Communism Animal Farm

Dwight Nichols
Ms. Scannell
Honors English III
April 10, 2017
Communism in Animal Farm
Communism is a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. George Orwell was a fierce critic of this political theory being used by states as a primary system of government. When Orwell wrote Animal Farm, he looked back on events that led up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the communist era of the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. In Animal Farm, Orwell sharply criticized the flaws of Soviet communism taking place in the Soviet Union following World War II. Orwell compared the early
Animalism included revolution against humans like Farmer Jones and the adoption of a communist animal utopia where every animal was equal. This is a direct correlation of the revolution against Nicholas II, and the communist utopia that was adopted in the Soviet Union. Old Major’s political theory of animalism envisioned a place where all animals shared equal amounts of labor on the farm and all enjoyed the benefits of that labor equally. This compares very closely to Marx’s political theory of communism where all humans share the productivity of the economy and they share the wealth and goods created by that very economy equally. The true realities of both animalism and communism were shielded by the illusion that “all beings are equal” and everything that the hierarchy did was for the “betterment” of the common citizens. However, in both the Soviet Union and Animal Farm, this illusion was not the case and the proposed utopia never occurred. In both scenarios the leaders of their respected states took advantage of their power and through the use of military strength, intimidation, and propaganda were able to tyrannize over their citizens and freely pursue their own agendas. The fictitious characters in Orwell’s Animal Farm all represent non-fictitious characters of the early Soviet Union during the Russian Revolution and the early days
As Karl Marx established the political theory of communism, Old Major established the theory of Animalism. Marx and Old Major were both visionaries in their respected states who saw a utopia through the establishment of their ideas as systems of government. Old Major and Vladimir Lenin both used their brilliant and persuasive speaking abilities to gather support for their proposed rebellions and ideals. It was through their words that they were able to incite rebellions. Mr. Jones was based off of the dictator Nicholas II. Mr. Jones was overthrown as a result of a great revolution in the same way that Nicholas II was overthrown by the rebellious Bolsheviks. Napoleon and Snowball are based off of Stalin and Trotsky, respectively. Following Old Major’s death, Napoleon and Snowball were the two leaders of their state, as Stalin and Trotsky were of theirs. Napoleon used the intimidation of the dogs to win the power struggle that existed between him and Snowball in a similar way that Stalin used young militants to win his power struggle. Like Stalin and Trotsky, this power struggle was the result of two different visions for the future of their states. The egalitarian ideology of Old Major was quickly corrupted by Napoleon after Old Major’s death. Once Napoleon had absolute power, he abandoned the core principals of animalism preached by Old Major and