Socio-Political Symbolism In “The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz”

The Wizard of Oz has long been considered an imaginative children’s tale of fantasy, but many have read into it a symbolism which goes beyond a simple fun and exciting story filled with witches, wizards, and other fairy tale creatures. The possibility of a greater depth to the work was opened to the public eye in 1964 when Henry M. Littlefield’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Parable on Populism” was published in the American Quarterly. Wrought by Lyman Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first published in 1900. The work is an adept reflection of the political and socio-economic setting in turn-of-the-century America.

Written at a time when things such as droughts, a harsh winter, grasshoppers and economical factors were devastating Western farmers, industrial workers were oppressed, a time of debating over monetary security in either silver of gold, a time of disillusionment for the common man of America, when Romantic idealism was in a hopeless decline, The Wizard of Oz begins set on a monochromatic and desolate farmhouse of the great prairies of Kansas. Dorothy dwells in a hopeless environment surrounded by hopel

This fairy tale world which Dorothy and Toto find themselves in is known as “Oz.” Given the silverites slogan of “16 to 1,” referencing the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver to one ounce of gold, the name Oz would quickly signify the abbreviation for an ounce of gold. Straightaway after Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, she is given (according to Baum’s original work) magical silver shoes. These silver shoes carry her over a yellow brick road full of troubles and trials (the gold standard), and ultimately carry her home. This all gives silver a somewhat heroic role in the story, signifying “the free and unlimited coinage of silver” as the answer to America’s financial troubles. The Wicked Witch of the East has been interpreted to represent eastern industrialists and bankers controlling the people, as well as Grover Cleveland. The Wicked Witch of the West represents William McKinley, and the enslavement of the Yellow Winkies is a rather transparent allusion to McKinley’s denial of independence to the Philippines after the Spanish-American war. It is also suggested that she represents the harsh conditions of the west, the dry plains – vanquished with simple water. The Scarecrow represents the farmer, considered to be simple, but in truth, when time for action is upon him, is quite able and wise. The Tin Man symbolizes industrial workers, who, in their repetitious daily grind of making America go ‘round, almost became no more than the machines they worked with. And the Cowardly Lion stands for William Jennings Bryan, the populist presidential candidate in 1896 who, though he was a pacifist, was not actually cowardly.

The quest accomplished, and the Wizard gone, Baum’s choices for the most appropriate replacements for the leadership of Oz are m

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