Animal Farm: Animalism Vs. Marxism
...Farm,
can be compared to similar characters, items, and events found in Marxism and
the 1917 Russian Revolution. This comparison will be shown by using the
symbolism that is in the book with similarities found in the Russian Revolution.
Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer Jones. The fact
that Old Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical change and
revolution are, themselves, boring in the eyes of the proletariat (represented
by the other barnyard animals), who are more prone to worrying about work and
survival in their everyday life. Old Major gave many speeches to the farm
animals about hope and the future. He is the main animal who got the rebellion
started even though he died before it actually began. Old Major's role
compares to Lenin and Marx whose ideas were to lead to the communist revolution.
Animal Farm is a criticism of Karl Marx, as well as a novel perpetuating his
convictions of democratic Socialism. (Zwerdling, 20). Lenin became leader and
teacher of the working class in Russia, and their determination to struggle
against capitalism. Like Old Major, Lenin and Marx wrote essays and gave
speeches to the working class poor. The working class in Russia, as compared
with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, were a laboring class of people that
received low wages for their work. Like the animals in the farm yard, the
people is Russia thought there would be no oppression in a new society because
the working class people (or animals) would own all the riches and hold all the
power. (Golubeva and Gellerstein 168).
Another character represented in the book is Farmer Jones. He
represents the symbol of the Czar Nicholas in Russia who treated his people
like Farmer Jones treated his animals. The animal rebellion on the farm was
started because Farmer Jones was a drunk who never took care of the animals and
who came home...
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