Left Image Source : http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070528040524/muppet/images/0/06/Oldmajor.jpg
Right Image Source : http://0.tqn.com/d/sociology/1/0/G/-/-/-/Karl-Marx-Sean-Gallup-Getty-Images.jpg
Bottom Image Source : http://www.wallpaperzzz.com/wallpapers/hd/hires/communism-party.jpg
Right Image Source : http://0.tqn.com/d/sociology/1/0/G/-/-/-/Karl-Marx-Sean-Gallup-Getty-Images.jpg
Bottom Image Source : http://www.wallpaperzzz.com/wallpapers/hd/hires/communism-party.jpg
Karl marx's life
Karl Heinreich Marx was born on 5th May, 1818 in Tier, Germany. He was the son of a lawyer and a Dutch woman. Karl Marx was originally a Jew, but later converted to Lutheran. When he started his education, he began to loose belief in the Jewish and Christian religion. He later become a atheist and materialist.[9] He graduated from the University of Jena with a doctorate degree in philosophy in 1841 and became the editor of a newspaper called the Rheinische Zeitung.[10] Karl himself was often expelled from countries; once he fled to Paris as the Berlin government prohibited his paper from being published. He was then banished from Paris and moved to Brussels for two years. He published ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 which left an deep impression on everyone’s mind.[11] In 1849, he moved to London and settled there where his main source of income was journalism. He worked for both English and German publications which paid him poorly. He lived in poverty and was saved from starvation with the support of his friend Friedrich Engels. He lived in London since then and died on 14th March 1883.[10]
RELATION WITH ANIMAL FARM
The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell symbolized the important events and people that represented the Russian revolution. The animal revolution that took place in the novel was based on a dream and the ideals of socialism communism that was developed by the old and respected pig in the farm named Old Major. This theory was later named animalism. Old Major was the resemblance of Karl Marx in the revolution as both characters where similar in many areas. Karl Marx and Old Major both developed the basic idea’s that forms the foundation of the revolutions that follows.[12] Old Major had taught the animals on the farm a theory called animalism, where they believed that there should be no owners and everyone owns the farm. They also believed that this theory would provide all the animals with a better life and all animals are equal. This theory is the basic idea that formed the Battle of the Cowshed. Karl Marx and Old Major was both very much revered within their respective communities as they were the inventors of important social ideologies. Both theorist also dies before the actual revolution.[13]
WHY DID ORWELL ALLEGORIZE Marx? WAS HE SUCCESSFUL?
Orwell uses Old Major's character in the novel as an allegory of Karl Marx as both theorists idea’s were the foundation of the Russian Revolution and the revolution that took place within Animal Farm. The national anthem of Animal Farm 'Beasts of England', which was created by Old Major best summarizes the egalitarianism of Marxism and Animalism, which was promoted by both theorists. Later on, this song was replaced by the anthem 'Comrade Napoleon', in the same way that 'The Internationale' was replaced by the 'National Anthem of the Soviet Union'. Both characters serves as a reminder of the promise of the utopian world for the citizens, which was afterwards twisted by the communist parties into a personal propaganda tool. This suggests that Old Major is a successful allegory of Karl Marx as Orwell successfully portrayed the old pig as a visionary who did not live to see the product of his ideas.