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THE ANALYSIS OF MARXIST ISSUES THROUGH THE CHARACTERS IN 5

EPISODES OF STEPHEN HILLENBURG’S SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

Putri Gustilingga

Binus University

Jl. Dachlan No.19 RT 006 RW 04, Ragunan, Jakarta Selatan 12550

mobile 085717620857, putrigst@hotmail.com

Mentor Paramita Ayuningtyas

ABSTRACT

The research deploys Marxist issues in 5 episodes of Stephen Hillenburg’s SpongeBob SquarePants: Employee of the Month, Squid on Strike, Squilliam Returns, The Krusty Sponge, and The Krabby Kronicle. Research methods applied were: qualitative method and library research. Analysis was done by seeing the characters’ behaviour in each episode and applying the theories on them. The theories used were: characters and characterization, Marxism, alienation, class struggle, hegemony, and commodity fetishism. It is concluded that the characters in each episode represent Marxist issues through their behaviour. Employee of the month award is a hegemony because it influences Squidward and SpongeBob to compete against each other and work harder to get the award. Squid on Strike shows class struggle by Squidward and SpongeBob through demonstration against Mr.Krabs. Class Struggle is also presented in Squilliam Returns through Squidward’s attempts to impress Squilliam. The Krusty Sponge shows hegemony by Mr.Krabs through his exploitation to his employees and bribe to the judge, in order to maintain his dominance. The Krabby Kronicle shows commodity fetishism because the citizens of Bikini Bottom are influenced by their false needs and therefore willing to buy manipulated news made by Mr.Krabs. Mr.Krabs uses commodification by modifying or manipulating news about the citizens and uses the news as commodity to increase his profit.

Key Words: Marxist Issues, Capitalism, Characters, SpongeBob SquarePants

Introduction In this modern era, many aspects of life are controlled by money. It has become one of the

most important things that defines social relationships. As one of the results of globalization, the spread of capitalism around the world is inevitable. Capitalism creates social classes in society, with two main classes: the lower class and the upper class. This creates a bigger and bigger gap between the life of the poor and the rich. Poor people have to dedicate their lives to work for the rich in order to survive, with low wages in return. The workers have to struggle hard to get a better life, even those

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with huge potential, because they don’t have the capital to start their own business. The capitalists try to maintain their dominance by assuring that things are the way it is supposed to be, making people not realizing that they are controlled and repressed by the capitalist system. The portrayal of these issues can be found in 5 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants series. The writer finds it interesting how Marxism, as a philosophy that stands against capitalism, captures things people don’t realize, as these 5 episodes capture Marxist issues that people don’t realize. A topic of The Analysis of Marxist Issues Through the Characters in 5 Episodes of Stephen Hillenburg’s SpongeBob SquarePants is chosen by the writer because the writer finds it interesting how this animated series aimed for kids contain intelligent and philosophical humors, yet still funny so those who watch it are entertained. Many people do not realize that the series represent philosophical ideas and social conditions, including Marxist issues.

Before conducting this topic, the writer has analyzed 2 research from other researchers. The first research is Oppression on the Work Place Described in Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer and Peter Burn's Spongebob Squarepant: Pizza Delivery: as a Marxism Study by Shelly Kurniawati, 2013, Universitas Stikubank Semarang or Unisbank. The Problems in this research are: “Who are the characters included in the oppresion?” and “what is the conflict of the oppression?” In her abstract, Shelly does not explicitly state what method she uses. She only states that she uses Marxism to analyze the relation between the dominant class (Mr. Krabs) and subordinate class (SpongeBob and Squidward). From this statement, the writer argues that Shelly uses qualitative method because she probably observed the characteristics of the characters and the relation among each character in the episode first. The data from the observation is then used to analyze the problem formulation. Shelly probably also uses library research: books, articles, and internet to gain references in order to understand Marxism theory. The conclusion of this research is that the characters included in the episode are: SpongeBob, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and a fish who plays as a customer ordering the pizza. The conflict is that Mr. Krabs dominates his employees by forcing them to deliver pizza, although it is not part of their job, because they never do delivery order. Yet when the pizza arrives, the customer scolds Spongebob because there is no soda he says he ordered. He refuses to take or pay for the pizza. This also shows domination to employees.

The second research is An Analysis Of Marxism Class Struggle Towards Remy, The Main Character In Disney-Pixar`S Movie Ratatouille by Dimitri Sukarta, 2009, Binus University. The problem in this research are: “What factors make Remy to be successful in life?”, “How do material/historical forces affect the main character’s psychological experience and behaviour?”, and “How is class struggle perceived through Remy’s point of view?” Dimitri uses qualitative method in gathering the data; He uses library research: books, articles, and online research. He also uses Ratatouille movie script as the primary source. After watching the movie and understand the theory that he will use, the theory about Marxism related to class struggle and some allegory theory are then applied in the movie. The result of his research shows that there are internal and external factors that determine Remy’s success. The internal factor is Remy’s confidence while the external factor is Linguini who keeps supporting Remy as a chef. The material/historical forces that affect Remy’s behaviour is his background as a lower-class society, which makes him struggle to get a better life. Remy perceives the class struggle from his own struggle in which he proves that although he is a member of a lower class, he can do things better, which is cooking, than the human as the upper class.

Based on the 2 previous research, a new research entitled The Analysis of Marxist Issues Through the Characters in 5 Episodes of Stephen Hillenburg’s SpongeBob SquarePants is developed. The significance of this research compared to the previous ones is that while Shelly Kurniawati’s research only analyzes 1 episode of SpongeBob Squarepants series, this research will analyze 5 episodes. Shelly’s research only explain the relationship between Mr. Krabs and his employees, while this research explains the relationship between not only Mr.Krabs and his employees, but also Squidward and SpongeBob, Squidward and Squilliam, and between Mr.Krabs and the citizens of Bikini Bottom. Dimitri’s research focuses only on the class struggle by Remy as the lower class, while this research explain various forms of class struggle: Squidward and SpongeBob against Mr.Krabs, and Squidward against Squilliam, showing that class struggle can happen between not only a boss and employees, but also between random people from different social classes.

The problem formulation of this research is how the characters in the episodes: Employee of the Month, Squid on Strike, Squilliam Returns, The Krusty Sponge, and The Krabby Kronicle, represent Marxist issues.

The goal of this study is to reveal Marxist issues in 5 episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants: Employee of the Month, Squid on Strike, Squilliam Returns, The Krusty Sponge, and The Krabby Kronicle, by using Marxism theory. (Putri Gustilingga, 2014)

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Research Methods Qualitative method and library research were used for this paper. The instruments in this

research are the theories. The main theory is Karl Marx’s theory of Marxism, followed by Theodor W. Adorno’s Commodity Fetishism theory, and Hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. There is also the theory about characters and characterization by Robert Diyanni.

At first, the writer reads the theory of Marxism. The writer then collects data from the library and internet to find a topic. Through various sources, the writer gains further understanding of Marxism theory. After that, the writer finds the media for the research: SpongeBob SquarePants series. The writer then watches it and sorts 5 episodes that the writer believes contain Marxist issues that can be analyzed using Marxism theory.

The writer watches the 5 episodes chosen several times, put the print screens, and analyzes the characters. In analyzing the characters, the writer observes their behaviour towards themselves and others through their actions and speech. After that the writer applies Marxism theory to each episode. From the analysis, the writer will be able to draw conclusion for the problem formulation to reach the goal in solving the problem.

Result and Discussion 4.1. Characters and Characterization

The characters in the stories of the episodes are: SpongeBob, Squidward, Mr.Krabs, Squilliam, Patrick, Mrs. Puff, Larry, Sandy, Plankton, Gene Scallop, and the citizens of Bikini Bottom. Although there are many other characters, only the ones mentioned that will be explained here because they are given names and their own significance in the story. The writer will list the characters’ characterization, which is the traits given by the author of the stories to the characters. Here is a general overview of the characters and their characterizations.

4.1.1. Spongebob Squarepants SpongeBob is a kind-hearted, innocent, fun, hyperactive character with a happy-go-lucky

personality. He rarely acts openly mean to anyone, even his enemies. He is a very selfless and loyal person. He emerges in every episode that is used, as an employee at the Krusty Krab restaurant. He plays as major character in all episodes, except in Squilliam Returns.

Picture 1. SpongeBob Squarepants

Source:http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:249px-SpongeBob_SquarePants.svg.png

4.1.2. Squidward Tentacles Squidward is a grumpy and miserable squid who thinks he’s better that everyone else.

Everything annoys him, especially his neighbour, SpongeBob. Squidward works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab; He is lazy when working, and has an intense dislike towards the restaurant. Yet, Squidward is actually a good-natured and caring person, he just does not like to get too involved in things. He is pictured as an educated character, who loves panting, dancing, and playing clarinet. He emerges in all episodes as a major character, except in The Krabby Kronicle, where he plays as a minor character.

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Picture 2. Squidward Tentacles Source:http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:Squidward_Tentacles.svg

4.1.3. Eugene Krabs Eugene Krabs or Mr. Krabs is SpongeBob’s boss, the owner of the Krusty Krab. He is

depicted as money hungry, greedy, power seeking and selfish restaurant owner who will go to any lengths for even a single penny. Mr.Krabs emerges in all episodes as a major character, except in Squilliam Returns where he plays as a minor character.

Picture 3. Eugene Krabs Source:http://www.clipartbest.com/clipart-yik6R6BiE

4.1.4. Squilliam Fancyson Squilliam is Squidward's arch-rival from high school, who is rich and fancy. Squilliam has

succeeded in everything Squidward has failed in and thus looks down upon him. He considers himself superior to others due to his enormous wealth. He is a mean, selfish, and arrogant octopus who takes great pleasure in asserting his perceived superiority over middle-class citizens like Squidward. Despite his selfish personality, he makes friends easily (probably for letting people in his fancy house, private jet, yacht, lake, island, airship/casino, etc.). His only emergence is in Squilliam Returns episode as a major character.

Picture 4. Squilliam Fancy http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:SquilliamFace.JPG

4.1.5. Patrick Star Patrick is SpongeBob’s best friend. He is kind, lazy, and dumb. Patrick shows up in

Squilliam Returns as a minor character who is given job as a hat-check guy. He also shows up in The Krabby Kronicle as a minor character, being a subject of the The Krabby Kronicle newspaper’s headline news.

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Picture 5. Patrick Star http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:Patrick_Star.svg

4.1.6. Mrs.Puff Mrs. Puff is a kind yet paranoid pufferfish whose occupation is to teach students how to drive

at her boating school. SpongeBob is one of her students, yet he always fails in passing his final driving exam. She shows up as a minor character in the The Krabby Kronicle episode.

Picture 6. Mrs. Puff Source:http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mrs_Puff.svg

4.1.7. Larry the Lobster Larry is a popular individual and is considered an awesome lobster by everyone. He takes

pride in being a lifeguard. He is strong, polite, sometimes a little full of himself. He is also a good friend of SpongeBob. He shows up as a minor character in the The Krabby Kronicle as a topic for the newspaper’s headline news.

Picture 7. Larry the Lobster Source: zippido.com

4.1.8. Plankton Plankton is pictured as the primary villain in the series that keeps trying to steal the Krabby

Patty’s formula. Plankton’s restaurant, the Chum Bucket, has always been unsuccessful compared to the Krusty Krab, its competition located across the street. He is bad in making friends. Yet he is a smart character due to his inventions such as his computer wife. He emerges in The Krabby Kronicle as a minor character.

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Picture 8. Plankton Source:http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:Sheldon_Plankton.svg

4.1.9. Sandy Cheeks Sandy is one of the most intelligent and levelheaded characters on the show. She is a multi-

talented scientist and inventor, and originally came to Bikini Bottom to study sea creatures and their lifestyles. Sandy is also very athletic and physically fit, she loves karate. She is a good friend to SpongeBob. She appears in The Krabby Kronicle episode as a minor character.

Picture 9. Sandy Cheeks Source:http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/File:Sandy_Cheeks.svg

4.1.10. Gene Scallop Gene Scallop is a food critic appearing as a minor character in The Krusty Sponge episode.

He is very strict and tough on restaurants but provides good constructive criticism.

Picture 10. Gene Scallop. Source: The Krusty Sponge episode (01.43)

4.1.11. Citizens of Bikini Bottom The citizens of Bikini Bottom appear collectively in all 5 episodes as minor characters. They

usually play neutral roles in the series. Yet in the episodes used in this paper, they reflect some villainous traits. In Employee of the Month, the citizens are happy to get free Krabby Patty but are ignorant about the wrecked Krusty Krab. They are depicted as heart-less and ignorant in Squid on Strike and The Krusty Sponge. In Squilliam Returns, the citizens are presented as Squilliam’s friends showing mercenary attitude; They appear as a high-class and fancy group. In The Krabby Kronicle, the citizens are neutral at first until they realize they’re victims of Mr.Krabs’ newspaper and they become rebellious.

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Picture 11. Citizens of Bikini Bottom. Source: Patty Hype episode (06:22)

4.1.12. Social Class of the Characters The upper class/capitalist are: MrKrabs, Squilliam, and Plankton. The reasons: Mr.Krabs

owns the Krusty Krab, he buys labour power, and he lives from surplus value; Squilliam owns land and property, and is a rich man in Bikini Bottom; Plankton owns the means of production, which is his Chum Bucket restaurant.

Spongebob and Squidward belong to the proletariat because they sell their labour to Mr.Krabs by being employees at the Krusty Krab. Mrs.Puff, Larry, Sandy, Gene Scallop, and the other citizens of Bikini Bottom are also included in the working class because they don’t buy labour power and don’t live from surplus value. Patrick does not have a job nor any means of production, yet he keeps living (under a rock as his house). This shows that Patrick serves as a character that does not follow the capitalist system (either capitalist or proletariat), but still survives. The writer argues that Patrick could probably be a hippie.

4.2. Marxist Issues in 5 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants

4.2.1. Hegemony in Employee of the Month In this episode, SpongeBob as a major-protagonist character faces external conflict with

Squidward as major-antagonist character. They are alienated from each other because as members of the working class who are supposed to be in the same page, they go against each other instead. The competition between the 2 employees are influenced by Employee of the month award, which is a hegemony (a social control that uses the role of ideas in order for the upper class to maintain their dominance) made by Mr.Krabs.

SpongeBob also undergoes an internal conflict when he doubts about the true meaning of the award; Whether the award is a true symbol of a good employee or whether it is just a joke like Squidward said. Yet he convinces himself that Squidward wants to trick him. SpongeBob decides to win the award. Squidward, who is apathetic about the award at first, becomes interested in it, making him a dynamic character. The award succesfully influenced both Squidward and SpongeBob to go against each other and work harder to win the award, proving it to be a hegemony.

Picture 20. Hegemony influences SpongeBob and Squidward (10:59)

The picture shows SpongeBob and Squidward after competing against each other at the Krusty Krab and making the restaurant a wreck, they ask who wins the award to Mr.Krabs, showing that the award has suceesfully influenced the two employees.

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4.2.2. Class Struggle in Squid On Strike SpongeBob and Squidward as major-protagonist characters face external conflict with

Mr.Krabs as major-antagonist character. Squidward and SpongeBob are alienated from Mr.Krabs because their relationship is merely an economic relationship; Mr.Krabs decides to fire his employees when knowing that they want to go on strike after Mr.Krabs has given them a bill consisting of ridiculous things the employees should pay for. Alienation between proletariat is seen from 2 occasions: first, when a teenager walks up to SpongeBob during the strike, tells him that he wants to replace SpongeBob as frycook at the Krusty Krab, leaving SpongeBob shocked, the teenager as a working class has no empathy to SpongeBob, and second, when the citizens of Bikini Bottom, who are mostly working class, go eat at the Krusty Krab despite knowing the repression done by Mr.Krabs to Squidward and SpongeBob.

However Mr.Krabs comes to Squidward’s house at night asking him and SpongeBob to go back working at the Krusty Krab because his new employees, the teenagers, aren’t doing the restaurant any good. Mr.Krabs as a capitalist is willing to negotiate his former employees’ welfare when knowing they are the one who can give him more profit. Yet it turns out that SpongeBob has taken the strike too seriously, he wrecked the Krusty Krab. He has changed from being submissive to revolutionary, making him a dynamic character. Seeing his restaurant wrecked, Mr.Krabs demands Squidward and SpongeBob to work for him forever. This shows that it would be hard for the proletariats to be free from the capitalist. The proletariat will forever be dominated by the capitalist.

Picture 32. Squidward and SpongeBob as skeletons (11:45)

The picture shows Squidward and SpongeBob as skeletons still working at the Krusty Krab. This represents that the working class will forever be dominated by the capitalist, even after Squidward and SpongeBob have done a demonstration against the repression by Mr.Krabs.

4.2.3. Class Struggle in Squilliam Returns

Squidward as a major-protagonist character faces external conflict with Squilliam as a major-antagonist character. Squilliam as a bourgeoisie mocks Squidward as a proletariat, saying that Squidward has failed in life. This urges Squidward to undergo a class struggle to go up from being a member of the working class to become a member of the upper class; He plans to change the Krusty Krab into a five-star restaurant with the help from SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr.Krabs. Yet the plan is ruined because SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr.Krabs cannot do the task given to them: Patrick becomes a horrible hat-check guy, Mr.Krabs cannot cook fancy food and makes a mess in the kitchen instead, and SpongeBob explodes after reading the book “How to become a fancy waiter in less than 20 minutes”. Squidward then tells SpongeBob to empty his mind of everything that does not have to do with fine dining and breathing. This becomes one of Squidward’s obstacle as a working class to be a member of the upper class, because he receives help from people who do not understand the social class system. When things still don’t look okay, Squidward is about to ask Squilliam for more time, but Squilliam has already arrived with his friends.

They go in the Krusty Krab and get surprised seeing that it has turned into a real five-star restaurant. Inside of the restaurant looks very professional with nice wallpaper, an orchestra, a chandelier, and other fancy things. SpongeBob, wearing a tuxedo, serves as a professional waiter. Mr.Krabs and Patrick are tied up and gagged in the back. It turns out that SpongeBob has successfully cleared his mind and filled it with things related only with fine dining and breathing. SpongeBob gives expensive service to Squilliam. The citizens of Bikini Bottom as a capitalist society values property, luxurious furnitures, and fancy service as a tool to be part of the upper class. Squidward asks Squilliam for his acknowledgement that he is now part of the upper class because he owns this five-star restaurant and high quality service. However things got ruined when SpongeBob fails to mention his name to Squilliam because he has cleared his mind form everything besides fine dining and

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breathing. SpongeBob starts acting like a crazy person, Mr.Krabs and Patrick, still tied, run out of the kitchen because the appetizer made by Mr.Krabs before in the kitchen has come to life. The restaurant becomes a mess. Squidward reveals to Squilliam that all this effort is to impress him. Squilliam mocks Squidward and then go with his friends out of the restaurant. Squidward goes back being a proletariat, showing that it is hard for someone to change his/her social status from being a member of the working class to a member of the upper class.

Picture 43. Squidward returns being a proletariat (10.16-11:21)

The picture shows Squidward admitting to Squilliam that he has lied about owning a five-star restaurant, it is just an attempt to impress him. Squilliam then mocks and leaves Squidward being sad accepting the fact that he has failed to become part of the upper class.

4.2.4. Hegemony in The Krusty Sponge

Mr.Krabs as a major-protagonist character faces external conflict with the society. In order to increase his capital, Mr.Krabs exploits his employees by giving them extra tasks without extra wage; Besides being a cashier, Squidward has to be a frycook as well, wearing SpongeBob costume; SpongeBob has to be a train engineer and keep riding the train if there are still people who want to pay for it, even if he is exhausted. Mr.Krabs has turned the Krusty Krab into the Krusty Sponge and make everything SpongeBob-ish because the market has a high demand over everything that has to do with SpongeBob. Squidward and SpongeBob are alienated from themselves and from Mr.Krabs because they are not happy with the job given, they work only to fulfill the market’s demand and to keep living. In order to further boost up his profit, Mr.Krabs gives the customers spongey patties, which are yellow patties with green holes that are actually rotten patties. The customers get sick after eating this and they turn yellow, resulting in Mr.Krabs getting arrested.

Conflict between Mr. Krabs as a capitalist and the citizens of Bikini Bottom as proletariat is based on the different needs between the two classes. Mr.Krabs need to get profit as high as possible by exploiting his employees and giving the citizens rotten patties, while the citizens need good service and healthy food. The conflict causes contradiction between Mr.Krabs and the society that is presented through the court in which Mr.Krabs is charged as guilty for poisoning the citizens. However, Mr.Krabs manages to avoid his punishment because he bribes the judge, who turns out to be a SpongeBob fan, to ride on the SpongeBob train as long as he wants with Squidward as the engineer. This episode shows hegemony by Mr.Krabs because both the exploitation and bribery are done without any force in order to maintain Mr.Krabs dominance as an upper class. Moreover, Squidward and SpongeBob as proletariat will always be dominated by Mr.Krabs.

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Picture 45. Mr.Krabs exploits his employees (05:52-07:26)

Picture 51. The judge rides the fun train (10:41)

4.2.5. Commodity Fetishism in The Krabby Kronicle SpongeBob as a major-protagonist character faces external conflict with Mr.Krabs as a

major-antagonist character. This episode focuses on the citizens of Bikini Bottom that are influenced by the false need of getting pleasure, resulting in their willingness to buy manipulated news made by Mr.Krabs (commodity fetishism). Mr.Krabs uses commodification by manipulating news about the citizens and then uses the news as commodity to increase his profit. Mr.Krabs orders SpongeBob to be the reporter for the newspaper, The Krabby Kronicle. SpongeBob is taught how to make juicy stories by manipulating news about the citizens of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob is alienated from himself because he is not happy with the job given by Mr.Krabs yet he is forced to do it in order to keep being hired by Mr.Krabs. SpongeBob is also alienated from Mr.Krabs because their relationship is determined by money, shown when Mr.Krabs warns to fire SpongeBob when he refuses to make other manipulative stories; Mr.Krabs as a capitalist monopolizes the opportunity to work, he has the power to fire or hire anyone he wants to work for him. When SpongeBob has runned out of topic to write for the newspaper, Mr.Krabs still order him to make a juicy story, this time, the wildest story ever. SpongeBob then makes a story about Mr.Krabs who exploit his employee with no extra money, to gain profit for himself. The story also exposes Krabby Kronicle as the mastermind behind bogus stories all this time The citizens of Bikini Bottom get mad after reading the story about Mr.Krabs’ inhumane treatment to SpongeBob. They also feel used because of the false stories written about them all this time, making their lives ruined.

The news is proven as the false need of the citizens of Bikini Bottom. They just need some pleasure, such as the manipulated news. Yet when they realize that they are the one used as the topics, they stop buying the newspaper. Mr. Krabs The citizens decide to take Mr.Krabs’ money, leaving him crying. Mr.Krabs decides to multiply the money he got with the printing press and becomes happy again, showing that he has a fetish of money.

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Picture 64. Angry citizens of Bikini Bottom (09:37 - 10:16)

Picture 65. Mr.Krabs printing money (10:46)

Conclusion and Suggestion The characters in the episodes represent Marxist issues through their behaviour towards

themselves and other characters. The characters face internal and external conflict that influence their behaviour. It can be seen from their actions and speech.

The first episode that is analyzed, Employee of the Month, represents hegemony. In this episode, the spread of hegemony, the role of idea in the form of Employee of the Month award, is done by Mr.Krabs and SpongeBob. The award proves to be a hegemony because it succeeds in making SpongeBob and Squidward compete against each other and work harder for no extra money, to get the award.

Squid on Strike and Squilliam Returns show class struggle, another Marxist issue. In Squid on Strike, the class struggle happens because of Mr.Krabs’ repression to his employees, showing the power of capitalism. SpongeBob and Squidward are said to be repressed because their rights, such as getting good conditions of working, good wage, etc, are being taken by Mr.Krabs. The repression causes a demonstration by Squidward and SpongeBob. Capitalism is also seen through the end of the story, where Squidward and SpongeBob are pictured having to work forever for Mr.Krabs, showing the domination of the capitalist over the proletariat.

In Squilliam Returns, the class struggle happens because of Squilliam’s repression to Squidward. Squilliam’s mockery to Squidward is seen as repression because he labels Squidward as a proletariat to be a loser in society. This results in Squidward’s struggle to climb up from being a lower class to become an upper class member, by turning the Krusty Krab into a five-star restaurant. Thus, class struggle happens not only between a boss and an employee, but it can be between random members of lower class and upper class. This episode represents capitalism through Squidward’s failure in proving to Squilliam that he is a succesful person; It is difficult for a member of the lower class to climb being a member of the upper class.

In The Krusty Sponge, hegemony is presented through the exploitation by Mr.Krabs to his employees and the bribery to the judge. Mr.Krabs does not use any force to make his employees work harder to increase his profit. Bribery to the judge is done in order for Mr.Krabs to avoid his punishment, so he can stay being an upper class member. The episode is proven to show capitalism because exploitation is done in order for Mr.Krabs as a capitalist to gain surplus value; Bribery is done in order for Mr.Krabs to avoid punishment, stating that those who have the capital are those who have the power, and can maintain his dominance.

In The Krabby Kronicle episode, commodity fetishism is seen because the citizens of Bikini Bottom are influenced by their false needs and therefore willing to buy manipulated news made by Mr.Krabs. Mr.Krabs uses commodification by modifying or manipulating news about the citizens of Bikini Bottom and uses the news as commodity to increase his profit. This episode also shows Mr. Krabs’ fetish of money because he is so proud about his pile of money and is happy when he realizes he can multiply money by his own, by using his printing machine.

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Based on the analysis done by the writer, SpongeBob SquarePants does not only entertain kids, but also used by its author/director as means to deliver messages or morals. Some of the episodes which have been discussed in this analysis, are found to present Marxist issues; The issues are given through a subtle approach. A deeper analysis that this paper has done shows that the Marxist issues are represented through the characters’ behaviour. Thus, a literary work, may it be an animated series such as SpongeBob, a song, a movie, or poetry, could be a representation of daily life’s issues. Literary work can be a means to deliver message to the society.

The analysis of SpongeBob SquarePants in this paper was limited to season 1-6, analyzed by using Marxism. The series could actually be analyzed through different perspective, such as: Ecocriticism, Psychoanalysis, Reader’s Response, etc.

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Biography Putri Gustilingga, born in Jakarta on February 13th 1993. The writer finishes her Strata 1 Program in Binus University majoring in English Literature, year 2014.