
England.
Suddenly, however, Squealer arrives with a dog escort and forbids the animals from singing the anthem, for Napoleon has
abolished it. He explains that the Rebellion has now ended with the slaughter of the unfaithful and that, being a song of the
Rebellion, Beasts of England has no further purpose. The animals are now to sing Minimuss anthem, which begins with the
lyrics: Animal Farm, Animal Farm, / Never through me shalt thou come to harm!
Analysis
In Chapter VII, Orwell focuses again on the gap between the tirelessness of the animals efforts and the benefits they receive. We
discussed earlier that, because Stalin focused more on heavy industry than on consumer products, the Soviet people faced
shortages of the things they needed the most. Because of chronic shortages in the Soviet Union, there arose the clich of standing
in line for most anything one wanted, including food and toilet paper. When one wanted to purchase a bigger item, such as a car,
one was put on the end of a seemingly interminable list. On a side note, Stalins focus on heavy industry corresponded with his
namemeaning steelwhich he chose for himself (Stalin was born with the much more ethnically-specific surname
Dzhugashivili).
Napoleon begins to shelter himself from public scrutiny and makes Squealer and the dogs do his dirty work. This corresponds
with Stalins habit of being a figure in the shadows. Stalin gave orders from the comfort of his office, while the propagandists and
secret police meted out his demands and punishments. The negotiations over the timber represent Stalins export of the products of
heavy industry. Napoleons waffling between Pilkington and Frederick also mirrors Stalins caution in dealing with foreign
nations.
Meanwhile, in order to distract the animals from their hardships and frustrations, Napoleon increases the amount of propaganda on
Animal Farm. Squealer, his agent as usual, cultivates the idea that Snowball is lurking on the perimeter of Animal Farm and
plotting mischief against the animals. Napoleon also makes a personal and very public show of claiming to smell Snowballs scent
all around the farm. By giving the impression that Snowball is everywhere, Napoleon at ones makes Snowball, a concrete entity,
into a nebulous threat and creates an atmosphere of almost palpable fear: The animals were thoroughly frightened. It seemed to
them as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence, pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of
dangers (89). By personally investigating Snowballs whereabouts, Napoleon keeps himself tied to the greater good in the
publics eyes. At once, they feel frightened and also cared for, but they attribute the former feeling to Snowball and the latter to
Napoleon.
Soon enough, Napoleon turns Snowball from an outside threat into a pervasive internal threat. Boxer unwittingly gives Squealer
the idea when he protests Squealers revision of Snowballs heroism. Only after Boxer challenges him does Squealer first warn the
animals that Snowballs secret agents have infiltrated their ranks. Here, Orwell satirizes Stalins intensification of fear tactics. In
Stalins Soviet Union, people of every gender, age, and profession were suspected of treachery. Many were forced to confess to
things they did not do, all in the name of keeping the public subdued by fear. At this point, we should recall that the Red Terror,
the first organized attempt to stamp out anti-Communist sentiment in the Soviet Union, was Lenins prerogative. Therefore it
predated Trotsky and Stalins debates as well as Trotskys expulsion. It stands to reason that Orwell skips over the Red Terror in
order to assign all terrorist tactics to Napoleon (as opposed to including Snowball). Orwells experiences in the Spanish Civil War,
in which he fought on the side of Trotskyists, may have informed this omission as well.
In any case, Napoleons execution assembly represents the Moscow Trials and the Great Purge, Stalins widespread campaign to
suppress any and all dissent in the Soviet Union. Indeed, this was a far cry from the cooperation and good cheer with which the
Animalism revolution began. In the Soviet Union, it began as a cleansing of the Communist Party and was expanded to one of
the entire, vast Soviet population, among which tens of millions were killed or deported. In the Moscow Trials of 1936-1938,
Stalin incriminated many party leaders, charging them with crimes ranging from conspiracy to attempted assassination. The
accused gave their confessions, seemingly freely in front of a general assembly, just as Napoleons accused give theirs in front of
all the other animals. This gave lookers-on a reason to believe that the traitors were rightfully accused, another belief we see
repeated in Animal Farm. As Orwell suggests in the text, Stalin (and Napoleon) staged the confessions by using violence and fear
tactics to coerce the accused. Witnesses at the trials also gave scripted testimony in order to force guilt upon the accused. Stalin
had the accused traitors executed (or, if they were lucky, expelled) just as Napoleon has the dogs rip out the throats of the
supposed traitors. Despite the publicity of the Moscow Trials, Stalin often had torture and executions performed in secrecy. Orwell
makes Napoleons purge not only public but especially cruel in order to shed light on the magnitude and barbarism of Stalins
purges. It is one thing to hear of an execution by humans against humans for political reasons, quite another to contemplate the
image of fierce dogs tearing out traitors throats.
The Soviet population became terrified of execution and internment in forced labor camps called Gulags. In the novel, the
animals immediate response to the purge is fear and disillusionment. Shaken, Clover and the other animals try to take comfort in

Beasts of Englandthey know that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong but cannot quite describe what or how. They
want to focus on the positive ideas of freedom and abundance. Squealer shatters even that comfort when he announces that the
song is obsolete and therefore forbidden. We can assume that the real reason Napoleon abolishes it is that, since the animals have
committed it to memory, he cannot revise it like the Seven Commandments. Therefore, he forces the animals to forget it, along
with the tenets of their beloved Animalism, to be replaced with a new song and new values that are looking more and more like
the values under which Mr. Jones ran the farm.
Chapter VIII
Once the terror abates, some of the animals recall the Sixth Commandment, No animal shall kill any other animal. Clover again
asks Muriel to read to her from the wall, only to find that the Sixth Commandment has been changed to: No animal shall kill any
other animal without cause (98). Clover and Muriel convince themselves that the commandment has always been that way and
decide that treachery justifies murder after all. The animals work even harder than in the previous year. On
Sundays Squealerassures them, by reading statistics from a sheet of paper, that their efforts are increasing production many times
over. The animals can do nothing but believe Squealer. They can scarcely remember life before the Rebellion.
Napoleon restricts his public appearances further to about once a month. He is said to eat separately from the other pigs, using the
fine china. He also decrees that the gun be fired every year on his birthday. The animals now call Napoleon our Leader, Comrade
Napoleon. Just as the animals attribute all misfortunes toSnowball, they now attribute all success and luck to
Napoleon. Minimus composes a poem called Comrade Napoleon, which Napoleon has inscribed on the wall across from the
Seven Commandments, where Squealer also paints his portrait.
Napoleon continues to negotiate with Mr.Frederick and Mr. Pilkington, though the timber remains unsold. Rumors of Mr.
Fredericks plans to overthrow the farm continue. In the summer, three hens confess to plotting against Napoleons life and are
executed instantly. After that, Napoleon increases his security even more and enlists a pig named Pinkeye to be his taster, lest
someone attempt to poison him. Napoleon finally agrees to sell the timber to Pilkington, as well as to engage in regular trade with
Foxwood. Meanwhile, rumors about Fredericks coming invasion, as well as his cruel practices at Pinchfield, begin to circulate.
One day, Napoleon announces that he never planned to do business with Frederick at all. He makes the messenger pigeons change
their slogan from Death to Humanity to Death to Frederick (103). He also, strangely, forbids them from going to Foxwood.
The wheat fields turn out to be filled with weeds, a misfortune that the animals blame promptly on Snowball. A gander confesses
to knowing about the plot to mix weed seeds with the wheat seeds and commits suicide. To bring further ignominy upon
Snowballs memory, Squealer disseminates a rumor that Snowball never received the title of Animal Hero, First Class at all. As
usual, he is able to quell any questions that arise from his rewriting of history.
At last the windmill is finished, with walls twice as thick as before. The animals are very proud of their achievement. Napoleon
names the windmill Napoleon Mill. Two days later, Napoleon calls a meeting to announce that he has sold the timber to
Frederick, not Pilkington. He denounces Foxwood and makes the pigeons change their slogan to Death to Pilkington. Napoleon
claims that Frederick had never planned to invade Animal Farm and that he was not as cruel as rumored. Moreover, Snowball has
never been at Foxwood or been Fredericks collaborator; in reality, he has been Pilkingtons longtime collaborator. The pigs are
proud of Napoleons shrewdness. They believe Napoleons claim that his relationship with Pilkington was just a pretense to get
Frederick to raise his bid. Even cleverer, Napoleon refused to let Frederick pay for the timber with a check, instead demanding
cash that he will use to buy the windmill machinery. Napoleon goes so far as to hold a special meeting where the animals can
inspect the banknotes.
Three days later, Whymper informs Napoleon that the banknotes are forgeries. Napoleon sentences Frederick to death by boiling
alive and tries to reconcile with Pilkington. The next morning, Frederick and his armed men overtake the farm. Napoleon
considers calling Pilkington for help, but Pilkington sends a note that says, Serves you right. As the animals watch helplessly,
Frederick and his men blow up the windmill. After that, the animals put up a fight and manage to chase the men off. Squealer, who
was not in the battle, has the gun fired as a sign of victory. For the first time, Boxers faith in the value of hard work begins to flag.
However, Napoleon devotes two days to celebrating the victory at the newly named Battle of the Windmill and burying the slain.
He also gives himself the title, Order of the Green Banner.
A few days later, the pigs discover a store of whisky, which they begin consuming. The morning after, the pigs do not show up for
work. Squealer finally emerges to inform the animals that Napoleon is dying, a fact that the animals blame on Snowball. He
announces Napoleons final declaration: drinking alcohol should be punishable by death. However, Napoleon recovers and, soon
after, asks Whymper to procure information on how to brew alcohol. He also designates a field for the propagation of barley. Soon
after, a strange episode occurs. One midnight, a crash in the barn awakens the animals. They rush there only to discover Squealer
with a broken ladder and a can of paint.Benjamin seems to understand what is happening but declines to share his insight with the
others. However, a few days later, Muriel notices that the Fifth Commandment has been changed from No animal shall drink
alcohol to No animal shall drink alcohol to excess (113).
Analysis
Napoleons revisionism continues with the alterations of the commandments. Worst of all is the reversal from No animal shall
kill any other animal to No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. This particular revision may strike a particularly
deep chord with readers on the parallel between the original Commandment and the Biblical commandment Thou shalt not kill.
On that note, we should notice that by this point,Moses is absent from Animal Farm along with the morality he represents and his
vision of Sugarcandy Mountain, which could help the animals through their terror. Napoleon adds to his array of propaganda the

reading of optimistic statistics. Stalins Five Year Plans were successful, especially considering how much catching up Russia had
to do, but they did not meet up to his exceptionally high projections. Maintaining appearances was deemed vital to the regimes
international reputation.
At this point, Napoleon can trust that his terrorist tactics have made the animals submissive. They cannot believe in their own
safety, so they embrace any good news they can get, and good news arrives to them almost exclusively in the form of propaganda.
They have lost the ability to judge their success or their quality of life because they cannot remember what life was like before or
just after the Rebellion. The animals have also become immune to the type of outrage that their leaders deceit might arouse in
someone with a democratic education and mindset. Even when they catch Squealer in the act of revising the Seven
Commandments, they are too subdued to protest. The animals have taken on Benjamins quality of apathy, not because they are
naturally apathetic like him, but because Napoleon has molded and terrorized them to be that way. In the same way, the Soviet
populace adjusted to Stalins tactics of fear and manipulation. Powerless to change anything, they grew to accept it. In psychology
this might be called a denial, a defense mechanism, or a coping mechanism. Again, the nobles, who tended to have better
educations than the working class, had fled.
As the animals are forced to live an increasingly restricted lifestyle, Napoleon and the pigs are continually awarding themselves
privileges and taking an unfair share of the rations. Historically, this corresponds to Stalins privileging of the Communist elite.
While the typical Soviet citizen worked hard and gained little, the typical member of the Communist elite had access to everything
from fancy consumer goods to summer houses in the country. During the 1930s, it became increasingly difficult for people to join
the ranks of the Communist elite. Orwell reflects this in Animal Farm, where there is absolutely no social mobility. Pigs alone
have access to privileges such as sleeping in beds and drinking alcohol. We should recall that the seeds of this extreme class
stratification, contrary to the tenets of Animalism and to Marxism-Leninism, began very early on when the pigs appropriated the
milk supply. Orwell introduces the pigs privileges early and increases them gradually to show how insidious and therefore
successful Stalins policies could be. People can be subjugated severely when the subjugation is enacted by degrees.
The events of Chapter VIII cover the historical events of: Hiters ascension to power in Germany, the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression
pact, and Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union. Napoleon continues to be suspicious of Frederick just as Stalin kept one eye
open as Hitler ascended to power in Germany. The stories of animal torture on Fredericks farm are meant to symbolize the reports
of atrocities coming out of Nazi Germany. The rumors are not substantiated in Animal Farm, presumably because the truth about
the scale and severity of Hitlers atrocities did not emerge fully until after World War II. Napoleons tightening leash on Animal
Farms consciousness is reflected in his interactions with the messenger pigeons. The pigeons, which were formerly his
mouthpieces, are now forbidden from flying over the neighboring farms. Presumably, Napoleon does not want them to undermine
his ever-changing opinions about Frederick and Pilkington.
In 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression pact that promised neutrality and cooperation between the
two nations. In Animal Farm, Napoleons trade agreement with Frederick symbolizes this pact. Napoleon does not trust Frederick
completely, as shown in his unwillingness to accept a check. In the same way Stalin was wary of Hitler and his goals, perhaps
seeing some of his own ruthlessness and ambition in Hitlers eyes. Napoleons distrust of Frederick soon turns out to be true, just
as Stalin was right not to trust Hitler completely. Hitlers forces invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, an event that Orwell mirrors in
Fredericks attack on Animal Farm. He summarizes the incredible damage that the Nazis did before their defeat in the destruction
of the windmill.
Pilkingtons neutrality during the conflict and his not-so-neutral message, Serves you right, satirize the Allies initial hesitance
to respond during World War II. World War II devastated the Soviet population, which lost over twenty million people. Orwell
reflects the magnitude of the Soviet Unions loss in Boxers flagging enthusiasm. Even he, the bastion of positive thinking, finds it
difficult to recoup after the Battle of the Windmill. With Animal Farm so isolationist and duplicitous toward the human world
(compare modern-day North Korea), it is no wonder that it faces withering shortages, demoralization, and tyranny within and
hostility everywhere without.
Chapter IX
Boxers split hoof, an injury from the battle, taxes him; still he will not let it deter him from rebuilding the windmill before he
reaches retirement age. When they first formedAnimal Farm, the animals had agreed on fixed retirement ages and pensions. The
winter is bitter again. Rations, save the pigs and dogs, are reduced--readjusted, as Squealersays. To appease the animals,
Squealer reads the animals more statistics to make them believe that their lives are better than in the days of Mr. Joness rule. The
animals are overworked, underfed, and cold, but they are happy to believe Squealer.
Thirty-one young pigs now live on the farm, all of them parented by Napoleon. He makes plans to build them a schoolhouse and
discourages them from interacting with other types of animals. He also instates two rules of pig superiority: other animals must
stand aside on the path to let pigs pass, and pigs are allowed to wear green ribbons on their tails on Sundays. Napoleon also
awards himself the privilege of eating sugar. Still, times are hard on the farm, and the animals struggle to make ends meet. The
chickens are forced to lay six hundred eggs per week to sell in town and can barely keep any for hatching. Rations are reduced
again, and the animals are not allowed lanterns in their stalls anymore in order to save oil. Meanwhile, the pigs seem to be
flourishing.
Towards the end of winter, the animals smell a new scent in the wind, which they discover is from the barley Napoleon has begun
to cook. Soon after, the pigs announce that all barley is reserved for them. Each pig gets a pint of beer added to his rations, with
Napoleon getting half a gallon. To distract the animals from their hardship, Napoleon increases the amount of propaganda on the

farm. This includes songs, speeches, poems, statistics, marches, and his newly created Spontaneous Demonstrations, in which the
animals celebrate their victories. The animals enjoy the Spontaneous Demonstrations, which remind them of their freedom and
self-sufficiency.
In April, Napoleon declares Animal Farm a Republic, and the animals elect Napoleon unanimously as president. His new
propaganda claims Snowball was not a covert human collaborator, but an open one who charged into battle on the human side
yelling, Long Live Humanity! (119). In mid-summer, Moses returns from a long absence. His stories of Sugarcandy Mountain
return with him. The other animals enjoy the stories, with the exception of the pigs. Boxer and the other animals work feverishly
to complete their tasks, which now include building the schoolhouse for the young pigs. One day, Boxer overworks himself so
much that he collapses, unable to get up. In his sickly state, he expresses a wish to retire early along with Benjamin. The animals
fetch Squealer, who relays Napoleons decision to send Boxer to the veterinary hospital in Willingdon.
Over the next two days, Boxer lies in his stall and takes doses from a large bottle of pink medicine that the pigs send from the
farmhouse. He expresses his wish to spend his final years learning the rest of the alphabet. One afternoon, a van comes to take
Boxer away. It has lettering on its side and a sly-looking man in a low-crowned bowler hat sitting on the drivers seat. The
hopeful animals wish Boxer goodbye, but Benjamin breaks their revelry by reading the lettering on the side of the van: Alfred
Simmons, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels Supplied (123). The animals
panic and try to get Boxer to escape. He tries to get out of the van, but he has grown too weak to break the door. The animals try to
appeal to the horses drawing the van, but they do not understand the situation.
Boxer never returns, but three days later the pigs announce that he died in the hospital despite receiving the best care. Squealer
claims to have been present at Boxers death, a tale he relates emotionally to the other animals. He claims that Boxers last words
were, Forward, Comrades! Forward in the name of the Rebellion and Long live Animal Farm! Long live Comrade
Napoleon! Napoleon is always right (125). Squealer also claims that the van belongs to the veterinarian, who had recently bought
it from the horse slaughterer and had not yet managed to paint over the lettering. These stories satisfy the animals. The next
Sunday, Napoleon promises to honor Boxer with a special wreath and a memorial banquet. On the day the banquet is to be held, a
large crate arrives at Animal Farm. That night, the pigs are rowdy inside the farmhouse and do not wake up until noon the next
day. The animals hear a rumor that the pigs had bought a case of whisky.
Analysis
World War II devastated not only the Soviet Unions populace but also its economy. Agriculture and factory production, which the
people had worked so tirelessly to fortify in previous decades, were left in shambles. In Animal Farm, the windmill represents the
Soviet peoples economic progress. Frederick and his men ruin the windmill in one fell swoop just as the Nazis destroyed the
Soviet Unions hard-earned progress. In the Five Year Plans after World War II, Stalin had no choice but to focus on recouping the
Soviet Unions losses. In the same vein, Napoleon rededicates the animals to the windmills construction. Boxers attitude after the
war represents the toll that the war took on the Soviet peoples morale. Still, they managed to rally just as Boxer does, despite
even harsher shortages than ever.
Despite harsh conditions for the rest of the animals, the pigs are flourishing. Napoleon has managed to parent thirty-one new pigs,
which he plans to make disciples of his theories by building a schoolhouse. (This may be a reference to the Thirty Tyrants of
ancient Greece, only a little worse.) As usual, Napoleon makes the animals complicit in their own oppression, this time by forcing
them to build the schoolhouse on top of their reconstructive and regular workload. Napoleons abuses become even more blatant
and more reminiscent of Joness behavior when he awards pigs the right of way on the path. The other animals must stand aside in
deference to the pigs, which is the sort of behavior a peasant under the feudal system would have to display in his masters
presence. The pigs even assume Mollies two favorite habits: eating sugar and wearing ribbons in their tails. If we recall that
Mollie represents the imperial elite, we can see how far Animal Farm has regressed.
By making Napoleons abuses so blatant, Orwell exposes the fact that stratification is inevitable in the hands of corrupt leaders
and that power and greed are cyclical. The pigs begin the book by carrying out Old Majors ideals of a working-class rebellion just
as the Bolsheviks overthrew the czar with Marxism-Leninism in mind. Then, just as Stalin and the Soviet elite came to resemble
the imperialists they so despised, Napoleon and the pigs take on human characteristics. Thisemulating humansis the very
thing against which Major warned the animals in his meeting. Readers are progressively horrified by the new outrages and
betrayals committed by the pigs.
Orwell focuses on propaganda again in Chapter IX. This time he focuses less on the manipulative nature of propaganda and more
on its grandeur. Napoleons Spontaneous Demonstrations are especially pompous and gay, with a cockerel marching in front of the
procession. The Spontaneous Demonstrations also involve the animals directly in the propaganda machine. More than singing
songs or chanting maxims, they are now marching around the farm to celebrate Animal Farms glory. The gun, originally intended
to solemnly mark the anniversaries of battles, is now used liberally to stir the animals loyalties. (See the Related Links for a clip
from a Soviet propaganda film, keeping the Spontaneous Demonstrations in mind.) Further proving their submission, the animals
find the increase in propaganda uplifting: But if there were hardships to be borne, they were partly offset by the fact that life
nowadays had a greater dignity than it had had before. There were more songs, more speeches, more processions They found it
comforting to be reminded that all the work they did was for their own benefit. They were able to forget that their bellies were
empty, at least part of the time (117-118). Orwell comes close to sympathy for the animals in this passage, where he seems to
suggest that in addition to the animals gullibility, they have a desperate need to be uplifted, even by means as false and ridiculous

as the Spontaneous Demonstrations. Moses return also supplies them with much-needed inspiration, although the pigs are wary of
his competing influence.
Orwell breaks such reverie with the story of Boxers illness and murder. By this point, Orwell has repeated the pigs abuses so
many times that the reader may be as desperate as the animals for some relief. But Orwell wastes no time in reminding us that
propaganda is just the totalitarian governments machine of deception. Napoleon feels no affinity for Boxer, despite that animals
years of tireless work on Animal Farms behalf. This is because Napoleon feels entitled to the animals hard work just as Stalin
was more concerned with his own goals than with his peoples well being. Napoleon sends Boxer off to the slaughter for profit
without seeming to have any second thoughts except for finding a way to explain the betrayal to the other animals. Adding insult
to injury, he uses Boxers murder as an opportunity for more propaganda, having Squealer relate to the animals Boxers supposed
patriotic last words. Then he and the pigs celebrate their latest feat of deception and violence by drinking the case of whisky.
While the pigs are becoming more like humans, they are becoming the kind of humans whom others would call animals for their
cruelty and irrationality.
Chapter X
After a few years, the only animals that even remember the Rebellion are Clover,Benjamin, Moses, and some of the
pigs. Muriel, Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher have died. Mr. Jones has died in a home for alcoholics. Still, no animal has retired, and
no pasture has been put aside for retired animals. Napoleon and Squealer have both become very fat. The farm is bigger, thanks to
land purchased from Mr. Pilkington, and now features a threshing machine and hay elevator. The windmill is finished, but the
animals use it to mill corn for a profit instead of to generate electricity as planned. Napoleon puts the animals to work building an
additional windmill, which he promises will supply electricity. However, he discourages the animals from dreaming of luxury,
saying, The truest happiness [lies] in working hard and living frugally (129).
The pigs and dogs continue to do no manual labor, instead devoting themselves to organizational work that the other animals are
too ignorant to understand (130). This includes writing up notes and burning them promptly after. Propaganda and pride in
living on the only animal-owned farm in England continue to distract the animals from their hardships. One day, Squealer takes all
the sheep out to an overgrown patch of land on the far side of the farm. Over the next week, he claims to be teaching them a song,
and no one sees them. On the day the sheep return, Clover alerts the other animals to a disturbing fact: Squealer and the other pigs
are walking two-footed, on their hind legs. The sheep break into a chorus of, Four legs good, two legs better! Benjamin
accompanies Clover to the barn wall, where he deigns to read to her for the first time. In place of the Seven Commandments there
is now a single maxim: All animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than others (133).
The animals discover that the pigs are buying a telephone and have subscribed to several magazines. Napoleon takes to smoking
Mr. Joness pipe, and the other pigs take to wearing Mrs. Joness clothes. Napoleon begins wearing Mr. Joness dress clothes and
awards his favorite sow the privilege of wearing Mrs. Joness Sunday dress. One day, Napoleon invites human visitors to tour
the farm. That night, the animals spy into the farmhouse and see the pigs dining with the humans. According to Mr. Pilkingtons
toast, they are celebrating the end of their bad relations. Touring Animal Farm has impressed him and the other farmers to follow
Animal Farms example and give their animals more work and less food. Napoleon says he wants to cooperate with the other
farms and confirms that he and the pigs co-own the farms title-deeds. He states that the animals will no longer be calling each
other Comrade or marching past Old Majors skull (a practice he denies understanding anyway). In addition, the flag has been
changed to a plain green without the symbols of the Rebellion. Even further, Animal Farm shall again be referred to as The
Manor Farm. The pigs and humans begin to play poker, and a fight erupts when Napoleon and Pilkington both put down the Ace
of Spades at the same time. As the animals witness the pigs and humans quarreling over their poker game, they cannot distinguish
between them.
Analysis
Orwell fast-forwards to a time when Animal Farm has undergone a great deal of turnover. Only a few animals that remember the
Rebellion remain, and their memories of it are faint. Napoleon has rewritten the animals history to the extent that they feel they
no longer have one. He has also manipulated language to the extent that it is meaningless. We see this reflected in the maxim, All
animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than others. The concept of more equal is mathematically impossible, but
the animals are too disillusioned and brainwashed to notice. In all the years since the Rebellion, not a single animal has gotten the
rewards that he was promised or that was experienced so briefly in the days immediately following the Rebellion. In history,
Chapter X corresponds to a time somewhere in the distant future, beyond the realm of Orwells own experience. It is, therefore,
the manifestation of his pessimistic conjectures about the future of totalitarianism. In this chapter, Orwell slowly and firmly
crushes our hopes along with the animals. In the end, the pigs have all the tangible fruits of Animal Farms labor while the
animals are left with only empty promises. The windmill, the cause for which countless animals labored and died, has been
diverted from its original purpose of supplying electricity. Not even Clover and Benjamin, who are by this time very old, have
been allowed to retire. While wearing clothing, smoking pipes, and eating sugar, Napoleon still has the nerve to tell the animals,
The truest happiness [lies] in working hard and living frugally (129). It is a harrowing, dystopic future.
In the pessimistic vein for which he became known, Orwell imagines a future in which not only the Soviet Union, but also the
Allies, become totalitarian. We see this reflected in Pilkingtons speech at the banquet. He not only agrees to collaborate with
Napoleon, but vows to emulate Napoleons harsh standards of labor and living on his own farm. In his own toast, Napoleon seals
the door on Animal Farms history and breaks the last ties with its original tenets. He changes the farms name back to Manor
Farm, as though the trials, triumphs, and abuses of the past many years never happened. It is clear that he intends to erase the

memory of Animal Farm from history. Stalin and Hitler were both known to do this in educating the youth in their countries. Most
likely, the textbooks in Napoleons schoolhouse will severely skew the truth about Animal Farm, if they mention the name
Animal Farm at all. Napoleon breaks the final tie with Major when he denies knowing why the animals march past his skull in
ceremonious fashion. He is erasing knowledge not just of the ideas that Major stood for, but also all the things he himself
authored.
The poker game is multiply symbolic. First, it represents the carelessness with which totalitarian leaders treat their people. The
animals are like cards in the gamblers hands, subject to whim and chance. When Napoleon and Pilkington fight over the Ace of
Spades (which proves that at least one of them had a card up his sleeve), they foreshadow the international disagreements and
struggles that are sure to follow the temporary postwar peace. In this symbolic meaning, Orwell foreshadows the Cold War even
though it did not begin in earnest until after the book was published. Pigs and humans are equals at the table, more or less, and
rivals once the game is over.
Orwell demonstrates the fact that oppression is cyclical and the oppressed becomes the oppressor when given the chance. By the
novels end, the pigs are indistinguishable from the humans not only in behavior but also in appearance. Their transformation is
complete when they adopt two-legged walking. They treat the animals in the autocratic manner of Jones. In this sense, the story
has come full circle.
The future Orwell creates for Animal Farm does not correspond neatly with Imperial Russia. Before the Rebellion, the animals
lived under Joness total control but had the advantage, the bliss, of ignorance. Now they are living under Napoleons total control,
having been enlightened to the possibility of freedom and, it seems, still under the impression that they are free but no longer
understanding what true freedom would be. This is consistent with Orwells belief that 20th-century autocrats such as Hitler and
Stalin were of a new and more dangerous kind than the dictators of the past.
Animal Farm is a warning about autocrats who take over socialist ideals for their own aggrandizement. Is there any chance for
socialism if human nature is such that the lust for greed and power brings forth leaders who take control and betray its ideals, over
against passive and uneducated populations? The capitalist, democratic alternative is to channel that lust into productive work and
to limit the power of government to control the freedoms of the people. This alternative creates or aggravates inequalitiesone
might say that there will always be pigs, dogs, horses, cats, and the restbut is far preferable to totalitarian control. The challenge
for Orwell or for anyone who promotes socialist ideals is to find a practical way to circumvent the abuses that the pigs of Animal
Farm so easily commit. But since the novel is a reflection of the challenges of the 1940s rather than a political treatise, Orwell has
done quite enough in demonstrating, clearly and horrifyingly, the nature and scope of the challenges to be faced.
Suggested Essay Questions
1. How is Animal Farm a satire of Stalinism or generally of totalitarianism?
Answer: A good way to answer this question is to pick a specific example of totalitarianism in any country, historical or current,
and explain how the ideas Orwell puts forth in Animal Farm apply to it. Go back and forth between the historical facts and the
events of the novel. Note the actions of the leaders, the mechanisms of fear and power, and the reactions of the people over time.
2. Elucidate the symbolism inherent in the characters' names.
Answer: The symbolism ranges from the obvious to the more cryptic. Compare Napoleon with the historical Frenchman and
Moses with the figure from the Bible. Take Snowball as representative of something that grows larger and more forceful. Squealer
has something to do with the spoken word. Boxer suggests strength. Make sure to consider each character at various stages of the
story and to use specific examples from the text.
3. What does the narrator do, or fail to do, that makes the story's message possible?
Answer: The narrator lets the story tell itself to a large degree by relating what is said and done without moralization and
reflection. The narrator speaks from the perspective of the animals other than the pigs, a kind of observer who can point out the
significant details without interfering. The reader then can draw his own conclusions about the symbolism, concordance with
historical events, and the awfulness of the events themselves.
4. What does the windmill represent?
Answer: The windmill's symbolic meaning changes during the course of the novel and means different things to different
characters. It is to be for electricity but ends up being for economic production. As it is built, it is a locus of work without benefit
and a medium of the pigs' power. For the humans, it is a dangerous symbol of the growing power of the farm. Consider also the
relationship between the windmill and the biblical Tower of Babel.
5. What role does the written word play inAnimal Farm?
Answer: Literacy is a source of power and a vehicle for propaganda. Some examples to consider are the Seven Commandments,
"Beasts of England," the child's book, the manuals, the magazines, and the horse-slaughterer's van.
6. Examine the Seven Commandments and the way they change during the course of the novel from Old Major's death to the
banquet Napoleon holds with the farmers.
Answer: The commandments begin as democratic ideals of equality and fraternity in a common animal identity, but they end in
inequality when some animals are "more equal" than others. As the pigs take more control and assume their own liberties, they
unilaterally change the commandments to fit their own desires. Consider especially the interactions between Clover, Muriel, and
Squealer surrounding the Seven Commandments, determining how easy it is to change the fundamental rules of society on the
farm, where most of the animals can do no better than to remember that four legs are good and two legs are bad.
7. Would Animal Farm be more effective as a nonfiction political treatise about the same subject?

Answer: Given the success of the novel, it is hard to see why Orwell might have chosen a different genre for his message. A
nonfiction account would have had to work more accurately with the history, while Orwell's fiction has the benefit of ordering and
shaping events in order to make the points as clear as possible from a theoretical and symbolic point of view. A political treatise
could be more effective in treating the details and theoretical understandings at greater length and with more nuances, but the
readership and audience for such a work would therefore become quite different as well, so the general population would be less
likely to hear Orwell's warnings.
8. Can we perceive much of Orwell himself in the novel?
Answer: Orwell seems to be most like the narrator, who tells the story from the perspective of experience with the events related.
We know from Orwell's history that he was a champion of the working class and did not much like the idea of being in a role
where he had to exercise power to control people under him. Orwell seems to be a realist about the prospects for the socialist
ideals he otherwise would promote.
9. Compare Animal Farm with Orwell's other famous novel, 1984.
Answer: Consider the ways in which both novels are allegories with a political message against the evils of state control and
totalitarianism. How does totalitarian control affect the illiterate versus those who are educated and wish to exercise their human
rights? Compare the political regimes in the two novels. Does the relative anonymity of the leaders affect the reactions of the
people?
10. Pick a classic fairy tale or fable and examine it in comparison with Animal Farm.
Answer: A good way to answer such a question is to consider the function of animals as characters. For instance, each of the
Three Little Pigs expresses a different approach to planning for the future and managing risk, which can lead to an analysis of how
each character represents a moral or physical quality. In terms of narration, note the degree to which the narrator lets the characters
speak in their own voices and lets the plot play out without editorializing. In terms of structure, consider how critical events
shatter the calm (such as getting lost in the woods or encountering an enemy) and lead to a moral once some kind of order (for
better or for worse) is restored.