The story "The Wizard of Oz" is the allegorical story of this period. Dorothy represents the good and simple farmers of the Midwest. Kansas is a dreary and gray place symbolizing the difficult lives of the farmers.

What does the Land of Oz represent in The Wizard of Oz populism?

Hugh Rockoff suggested in 1990 that the novel was an allegory about the demonetization of silver in 1873, whereby "the cyclone that carried Dorothy to the Land of Oz represents the economic and political upheaval, the yellow brick road stands for the gold standard, and the silver shoes Dorothy inherits from the Wicked ...

How are the ideas of populism seen in The Wizard of Oz?

2.)

Wizard of Oz, 1900. Courtesy of Library of Congress. On her journey to visit the Wizard, Dorothy meets the scarecrow and the tin woodman. According to Littlefield, the scarecrow, displaying “a terrible sense of inferiority and self doubt,” represents the American farmer (who made up the bulk of the Populist Party).

What does the Toto represent in The Wizard of Oz populism?

Dorothy represents Everyman; the Tin Woodman is the industrial worker, the Scarecrow is the farmer, the Cowardly Lion is William Jennings Bryan, the Wizard is the President, the munchkins are the "little people" and the Yellow Brick Road is the gold standard. Toto probably represents a dog.

What does the Witch of the East represent in The Wizard of Oz populism?

The Witch represents eastern financial-industrial interests and their gold-standard political allies, the main targets of Populist venom.

The Populist Movement: The Real Story Behind the Wizard of Oz | The Story of Money, Episode 10

What does the lion represent in The Wizard of Oz populism?

the Cowardly Lion represented northern reformers; the Emerald City represented Wall Street, greenback colored; and. the Wizard represented the Money Power, whose influence rests on manipulation and illusion.

What does the Munchkins represent in populism?

Littlefield also claims that the characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz represent figures from the Gilded age. Munchkins are ordinary people oppressed by the witches of the East, banks, and monopolies. The Scarecrow is the farmer, and the Tin man is the industrial worker who has been dehumanized by factory labor.

Who does Dorothy represent in populism?

Littlefield describes Dorothy as an everyday man to Baum; the people of America. Her character and her problem of trying to get home, is the main plot in the movie. This shows what the main point of Populism was: the concerns of the American people.

Who do the flying monkeys in Wizard of Oz represent?

According to some writers, the Winged Monkeys of Oz represent Native Americans in the West in the late 1800s. Baum himself had clear attitudes toward American Indians and some of his earlier writings about Indians are very similar to his descriptions of the Winged Monkeys found in Oz.

What does the poppy field represent in the Wizard of Oz populism?

The Deadly Poppy Field, where the Cowardly Lion fell asleep and could not move forward, was the anti-imperialism that threatened to make Bryan forget the main issue of silver (note the Oriental connotation of poppies and opium).

What do the characters in the Wizard of Oz symbolize?

Dorothy symbolizes innocence and the everyman, the Scarecrow represents intelligence, the Tin Man embodies compassion, and the Cowardly Lion symbolizes courage. The Wizard can be seen as authority or the elusive nature of power. The Wicked Witch of the East and West may represent different forms of adversity.

What is the deeper meaning of the Wizard of Oz?

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a Metaphor

The story is an allegory for the rise of Populism that was occurring in the 1890s, as well as for the debate over whether to hold on to the gold standard for currency or to begin using silver.

What does the yellow brick road symbolize?

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

The road symbolizes life, man. And on the yellow brick road that is life, things aren't always going to be easy. As you travel, you'll make friends and you'll make enemies. The further you go, the more you come to know yourself.

How does the Wizard of Oz represent Kansas?

The story "The Wizard of Oz" is the allegorical story of this period. Dorothy represents the good and simple farmers of the Midwest. Kansas is a dreary and gray place symbolizing the difficult lives of the farmers.

What does the South represent in the Wizard of Oz?

The Good Witch of the North represents northern workers, and the Good Witch of the South represents southern farmers. This provides a contrast between wicked industrialists from the west with the railroad moguls in the west.

What do the ruby slippers represent in The Wizard of Oz Populism?

In the movie, the slippers represent the little guy's ability to triumph over powerful forces. As the item that she – a simple teenage farm girl from Kansas – steals from the dictatorial Wicked Witch and ultimately uses to liberate the oppressed people of Oz, they're nothing less than a symbol of revolution.

What did the lion, Scarecrow, and tinman represent?

We all know the story of Dorothy's quest to find her way home and the three unlikely characters who she meets along the yellow brick road: the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man. Each of these characters represents a virtue that Dorothy needs for her journey back home: brains, courage, and heart.

What is the hidden message in The Wizard of Oz?

But in both cases, Dorothy is instantly hailed as a conquering heroine, just as the Wizard was when he touched down in Oz. The message is that people will march behind any authority figure who makes a splash, however undeserving they may be.

What does the rainbow symbolize in The Wizard of Oz?

And of course, it's a symbol of finding a better life “somewhere over the rainbow” for Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz.

What do the flying monkeys represent in Populism?

The Winged Monkeys are the aborigines, who belong to the land, and don't want to leave it. For they consider themselves the originally free residents of the land until the Wizard drops out of the skies, and into national government, be it Oz of the book or the United States of the real world.

What does Emerald City represent?

Scholars who interpret The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a political allegory see the Emerald City as a metaphor for Washington, D.C., and unsecured "greenback" paper money.

What do the silver slippers represent in The Wizard of Oz?

The silver slippers (also known as the Silver Shoes) represent the untapped potential that Dorothy and her friends carry with them during their adventure. Dorothy receives these enchanted shoes shortly after a cyclone whisks her away to the Land of Oz.

What does glinda represent in Populism?

Just like the Good Witch of the North opposed the Wicked Witch of the East, the farmers and others of America 's heartland opposed the powerful elite that practically ruled the nation. Similarly, the Good Witch of the South (also known as Glinda) represents the southerners who …show more content…

Is The Wizard of Oz an allegory for Populism?

The discovery was little less than astonishing: Baum's children's story was in fact a full-blown “parable on populism,” a “vibrant and ironic portrait” of America on the eve of the new century (Littlefield 1964, 50). In supporting this thesis, Littlefield drew on Baum's experience as a journalist before he wrote Oz.

What does the lullaby league represent?

The Munchkins, according to one theory, are supposed to represent the “common people.” The Wicked Witches of the East and West stand for the banking and railroad industries; the Wizard of Oz is the president of the United States; the Lollipop Guild and the Lullaby League symbolize the labor movement, and the flying ...