Michael Mangal 10/27/14 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a fictional adventure novel that was written by L. Frank Baum in 1902. This novel is about a young girl named Dorothy who was trying to find her way back home to Kansas after ending up in the World of Oz. However this girl’s journey was much more than a fantastical adventure, but symbolism for the Populist Party of this time period. The story is said to represents political and social issues during the 1890’s. Dorothy was meant to represent the majority. She was a symbol of the everyday man or woman. Her home was in Kansas, which during the time was a populist state due to the high population of farmers. The yellow brick road represented the gold that the United States currency …show more content…
During the 1890’s the powerful businessmen lived in either the east (New York) or the west. Dorothy meets a ‘party’ of people on her journey including a scarecrow, lion, and tin man. The scarecrow represented the farmers, the tin man represented industrial workers and the cowardly lion was said to represent the American military. The most interesting symbolism to me was the Wizard of Oz himself. In the story the wizard was only a man who tricked people into believing he was a powerful man who could grant them their wishes. In reality he was simply a man behind the curtain who had no power at all. The wizard represented powerful politicians and bankers. In my opinion, I believe that the wizard in the story represented the Gilded Age as a whole. The wizard was a sign of hope for Dorothy. Dorothy travels on the golden road to meet the wizard and finds out he is not powerful at all. Dorothy realizes that there is no such thing as a wizard who can grant her wishes but rather she must get home on her own. I believe the wizard represents the Gilded Age because on the outside the wizard was a powerful man who can lead Dorothy home when he really was nothing more than a
Dorothy Gale is a young girl who lives in Kansas and when a tornado hits her house gets flown through the air and is teleported into OZ. Dorothy needs to get back home to her family and needs help. Her mentor, the Good Witch of the East, tells her to go to Emerald city to talk to the wizard. On Dorothy’s adventure through the woods she meets new friends, the lion, the tin man, and the scarecrow. They all head the Emerald City together for each of their necessary needs.
Despite just having met her, Dorothy recognizes this kindness and takes her advice to travel to Emerald City, the Land of Oz. Oz, the powerful wizard is said to grant people's wishes; Dorothy’s being getting back to Kansas to her Auntie Em and Uncle. On her way to the powerful Wizard of Oz, she runs into three unique characters: the
The yellow brick road and Dorothy’s silver shoes can be represented as the gold standard and silver standard. During the Populist Era many people had different beliefs one which standard should everyone go by. “ Dorothy what bitterly at the passing of her hope to go home to Kansas again“
The characters in the movie, “The Wizard of Oz” are character foils to Dorothy, as they share personalities with Dorothy. The Scarecrow requests for the wizard to give him a brain because he is not smart. In the movie, the scarecrow believes that he is not smart, giving him the idea that he does not have a brain. Dorothy can be viewed as not having a brain like the scarecrow because she does not think about her actions, showing that they share this trait. The Tin Man requests for the wizard to give him a heart, hoping that the wizard can.
L. Frank Baum uses three main symbols that create an allegory and represents the political circumstances during the late 19th century. Baum did not intentionally do this, but as you read the novel you will see the connections throughout. During the final years of the 1800s, industrial cities, with all the problems brought on by rapid population growth and lack of infrastructure to support the growth, occupied a special place in U.S. history. For all the problems, the cities promoted a special bond between people and laid the foundation for the multiethnic, multicultural society that we cherish today. During the time of the Industrial Revolution many things affected the farmers, factory workers, and William Jennings Bryan.
Gulch is used as a metaphor in “The Wizard of Oz” to symbolize Miss Gulch’s extreme threat towards Dorothy throughout the movie. In the beginning of the movie, Miss Gulch is a villian towards Dorothy because she wants to take away Dorothy. After Dorothy arrived home, Miss Gulch came and showed Dorothy’s aunt and uncle her warrant to take away Toto and put him down. This makes Miss Gulch a threat to Dorothy because she wanted to take away one of the things that matters most to her.
Character Archetypes In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was accompanied by a hunting group of companions on her journey to the Emerald City. Her companions consisted of Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion, who were loyal and willing to face hardships and ordeals in order to stay together. All wanting seemingly unattainable things, they came along to meet the Wizard of Oz.
Her name has become well-known throughout the years and has become the symbol of feminism. Creating a female protagonist inspires young females to express themselves as well highlight the power of women. Dorothy is introduced as a 6-year-old girl taken away by a tornado from her aunt and uncle. The reader follows her journey as she faces obstacles along the way to return to her home. Dorothy being a vulnerable six years old girl, becomes one of the most powerful being in the land of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz is a musical about a young girl, named Dorothy, who lives on a farm in Kansas. She desperately wants to get away, and decides to run away from home. After she meets a peddler who convinces her to go back home, she ends up going back home to find a “cyclone” heading right for her house. Dorothy, her dog, Toto, and her house
The comparison between her and the banks was that the banks would foreclose on the houses of lower class people. As a result of their harsh banking when the house would be returned to the banks it would be similar to a house being dropped on them. The Wicked Witch of the West is the ruler of the western land of Oz. Her description relates her to the railroad companies of the west.
Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum published in 1900, the story of Dorothy and her friends the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion captured the public's imagination. Ever since the publication of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that's seen to be immensely popular and one of America's favorite pieces literature. Children like it is a story full of fun characters and exciting adventures. Especially liked because many can read between L. Frank Baum's lines and see various images of the United States at the turn of the century. Wizard of Oz and the contemporary political landscape connection between them wasn’t even brought up until 1963 when Henry Littlefield noticed that the characters and events that happened in The Wizard of Oz could
Frank Baum uses colors throughout the novel the Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. . Color play s a important role in the story l. Each color symbolizes a n object of wealth or emotion . The author wrote the book in the 1900’ s during the depression era, and the lack of money was the most talked about topic in the nation. Frank Baum managed to address this issue in his book with the use of symbolic imagery. The story opens with the color gray which depicts sadness.
As the story of The Wizard of Oz plays out the character Dorothy goes through significant change, she is a dynamic character. Her heart turns from wanting to grateful as she matures into a young lady, which is important to this plot, because her journey of growing up impacts the entirety of the story and it impacts all of the characters she encounters along the way. The entire story begins with Dorothy frantically begging for the attention of her preoccupied aunt and uncle. Everything about her actions and words hint at self absorbent and immaturity. Not caring for the duties that her caretakers were tending to she throws herself into the mood and feelings of nobody loves me, driving her away from her home into danger, but the danger changes
In The Wizard of Oz by Victor Fleming, 1939, specifically during the beginning scene, Dorothy was in sync with the setting. Dorothy was in the proper placement of the props around her, adding to the feelings of her reflecting the place she is in. The background eluded to the idea that she is far away from the golden spherical instrument that 's supposed to hold a globe, on the window sill in the background. There 's also an interesting painting below the window sill, it 's a golden band of boxes; this could be the representation of how Dorothy is gonna get to where she 's going, the yellow brick road. However, the crystal ball seems to be the most prominent part of the scene, the contrast of Dorothy 's position enhanced the feeling to the viewer that Dorothy is scared and alone.
To many, The Wizard of Oz serves as a fairytale with the sole purpose of bringing joy to the reader. To others, however, the story weaves subtle, yet deep political themes in its pages. Debated for many years, some literary experts insist there are influences of Populism and what they fought for. They see influences of the fight for the silver standard, the roads paved of gold in America, criticisms of industrialization, racial commentary, class differences, and feminism among many other important themes. While there are many compelling arguments for each side; deeming the Wizard of Oz a true Populist parable may be far-fetched.