7/23/2019 Oz and Populist

1/2

Michael Mangal 10/27/14

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a fictional adventure novel that was written by ! "ran#

$au% in 1&02! This novel is about a young girl na%ed 'orothy who was trying to find her way

bac# ho%e to (ansas after ending u) in the World of Oz! *owever this girl+s ,ourney was %uch

%ore than a fantastical adventure- but sy%bolis% for the .o)ulist .arty of this ti%e )eriod!

The story is said to re)resents )olitical and social issues during the 1&0+s! 'orothy was

%eant to re)resent the %a,ority! he was a sy%bol of the everyday %an or wo%an! *er ho%e

was in (ansas- which during the ti%e was a )o)ulist state due to the high )o)ulation of far%ers!

The yellow bric# road re)resented the gold that the nited tates currency was based on!

'orothy+s shoes were originally silver in the original story! The silver shoes re)resent the

o))ortunity the country had to use silver as the currency also! .o)ulists and agricultural wor#ers

believed that )rinting %ore %oney and basing it on silver would save the econo%ic )roble%s!

There would be %ore %oney in circulation without decreasing the value of the dollar! t is

interesting to see that $au% ended the story by having 'orothy clic# her shoes three ti%es in

order to go ho%e! This brings so%e insight into the author+s )oint of view on whether or not he

believes that the silver will solve the nited tates econo%ic )roble%s!

'orothy %eets a 3)arty+ of )eo)le on her ,ourney including a scarecrow- lion- and tin

%an! The scarecrow re)resented the far%ers- the tin %an re)resented industrial wor#ers and the

cowardly lion was said to re)resent the %erican %ilitary! The %ost interesting sy%bolis% to %e

was the Wizard of Oz hi%self! n the story the wizard was only a %an who tric#ed )eo)le into

believing he was a )owerful %an who could grant the% their wishes! n reality he was si%)ly a

%an behind the curtain who had no )ower at all! The wizard re)resented )owerful )oliticians and

7/23/2019 Oz and Populist

2/2

ban#ers! n %y o)inion- believe that the wizard in the story re)resented the 5ilded ge as a

whole! The wizard was a sign of ho)e for 'orothy! 'orothy travels on the golden road to %eet

the wizard and finds out he is not )owerful at all! 'orothy realizes that there is no such thing as a

wizard who can grant her wishes but rather she %ust get ho%e on her own! believe the wizard

re)resents the 5ilded ge because on the outside the wizard was a )owerful %an who can lead

'orothy ho%e when he really was nothing %ore than a tric#ster!

Overall- the story of the Wizard of Oz has a lot to do with )o)ulis%! The story is full of

sy%bolis% that re)resents the difficult econo%ic- social and )olitical struggle for the far%ers and

industrial wor#ers during the 1&0+s! believe the author wanted to tell a story of the struggles

that the )eo)le of the nited tates were going through because of the )owerful %inority of rich

)owerful %en! The re)etitive sy%bolis% in the story %a#es %e agree with the belief that the

story was %eant to sy%bolize )o)ulist struggles of the 1&0+s!

Wor#s 6ited

The Money Masters! THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ A Monetary Reformers Brief Symbol

lossary !omments! 8!)!- n!d! Web! 29 Oct! 2014!

The tory $ehind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz :a .arable about .o)ulis%- Money ;efor%- and the

1&0s Midwestern .olitical Move%ent ed by Willia%