A Short Reflection on Communism

    Being a Korean-American in the United States, one of the questions some people tend to ask once they find out that I am Korean is, “Are you North or South?” For those that do not understand the severity of the situation, there exists so much political turmoil and government corruption, those that are lucky enough to escape the North Korean regime probably wouldn’t admit it out of pure fear. Also, I have to assume to those that ask that they must be curious because of the foreign ideas of a corrupt and exploitative, Communistic government that exists in North Korea. Communism has existed throughout different societies to try to equalize opportunities for all citizens of the government. The ideas of Communism are commonly argued for and argued against but trying to understand the actual effect of such rule really must be experienced rather than learned. The ineptitudes of these types of regimes becomes more and more apparent when contrasted with Western, more Democratic ideals. Upon reading the short story “The Elephant” by Slawomir Mrozek, Mrozek really helped to shine a light on some of the issues and concerns involving individual agency within Communism. Mrozek writes of the regime in Poland and provides insight on the relationship between those under the system and the state. Communism has definitely been adopted to be an all-encompassing solution to the trials and tribulations of Polish society, and the deception and corruption intertwined in its shortcomings are made apparent in this critique. 

    Slawomir Mrozek creates a deep, symbolic and fictional story to highlight deceptive and corruptive tactics used by a zoo director to save money for the zoo; these same tactics being analogous to Communist rule. The story is about the creation of a fallacious elephant, proposed by the central authority, that would increase popularity and profits for the zoo, but the essence of the story lies in the emptiness of such a grand scheme. Albeit, the elephant is created to be an awe-inspiring attraction for the zoo, just as Communism was to the Polish nation, execution of the act creates more of a controversial uproar than it does in attracting zoo attendance. The discussion of individual agency is seen in the two workers that are to create the elephant by adding air into a hollow rubber elephant. The workers symbolically relate to the working class portion of Communist rule and how they add to the corruption and manipulation of the government. Without even considering the morality of their actions, the two work reluctantly and even execute the corrupt practices themselves! The trickle-down effect almost characterizes perfectly the nature of Communist rule. On the one hand, the government not only imposes rule with corrupt practices but does so in accordance with his/her own goals. On the other hand, there lies a society that religiously followsany order from the “omnipotent” central authority, which one would think would result in a benefited society. What is actually apparent is the result of broken economies and societies in constant conflict with one another stemming from the corrupt decisions made by the state.

Sources

Mrozek, Slawomir. “The Elephant.” London: Penguin, 2010.