Old Major In George Orwell's Animal Farm

In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, Old Major is an allegorical figure for Karl Marx. One example of this is when he blames a more powerful group of people for the problems of the people with less power. This resembles what Karl Marx said was the root of all past major conflicts. “‘Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our [sic] labour is stolen from us by human beings?’” (Orwell 5-6). In this quote, Old Major says that human beings are the root of the troubles that the animals face. This is akin to Karl Marx’s belief on how conflicts begin. “The few well placed and powerful sought to maintain their wealth by actively suppressing the natural desires of the many poor” (Meyers 1). Karl Marx believed that people who were …show more content…
In this regard, Karl Marx is similar. “Three nights later Old Major died peacefully in his sleep” (Orwell 10). Old Major died three days after a speech that he gave promoting his new government, Animalism, and the revolution to make it the system of the government that the animals would follow didn’t start until many months later. This resembles what occurred with Karl Marx. “In 1883, Karl Marx died in London, England….In October 1917, Lenin Trotsky, and Stalin decided to make their move… By the following night…. Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin were poised on the verge of ushering in the first-ever Communist Government” (Meyers 2-3). Karl Marx died in 1883, some 34 years before people would use his idea of communism and make it the government of a country. In Animal Farm, Old Major is the allegorical figure representing Karl Marx because Old Major made Animalism, a government where animals had equal power and wealth, and he died before he could see it put into effect, resembling how Karl Marx made Communism, a government where humans would have equal power and wealth, and died before he could see it used as a country’s