Communism and Brave New World Essay Example

Communism and Brave New World Alana Stricker British Literature Mr. Groeninger 11/13/12 During most of the twentieth century, communism was one of the world’s dominant international political movements. People reacted to it in different ways—as a source of hope for a radiant future or as the greatest threat on the face of the earth. When Karl Marx wrote his Manifesto of the Communist Party of 1848, he had no idea how communism would take off in the twentieth century. Marx sincerely believed that under communism people would live more freely than ever before. This belief turned out to be very ironic. Those who took power in the twentieth century as communist dictators used Karl Marx’s ideas as justification for a ruthless, single-party dictatorship. A prime example was Mao Zedong, whose skilful leadership played a large part in the communists’ successful capture of power in mainland China in 1949. Communist China turned out to be a dystopian society, much like the bleak, artificial society in the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In Huxley’s dystopia, he predicts possible problems of Communist beliefs, problems that became a reality in 20th century communist China. Communism comes from the Latin word communis, meaning common or universal. It is described as a revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless, and stateless society structured upon common ownership of property. This property includes the factories, machines, and tools used to produce wealth. Communism, in its Marxist–Leninist interpretations, significantly influenced the history of the 20th century, which saw intense rivalry between the communist world and the Western world (Kamenka, 19-23). Common ownership of property is one of the most important characteristics of communism. Plato in The Republic described it as a state where people shared all their property, wives, and children. This is an exaggeration, but millions of people