Marxism is a political theory outlined in the Communist Manifesto (1848) which was written by Karl Marx. Marx observed that in a Capitalist society, which is based on the ideal of material consumption and the acquisition of materials, there existed two classes; the Bourgeoisie, the ruling upper class, and the Proletariat, the subservient working class. Berten (2001) in his Literary Theory: The Basics stated that in a Capitalist society a man’s ‘social existence determined his consciousness’, meaning that the economic ability, or monetarily how well off a man was, decided how he would act and perform in society. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children’s picture novel which was written in 1969 by the American author Eric Carle. The Very Hungry Caterpillar tells a story about a caterpillar who over the course of seven days eats different foods, and then at the end forms a chrysalis and becomes a butterfly. Carle wrote the story with the intention to aid children in their early learning process. However, even though the picture novel was written for informative purposes, the issue has been raised that Capitalist ideals can be promoted unbeknownst to the author who has been socialised to follow the same norms that he promotes. ‘They will inevitably work within the framework dictated by the economic base’ (Berten).
The language of the picture novel reinforces the Bourgeoisie’s underlying message of idealised Capitalism. Marx observed that in a Capitalist society that the lifestyle that the owners of the modes of production, the Bourgeoisie, were better economically and this success can be seen as desirable. Carle achieves this in the Very Hungry Caterpillar through the portrayal of the caterpillar, and his butterfly counterpart.
Carle’s use of language from this Marxist perspective can be observed as inherently preferential to the butterfly. The caterpillar, described as ‘tiny’ and ‘fat’. This language creates the caterpillar to be an undesirable character for the reader. This characterisation is a polarisation of the butterfly which the reader is shown at the conclusion of the picture novel. The butterfly depicted as ‘beautiful’, is a direct opposite of the caterpillar, resulting in the butterfly being the more attractive character of the two because there are no negative connotations connected to the butterfly.
Separation between the two characters and where the popularity falls shows us how idealistically the Bourgeoisie separate themselves from their Proletariat cohorts. The empathy of the reader is with the butterfly, who is never portrayed at any point as working, and that the only description of the butterfly was ‘beautiful’, that the butterfly’s only worldly purpose for existence was to be beautiful and to lead a beautiful life. This again opposes the caterpillar that is always described as performing some form of task, so he has more than one worldly purpose. ‘He started looking for food’, ‘he nibbled a hole in the cocoon’ and ‘he built a small house’, the caterpillar is the method in which physical progress is made. For the butterfly to exist, the caterpillar must toil. The caterpillar himself becomes a means to an end; he is ‘reified’ (Berten), and becomes more of an object than a physical being.
The descriptions provided of the characters, and from what Marx described the Proletariat and the Bourgeoisie as being, it can be seen how the butterfly is at least in some forms representative of the bourgeoisie and the working caterpillar sharing many attributes as the Proletariat. Because of the language used to describe the actions that the caterpillar performs in the picture novel, are less desirable and that to be more like the butterfly is more preferable for the reader. From the ideological representations of the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat in Carle’s picture novel it can be understood that without the exploitation of the caterpillar, the butterfly cannot exist. ‘Capitalists grow rich and the labourers get less’ (Berten). But because the reader empathises and aspires to be like the butterfly the exploitation for them is legitimized.
The caterpillar’s consumption is a metaphor for the primary materialistic ideal of a Capitalist society. The picture novel introduces the reader to Capitalist ideals, that material consumption is the only way to achieve ‘the good life’, Nichomachean Ethics (Aristotle 335-323 BC). Eric Carle wrote the picture novel for children, for the first book that they learn read with. However, because the novel can be seen to introduce the young readers to capitalist ideologies, the picture novel can be seen to be acting as a part of a grander institution in society to implement capitalism.
The Marxist sociologist Louis Althusser in Reading Capital (1965) said that in society existed ideologies imposed through the parts of the superstructure such as laws or education, these ideologies were then used to keep the working class in their place. So the Very Hungry Caterpillar was a novel that was introduced to present the The American Capitalist ideal is that through ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson Et Al 1776), material consumption of goods was the only way to exist in society.
The picture novel makes several references to the caterpillar eating and consuming, and then finally at the end, he transforms into a ‘beautiful’ butterfly. The metaphor presented is that through the consumption of material goods, in this case ‘strawberries, ice cream, pickles’ being the material, and the caterpillar becoming a platonic conception itself he transforms into a perfect version of himself, which was solely brought about by his consumption.
Socialisation of the young, or the early learning provide by the novel can be seen as a direct reinforcement of Capitalist goals in society by making the reader believe that the Capitalist society is the best one, and further that the reader possesses the ability to become like the ‘beautiful’ butterfly, which allows them to accept the societal difficulties that they face. Societal issues such as poor health are represented in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. ‘That night he had a stomach ache’, however the caterpillar’s solution still falls to consumption as he only ate ‘through one nice leaf’ to recover. This reflects Marx’s famous quote that religion was the ‘Opiate of the masses’, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (1843), in that it dulled the pain of existence; it is in this sense comparative because the picture novel offers a solution that consumption of a different variety is needed if problems occur in society, but still materialist option none the less, which results in the very Hungry Caterpillar conveying a message that capitalist consumption the only good.
This legitimizes the exploitation of the labourers because the reader accepts the way that the caterpillar became ‘beautiful’, and that they believe that the only way for them to achieve is to work hard and be exploited by the system because it provides them with the possibility of becoming equally great.
The hidden purpose of Carle’s picture novel might not have been known by the writer himself because: ‘They [authors] will inevitably work within the framework dictated by the economic base’ (Berten). Because a man’s ‘social existence determined his consciousness’ (Berten), it could be said that the socialisation that Eric Carle received was that the only form of text that he could ever write would be one that was a Capitalist text, meaning that his works are capitalist in nature, but he was completely unaware of his workings. So from this it can be drawn that the purpose of Carle’s novel was to educate and inform “I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn.” (Wikipedia) the caterpillar, when first introduced to the reader is ‘tiny’ and ‘hungry’, this is empathetic to the reader whom is most likely a small child reading for the first time, meaning that the purpose of the caterpillar is not to be representative of the Proletariat, as a Marxist perspective would suggest but rather acts as an empathetic character for the reader.
“The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear” (Wikipedia) Carle meant for his novel to educate his readers in a number of ways. It informs the reader of: the days of the week ‘Sunday... Saturday’, how to count ‘on Thursday he ate through four strawberries’, and finally, with some form of scientific knowledge that caterpillars form a chrysalis to become butterflies. So this can be seen to discredit the Marxist perception of the text because the author himself stated what the true purpose was, meaning that the novel did nothing to reinforce the exploitation of the labourers.
However, because Carle was brought up in a Capitalist society it can be argued that even if the intention of his novel was to educate, that the actual purpose, being implanted subconsciously, was to socialise the young with a hidden Capitalist ideology. The Marxist sociologists Bowles and Gintis discussed the idea of a hidden ideology, or curriculum being present in Schooling in Capitalist America (1976). The ideology can still be seen to legitimize the position of the Bourgeoisie because despite the fact that Carle meant for his text to be used for education, but it still can be seen to have an ulterior motive. It allows for reasonable doubt to occur that the novel could serve a capitalist system, meaning that Carle’s novel could continue to educate and socialise children to capitalism, thus legitimating their own exploitation.
In conclusion, The Very Hungry Caterpillar can be seen to legitimize Capitalist exploitation through a number of ways: The picture novel presents the reader with ideologies which serve to help the young readers to accept materialism, and that materialism in all of its forms can help to comb the societal problems that people face. Also, through the language that is presented that the reader is attracted more to the butterfly more, who can be seen to be representative of the Bourgeoisie, and because they aspire to be like the butterfly, successful, they choose to accept the same ways to become ‘beautiful’ that the caterpillar used to become the butterfly. From this it can be seen that by creating a younger generation that has the same ideologies, Capitalism can then therefore continue to exist, thus thriving through the exploitation of its labourers.
