The Wizard of Oz and Populism
Since 1964 the story as well as the movie known as The Wizard of Oz has lost much of its innocence. Prior to 1964 The Wizard of Oz was a tale of innocence that adults and children alike enjoyed. They viewed The Wizard of Oz as an escape and thought the story to be fun, exciting and pleasurable. However, in 1964 Henry M. Littlefield published The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism. Littlefield's theories on populist allegory throughout The Wizard of Oz sparked much controversy with the public. Henry M. Littlefield was able to convincingly connect scenes, characters, and objects in The Wizard of Oz to populism in his essay The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism.The movie opens up with a very drab view of Kansas in the late 19th century. Everything is gray as far as the eye can see, as all the land has become barren, and dust storms are now very prevalent. The farmhouse where Dorothy lives is barren too, and the paint has chipped off and blown away. Uncle Henry never laughs, and Auntie Em (whose face is completely gray) never smiles. This is parable to the beginnings of populism because farmers they were facing a widespread drought causing many problems with their farming. Ultimately this barren land is what led the populist movemen
When Dorothy lands in Oz she is first confused. Just as the populists were having many confusing problems so was Dorothy. However, Dorothy, with the aid of the Munchkins, devised a plan to see The Wizard in order to achieve her goal of retuning home. This is similar to how the farmers banded together to achieve their goal to nationalize the populist movement. Along the way Dorothy meets three diverse characters, which symbolize how William Jennings Bryan attracted more members to the populist movement on the road. Together Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man and The Cowardly Lion all had the same goal comparative to the populist movement. When the four finally reached their destination of The Wizard they were in awe of his Emerald City. Just as William McKinley was built up to be something wonderful so was The Wizard. The Wizard's extravagant home did a great job in fooling the reader to believe he was really a spectacular man. It turns out William McKinley was an ordinary man just like The Wizard. Both were built up so much, but ultimately just common men. The rest of the main characters demonstrate the oppressed during the populist time period. The Tin Man and The Scarecrow are parable to workers who are not treated fairly and who suffer from uncontrollable problems. The Tin Man's mistreatment is like an eastern worker's mistreatment from his boss as a result of the government. Dorothy aided the Scarecrow's uncontrollable slips while he walked just as the farmers helped out each other during tou
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1016
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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