Karl Marx
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Brief BiographyKarl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5th, 1818. He was a Socialist idealist but some might interpret and/or inco-operate his ideas as Communist or as Social Communist. (An example of Social Communist would be China today.) Karl Marx had many Socialist ideas, but he had never seen his ideas being played out because he passed away before the Russian Revolution in 1917. During his time in London in 1847, he co-wrote The Manifesto of the Communist party (also known as the Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei) with Friedrich Engels, it was published in sometime in February of 1848. Karl Marx died on March 14th, 1883.
The Communist Manifesto reflects an attempt to explain the goals of Communism, as well as the theory underlying this movement. It argues that class struggles, or the exploitation of one class by another, are motivating force behind all historical developments. " - Sparksnotes |
RELATION WITH ANIMAL FARM CHARACTER
The author chose to represent Karl Marx with Old Major, the old wise pig from Animal Farm.
Old Major1. Came up with the Socialist idea. (The animals overthrow Mr. Jones and take all the harvested products for themselves which would be shared equally among them.)
2. Passed away before the revolution started. 3. Old Major's speech to the animals. 4. Old Major wanted to have equality between all animals of the farm. “And among us animals let there be perfect unity,” - Old Major's Speech, Chapter One |
Karl Marx1. Came up with several Socialist ideas. (The working class would overthrow the oppressive upper class ruling the society to archive equality in the society.)
2. Passed away in 1883 before the Russian Revolution in 1917. 3. Co-wrote the Manifesto of the Communist Party in 1847 (Published in 1848). The Manifesto of the Communist Party was represented by Old Major's speech because both the speech and the book were promoting Socialist ideas as well as explaining what it was. 4. Marx wanted to have equality within the society. "That when all are equal there would be no ruler over anyone since ownership of everything would be mutual of all the people in that society" - Karl Marx |
WHY DO YOU THINK ORWELL CHOSE TO REPRESENT THE EVENT OR CHARACTER IN THE WAY HE DID? HOW SUCCESSFUL DO YOU THINK IT WAS?
The author chose to represent Old Major with Karl Marx because every revolution starts with a spark and an idea, Karl Marx was the one who came up with the Socialist idea for the Russian Revolution in 1917. In the novel, Old Major was the one who told the animals about the Socialist idea, where they would overthrow Mr. Jones and all the animals would share the harvested crops and milk equally among them. George Orwell described Old Major as an wise old pig in the novel, because as people grow older, they gain more knowledge, which was why Orwell had decided to make Old Major an old pig. Orwell was very successful in representing Karl Marx with Old Major because he had captured the Socialist idea and the fact that Karl Marx had passed away before he could see his idea being put into action in the Russian Revolution in 1917.
Bibliography:
- bio.true story. (n.d.). Karl Marx. Biography. Retrieved February 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/karl-marx-9401219
- bio.true story. (n.d.). Karl Marx. Biography. Retrieved February 18, 2013, from
http://www.biography.com/people/karl-marx-9401219?page=2
- Engels, F. (n.d.). Marxists Internet Archive. Karl Marx Biography. Retrieved February 27, 2013, from http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/marx/eng-1869.htm
- SparkNotes. (n.d.). SparkNotes: The Communist Manifesto: Summary. Retrieved February 27, 2013, from http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/summary.html
- Yahoo! Voices. (n.d.). Similarities of Karl Marx's Communist Manifetso and Old Major's Speech from Animal Farm. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://voices.yahoo.com/similarities-karl-marxs-communist-manifetso-and-2068655.html
- YouTube. (n.d.). Karl Marx - The Theory of Socialism - YouTube. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcqvULx2hGY