Animal Farm: Comparison to Communism

In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, a new “political party” is created by the members of their animalian society, which is not only comparable to Communism in theory but also in execution. This so-called political party goes by the name of Animalism; a name that is reminiscent of Communism due to the pronunciation. There is far more to Animalism than the name that brings the thought of Communism to mind. The idea of Animalism (the name would come later from a different source) was brought forth by one of the oldest and most respected members of the farm, Old Major. He relays his through a magnificent speech to the whole farm. Throughout his speech he speaks of a farm no longer controlled by humans and a world in which all animals are equal:
Never listen when they tell you that Man and animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all lies. Man serves the interest of no creature except himself. And among us animals let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.(10)
Unfortunately, his ideas of what will later be called Animalism are not at all long lasting in the way he envisioned them. Karl Marx, who was a respected and important sociologist, was the central creator of the idea of Communism. His ideas for Communism were relayed through a book known as The Communist Manifesto. Communism was an idea that all people are equal; the basic meaning of the radical political view was that society should be classless. His influence was, however, short lived in its original state. The creators of both Animalism and Communism were highly similar in a couple different ways. The ideas they delivered were similar in that they both thought that everyone (animals in Old Major’s case) should be on equal terms. Along with that similarity, neither of their influences lasted long in their original state, becoming corrupted by misinterpretations by