Marxism in Animal Farm

634 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of the communist manifesto

Imagine being in a world where you have to conform to what the government says or else you will be severely punished. Communism didn’t always sound so harsh. In fact, it sounded quite nice on paper, showing that everyone would receive the same rations of food and clothing. The Communist government was easily taken out of its original ideas, however. Communism is based off of the ideas of Marxism, which is the thought that every person should give up his/her individual rights in order for the good of society. In the book Animal Farm, Marxism found its way into the world, helped take control over the farm, and was demonstrated well with the exception of a few differences.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels created Marxism. Marx wrote the communist manifesto which in summary tells that Communism wants to override capitalism and allow everyone to be equal.
Marx's economic analysis of capitalism is based on his version of the labor theory of value, and includes the analysis of capitalist profit as the extraction of surplus value from the exploited proletariat. The analysis of history and economics come together in Marx's prediction of the inevitable economic breakdown of capitalism, to be replaced by communism (Wolff, 2003).
Marx argues that religion is just a man-made thing to create a community because humans can’t survive without community. He says that the communist government can replace the feeling of “being equal in God’s eye” to “being equal in the eyes of the law” (Wolff, 2003). Marxism fights for the freedom of the working class, who are usually paid minimum wage just to survive (Blunden, n.d.).
Old Major not only represents Marx and Lenin, but also the power of speech and how it was used to inspire people. He tells the animals...

... middle of paper ...

...e relevant to how Marxism played out in the book. The Marxist ideas are better said than done. It seems like everyone would be equal but in reality there would be no room to have a personality or make a better life for oneself. The true Communist government is not realistic. Overall, Communism is not a fun government to mess with because Marxist ideas want to break capitalism and remove religion in the form of harsh ruling.

Works Cited

Blunden, Andy. "Marxism." , by Andy Blunden. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. .
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. N.p: n.p, 2003. http://www.george-orwell.org/Animal_Farm/0.html. Pdf file
Wolff, Jonathan. "Karl Marx." Stanford University. Stanford University, 26 Aug. 2003. Web. 2 May 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • The Soviet Government, Gilead of The Handmaid’s Tale and Oceania of 1984

    1636 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though the rewards are pleasing to the ear, the path to obtaining the benefits of communism is a violent one. This strict governing idea was derived from Communist Manifesto, a book written by two German economists, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels, who declare that many problems in society are caused by the unequal distribution of wealth. These two believe that “Communism deprives no man of the ability to appropriate the fruits of his labour. The only thing it deprives him of is the ability to enslave others by means of such appropriations.” To achieve the goal of happiness and prosperity for all, the lines that distinguish the differences between the rich and poor must be erased. Obviously, the rich will never voluntarily give up their goods or status; therefore the figureheads must force equality among the citizens. Communism places their citizens, whether they be the wealthy or the laborers, into working classes that specify their contribution to the government. With such balanced placement of the people, individuality is impossible for any single person to achieve.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Karl Marx's Writing Of The Communist Manifesto

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by

    Read More

  • Cultural Anthro - Karl Marx

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx looks at human societies as a whole, and asks how they reproduce themselves, and as a result, change. For Marx a fundamental question about any society is whether it can produce more than it needs to reproduce itself, that is, a surplus product. Karl Marx believed that the middle class is based upon economic factors and rooted in solely that perspective. Many people have examined his work closely arguing that economic factors could not possibly be the only definition o...

    Read More

  • Communism In The U.S.

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, was the originator of the political and economic theory of Scientific Socialism (modern Communism). Communism, by definition, is the complete control of major resources and the means of production by government, initially in the form of autocracy. In theory, under this system all would be equal; all would share in both work, according to their ability, and profit, according to need. According to Marx, the proletariat, or working class, would revolt against the bourgeoisie, or wealthy capitalist class, because of the stark contrast prevalent between the wealthy and poor. The new economy, run by and for the people, would produce not for profit, but for the needs of the people. Thus, abundance would rule. Marx further predicted this revolution would occur in Western Europe, the most industrialized and capitalist portion of the world.

    Read More

  • The Rise and Fall of Communism

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone would like to live in a perfect society, and in Germany, Karl Marx set out to do just that by creating the government system known as Communism. Though, this system has failed in many countries all over the world because of many significant flaws in the very foundation of the system. Some of the most feared probabilities in society that Communism was created to eliminate still prevailed and were at the heart of the system’s downfall. If the system was infallible, why were so many of its principles created out of the fear of rebellion? The living conditions of the people were unbearable and would lead to nothing but rebellion. The whole system was full of corruption and had no moral standards. Communism has failed in many countries due to a variety of flaws.

    Read More

  • Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel: The Relationship between Society and the Individual

    3473 Words  | 7 Pages

    Bender, Frederic L. Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ed. 1988.

    Read More

  • Animal Farm: A Communist Manifesto

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    Animal Farm is indeed communist propaganda. It describes how the animals overthrow the farmer and drive all humans from the farm. The animals create a set of laws, designed to eradicate all hints of humanity; humanity, of course, represents the capitalist government. The animals call each other "comrade", a clear reference to communism, and after the revolution the animals are described as being "happy as they had never conceived it possible to be" (Orwell 46).

    Read More

  • The Failure of Communism

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    Communism was first found by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the second half of the 19th century. They met each other at 1844, and found out that they had almost similar Principle, so they wrote the book together at around 1848, “The Communist Manifesto.” They had a feeling that reason workers exploration happened was because of the social class system of capitalism. Marx was German of Jewish who knows a lot of things, and he traveled to many different places and lived there. Special he lived in France and Great Britain. In that time period he found a lot of political and liberality problems in his host countries. They don’t have right of individuals to own their properties. Communism was first hold in Russia, and it start to develop in late 19th century. Bolsheviks first seized power and through the revolution (a picture of its situation see appendix 3) of October was around 1917. That was the first time that a group of people fought wars in Marxist perspective and managed to seize powers. It causes “a nation with a centuries old reputation for deposition servility and br...

    Read More

  • What Is The Concept Of Commodity Fetishism In 'Wings'?

    2377 Words  | 5 Pages

    This video can also be used to teach and distinguish among Marx's notions of use-value and exchange-value, as well as his concept of surplus-value, which is the surplus or profit earned by the capitalist, above and beyond the use-value (labour power) required to produce the

    Read More

  • Differentiating Marx and Rousseau

    2202 Words  | 5 Pages

    In his Manifesto of the Communist Party Karl Marx created a radical theory revolving not around the man made institution of government itself, but around the ever present guiding vice of man that is materialism and the economic classes that stemmed from it. By unfolding the relat...

    Read More

  • Socialism and Communism Midterm

    2454 Words  | 5 Pages

    Marxism was created by Karl Marx and Federick Engels; they both sought out a better future for the working class. Marx, who was born in Germany in 1818 and died in London in 1883, lived in a world where he disagreed with capitalism whole heartedly. Frederick Engels was also born in Germany in 1820 and died in London in 1895. With this, they created their own philosophical and economic thought which was called Marxism. The problem with Marx was that he was always ready to change his mind about certain theories or ideas which he created. This is why it is very difficult to understand how Marxism works. Also Marxism is usually stereotyped with mainstream communism, which is why people seem to brush it off and just see it as some radical oppression machine. In Lenin’s words “the three main sources of Marxism are: British political economy, French Socialism, and German Idealist Philosophy”.

    Read More

  • Marxism and Leninism

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire. The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism” With industry and capitalism growing a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism:

    Read More

  • Karl Marx and Capitalism

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Karl Marx’s critique of political economy provides a scientific understanding of the history of capitalism. Through Marx’s critique, the history of society is revealed. Capitalism is not just an economic system in Marx’s analysis. It’s a “specific social form of labor” that is strongly related to society. Marx’s critique of capitalism provides us a deep understanding of the system to predict its pattern and protect ourselves from its negative sides.

    Read More

  • Karl Marx and His View on Religion

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx, the founder and main advocator of his Marxist philosophy, wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848. This document was the basis for all of his thoughts and ideas of the world at the time being. One of the major topics that he spoken on was how religion affected the society and how it was an institution that was not actually necessary to exist.

    Read More

  • The Sociological Contribution of Karl Marx to an Understanding of Contemporary Society

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marx explained how employers can exploit and alienate their workers; this is described in more detail and is known as ‘the labour’. theory of value’. Marx also goes on to explain how in a business. falling rate of profit can lead to an inevitable crisis, revolutions. can emerge and then finally lead to the socialist state.

    Read More

More about Marxism in Animal Farm

Open Document