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Ongoing Threat Of Communism In John Steinbeck's Animal Farm

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Communism: The Ongoing Threat
Instead of the hope for freedom leading to the Russian Revolution, the conflict resulted in disaster for the common people. John Steinbeck illustrates the decline from bad to worse seen during the Russian Revolution in his novella, Animal Farm. Due to the corrupt nature of humanity, absolute power will always be a temptation. The Russian Revolution, the novella Animal Farm, and the existence of communism today serve as a warning about the ongoing threat of absolute power.
Karl Marx’s view of the role of government is the core of communism. Simply defined, it is, “…an economic and government system characterized by citizens holding all property and goods in common…” ("Karl Marx Biography"). In other words, …show more content…

Orwell was no stranger to the fear Stalin instilled in communist Russia. He fled Spain in a panic, due to the fact that communists were trying to kill him for fighting on the side of their political adversaries during the Spanish Civil War (Woodcock). “The experience left him with a lifelong dread of communism…” (Woodcock). Literary scholar, John Wain, believes it was a turning point for Orwell (25). Not only was he afraid of communism, but he also felt compelled to write about the horrors of communism. Guidorizzi’s article uses Orwell’s own words to illustrate his feelings on the subject. Orwell states, “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism; Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole” (Guidorizzi).
Orwell wrote Animal Farm as an allegory for the Russian Revolution to illustrate …show more content…

In Animal Farm, Orwell shows the steady, but devious progression of Napoleon’s plan to strip the commoners of their education and self-confidence. Boxer, the work horse in Orwell’s novella, represents the working man. He devotes his life to the revolution, even when it becomes only beneficial for Napoleon, the dictator. As Boxer dies, it is obvious that hope for equality dies with him (Bloom 35). Boxer’s death is a warning about the injustice of communism. When writing about the themes in Animal Farm, Rodden says, “Revolutions tend to come full circle and devour their people” (23). Boxer was devoured by his unwavering loyalty to the government. He put total faith and trust in the government, wrongly thinking it would in turn, help him in his old age. Rodden correctly reveals, “Animal Farm is powerful warning against the delusions of Soviet Communism…”

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