On the surface, the Wizard of Oz is little more than a children's story. A little girl from Kansas is swept up in a cyclone with her little dog Toto and lands in the Land of Oz. A closer look however, tells the powerful metaphors and symbols pertaining to the politics of the period that drive the film forward. One of the most important factors of the movie is the poor migrant farmers of the south and the west, along with the manifestations of the farmer’s problems and solutions to these problems in the story.
As Dorothy, a good hearted, run-of-the-mill southern girl, follows the Yellow Brick road, she finds holes and broken-up sections of it. Being that the Yellow Brick road represents the gold standard, it can be interpreted that, the author wanted to point out the problems of the gold standard and how it affected the farmers. After all, the farmers had suffered through droughts, and watched as the prices of the foods that they produced fell in spite and probably because of over production. Banks, or witches, did nothing to make the farmer's situation, quite the opposite. They were ruthless, foreclosing farm after farm, and selling the newly gained land to railroads and massive farms that could ride out the recessions and more easily control prices.
Too make his point, Baum creates the Scarecrow, who represents the farmers. In the story, the Scarecrow doesn't have a brain, but still solves most of the group's problems. During the worst phases of the drought, farmers, pleading for help from the government and banks, found refuge only in themselves. They reasoned that since the prices of their goods were so low, all they need do to make up the extra income is produce more, and so they produced more. In fact, during the drought America saw one of its largest food-production increases in history. This is why Baum made the scarecrow without a brain.
The Wicked Witch of the East controlled the Munchkins, who Dorothy first had contact with in the Land of Oz. The witch met with bad accident when Dorothy's house landed on top of her crushing all except her feet. On them was Dorothy’s only hope at happiness, which would bring her home, the answer to all of her problems. The Silver/Red slippers! The Silver Slippers is a symbol for Free Silver. You see, in the years leading to the Free Silver Election, the farmers had been devastated by drought, robbed by the railroads, and kicked by the banks. Eventually, after growing tired of this, the farmers got back at them in the form of governmental programs.
The Wizard of Oz is filled with many more metaphors. For instance, in the title: "Wizard of Oz", Oz stands for ounce, referring to the gold standard. So the Wizard of ounce means the leader of the gold standard. The Quadlings, who only wear red, are a reference to the small communist movement in the south. The Tin man is the representation of industry who doesn't stop, and needs oil to survive. Emerald City represents cities in general and the Green Glasses that anyone in Emerald city must wear illustrates Baum's belief that the government allows a person to see only what government wants him to see.
11 comments:
You did a great job summarizing the metaphors between The Wizard of Oz and the Populist movement. I agree that farmers and laborers suffered the most during this time in the west because of droughts and debt. Corporations were able to foreclose many farms just like today's government can force debtors out of their homes. It's a good thing that the gold standard was eventually replaced with more efficient currency.
I really liked reading your blog. Your explanations of the metaphors helped me understand the the meanings behind the story even better. Glad how the farmers were finally able to use the government policies and resolve a standard for money that would build back their income and farmland.
Your blog was super well-written and great to read. I feel so bad for the farmers and ranchers who had to live back then. They didn't really have any help aside from themselves, so even if they couldn't come up with ideas, they were pretty much screwed. Finding out that The Wizard of Oz is more than a children's classic inspires me to write something like it. Baum did a great job of 'hiding' these little facts in it, only until people found out. Your summary was well-explained.
Alyse,
this was a really good blog (I'M not suprised). I like how you talked about the metaphors of The Wizard of Oz. it helped me understand what Mrs. G was talking about in class and I wish I could've read this before my test in her class haha. I don't really know if I believe that he purposely made "TWOO" about western civilization, but your blog definitley gave me something to think about :)
Your blog was very informative.i wished i had read this blog before i took the test. indeed for many years i thought it was just a kids movie, until now. now ican relate it to how the government work. and you how people would use books and movies to describe the real world.using different things.
good job. i like how you went into detail about the symbolism in your blog. It really helped to explain the story from someone elses point of view. :]
This was a very good blog. I learned that the silver slippers represent the Free Silver. I belief the most important metaphor in the story is the yellow brick road. The yellow brick road represents the gold standard. And it shows that the brick have dents and cracks in it, which symbolizes that using the gold standard will lead to some problems. And also liked how you organized your work.
I loved learning about the wizard of oz. It was something most of us has seen before. It taught us that you have to look a little closer at things. You can't just cover the skin of something. Good job!
i never really liked watching the wizard of oz and i never really cared what it ment until just now when ms garber gave us a packet and told us like step by step like what each characetrs ment and what the whole story was about
i really enjoy reading your blog. i like how your blog is based on the wizard of oz. i agree with you it seems after we watched the movie in class it seems a little more than a children's book. that was interesting how you included that the most important factors of the movie was the poor migrant farmers of the south and the west. overall your blog nice to read.
This was a very good blog.
I recently posted a blog on this topic myself, and you brought up some very good points. This blog helped me understand the big picture.
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