Lit222 Ideology of Left and Right Wing Politics

This lesson introduces students to the ideological spectrum commonly described as left‑wing and right‑wing politics. This conceptual distinction directly supports the aim of teaching political systems of power, distribution of resources, and ideological motivations behind literary worlds.

The lesson is rooted in the disciplinary understanding that ideology reveals who benefits, who serves, and how societies justify inequalities or reforms. This framework mirrors the ideological section of the CECA framework, where political systems were previously explained through meta‑narratives of hierarchy vs egalitarianism.

Students will be able to:

Define the basic differences between left‑wing and right‑wing political beliefs.
Identify how texts represent or challenge these ideological positions.
Use political concepts to analyse how power, fairness, and social organisation are portrayed in literature.

Left‑wing and right‑wing politics are two broad ways of thinking about how society should be organised.

Left‑wing ideas focus on fairness, equality, shared resources, and helping disadvantaged groups through government support.
Right‑wing ideas emphasise individual responsibility, tradition, authority, free markets, and maintaining social order.

Most texts we study show characters, societies, or conflicts that quietly express one ideology or the other — or show them clashing.

Left‑wing — political beliefs focused on equality, welfare, social justice, and redistributing power or wealth.
Right‑wing — political beliefs focusing on tradition, hierarchy, free markets, and individual responsibility.
Progressive — supporting social change toward greater equality.
Conservative — protecting tradition, stability, and established power structures / and also a political party who can often be understood as having Conservative values
Labour – a political party first established to stand up for the rights of the working class, fighting for better rights and protections from ruling elite.
Collectivism — prioritising community needs and shared responsibility.
Individualism — prioritising personal freedom, autonomy, and responsibility.
Subversion / Containment — whether a text challenges or reinforces an ideology.

“The text contains a left‑wing / right‑wing ideological viewpoint because…”
“This character embodies a progressive / conservative value when they…”
“The conflict reflects a tension between collectivism and individualism, as…”
“The writer subverts this ideology by…”
“The power structure shown here aligns with…”

🚫 Incorrect method:

“Left‑wing means good and right‑wing means bad.”

Why this is wrong:
It reduces complex systems to moral labels and ignores the analytical task. It also prevents students from recognising how both ideologies appear in literature as frameworks of power.

✅ Correct direction:
Students must identify how the ideology shapes behaviour, power, conflict, and meaning — not who is “right”.

Imagine two approaches to running a cafeteria:

Left‑wing approach: Everyone pays the same amount up front even people not eating from the canteen, and the school uses the money to make sure students who can’t afford can all access meals.
Right‑wing approach: Students choose and pay only for their own food; eating comes to reflect the amount of money / work you do. Some students cannot afford to eat in the canteen.

Both systems have strengths and weaknesses — and both shape feelings of fairness, belonging, and motivation. Literature uses identical tensions.

For this lesson, we will use Animal Farm (1945) by George Orwell. This allegorical novella explores political ideology through the rise and corruption of a revolutionary movement. Although set on a farm, the novel presents clear contrasts between collectivist left‑wing ideals and emerging right‑wing authoritarianism.

Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse. That was theirs too, but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon butted the door open with their shoulders and the animals entered in single file, walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything. They tiptoed from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair sofa, the Brussels carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing-room mantelpiece. They were just coming down the stairs when Mollie was discovered to be missing. Going back, the others found that she had remained behind in the best bedroom. She had taken a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones’s dressing-table, and was holding it against her shoulder and admiring herself in the glass in a very foolish manner. The others reproached her sharply, and they went outside. Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from Boxer’s hoof, otherwise nothing in the house was touched. A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum. All were agreed that no animal must ever live there.

The animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.

“Comrades,” said Snowball, “it is half-past six and we have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter that must be attended to first.”

The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book which had belonged to Mr. Jones’s children and which had been thrown on the rubbish heap. Napoleon sent for pots of black and white paint and led the way down to the five-barred gate that gave on to the main road. Then Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards.

Why this suits the learning objectives:

Shows left‑wing collectivist ideals (shared labour, equality).
Shows gradual shift to right‑wing authoritarianism (hierarchy, privilege).
Reveals ideological containment (pigs controlling the narrative).
Highlights how political values shape power and exploitation.

Question: Orwell is demonstrating differences in class – to what extent do you agree?

“The animals are different to the humans, but they have been able to take control of the farm and now they want to own everything. They even change the name to ‘Animal Farm’. What is strange is that they find the farmer’s house and it is presented as this incredibly luxurious place, but they decide never to live there or benefit from it’s comfort. This is unrealistic because people would not waste this opportunity. But maybe they don’t use the farmhouse because they are animals, this is my personal impression, that animals wouldn’t want to live in a house for humans.”

Why if fails:

Focuses on retelling the events and giving a personal impression.
Ignores collectivist vs authoritarian political structures which are required for understanding the world we live in.
Does not use key terms or show disciplinary thinking.

This animals have entered the human farm house and seen the luxury that the human lives in compared to themselves. Orwell is attempting to comment on the power held by the ruling class, and the very traditional structures that conserve power. It hasn’t shared equally the produce made by the hard work of the animals, and so this is not a progressive society. We think of this now as quite right wing, because it allows some people to control the labour and wealth of others. Animal farm critics this by showing how this ideology hasn’t led to equality, social justice and welfare. So the animals decide to lock it up as a museum piece, to showcase the terrible inequality of a system in which the few have the authority because of the corrupting nature of power.

Why it succeeds:

It interprets the book the way the author intended, based on lessons we have learnt.
It avoids a personal interpretation that is not based on learnt tools.
The language of political ideology is transferable across texts and into society too, it is not just a response rooted inside the plot.

Question: What do you think should be the priority of a Government, who should it focus on helping to succeed?

Left leaning politics tends to prioritise:

Minorities,
Working people,
Communities
Charities
Builds welfare
Produces regulation that protects against exploitation

Right leaning politics tends to prioritise:

The largest demographic
Businesses
Land owners
Church
Builds responsibility
Removes regulation that frees people in power to expand and develop

Students apply today’s ideological vocabulary to an extract from the class text.

Instructions

Identify whether the text expresses left‑wing, right‑wing, or conflicting ideologies.
Use at least two vocabulary terms.
Begin with one sentence stem.
Analyse how ideology influences behaviour, conflict, or power.

Success Criteria

Provides analysis, not description.
Uses terminology accurately.
Identifies ideological structure.
Explains effects on characters or society.

Finish the sentence:

“Authors often include political ideology in their work to show _____.”

Indicative content:

Who is in a position of power, or who lacks power
How power is obtained and held
What power is used to achieve
How ideology can come to reduce or harm some groups

a) Pre-reading of the next lesson – read through the knowledge so you can be ready to discuss in class.

b) Apply the learning of today’s lesson to your own private reading text. Write a paragraph explaining how today’s learning changes how you might conceive your text. Be sure to use the key vocabulary and sentence stems.

c) Write a paragraph about the discipline of Literature, explain how key words from today’s lesson impact the field overall.

d) Add today’s vocabulary and sentence stems to your own glossary. Highlight any that you are unsure about, but you must also research the meanings yourself and develop your glossary to include this differentiated support.

How did you do? Remember, this is the disciplinary knowledge for Literature – it needs combining with the text you are studying now. Can you use this knowledge to write differently about the text you are studying? When you are ready, access the next lesson in this series.