"Revolution and Betrayal: Analyzing Animal Farm through a Marxist Lens"

 

        Animal Farm is a novella written by George Orwell. It tells the story of a group of animals who want to rebel against humans or the farmers who put them to work and don’t feed them right. The farm before was called Manor Farm and changed later into Animal Farm. This animal wants equality, and they created 7 commandments that guide them in the animal society they establish.  However, as time goes by, the society the animals have constructed is not equal at all. Napoleon, the leader of the Animal Farm, became corrupt, manipulative, and cunning. This leader is always hungry for power and uses propaganda to manipulate the other animals, and in order to be more respected, he raises nine puppies that become attack dogs. 

Here's a video of a summary of the Animal Farm.

        This work can be viewed as a Marxist critique of social issues, political issues, and revolution. The animals' rebel against the owner of the farm who is cruel, Mr. Jones, to establish a society where all animals are equal. The animals represent the working class, while Mr. Jones represents the capitalist oppressor. However, the goal of equality for all animals is never achieved, as the new rulers the pigs begin to exploit the other animals in the working class. The hunger for power of Napoleon echoes Marxist criticism; in the text “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," the aim of the revolution is equality for all; however, with the leadership of Napoleon, who adopted authoritarian as the human they overthrew, he changed it. It is the same in the context of our society today. Many politicians promise equality and goodness for all, but because of money and power, they forget their promises and become corrupt. Some politicians become blind for their own benefit and use their power to create inequality rather than to eliminate it. 

        Moreover, manipulation in this literature becomes evident just like how Napoleon easily influences the animals and changes the commandments, like changing “No animal shall drink alcohol” to “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess" and scaring them to follow the rules by the attack dogs. The role of the working class, who are the laboring animals, believes in the revolution. There is an animal named Boxer who is hardworking and strong. He works tirelessly because he believes in the revolution; he has this saying, "Napoleon is right, I will work harder”. But he wasn’t able to realize that what he believed wouldn’t happen, and the pigs that he followed because of their intelligence just used him in labor and didn’t give him good treatment when he got old and weak.

        In conclusion, the novella Animal Farm indeed belongs to the Marxist critique because it shows societal issues of corruption, hierarchy, the effect of too much power, and manipulating others by scaring them. The role of animals in the novel portrays the realities of the political system and the nation. Not all politicians and leaders are corrupt, just like Snowball and Old Major, because they have these good traits and propaganda. However, Napoleon, who was hungry for power and got blind because of money, forgot their true propaganda, which is equality for all and revolution. In this, we can learn that we people should be careful when picking a leader and be aware enough if their actions affect us. We should be hungry for education to not be ignorant and easily manipulated. We should speak up about the issues we encounter because we have the rights, but sadly in this novella the animals in the working class are unaware and uneducated. We, the working class, should not settle for less because the country will not progress if only leaders work.