The metaphorical analysis of the chapter 2, Proletarians and Communists from Manifesto of

the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Manifesto of the Communist Party is a 1848 political work written by Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels. It briefly presents the communists' ideas and theories and shows relations between
classes in a society. To improve the imagery of their postulates, and, therefore, make it more
appealing, the authors incorporated multiple and varied metaphors in their paper, which leaves
space for interpretations. The second chapter called Proletarians and Communists deals with the
relations between working-class people termed Proletarians and Communists, the conscious
representatives of all working people that leads workers in the class struggle. This paper will
discuss the notable examples of metaphors from the chapter II of Manifesto of the Communist Party
and try to explain their usage.
The chapter begins with the question of the relations in which the Communist and the
proletariat stand to each other. This can be described by the metaphor CLASSES as OBJECT,
because those two groups, as well as many others. can be placed in some relations between them.
Marx and Engels later enumerate some aspects of the representatives of communism that in fact do
not differentiate them for other working-class people. This fragment includes numerous metaphors,
namely INTERESTS as OBJECTS in the sentence They have no interests (...) that people can
possess, PRINCIPLES as INSTALLATION in They do not set up any sectarian principles of their
own that are arranged and operate as the framework for groups or organizations and MOVEMENT
as PLASTIC SUBSTANCE that may be forged by different prominent figures' beliefs, views and
principles.
After the list of features that prove that in terms of interests and attitudes towards other
classes Communists are exactly the same people as the proletarians, a distinction is made which
describes that Communists are actually leaders of the proletariat that encourages the rest to act and
speak up. The sentence The Communists, therefore, are () that section which pushes forward all
others, with the help of the metaphor LEADERS as PHYSICAL FORCE, illustrates the ability of
leading people in a group to trigger activism and encourage others to act. Later, in the same
paragraph in the sentence [Communists] have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage
(...) there is a metaphor PEOPLE as SUBSTANCE that give a hint about the quantity of members
in a particular group, in this case the proletariat. After that, it can be seen in the metaphor (CLASS)
STRUGGLE as MARCH that the working people have to embark on in order to achieve their aims.

The authors afterwards describe relations springing, which can be put into yet another
metaphor, namely RELATION as PLANT that can blossom as in this example, or decay in some
other sense. Marx and Engels then proceed to describe the feature of Communism that is actually
unique, because its aim is not just to abolish property of everybody, but more specifically to abolish
the bourgeois property, so the richest people who often take advantage of the workers. They use the
metaphor PROPERTY as SYMBOL to illustrate that the high value of the bourgeois properties is a
sign that the richest in a society often abuse and take advantage of the masses. In the subsequent
fragments, Marx and Engels dwell into the issue of property that should be abolished, which is
frequently repeated in the metaphor PROPERTY as OBJECT that has to be done away with.. They
apply metaphors PRODUCT as FRUIT to demonstrate work full of devotion will bring beneficial
profits and PRODUCT as FRAGILE CREATION that can be, an actually, according to
Communists, is destroyed by the development of industry.
Consecutive parts contain the answers for the most common allegations that are put
forward against Communists. The metaphor ASPECTS OF MARKET as OBJECTS that have to be
thrown away, gotten rid of or disappear repeats when Manifesto... describes free selling, free
buying, free trade and production. One can also find the metaphor EXISTENCE as CONTAINER in
which the laborers are put as everlasting laborers. What is more, there is a metaphor that describes
the necessity of the minimum wage for making people keep working, namely PAYMENT as KEY
that is crucial in this operation. Later, one can find an interesting representation of LABOR FORCE
as ANIMAL that, accordingly to Communists, had been enchained and subjugating by the rich. In
addition to that, the opponents of communism preached the fall of their culture with the advent of
communist states.
Marx and Engels described the culture they created with the help of the metaphor
CULTURE as CONSTRUCT that in this case is senseless and soulless. In the sentence Your very
ideas are but the outgrowth of the conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property
there is a noticeable critique of the bourgeois ideas in the form of metaphor IDEA as DISEASE that
have to be taken care of, because they are dangerous to the organism as a whole, in this case a
society. The author then talk about hallowed relations using there a metaphor RELATIONS as
DIVINITY that simply cannot be undermined and that is what Communists, supposedly, were about
to do with relations of parent and child. In the same fragment, in the sentence all family ties among
the proletarians are torn asunder there is a metaphor FAMILY TIES as FRAGILE OBJECT that
can be destroyed. It is used in order to portray the fragility of human bonds in the capitalism. The

bourgeois sees in his wife a mere instrument of production is a straightforward example of

PEOPLE as TOOLS that the bourgeois is using to achieve their goals. The metaphor COUNTRY or
STATE as OBJECT appears to describe that people can possess a country or a state and that was,
once again, to be removed, thrown away by the Communists. Same thing applies to TRUTH as
OBJECT. Classes are often referred to as antagonisms, which is an example of the metaphor
CLASSES as ENEMIES that have to fight each other.
Towards the end of the manifesto, the sentence The Communist revolution is the most
radical rupture with traditional property-relations; no wonder that its development involves the most
radical rupture with traditional ideas. includes a metaphor REVOLUTION as BREACH to
illustrate how will a revolution affect a current ongoing order of the society and allow to radically
transform the heavily grounded structures, which can be shown with the metaphor SOCIETY as
GLASS that can be shattered or fractured.
On the basis of the multiplicity of metaphors included in the Chapter 2 of Manifesto of
the Communist Party one can conclude that the metaphorical imagery is essential in designing an
effective manifestos and speeches that will appeal to the masses. Marx and Engels used numerous
metaphorical expression to sell their ideas to communities in different places. This practice have
been and still is widely used by many famous figures.

Bibliography:
Engels, Fredrich and Karl Marx. 1848. Chapter 2 from Manifesto of the Communist
Party. (Translated by Samuel Moore)
(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Manifesto_of_the_Communist_Party/2)