Communist Objection To George Orwell's Animal Farm

Orwell’s Animal Farm demonstrates at least two major objections to the communist form of government. The first of these objections is that the communist ideology would simply not be able to function. Such a system which revolves around maintaining complete equality of the people would allow no one person to be in charge. However, without some sort of leader to set goals and direct the work toward those goals, very little could ever be accomplished. Such a system would also not work because, in order to accomplish the daily tasks of a community, or indeed a country, there are specific roles which must be fulfilled, and while each of these roles may hold importance within the society, not every role is equal, nor is every man’s (or animal’s)

The most basic premise of this ideology is the equality of all people (or, in Orwell’s book, animals). This premise does not allow for anyone to be in a position of authority over others. However, without leadership and direction many of the tasks that need to be accomplished would likely be left undone, and the available resources would not be managed efficiently, as there is no one person or group who would have the authority to dictate the use of these resources. For example, if no one was in charge of managing the food on the Animal Farm when their supply is short, each of the animals would be likely to simply eat their fill until all the food was gone. The communist ideology is also not functional because in order to accomplish daily tasks of a community, such as a farm, or even a country, there are many roles which must be fulfilled, and each of these roles is important to the running of the society. However, these roles are not, indeed cannot be, of equal importance, and not every man (or animal) has an equal level of ability to perform these various roles. For example, both the role of a garbage collector and a doctor are important to keep a community operating efficiently. However, the role of a doctor is generally considered to be of greater value within society, due to the overall benefits which it provides to the community.

This is to be expected given the impractical and ineffective nature of the original ideology. However, it is not the difference between the original ideal and the actual reality, but the continual portrayal of the current system as upholding the original ideals through a series of lies and deceptions circulated throughout the population, especially through the use of propaganda. The original ideology set forth by Major calls for equality among all of the animals, even saying, “‘And among us animals let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle,’” (p. 31). He even sets a precedent for this by calling for a vote on the issue of allowing rats to be comrades. Yet, as soon as the ideology is initiated as its own movement, Animalism, pigs are presented as the dominant class and leaders. Thus, immediately the ideal of equality among the animals is bent, later to be broken as the power that comes with being the dominant and leading class corrupts the pigs. Yet, through continued spread of propaganda, the citizens are made to believe that the original principle of equality is still in place, and excuses and exceptions are made and added to the original ideology as the pigs begin breaking each core principle, at first attempting to amend the exception to the original rules, making it seem as though it