If you’re asking what are the seven commandments in Animal Farm, you’re really asking how George Orwell turns a simple set of rules into a powerful symbol of political corruption. The commandments begin as ideals of equality and mutual responsibility, then gradually reveal how language can be rewritten to protect power.
Understanding them helps explain the novel’s satire, its historical allegory, and the way Orwell shows a revolution betraying its own promises.
What are the seven commandments in Animal Farm?
The seven commandments are the original rules of Animalism carved on the barn wall to guide the animals after the rebellion. They establish equality, reject human habits, and forbid exploitation, but as the pigs gain power, the commandments are secretly altered to justify inequality and control.
The seven commandments, listed
Orwell presents the commandments as a political creed for the farm. They are short, memorable, and absolute, which makes them easy to chant and harder to question.
- Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
- Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
- No animal shall wear clothes.
- No animal shall sleep in a bed.
- No animal shall drink alcohol.
- No animal shall kill any other animal.
- All animals are equal.
Why the commandments matter in the novel
The commandments are not just rules; they are a symbol of revolutionary hope. At first, they express the animals’ dream of a fair society where no one is exploited by humans or by other animals.
As the story progresses, however, the pigs begin bending the rules for themselves. That change is central to Orwell’s warning: when language is controlled by those in power, even the clearest principles can be made to serve oppression.
They function as a moral code
The animals need the commandments because they replace the old human order with a new ethical system. In theory, the rules should prevent greed, violence, and privilege.
In practice, the commandments expose how fragile moral ideals can be when most of the population cannot fully challenge authority.
They show how propaganda works
Squealer’s explanations are crucial here. He repeatedly reframes the pigs’ behavior as necessary, practical, or misunderstood, which helps the animals accept changes they would otherwise reject.
This is one of Orwell’s sharpest literary techniques: the novel shows not only political corruption, but the language used to normalize it.
How the commandments change over time
One of the most important things to understand about Animal Farm is that the commandments do not remain fixed. The pigs alter them little by little, usually after breaking them themselves.
The commandments are quietly revised
Examples of this pattern include the pigs sleeping in beds, drinking alcohol, and eventually justifying violence. Each change is small on the surface, but together they reveal a complete collapse of the original revolutionary ideals.
The most famous final version of the central principle is the altered statement that some animals are more equal than others. Orwell uses this contradiction to show how language can be twisted until it means the opposite of what it originally promised.
Why the changes are so effective as satire
Orwell does not present the revisions as dramatic public announcements. Instead, they happen gradually, which makes the manipulation feel realistic and disturbing.
That slow erosion is part of the novel’s satire: readers can see the logic being broken long before the animals fully understand what has happened.
Literary examples of the commandments at work
The commandments shape some of the novel’s most memorable scenes. They are not abstract background details; they actively drive the plot and the reader’s interpretation.
The sleeping-in-beds rule
When the pigs begin sleeping in beds, the animals are confused because this appears to break a commandment. Squealer resolves the conflict by claiming that the rule was never about beds themselves, only about sheets.
This is a classic Orwellian example of semantic manipulation: the meaning of a rule is narrowed so the powerful can claim innocence while still violating its spirit.
The alcohol rule
Later, the pigs drink alcohol, despite the commandment against it. Again, the language is adjusted after the fact to make the violation seem acceptable.
Orwell uses this moment to show how power can rewrite memory. If the animals cannot reliably remember the original wording, they become dependent on the pigs’ version of reality.
The killing rule
The commandment against killing is also undermined when the pigs authorize executions. The farm’s moral foundation is shattered, but the written rules are altered to make the violence seem consistent with Animalism.
This is one of the novel’s darkest points, because it proves that the revolution has not merely failed; it has been transformed into the very tyranny it opposed.
What the commandments symbolize
The seven commandments are one of the novel’s central symbols. They represent more than a list of farm rules; they stand for the promise that language, law, and collective memory can create justice.
Equality
At the start, the commandments embody equality. Every animal is supposed to live by the same standards, and no animal should claim special privileges.
By the end, that ideal has been hollowed out. The pigs keep the language of equality while abandoning the reality of it.
Memory and literacy
The commandments also highlight the importance of literacy. The animals who cannot read well are easier to mislead, and even those who can read are often too trusting or too intimidated to resist.
Orwell suggests that political freedom depends partly on the ability to remember, compare, and question official language.
Revolutionary ideals
The commandments begin as the written form of revolution. They represent the belief that a better society can be built through shared principles.
But the novel shows that ideals alone are not enough. Without accountability, those ideals can be absorbed by a new ruling class.
Historical and political context
Animal Farm is widely read as an allegory of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Soviet totalitarianism. The commandments reflect the way revolutionary slogans can be simplified, repeated, and eventually distorted by authoritarian leadership.
Orwell was deeply concerned with political language, especially euphemism, revision, and the use of slogans to replace thought. The commandments are a literary tool for dramatizing that concern in a form readers can easily remember.
Why students are often asked about the commandments
Teachers often focus on the seven commandments because they are a compact way to discuss the novel’s major themes. A single list opens the door to conversations about power, corruption, symbolism, irony, and propaganda.
Common classroom angles
- Theme: the corruption of revolutionary ideals
- Technique: satire and allegory
- Symbol: the barn wall as a public record that can be rewritten
- Characterization: Squealer as the voice of propaganda
- Conflict: equality versus hierarchy
How to think about the commandments when reading
If you are reading Animal Farm for school or personal interest, it helps to track the commandments as the story unfolds. Each time one is broken or revised, ask what that change reveals about the pigs, the other animals, and the farm’s political system.
- Note the original wording.
- Watch for moments when a rule is challenged.
- Pay attention to Squealer’s explanations.
- Compare the written commandment with the pigs’ behavior.
- Consider what the change says about memory and power.
Quick takeaway
The seven commandments in Animal Farm are the novel’s moral and political backbone. They begin as a promise of fairness, then become evidence of how a ruling elite can manipulate language until truth itself is unstable.
For more on the novel’s characters and allegory, you may also want to read about who Old Major represents in Animal Farm and who Squealer represents in Animal Farm.