Every author writes with the flavor of their own perspective, tainted by the culture they live in, their ideologies and their experiences. Trotsky, McNeil and Service are no different.
The reading from Trotsky is saturated with his ideological beliefs. He writes of Stalin the traitor, an enemy to the noble ideas that prevailed in Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. It is clear throughout this reading, even with no prior knowledge of Trotsky, that he was a strong supporter of the communism as it stood under Lenin. The narrative of betrayal has personal touches. Stalin’s persecution of all opposition to Stalinism, Trotskyists included, had a significant negative impacted on Trotsky. This is evident in his writing. He paints a picture of the heroic Bolshevik standing against the tide of terror thrown across the nation by Stalin and the Stalinists. There are historical truths within the reading, however the strong good versus evil narrative prevalent throughout is a direct result of Trotsky’s personal ideology and his intended audience. It is not a strictly informative or analytical, rather a persuasion piece .…show more content… McNeil writes of Stalin the politician and the communist. Rather than seeing Stalin’s actions as a betrayal, McNeil frames them as the progression of the ideas preached by Lenin. This reflects the change in perspective from Trotsky to McNeil. NcNeil was an American who wrote during the heat of the Cold War, writing for a non-Soviet audience. This has influenced the tone of his writing, the emphasis he places on different historical points and the argument he seeks to make. The piece itself is analytical and informative, however because of McNeil’s perspective it does contain elements of anti-communist bias
