Reading Orwell’s Animal Farm Through Marxist Eyes: Power, Class, and the Betrayal of Revolution

 Paper: 204

Paper Name : Contemporary Western Theories and Film Studies

Introduction: When Animals Speak, Ideologies Echo

Few books have captured the spirit of political satire as sharply as George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945). Beneath its deceptively simple fable of talking animals lies one of the most penetrating critiques of modern power structures.

At first glance, the story of farm animals overthrowing their human master and establishing a society of equality seems innocent. Yet, as the narrative unfolds, Orwell’s allegory exposes the corruption of socialist ideals and the re-emergence of class divisions within a supposedly classless utopia.

In this blog essay, we will explore Animal Farm through the lens of Marxist literary criticism, tracing how Orwell dramatises the rise and betrayal of revolutionary ideals and how his narrative mirrors the cycle of class struggle, ideology, and exploitation that Karl Marx identified in capitalist and post-revolutionary societies.

What is Marxist Literary Criticism?

Marxist criticism begins from a simple yet profound premise: literature reflects the material and social conditions of its time. For Karl Marx, society is structured around a base (the economic system) that determines the superstructure (politics, culture, and ideology). Every artistic or literary work is, therefore, a product of its socio-economic context.

Critics like Raymond Williams, Terry Eagleton, and Louis Althusser expanded this idea, showing how literature not only mirrors class struggle but also participates in shaping ideology—the invisible system of beliefs that sustains social power.

In a Marxist reading, we ask questions like:

• Who holds power, and who is exploited?

• How do ideology and culture justify inequality?

• How does literature reveal or resist these structures?

These questions guide our reading of Orwell’s Animal Farm, a text deeply concerned with revolution, power, and the fate of equality.

The Political Fable as Class Allegory

At its surface, Animal Farm tells the story of animals rebelling against the tyranny of Farmer Jones. Led by pigs like Napoleon and Snowball, they establish “Animalism”, a philosophy promising equality and collective ownership.

However, as time passes, the pigs consolidate power, rewrite commandments, and transform themselves into the very oppressors they once overthrew. The novel’s closing image — pigs and humans indistinguishable from each other — captures the tragic irony of revolution devouring itself.

This transformation is a brilliant dramatisation of Marx’s warning: without class consciousness, revolutions risk reproducing the very hierarchies they seek to destroy.

Marxist Concepts in Animal Farm

Marxist Concept	Key Theorist	Meaning	Example in Animal Farm
Base and Superstructure	Karl Marx	Economic system (base) shapes ideology and culture (superstructure)	The farm’s labour system sustains pigs’ intellectual dominance
Class Struggle	Karl Marx	Conflict between oppressors and oppressed drives history	Animals vs. humans → later, animals vs. pigs
Ideology and Hegemony	Antonio Gramsci	Ruling class maintains power through cultural control	Squealer’s manipulation of truth and rewriting of commandments
False Consciousness	Marx & Engels	Working class unaware of their exploitation	Boxer’s faith in Napoleon’s leadership
Reification	Georg Lukács	Human (or animal) value reduced to productivity	Boxer sold for glue after losing labour value

Revolution and Its Discontents

The rebellion in Animal Farm mirrors Marx’s dream of proletarian uprising — the working class (animals) overthrowing the capitalist master (Mr Jones). Old Major’s speech echoes Marx’s Communist Manifesto, calling the animals of the world to unite against their oppressor.

Yet, Orwell quickly dismantles this dream. Once the revolution succeeds, power begins to corrupt. The pigs assume administrative roles, the commandments are quietly altered, and labour becomes more exploitative than before.

This reflects Marx’s belief that unless economic ownership truly changes, political revolutions are cosmetic. The pigs, who initially fight for equality, soon become the new bourgeoisie, controlling resources and rewriting ideology to justify their privilege.

The Language of Power: Ideology and Control

“Comrades,” says Squealer, “you do not want Jones to come back, do you?”

With this one line, Orwell captures the essence of ideological manipulation. In Marxist terms, Squealer represents the Ideological State Apparatus described by Louis Althusser—systems that control through persuasion rather than force.

Through slogans (“Four legs good, two legs bad”) and propaganda, Squealer maintains obedience. The animals internalise a distorted version of truth — a classic example of false consciousness, where the oppressed believe in the righteousness of their own subjugation.

Language becomes a tool of domination, not liberation — echoing Terry Eagleton’s claim that ideology “masks the contradictions of class society.”

Boxer: The Tragic Worker

No character embodies Marxist tragedy more profoundly than Boxer, the loyal cart horse. His mottos — “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right” — symbolise the exploited working class, driven by faith and duty even as they are crushed by the system.

Boxer’s eventual fate—sold to the glue factory when he is no longer useful—is the purest expression of reification, where living beings are reduced to commodities. In Marx’s words, capitalist labour “alienates man from his own humanity.”

Boxer’s death is not only a moral failure but also the moment when Orwell’s allegory lays bare the cruelty of a system that values production over life.

Snowball and Napoleon: The Dialectic of Power

Snowball and Napoleon embody the dialectical tension within revolutionary movements — idealism versus pragmatism, collective good versus personal power.

Snowball’s vision of progress (education, technology, the windmill) reflects a utopian socialist impulse, while Napoleon’s authoritarianism mirrors the Stalinist perversion of Marxism.

In Marxist terms, their conflict demonstrates how revolutionary movements often reproduce the contradictions of the old order. The moment Napoleon seizes power and uses dogs (violence) and Squealer (ideology), the farm becomes a microcosm of the totalitarian state — where the base of production and the superstructure of belief fuse to sustain domination.

The Commandments and the Corruption of Ideology

One of Orwell’s most brilliant narrative devices is the gradual alteration of the Seven Commandments of Animalism. What begins as an egalitarian constitution ends in absurd hypocrisy:

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

This single sentence captures the core of Marxist irony — ideology claiming equality while institutionalising inequality.

Each amendment to the commandments reflects the Gramscian process of hegemony, where the ruling class doesn’t impose power through force but through consent. The animals’ silence represents their internalisation of oppression — a key Marxist insight into how power sustains itself through belief rather than coercion.

Orwell’s Allegory and the Soviet Mirror

While Animal Farm can be read universally, Orwell’s satire directly parallels the Russian Revolution. Old Major stands for Marx/Lenin, Napoleon for Stalin, Snowball for Trotsky, and the working animals for the proletariat.

Orwell’s narrative, however, transcends historical allegory. It speaks to the cyclical nature of power — how revolutions, when detached from moral and economic equality, can replicate the very systems they sought to destroy.

In doing so, Orwell becomes a moral Marxist — one who values justice and equality but distrusts power in any form.

Dialectics of Oppression: A Comparative Snapshot

Character/Group	Represents	Marxist Parallel	Nature of Power
Old Major	Revolutionary Ideologue	Karl Marx / Lenin	Visionary leadership
Napoleon	Totalitarian Leader	Joseph Stalin	Centralized authority
Snowball	Utopian Socialist	Leon Trotsky	Intellectual reformer
Boxer	Working Class	Proletariat	Labour and sacrifice
Squealer	Ideological Apparatus	State Media	Manipulation of truth
Dogs	Repressive Apparatus	Secret Police	Force and intimidation

Marxism, Morality, and Orwell’s Position

Critics like Raymond Williams and Eagleton suggest that Marxist criticism isn’t simply about condemning capitalism; it’s about understanding how power works in all systems. Orwell’s genius lies in revealing that even socialist revolutions can become oppressive when they forget their moral foundation.

Unlike capitalist critique novels such as Dickens’s Hard Times, Orwell’s Animal Farm focuses on what happens after revolution — when ideology becomes dogma, and the dream of equality turns into a mechanism of control.

This makes Animal Farm a timeless political fable that transcends both capitalism and communism, speaking instead to the universal human tendency to exploit and dominate.

Relevance in Contemporary Context

Conclusion: From Farm to World

Through a Marxist lens, Animal Farm is not a rejection of Marxism but a moral defence of its original vision. Orwell’s narrative exposes how ideology and class power can distort even the noblest ideals, turning revolution into tyranny.

By merging political allegory with animal fable, Orwell simplifies yet universalises Marx’s insights — that history is driven by class struggle, that consciousness is shaped by power, and that equality must be constantly defended from corruption.

As we close the gates of Animal Farm, we realise Orwell’s warning still echoes:

Every revolution risks becoming the thing it overthrows — unless we remember that equality is not an outcome, but an ongoing struggle.

References:

• Eagleton, Terry. Marxism and Literary Criticism. University of California Press, 1976.
• Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto. 2017.
• Mulhern, Francis. “Marxism in Literary Criticism.” New Left Review, Mar. 1978, pp. 77–87. https://doi.org/10.64590/r0v.
• Orwell, George. Animal Farm. 2012.
• Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. Oxford Paperbacks, 1977.

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