Analysis of the Three Little Pigs and the Story of the Three Little Pigs
Andrew Dowdell
Mrs. Malatack
World Lit Period 5
October 17, 2010
Analysis of The Three Little Pigs and The Story of the Three Little Pigs
In The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs, the first two pigs set out and end up making their houses out of unstable materials that, in The Three Little Pigs, the fox, and in The Story of The Three Little Pigs, the wolf, destroyed. However, the third little pig builds his house out of bricks and is able to resist and eventually vanquish the wolf and fox. At the surface these stories appear to be trying to teach young children the value of hard work. But a more complex subliminal message exists as well. When The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs are looked at through the Marxist Materialistic lens both stories use symbolism to show the oppression of workers and why they need to stand up for themselves. In order to completely understand the subliminal story that exists inside The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs the basic principles of Marxist Theory must be explained. Marxism is essentially the opposite of capitalism, “Marxism is the system of socialism of which the dominant feature is public ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange” (What is Marxism). What this is saying is that there is no such thing as private property and that everybody publicly owns everything. Everybody, in theory, works and produces as much as they can and in return they receive exactly what they need. One of Marx’s greatest criticisms of capitalism is the oppression that workers have to endure. Marx says, “Under capitalism, […] the workers, in order to support their families are paid a bare minimum wage or salary. The worker is alienated because he has no control over the labor or product which he produces” (What is Marxism). Here Marx is saying that in capitalism, the workers are being abused. The abuse of workers is one of the main reasons Marx
Mrs. Malatack
World Lit Period 5
October 17, 2010
Analysis of The Three Little Pigs and The Story of the Three Little Pigs
In The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs, the first two pigs set out and end up making their houses out of unstable materials that, in The Three Little Pigs, the fox, and in The Story of The Three Little Pigs, the wolf, destroyed. However, the third little pig builds his house out of bricks and is able to resist and eventually vanquish the wolf and fox. At the surface these stories appear to be trying to teach young children the value of hard work. But a more complex subliminal message exists as well. When The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs are looked at through the Marxist Materialistic lens both stories use symbolism to show the oppression of workers and why they need to stand up for themselves. In order to completely understand the subliminal story that exists inside The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs the basic principles of Marxist Theory must be explained. Marxism is essentially the opposite of capitalism, “Marxism is the system of socialism of which the dominant feature is public ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange” (What is Marxism). What this is saying is that there is no such thing as private property and that everybody publicly owns everything. Everybody, in theory, works and produces as much as they can and in return they receive exactly what they need. One of Marx’s greatest criticisms of capitalism is the oppression that workers have to endure. Marx says, “Under capitalism, […] the workers, in order to support their families are paid a bare minimum wage or salary. The worker is alienated because he has no control over the labor or product which he produces” (What is Marxism). Here Marx is saying that in capitalism, the workers are being abused. The abuse of workers is one of the main reasons Marx