Marx And Engels: A Literary Analysis

The Communist Manifesto was written in Europe in 1848 and is known for its upright opposition of a capitalist society. Within the text lie many in-depth reasons corroborating the need of equality among a society. The text does not only emphasize how capitalism affects economy, but also how it affects social interactions. Specifically, Marx and Engels mention the change of relations within families and between humans. It is then remarkable to read work, such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962 that exemplifies Marx’s predictions of a nation suffering from the effects of capitalism. This is done through her act of writing the book and through her explicit warnings. Marx and Engels foresee a crucial result of capitalism – environmental deterioration. Early on in book, Editor Phil Gasper attempts to introduce and clarify certain points that will be read later. One of

He states that the “sentimental veil” of a family is no longer present and that family relations have been replaced with “monetary relations” (Marx and Engels 43). Social hierarchies across capitalist nations have influenced the same sort of social structure within the home. Both authors then explicitly believe that because the husband earns money to make sure his family has resources to live off of, he automatically has “special legal titles and privileges” (Marx and Engels 183). Marx furthers this idea by comparing the division of classes at home to those created as a result of Capitalism – where “he is the bourgeois and she is the proletariat” (183). Although capitalism may not have created this division in the home of many, this form of economy did strengthen the ideas that made men superior. Carson’s views on the effects of insecticides were not given much attention although they validity, because she was a female. Her claims in the early 1960’s were ignored. This further highlights Marx’s notion of females being