Chapter 9+10 Project: Old Major and Karl Marx “Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.” (John F. Kennedy). The novel Animal Farm, written in 1945 by critically acclaimed British novelist George Orwell, may give the impression of being a children’s book at first. However, while the idea of a farm run by animals may be considered childish, this book is actually a clever satire. The occurrences and characters in the book are intended to be seen as metaphors for occurrences and influential people in the Russian Revolution. One example of this is the minor character who only exists at the beginning of the book, the pig Old Major. Old Major plays the role in the story of Animal Farm that Karl Marx did in the Russian Revolution. …show more content…
He explains the need for this system with the words: “There, comrades, is the answer to all problems. It is summed up in a single word - Man.” (4). The concept and plan for Animalism is to abolish Mr. Jones, the farmer, as he is the reason the animals do so much work for little food. In the new system introduced by Old Major, all animals will be able to reap what they sow, without most of the proceeds going to the lazy humans. Furthermore, all animals will be equal and no animal will be superior to others or have to call anyone “Master”; all animals are comrades. All of these concepts and ideas exist similarly in Marx’ utopian concept of Communism. No leader shall receive more than the workers, and everything should be distributed equally. Animalism is obviously a metaphor for the political idea of Communism, and as Karl Marx (together with Friedrich Engels) invented or started this idea, the parallel is evidence of the fact that Old Major is supposed to represent