Allegory
A story in which characters, settings, and
events stand in for other people, events, or
abstract ideas, or qualities. An allegory can
be read on one level for its LITERAL
meaning, and on another level for its
ALLEGORICAL, or SYMBOLIC meaning.
UNMASKING THE WIZARD OF OZ
Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a
political allegory of America in the 1890’s?
Henry Littlefield was the first author to posit this notion
in his article “The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism”
But first, a little background on The Wizard of
Oz…
L. Frank Baum
The Author of The Wizard of Oz
Wrote The Wizard of Oz in 1900.
Activist in American Populist movement
Political views may have influenced writing
Had a special interest in the gold and silver monetary
standards debate of the time.
What is Populism?
Populists in late nineteenth century
America wanted to help the common people
They advocated measures that would help
farmers and laborers
They supported the free coinage of silver
The Populist symbolism in the Wizard of Oz can be
found in…
•Settings
•Key Objects
•Characters
KANSAS IN THE LATE 1800s
Farmer discontent and Populist politics were
concentrated in Kansas
Suffering from a drought—many farmers
going through hard times
Farmers wanted the free coinage of silver to
help them out of debt
Dorothy
• Naïve, young, and simple.
• Represents the American
people, led astray and
seeking her way back
home.
• Dorothy wants out—
“Somewhere Over the
Rainbow”
THE SCARECROW
Represents farmers
Farmers thought to be ignorant—looking for a brain
Shows common sense throughout the story—has always had a brain
Shows belief that farmers were not as ignorant as wealthy people thought
THE COWARDLY LION
•Represents William Jennings Bryan—Populist leader
•Looking for courage—Bryan thought to be a coward by some
•Possessed courage all along
THE TIN MAN
•Industrial workers
•Wants a heart—dehumanized
•Physically strong, hollow inside
•Stuck when they found him—
workers felt trapped in an economic
rut
•Needs oil to operate, shuts down
when oil production shuts down.
THE EMERALD CITY
•Main political city of Oz
•Symbolizes the national capital, as well as paper money
CYCLONE
•Cyclones used in many Populist political cartoons
•Serves as a metaphor for a policial upheaval that
would transform the country into a land of color and
unlimited prosperity.
The Ruby (Silver) Slippers
•Originally silver
•Changed to ruby because of color technology
•Symbolize the power of the silver movement
Oz
Bright and colorful
“Oz”= ounce
Silver is measured in ounces
The Yellow Brick Road
Represents the gold standard.
Journey on this road is a false undertaking that will not solve our
problems.
WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST
Stands for wealthy people of
the East favoring gold currency
Symbolic of big businesses
and corporations who also
wanted gold standard
Dorothy kills her—defeats
people who wanted gold
currency
WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST
•Personification of harsh natural forces of west, such as the drought
•Dorothy’s main adversary—present throughout entire story
She is killed by water, just like a drought
THE WIZARD
•Represents the scheming
politician who pretends to have
all the answers.
• Tricks the people into
believing he’s wise and
benevolent, when he’s actually
selfish and cruel.
•Send others into danger for his
own personal gain.
LOTF Connection
What allegorical representations can you
determine for these characters ?
Ralph represents…….
Piggy
Jack
Roger
Simon
The Littluns
What’s Golding’s purpose for writing LOTF as
an allegory?
Extra Time??
What other aspects of the novel LOTF are
allegorical? For example, the conch…..
Think back to the symbolism writing you
did  Make a list and what each
represents.