Character Analysis of Mr Jones Animal Farm

Mr Jones is the first character we hear of in the book. Our first impression of him which is confirmed later on in the book is of a drunkard, careless and irresponsible farmer. Unfortunately because for his carelessness the animals suffer and this is the reason why they rebel. We can see the bad effect that this had on the animals in:

Chapter 1 -“was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes”
Chapter 2 -“so that when evening came, the animals were still unfed” In this book Mr Jones is potraying Tsar Nicholas II, who sometimes due to his weaknesses, greediness and egoism left the Russian people starving from hunger and cold due to the many mistakes he caused by making bad decisions during his reign. Just like the Tsar, Mr Jones wasn’t always like that as before he was a capable and responsible farmer, but it is aftermath that he becomes an alcoholic and harsh towards his animals. In Old Major’s speech Mr. Jones and his wife are also represented as a creature that takes everything for itself and gives nothing back in return. Old Major reinforces this when he says

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing.” and  “he gives the bare minimum ……. and the rest he keeps for himself” The author Orwell also portrays the image of egoism in this character, when the cow and the other animals broke into the shed to get some food to eat. Mr Jones instead of going in the farm and controlling the situation, he and his men went “with whips in their hands”, as if they were preparing for a fight which in fact did occur but in favour of the underfed animals.

In my opinion what Mr Jones suffered due to his egoism and carelessness can also be a message to all the people in the whole world that all men are equal and that we are giving more attention to do materialistic things in our lives and not giving enough importance to our responsibilities, priorities and values.