The Wizard of Oz
Symbolism in US History
Dorothy: Every woman, average, insightful level headed Midwesterner.
Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry: every day farmer…pictures of them younger
illustrate their current state of misery.
Cyclone: Possible Silverite victory
Oz: Flawed utopia, based on economic perspectives in the US, led by...
Munchkins: Common people held in bondage
Wicked with of the East: Bondage of Economic Burden
Good Witch Glenda of the North: The Northern Electorate
Emerald City: GreenÆmoney issues, representation that at the heart of the
nation…our economy. Nations capital.
Kansas: national normalcy, the average people of the country.
Magical SILVER slippersÆagainst the gold road, gold and silver must be in
proper balance
Kiss of Glenda: Dorothy is protected by an electoral mandate from the
Northern electorate
Scarecrow: Farmers of the United States, the Midwest.
Tinman: Oppressed industrial worker, inability to oil his own joints
represents how dehumanized and helpless they are over powers they can’t
control. Must participate in a farm labor coalition.
Cowardly Lion: perhaps the most significant character: represents William
Jennings Bryan
Wizard of Oz: a fake, a charlatan…any President, likely McKinley. Emerald
green is thus an illusion too like paper money.
Wicked Witch of the West: Land Barons, economic power elite.
Yellow Brick Road: the nations trek along the issue of the Gold Standard
Monkeys: plains indians and their role as trouble makers. Quote from book:
“once we were a people living happily in the great forest doing just as we
pleased without calling anyone master!”
Dorothy’s enslaving by the Wicked Witch of the West: symbolizes Social
Darwinism in that she will do whatever the witch asks of her as she is glad to
be alive! ...