Critique of Communism in Animal Farm by George Orwell Essay

Karl Marx’s perfect society described in his Communist Manifesto is in direct conflict with the implementation of Soviet Communism, which was scathingly criticized by George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. Karl Marx believed that in order to form a just and equal society, the working class, called the proletariat, would have to overthrow those who owned the means of production, who were known as the bourgeoisie. This was to be known as the Proletariat Revolution where the oppressed laborers in capitalist societies, such as England, would unite under a common cause to overthrow the oppressive bourgeoisie, and establish a communist society. This would be a society where all were equal, each performing to his ability, and each receiving according†¦show more content†¦Fortunately for them, they never got to see their systems go amiss, as they did on Animal Farm and in the Soviet Union. In Animal Farm, and in the Soviet Union, both regimes after the revolution stuck pretty closely with the ideals of Communism (Animalism as it was called to the inhabitants of Animal Farm). Unfortunately, things quickly collapsed. In the beginning, the animals worked together and they lived a life they had never before lived. None of the animals went to the slaughterhouse, and each got adequate amounts of food. Napoleon and Snowball represented the Soviet Union’s Lenin and Trotsky, respectively. Napoleon was â€Å"leader† of the revolution, but was still a comrade like all the other animals. Snowball was enthusiastic about Animalism and stuck to the ideals. After a while, Napoleon had a change of heart, and did not seem to like Snowball’s enthusiasm. He was convicted of being a traitor and driven off the farm by Napoleon’s guard dogs. This is the same thing that happened to Trotsky in the Soviet Union. After Stalin came to power, Trotsky was no longer wante d, was declared a traitor, and lived the remainder of his life in exile. The Soviet Union erased all records of Trotsky’s affiliation with the Communist Party. The same thing happened to Snowball. His heroics at the Battle of Cowshed were played down and eventually reversed, and he was the scapegoat of all things that went wrongShow MoreRelatedHow Is Marxism Portrayed in Animal Farm by George Orwell? Essay1369 Words   |  6 PagesHow is Marxism portrayed throughout ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell? The main aim of Marxism is to bring about a classless society, and ‘Animal Farm’ is generally considered to be a Marxist novel, as all its characters share a similar ambition at the beginning. ‘Animal Farm’ represents an example of the oppressed masses rising up to form their own classless society, whilst offering a subtle critique on Stalin’s Soviet Russia, and communism in general. 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