Driven by fear and their perception that other animals at neighboring farms are beginning to become inspired by the rebels’ example, Jones attempts to take back what is his — but his attempt at military prowess in this case only further depicts him as impotent and inept. After being muted upon by the pigeons, Jones is knocked into a dung heap — a fitting place for him, in the eyes of his animal enemies. His running from the farm concludes a scene obviously serious for the characters but — with its panic and application of Caesarian tactics to a barnyard melee — comic to the reader.
Boxer’s teary-eyed concern over the possible death of the stable-lad reinforces his simple-mindedness and foreshadows the fact that he will be unable to survive in a place as harsh as Animal Farm is soon to become. The image of the great horse trying to turn the boy over with his hoof while he laments, “Who will not believe that I did not do this on purpose?” contrasts the one of Snowball, with the blood dripping from his wounds, stating, “War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.” Unlike Boxer, who wishes no real harm even to his enemies, Snowball cares little for the possible regrets one of his soldiers may face. To him, death is an inevitable by-product of revolution, as he remarks during his funeral oration for the dead sheep.
The chapter ends with the implication that Animal Farm is becoming a place grounded more in military might than agrarian industry. The creation of military decorations, the naming of the battle, and the decision to fire Jones’ gun twice a year all suggest the animals’ love of ceremony and the slow but sure transformation of Animal Farm into a place governed by martial law more than the Seven Commandments of Animalism.
