She is the farm’s steadfast, motherly heart, witnessing the revolution’s promise decay into tyranny. Clover, the loyal cart-horse in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, represents the decent, hardworking populace whose hopes are gradually betrayed.
Initially a faithful disciple of the pigs’ teachings, Clover embodies quiet strength and deep compassion.
Unlike Boxer’s blind faith, however, Clover retains fragments of memory and possesses an intuition, sensing the growing disparity between Animalism’s ideals and the regime’s harsh reality.
We’ve collected 17 Clover quotes from Animal Farm with page numbers. These passages showcase her nurturing nature, loyalty, moments of doubt and sorrow, and role as a silent observer of the farm’s tragic transformation.
Heads up! Page numbers reference the Signet edition noted below.
Clover’s Motherly Nature & Compassion
Clover embodies maternal care and empathy, extending her protection and concern not only to her foal (lost before the narrative begins) but also to other vulnerable animals on the farm.
“The two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together, walking very slowly and setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care lest there should be some small animal concealed in the straw.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Boxer and Clover, Chapter 1, Page 5)
This initial action immediately establishes Clover’s (and Boxer’s) inherent gentleness and consideration for others, contrasting with the pigs’ later ruthlessness.
“Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching middle life, who had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover, Chapter 1, Page 4)
Orwell introduces Clover with the defining characteristic “motherly,” foreshadowing her nurturing role and empathetic perspective throughout the story.
“The two horses had just lain down when a brood of ducklings, which had lost their mother, filed into the barn… Clover made a sort of wall round them with her great foreleg, and the ducklings nestled down inside it and promptly fell asleep.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover, Chapter 1, Page 6)
Clover’s instinctive act of protecting the lost ducklings vividly demonstrates her nurturing, maternal nature and compassion for the vulnerable.
“Clover treated the hoof with poultices of herbs which she prepared by chewing them, and both she and Benjamin urged Boxer to work less hard.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover, Boxer, and Benjamin, Chapter 9, Page 111)
Her dedication to nursing Boxer’s injury with traditional remedies shows her practical care and deep concern for her companion’s well-being.
“For the next two days Boxer remained in his stall… In the evenings she lay in his stall and talked to him, while Benjamin kept the flies off him.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover and Boxer, Chapter 9, Page 120)
Clover offers companionship and comfort to Boxer in his time of need, demonstrating her steadfast loyalty and friendship beyond physical care.
“Boxer!” she cried. “Boxer! Boxer! Boxer!” And just at this moment… Boxer’s face… appeared at the small window at the back of the van. “Boxer!” cried Clover in a terrible voice. “Boxer! Get out! Get out quickly! They’re taking you to your death!”
(Speaker: Clover, Chapter 9, Pages 122-123)
Clover’s desperate cries upon realizing Boxer’s true fate reveal the depth of her affection and horror at his betrayal, marking a moment of agonizing helplessness.
Clover’s inherent kindness and maternal instincts provide an emotional anchor in the increasingly harsh world of Animal Farm.
Clover’s Loyalty & Steadfastness
Like Boxer, Clover is initially a devoted follower of the Rebellion and its leadership, accepting the pigs’ authority and contributing her labor without complaint, even when doubts begin to surface.
“Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told…”
(Speaker: Narrator about Boxer and Clover, Chapter 2, Page 18)
This passage establishes Clover’s initial loyalty, stemming from accepting the pigs’ intellectual superiority and lacking the capacity for independent ideological thought.
“Boxer and Clover would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake… and tramp steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind…”
(Speaker: Narrator about Boxer and Clover, Chapter 3, Page 28)
Clover participates fully in the farm’s essential labor under the pigs’ direction, demonstrating her commitment to the collective effort.
“Only Boxer and Clover never lost heart.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover and Boxer, Chapter 7, Page 74)
During the difficult winter after the windmill’s first destruction, Clover’s resilience (alongside Boxer’s) is highlighted as essential to maintaining morale. Understand Boxer’s complementary loyalty: read Boxer’s defining quotes.
“Boxer and Clover always carried between them a green banner marked with the hoof and the horn and the caption, “Long live Comrade Napoleon! ”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover and Boxer, Chapter 9, Page 116)
Clover participates in the regime’s rituals, like the Spontaneous Demonstrations, showing outward loyalty to Napoleon even as personal doubts may linger.
“They accepted everything that they were told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism, especially from Clover, for whom they had an almost filial respect…”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover’s influence on younger horses, Chapter 10, Page 128)
Years later, Clover is a conduit transmitting the (likely simplified or distorted) history of the Rebellion to the new generation, respected for her steadfastness.
Despite growing hardships, Clover remains a loyal and hardworking contributor to the farm, embodying the steadfastness of the common animal.
Clover’s Disillusionment & Silent Witness
Unlike Boxer’s blind acceptance, Clover possesses enough memory and intuition to sense the growing corruption and betrayal of the revolution’s ideals. However, lacking the words or courage to protest effectively, she becomes a sorrowful, silent witness to the farm’s decay.
“One day, as Mollie strolled blithely into the yard… Clover took her aside. ‘Mollie,’ she said, ‘I have something very serious to say to you…'”
(Speaker: Narrator and Clover to Mollie, Chapter 5, Page 45)
Clover demonstrates moral clarity and courage by confronting Mollie about her potential betrayal, acting as the farm’s conscience early on. See Mollie’s reaction: explore Mollie’s vanity.
“…Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments… Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover, Chapter 6, Pages 66-67)
Clover suspects the pigs are breaking a rule but lacks the literacy to confirm it herself, representing the powerlessness that comes from ignorance and dependence on others for information.
“As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears… this was not what they had aimed at… These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to… But still, it was not for this that she and all the other animals had hoped and toiled.”
(Speaker: Narrator describing Clover’s thoughts, Chapter 7, Pages 86-87)
This passage vividly captures Clover’s deep disillusionment after the executions, contrasting the brutal reality with the original utopian dream of the Rebellion.
“Such were her thoughts, though she lacked the words to express them.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover, Chapter 7, Page 87)
Orwell highlights the tragedy of the uneducated working class: Clover feels the injustice and betrayal, but cannot articulate her thoughts into an effective protest.
“My sight is failing,” she said finally. “Even when I was young I could not have read what was written there. But it appears to me that that wall looks different. Are the Seven Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?”
(Speaker: Clover to Benjamin, Chapter 10, Page 134)
Years later, Clover relies on her vague memory and trusts Benjamin’s literacy to confirm her suspicion that the foundational laws have been corrupted. Compare with Benjamin’s reaction: read Benjamin’s cynical view.
“But as the animals outside gazed at the scene, it seemed to them that some strange thing was happening… Clover’s old dim eyes flitted from one face to another… But what was it that seemed to be melting and changing?”
(Speaker: Narrator about Clover, Chapter 10, Pages 140-141)
In the final scene, Clover’s failing eyesight mirrors the animals’ inability to perceive the pigs’ final transformation, though she senses the disturbing shift.
Clover represents the heartbreaking perspective of those who remain loyal yet recognize the betrayal of the revolution, suffering silently due to a lack of voice or power.
Conclusion: The Heartbroken Witness
Clover is the emotional heart and moral witness of Animal Farm. Her motherly compassion, steadfast loyalty, and quiet endurance represent the best qualities of the working-class animals.
Unlike Boxer, however, she possesses a dawning awareness and a memory that allows her to perceive, albeit dimly and inarticulately, the corruption of the revolution’s ideals.
Her moments of doubt, sorrow over the violence, and reliance on others to read the changing commandments highlight the tragedy of the well-intentioned but uneducated populace under a manipulative regime.
Clover embodies the disillusionment of those who see their hopes betrayed but lack the means or courage to effectively resist, making her a deeply sympathetic figure in Orwell’s cautionary tale.
Explore All Animal Farm Analysis
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Like Clover puzzling over the altered commandments, finding the exact page for events in George Orwell’s Animal Farm can vary between editions! These 17 page numbers reference the widely used Signet 50th Anniversary paperback edition (April 6, 2004), ISBN-13: 978-0451526342. Always double-check against your specific copy—ensure your references are as clear as Clover’s initial hopes.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.