Summary
Winter comes, and Mollie works less and less. Eventually, Clover discovers that Mollie is being bribed off Animal Farm by one of Pilkington's men, who eventually wins her loyalties. Mollie disappears, and the pigeons report seeing her standing outside a pub, sporting one of the ribbons that she always coveted.
The pigs increase their influence on the farm, deciding all questions of policy and then offering their decisions to the animals, who must ratify them by a majority vote. Snowball and Napoleon continue their fervent debates, the greatest of which occurs over the building of a windmill on a knoll. Snowball argues in favor of the windmill, which he is certain will eventually become a labor-saving device; Napoleon argues against it, saying that building the windmill will take time and effort away from the more important task of producing food. The two also disagree on whether they should (as Napoleon thinks) amass an armory of guns or (as Snowball thinks) send out more pigeons to neighboring farms to spread news of the rebellion. On the Sunday that the plan for the windmill is to be put to a vote, Napoleon calls out nine ferocious dogs, who chase Snowball off the farm. Napoleon then announces that all debates will stop and institutes a number of other new rules for the farm.
Three weeks after Snowball's escape, Napoleon surprises everybody by announcing that the windmill will be built. He sends Squealer to the animals to explain that the windmill was really Napoleon's idea all along and that the plans for it were stolen from him by Snowball.
Analysis
The defection of Mollie marks her as an even greater materialist than she had appeared to be earlier in the novel. The fact that she is bribed away from Animal Farm with sugar and ribbons — two items that Snowball condemned as unnecessary for liberty in Chapter 2 — shows her desire for luxury without making the necessary sacrifices to obtain it. She is a defector from the politics of Animal Farm and is never mentioned by the other animals, who find her abandonment of Animalism and the rebellion shameful. Despite their implied condemnation, however, the pigeons do report that "She appeared to be enjoying herself" — much more so than the animals who remain on the farm. Mollie may be politically shallow in the eyes of her former comrades, but she does manage to secure herself a much more comfortable life, which raises the question of whether one is better off living well with one's enemies or suffering with one's comrades. The novel eventually suggests that Mollie did, in fact, make a wise decision in leaving Animal Farm, although (to be fair) she did not do so because of any political or moral motives.
At this point, the pigs have gained more power: Earlier, they were "supervisors," but now they decide "all questions of farm policy." While these decisions still need to be ratified by the other animals, Orwell suggests that the pigs are gaining ground at a slow but steady rate. But with the "bitterly hard weather" that arrives that winter, so do "bitterly hard" debates increase between Snowball and Napoleon. Actually, "debate" is hardly the correct term, since only Snowball attempts to use rhetoric and logic to sway the other animals — Napoleon uses a number of what Squealer will later call "tactics" to get his way. For example, Napoleon spends time during the week training the sheep to break into their "Four legs good, two legs bad" bleating during "crucial moments" in Snowball's speeches; packing the meetings with his own unwitting supporters is Napoleon's calculated strategy here. His unleashing of the nine dogs later in the chapter is Napoleon's ultimate "debating technique": Violence, not oratory, is how Napoleon settles disagreements.
The windmill itself is a symbol of technological progress. Snowball wants it to be built because he thinks it will bring to the farm a degree of self-sufficiency — which accords with the principles of Animalism. Napoleon, however, cares nothing for the windmill (and even urinates on Snowball's plans for it) because he is only concerned with establishing his totalitarian rule. At the debate on the windmill, Snowball argues that after it is built, the animals will only need to work three days a week, while Napoleon argues that "if they wasted time on the windmill they would all starve to death."
Thus, Snowball is a leader who looks forward and considers the future of his nation, while Napoleon thinks only of the present, since his vision of the future is one in which he is in full control over animals who have no time for leisure activities. (This is again emphasized when Snowball argues for spreading news of the rebellion so that eventually all animals will rise against oppression, while Napoleon wants to create a stockpile of weapons that he can then turn, if needed, on his own citizens.) In short, Snowball's vision of life with the windmill is like Moses' Sugarcandy Mountain: An immensely desirable yet fantastic place.
Note that Benjamin does not endorse either pig, and their slogans have no effect on him. Like the reader, he is doubtful of Snowball's scheme and wary of Napoleon's maneuvers. All Benjamin believes is what he knows for sure, the sum total of which is that, "Windmill or no windmill, life will go on as it always had gone on — that is, badly." This cynical remark is perhaps the most important statement in the entire novel, for despite all of the ideologies, plans, battles, schemes, debates, betrayals, sound, and fury of the animals, the end result is that they return full circle to the exact same life they tried to avoid. As he does several times throughout the novel, Orwell speaks directly to the reader through Benjamin.
Napoleon's newfound power is based wholly on the threat of violence, as demonstrated in his "winning" the debate with Snowball by driving him off the farm. His decision to end all debates reflects his insatiable need for power: Debates, when conducted in the spirit of inquiry and discovery of viewpoints, are crucial to a government that wants its citizens to take part in their own rule. Napoleon, however, views debates as "unnecessary" because he will permit no questioning of his command and wants to silence any dissention. Like Big Brother, the personification of the all-powerful government in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Napoleon begins to become an unapproachable, godlike figure. Note that when the four porkers object to the way in which Napoleon seizes power, the dogs begin to growl, and the sheep bleat their "Four legs good" slogan over and over. This combination of relentless propaganda and threats of violence comprise Napoleon's philosophy of leadership — the same philosophy behind the government in Nineteen Eighty-Four. Napoleon's disinterment of Major's skull is his way of allying himself with the beloved father of Animalism — another piece of admittedly brilliant propaganda.
Squealer displays even more of his skill at doubletalk in this chapter. As he did previously with the milk and apples, Squealer paints Napoleon's crimes in a light that makes Napoleon more like a martyr than a dictator. Calling Napoleon's takeover a "sacrifice" and stating that leadership is "not a pleasure," the officious pig manages to — as was said earlier about him — "turn black into white." Even more invidious is Squealer's ability to rewrite history: He tells the animals that Snowball's part in the Battle of the Cowshed was "much exaggerated" and (once Napoleon decides to proceed with the building of the windmill) that the idea for it was Napoleon's all along. Again, as in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell attacks the ways in which those who rise to power revise the past in order to keep their grip on the present and future. These "tactics," as Squealer calls them, allow Napoleon to always present himself in the most favorable light — and, if an animal still objects, the three dogs accompanying Squealer serve as ample deterrent. Faced with Squealer's "skipping" words and the mouths of the dogs, an animal has hardly a choice but to submit to the new regime.
Glossary
publican a saloonkeeper; innkeeper.
harrows frames with spikes or sharp-edged disks, drawn by a horse or tractor and used for breaking up and leveling plowed ground, covering seeds, rooting up weeds, etc.
binders machines that both reap and bind grain.
