The inmates of Oz span every ethnic, religious and social class background. It would take too much to name all of the characters, and there is no main character because the show spends time dealing with each character's situation equally, especially since they all intertwine. The inmates are broken up into ten groups by McManus with four inmates in each group so as to even the population. The groups are as follows: bikers, Aryans, Italians, gangsters, Irish, gays, Christians, Latinos, Muslims and "others". Each groups has one leader as a representative in the "Em City Council" which helps to attempt a community atmosphere within the prison according to McManus' idea. The population is supposed to reflect real prisons with 70% of inmat

By showing us man in a state in which he has to learn to live with others, and form a society with others, the writers of "Oz" present a situation with many meanings. It gives us a look at our race in its primitive state. The inmates are alone, and have nothing but each other. This is how primitive man lived. "Oz" shows us that we are evil at heart. The only thing keeping society from falling apart by this evil are the social conventions that we are forced to conform to from day one. Man is incapable of forming any kind of rational society free of evil by himself, or in this case, even with the help of a warden and administrator. This shows us that, in this state, which is comparable to primitive man in some ways, man is evil and out for himself. He has trouble getting along with others because they interfere with his well being by being out for themselves as well. The senseless violence that occurs within Em City proves all of these points. At heart, man is evil.

involved, the better chance you have of obtaining that goal.

es who are colored. There is one character that represents the predominantly white-collar viewer, Tobias Beecher, an attorney who is serving a sentence for vehicular manslaughter. He involuntarily hit and killed a young girl on a bicycle. He is in the "others" grouping. Our reactions to what is going on inside of Oz mirrors his. As the setting and the characters should imply, "Oz" is, on the surface, about the struggles amongst men inside a prison that has representation from almost every group present in our society today. The struggles are not always between the inmates either. The warden, administrator, guards, and even the mayor play a vital role in the unveiling of the creator's vision. There are a vast majority of underlying themes contained within the plot of "Oz." Much of our society and its problems are thrown into this small cell block for the world to view at its pleasure. One sub-theme that is present in most of the issues faced within the prison is the question, and presumable answer, of whether or not man is truly evil. This has been a philosophical question argued for centuries. "Oz" present us with ample evidence for the pro side to this argument.

person. The show may in turn be implying that every man in the prison will eventually get in some kind of trouble because they are all evil in some way.

An example of not being able to trust anyone occurs the next day when Beecher meets Vern Schillinger, a middle-aged white man who sympathizes with Beecher's situation in rooming with Adabese. He tells B

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1740
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)