The Wizard of Oz
A Great Children’s Story
-ORPolitical Allegory?
Most of us enjoy
watching The Wizard
of Oz as Dorothy with
her faithful
companions follow
the YELLOW-BRICK
ROAD in order to
help our young
heroine “get back
home.”
But did you know that the children’s story,
written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 had
many literary teachers and historians
recognizing certain aspects of their own
time?
Did you also know that many of the
characters we love today: Dorothy, the
Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, the
Cowardly Lion…all have a connection to
political cartoons of the day?
Here are just a few of them. See if you
recognize them…
I hope you
recognize
Dorothy, the
Scarecrow, and
of course Toto
too.
This is W. W. Denslow’s
original illustration for
Mr. Baum’s book.
Here is the Tin-Man
who in the 1890s
was a common
caricature of the
“new” Industrialized
Man.
This was a common sarcastic cartoon of President
Cleveland as the “Cowardly Lion” and shows
other politicians as monkeys. Do you remember
the “flying monkeys?”
Remember the
cyclone that whisks
Dorothy away to
the land of Oz? In
the 1890s a
cyclone (tornado)
was used to
represent political
upheaval.
And What About the Emerald City?
Well, first off, it’s not the
“EMERALD city! It is dull
gray. The only time it
LOOKS Green is when our
heroes put their “emeraldcolored glasses” on in the
book.
So what city do you think
would the Emerald City
(Remember it’s really gray)
most closely resemble in
1890s America?
And just what about those RUBY
slippers that Everyone but Dorothy
wants?
In the
book…they’re
SILVER!
Ok, ok…too much Information or not enough fact
to back up my weird claim?
STOP LYING TO ME,
MR. PALERMO!
Let’s Start Back to the 1890s…what was really
going on at the time?
• The “Populist” Movement was in full swing.
This was a political party who insisted on
changing the gold standard to a more “fair”
system based on silver. You see the
populists were made up of poor farmers of
the Midwest (Yeah, that’s right young men
and women…like in Kansas) who relied on
their politicians to protect them from the
big, bad industrialists….like John D.
Rockefeller.
The Populist’s idea stemmed from “bimetallism”. This term wanted a
16 to 1 ratio of silver to gold. What does this mean? It means that
for every 16 ounces of silver you could exchange it for 1 ounce of
gold. Since the farmer’s had more silver than gold many of the “little
people” wanted this to be the standard for America.
=
They were
worried
that…
If we only followed the gold
standard…
America would be ruined.
Following this “yellow-brick”
road would lead only to
the Emerald City where
the green money that is
produced has no value.
Dorothy realizes this and
her “silver” slippers send
her back home with the
new knowledge that will
help her family back in
Kansas!
So DON’T FOLLOW THE
BLASTED YELLOW
BRICK ROAD!
Assignment
• Lets make a list of the main characters in the
Wizard of Oz…also add any other characters
from the movie/book.
• Using the main characters, create your own
symbolism for modern day. You must draw the
characters and explain what they represent and
why. (large white sheet of paper)
• Choose three subordinate characters for the
assignment.
• You have tomorrow to work on this as well.