Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a
“parable on Populism”?

has been used for years in many political cartoons.
People find various symbolic meanings and they can adapt the story to current events.

Bush asks the Wizard of Oz for proof of
Iraqi weapons
Artist: Edward Smith Date: 2003-01-10

Wizard of Oz, Paul Wolfowitz, reveals truth about Saddam's WMD
Artist: Kirk Anderson Date: 2003-06-04

Henry Littlefield took it one step further 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

In favor of many Populist movements
 Political views may have influenced writing

Helped produce a musical which was the premise for the
1939 MGM musical

 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 metaphors 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

•Shown in a sepia wash
•Dorothy wants out— “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

 Bright and colorful  “Oz”= ounce  Silver is measured in ounces

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
•Some pamphlets compared the depression of the 1890s to a cyclone

Dorothy’s house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, and she gets…

The Ruby Slippers
•Originally silver
•Changed to ruby because of color technology
•Symbolize the power of the silver movement

The Yellow Brick Road

Represents balance between silver and gold movements

Journey on road is dangerous—gold standard might not be wise

DOROTHY
•Common people
•From a Kansas farm
•Does not see the power of slippers at first

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 TIN MAN
•Industrial workers
•Wants a heart—dehumanized
•Physically strong, hollow inside
•Stuck when the found him—workers felt trapped in an economic rut

THE COWARDLY LION
•Represents William Jennings Bryan—Populist leader
•Looking for courage—Bryan thought to be a coward by some
•Possessed courage all along

WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST

Stands for wealthy people of the East favoring gold currency

Symbolic of big businesses and corporation 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

•Uses nature to hurt Dorothy and friends
•Poppy field
•Flying monkeys

She is killed by water, just like a drought

THE WIZARD
•Represents leadership during the depression
•Government seemed powerless
•Uses hot air balloon (as did many cartoons)
•Wizard is from Kansas, like
Dorothy

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE THEORY:
SOME SAY…
•Baum was not really a Populist supporter
•The metaphors are purely coincidental

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOOK AND MOVIE
•Silver slippers changed to ruby
•Glinda changed from
Good Witch of the
South to the Good
Witch of the North
Is the movie musical still a populist metaphor?

There is still plenty of evidence that The Wizard of Oz in fact a “parable on Populism.” is
So the choice is up to you. Next time you watch the musical, look past the magic and color of the movie to find deeper meanings and metaphors.
Then make up your mind—is The Wizard of Oz just a fun, harmless musical fantasy… or is it something more?

MGM Pictures: The Wizard of Oz http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com/cmp/photo.htm
Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/oz/