Boxer is the moral centre of Animal Farm in a tragic sense. He is the hardest worker on the farm, the most physically powerful animal, and the most loyal to the revolution. His two personal maxims are 'Napoleon is always right' and 'I will work harder.' He embodies dedication, discipline, and self-sacrifice. He is the animal the revolution depended on. And he is the one the revolution destroys most completely. When Boxer's health fails and he can no longer work, Napoleon sells him to the knacker, the animal slaughterhouse. The van that comes to collect him has 'Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler' written on the side. The other animals see it and shout warnings. Boxer, whose eyesight is fading, cannot read what is written, and Napoleon and Squealer deny it: the van was a veterinary vehicle and Boxer died in hospital, cared for and comfortable. The other animals, because they cannot read, because they cannot trust their own eyes against the pigs' confident denial, because they so badly want to believe Boxer died peacefully after a life of service, mostly accept the official version. Squealer even invents Boxer's final words of loyalty to Napoleon. Orwell's argument through Boxer is one of the most important in the book: the most powerful instrument the pigs have is not the dogs. It is the animals' willingness to trust, to believe in the institution, to assume good faith where none exists. Boxer's goodness, his loyalty, his hard work are real. But they are put entirely in service of a system that does not deserve them, and he never asks whether that system deserves them. Goodness without discernment is not enough.