The Wonderful Wizard of Oz an Allegory of the Populist Movement
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A#4 Name______________________________________________Class_____Date_____________________ Silver Shoes Symbolic of: Glenda the Good Witch Silver money Symbolic of: Universal Goodness Dorothy The Wizard of Oz Symbolic of: Characteristics: Not all is bad. No matter how bad or grim there is Symbolic of: any U.S. President Characteristics: always hope. The Populists “Miss Everyman” from Grant to McKinley thought silver Common people would answer Emerald City Characteristics: He is able to be their problems. Characteristics: Symbolic of: Washington, D.C. everything to everybody but in However, when Although common, Characteristics: Emeralds represented “greenback” currency reality he is just a common person Dorothy arrives they won’t just sit hiding behind a façade of paper back in Kansas, back and take what The Yellow Brick Road mache and noise. she no longer has is given to them. Symbolic of: The gold standard the shoes- Dorothy was too Characteristics: Each dollar was equal to and redeemable for a set representing the innocent to realize amount of gold. The amount in circulation was limited by the The Tin Man fade of the silver the power she had. amount of gold held in the U.S. treasury. Symbolic of: The northern factory issue. worker. L. Frank Baum’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first Characteristics: Capitalists were Rainbow published in 1900. It has been suggested that the book is full of treating workers like machines, Symbolic of: Hope symbolism reflecting the Populist Era of U.S. History. pushing them to work long hours for Characteristics: Rainbows appear after little pay. The workers think they rainstorms, which are few and far between in themselves are no longer capable of the Plains. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz feeling love and are dehumanized. An Allegory of the The Scarecrow Symbolic of: Populist Movement The Cowardly Lion Midwestern farmers that thought they Symbolic of: William Jennings Bryan were weak, but they weren’t. The Populist Movement was a push from farmers and laborers that grew from the grassroots farmers’ fraternity known as The Grange. The Populist Party was formed Characteristics: A wonderful Characteristics: Mistakenly sees himself in 1892 and ran James Weaver for President. The Populists pushed for a graduated as inferior and believed by many to be income tax, free coinage of silver, the direct election of senators, government speaker, but an unsuccessful ignorant, the scarecrow emerges as ownership of railroads and telegraphs, and establishment of sub-treasuries. politician. Lost the vote of the shrewd and capable-becomes leader of laborers due to pressure by their Oz when the wizard flies away. employers The Wicked Witch of the West The Winged Monkeys Symbolic of: Nature Symbolic of: Plains Indians The Wicked Witch of the East (1890s) Symbolic of: Industrialist Capitalists. Characteristics: Nature was not kind to the mid-western farmers. Dorothy kills the Characteristics: Unable to find a wicked witch of the west by throwing water on her. The water symbolizes irrigation home in U.S. Frontier was dying Characteristics: Kept the workers in in the West, which helped the farmers overcome the problems with nature out and govt. was unable to send bondage working long hours. (somewhat, drought and dust will still be an ongoing problem.) them west again. .