| Major | |
|---|---|
 A Middle White sow, the same breed as Old Major is described as in the book | |
| First appearance | Animal Farm |
| Created by | George Orwell |
| Based on | Karl Marx,Vladimir Lenin |
| Voiced by | Maurice Denham (1954 film) Peter Ustinov (1999 film) |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Willingdon Beauty |
| Species | Middle White boar |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Revolutionary Leader of Animal Farm |
Major, also called theWillingdon Beauty duringshowings, is the first major character described byGeorge Orwell in his 1945 novellaAnimal Farm. An elderlyMiddle White boar, his "purebred" of pigs is a kind, grandfatherlyphilosopher of change.[1][2]
Major proposes a solution to the animals' desperate plight on Manor Farm under theJones administration and inspires thoughts of a rebellion.[3] He does not specify a time for the rebellion; it could be tomorrow or several generations down the road.[3][4] But when he dies three days after delivering his speech, the animals immediately set to work on bringing about the rebellion,[2] driving Jones and the farmhands off the farm and removing many of the implements of his rule.[4]
TheSeven Commandments thatSnowball transcribes, which are supposed to encompass Major's generalphilosophy, are gradually altered and deformed underNapoleon until they have entirely different meanings from those originally intended. "Beasts of England", the song that came to Major in his dream, is later banned on Animal Farm by Napoleon and replaced by "Comrade Napoleon", a hymn composed by Minimus the pig that pledges allegiance to Animal Farm and to work to protect it.[4]
Major's skull is dug up and saluted by the animals every day, even after the rebellion, as a sign of respect that the animals remember their roots and the roots of the Rebellion.[3] Later, after Napoleon decides to accept the humans and strike bargains with them, he announces that the remains are to be disposed of because they represent the old days when Animal Farm was "violent and primitive" toward humans; toward the end of the story, Napoleon announces that he has reburied the skull.[4]
In both film adaptations, Major dies while provoking the animals into rebelling. In the1954 adaption (voiced byMaurice Denham), he dies suddenly while the animals are singing. In the1999 version (voiced byPeter Ustinov), Farmer Jones slips in mud while investigating the sounds coming from the barn, setting off his shotgun and indirectly hitting Major in his backside so that he staggers backward and falls from the top of the barn to his death.
Major is broadly based onKarl Marx andVladimir Lenin.[5][1][6]
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