The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848 when there were revolutions happening all over Europe. It was an effort to explain the idea of communism and the key reasons of the movement. In a way, it could be seen that they wanted to express their views as well as oppose all the negativity and misconceptions of the movement. Marx and Engels describes a materialists’ conception of history, by which all history is the history of class struggles. They discuss how society used to be organized into many different classes. Marx and Engel describes the different class antagonisms within this manifesto.

The first class antagonism they describe is between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie class rose from the inefficient feudal system that was run by aristocrats. With the increase in production and markets, the manufacturing class were driven to produce more and more goods. In turn, they slowly gained political power, which in turn helped them to over throw the feudal system. Their productive motivation would not allow them to fit in with the older system where it was difficult to move higher up on the social hierarchy. In this way, there were no restrictions for them. Now, the relationship between the workers and their boss has been severed and men would act on self-interest alone.

Chapter 2 we see the discussion of proletariat and communist. A communist is described as ‘avant gard’. They see themselves at the very front edge of proletariat politics. Their main aim is the abolishment of private property and the promotion of public property. Hence we see the class character gets changed so that personal property becomes property of everybody. They go on to discuss about labor and value. The margin of exploitation is high in society, as the superiors will not value the laborer. An example is that laborers work hard but they don’t ‘acquire’ the property at all. The owner of the property, who are most likely to be in the ‘bourgeoisie class’, are the ones who benefit from the laborer’s hard work. Laborers were seen as a commodity and only matter for their labor and they are not credited for their work. Proletariats were seen to be increasing in number and were associated with revolutions. When they begin a revolution, they will wipe out the whole idea of exploitation and private property.

            The main ideas that come across when reading The Communist Manifesto is the abolishment of private property so that everyone will have an equal amount of access to property. Due to the way that the manifesto was written, people were able to relate to the idea that laborers are exploited by their bosses and that they are not valued for their hard work. Also, the class struggle that was present in society had an underlying concept, which is economic. The economy and the market had a hidden indirect influence on society and the different social classes that are formed.  

London - William Blake

Blake’s poem of London clearly illustrates what the atmosphere in London was like in the late 1700s. It describes the surroundings as well as the people who live within the city. The tone of the whole poem is very pessimistic and negative as it focuses on all the bad consequences that came about the way that London was governed.

From the very first stanza, readers get a sense of the controlling environment that London is in by the government. Blake repeats the word ‘charter’d ‘ to remind us that even public property such as the streets and the Thames, is technically owned by someone. Here we see the beginning of the repetition of the word ‘every’. Blake describes how throughout this walk around the city of London, every person’s face has ‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’. It is as if everyone has misery and worries on their face. Perhaps from the fact that they don’t have freedom to do the things that they want to as there are always restrictions. This repetition emphasizes the fact that misery was present in everyone’s faces in London. It is not only affecting the adults in the city but also the ‘Infacts’ through their ‘cry of fear’. Blake cleverly uses the phrase ‘mind-forg’d manacles’ in order to portray an image that the government ‘ban[s]’ are acting as a mental restriction from their own personal freedom and joy.

I found the third stanza very interesting in the way that Blake links places with people in every other line. He begins by describing the cry of ‘Chimney-sweepers’ who are most likely to be children. It is a known fact this is a job not fit for young children, but yet this poem shows that it is a problem that was present during that time. The chimney sweepers are linked to the Church. As Blake describes, the church is blackened and darkened by its hypocrisy. The second link between people and place is made with soldiers and the palace. The soldiers are described as ‘hapless’, which portrays the discomfort they are feeling in their role. They are meant to be protecting the country but yet there is ‘blood [running] down Palace walls’. Both of these places are meant to be places that are clean and pure. They should be places of respect but they are portrayed here as the total opposite.

The last stanza reiterates the feeling of the narrator walking through London streets, similar to the first stanza. However, it reveals the disturbing truth that many are infected with STDs. The word ‘midnight’ tells the readers that even at a time of night when most people are meant to be asleep, ‘Harlots’ are roaming the streets. The hidden message behind this stanza is that husbands are having affairs with these ‘Harlots’ and then they go home to their wives; who in turn gets infected as well. It is like a vicious cycle as ‘Infants’ are born with the disease.

Although this poem may be very negative and miserable when reading, but it gives us insight into what life was really like during a time when London was at a low point. I studied abroad in London my freshman year and I can say that it is completely different now compared to then. London was a very uplifting experience for me and I definitely didn’t see the problems that Blake described in this poem. However, it made me realize how much has changed since the time that the poem was written. When I walked through public places, such as Hyde Park, there was no feeling of being ‘owned’ like described in this poem. There was always a sense of freedom and positivity when walking through the streets of London.