Introduction
The wizard of OZ is one of American’s children literature. The literature is liked by the children because of its interesting stories full of humorous personalities and exciting adventures. Adults claim to like it because when they read between the lines of the literature they can observe a variety of images of the United States when it was ushering in the 20th century. The literature has been printed countless times under the title The Wizard of OZ; this is the name that has been used on stage play since 1902 and the most popular, highly acclaimed film of 1939. This film aired an adventure story of a girl known as Dorothy in the land of OZ. The wonderful wizard of OZ was written by Lyman Frank Baum, a renowned poet, dramatist, performer, and independent filmmaker. He was helped by WW Denslow; an illustrator of some of the most popular articles in the United States juvenile’s literature. After its initial publication, the wonderful wizard of OZ was the best-selling juvenile book for at least two years. Baum’s literature on the wizard of OZ was thought to have hidden meaning and received a lot of criticism. However, he claimed that all his writings were meant to please the children. Interpretation of the narrative was associated with the political parable of the political opinions. The populist metaphor and discussions over gold and silver created a lot of controversies. The essay addresses the controversies, creativity, influences, and achievements of the wizard of OZ.
Controversy
The idea of the wizard of oz had more to merely a children’s legend arose when a history teacher published allegations that Baum’s delightful story consisted of a clever parable about the populist movement. The movement was an agrarian revolution that ran across the Middle West in the 1980s. The characters of the story are linked to the political scene of the mauve decade. The explanation was based on Baum’s experience in the field of journalism before the publication of the wizard of OZ. Baum was an editor of a small newspaper in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He had written on current affairs, politics in the late 1880s and early 1890s. It is during this time that the Populist Party was created. According to Littlefield, Baum was compassionate about the populist movement and supported William Jennings Bryan during the 1896 elections. Though he was not an activist, Baum constantly voted for democrats, in 1896 populists coupled with the democrats. The coalition supported Bryan who was vying for the presidency. Baum’s desire for political satire was evident in his second wizard of the OZ which ridicules feminism and the suffragette association. Baum’s revelation was critical even though there was no clear similarity between the wizard of OZ story and contemporary politics. The revelations were too reliable to be coincidental.
Characters and images used by Denslow and Baum resembled some politicians that were familiar in the 1890s. Baum and Denslow did not find out images of some animals which they had constantly used in their story of the wizard of OZ. The images were common subjects in the editorial column in the previous decade, they just developed a story from them and added Dorothy. Apart from adding Dorothy as a character they also added a series of teachings to the consequence that everyone had the possession of resources that they need only if they had self self-belief. Many proceedings and characters in the story resemble the real political characters, actions, and ideas of the 1890s. In the version stage of 1902, there are real individuals, who are named in the story reference by the name president Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, an oil magnate, and other political figures are used. The title of the book is explained as alluding to a political actuality. The abbreviation is used in several various structures of mass that constitute part of the imperial and the United States structures. Baum claimed to have gotten the name from a file cabinet but it was later noted that he mentioned current images by name and took deliberately political stands. This was without any gain of the parable including disapproval in no sure terms of a famous American integrated oil producing, refining, and selling company.
The book begins in a real place called Kansas, in the 1890s. At the time, the place was known for the difficulties of rural settings and destructive tornadoes. In 1893, there was a panic that led to a lot of distress in rural areas of the United States. Dorothy was swept away to a beautiful place by the tornado, where there are no political struggles and there are unlimited resources. Dorothy together with her house is swept by the tornados and when they land and the OZ the home went down on the wicked witch of the east, wiping out the oppressor and releasing the common people (little persons or Munchkins). The witch was for regulating strong silvers slippers that were subsequently altered to ruby by1939. The silver slippers later liberated Dorothy, but first, she had to walk on them down the golden yellow block road. She had to take silver down in the path of gold. Baum was a strong supporter of women’s suffrage, though this together with his care for minorities was not apparent.
Events and characters of the wizard of the OZ are revealed as a metaphor by Henry Littlefield. The presence of cartoons acted as a confirmation that cyclones, lions, monkeys, dogs, and scarecrows were used by political cartoonists. Baum and Denslow derived their inspiration from the most popular magazine during those times. Editorial cartoons had used the OZ image in their political cartoons such as Rogers’s cartoon of Hearst 1906 and Berryman editorial cartoon 1947 proves.
Though Baum did not indicate any political allegories in the wizard of OZ, he referred to the political events of those times in more adult-oriented literature. These literature are different but they are both in the context of progressivism focussing on frontier idealism. The actors in the wizard of OZ survive chiefly in an agrarian setting, industries existed at the level of artisans whereby goods were exchanged instead of being put up for sale. Baum values humility, generosity, and simple life as depicted in the wizard of the OZ, which is the present era in the United States. Monkeys were used in cartoon magazines to criticize politicians; winged monkeys were thought to be similar to a private United States security watch and detective group established by Allan Pinkerton. Wicked witch, referred to the actual Americans, Baum had earlier displayed sympathy for local Americans of the plains which were symbolized in the tale of winged monkeys in the west. The leader of this story tells Dorothy of a time they were free people and happy people. They used to enjoy flying from tree to tree, they used to eat the wild fruits and were at liberty to do as they used. Politicians use to talk of wizards, for instance, one senator when discussing silver and gold said that he knew about the performance of magicians.
The argument that the wizard of OZ is a smartly crafted political allegory continued to elicit more ideas. This was heightened when the similarity between Baum’s use of image and the money politics associated with the populist time was examined. Dorothy stepped on the yellow block in silver shoes, silver shoes on a golden path.
The aim was to demand free silver that is, free and limitless coins of gold and silver at a flat ratio of 16 to 1. Populists together with other free silver proponents promoted free limitless coinage of the white metal so that they could inflate the cash supply. This made it possible for money-strapped farmers and small-scale business partners to borrow money and clear debt. During the Democratic National Convention of 1896, gathered delegates proposed William Jennings Bryan as a devoted supporter of free silver for president. This cause a split in the democratic movement, as gold delegates closed the convention. Two weeks later populists gathered and decided to support Bryan but he was defeated by the republican William McKinley. The monetary politics led to the division of electorates into silverites and goldbugs, this provided the key backdrop for Baum’s parable adoption
Creative methods
The story uses various characters and images to create a political satire from an ordinary children’s story. Baum was able to use the most efficient satire that keeps the reader thinking and figuring the true intentions of the author. She is the hero of the tale, representing an ideal American individual. Her character represents cunning, self-respecting, rational, and a plucky person. Dorothy is similar to every person or modern idiom. The place where she lives is also described in a very creative way, this helps in bringing out the real picture of the place.
The place is described as treeless prairie, the painted naked house, sun-beaten grass, dull and dead gray. This portrays the sad state of Kansas in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Kansas has suffered a combination of disasters ranging from the scorching sun, invasion by grasshoppers, and severe winters making the place uninhabitable.
The hurricane that swept away Dorothy to OZ represents the Populist cyclone that swept across Kansas in the year 1890. The metaphor of a fire-breathing populist conversationalist was by then referred to as Kansas storm. Other creative features of the story include the Baum witch project, this is manifested when Dorothy’s storm-tossed home came to rest in OZ, and it lands exactly on the wicked witch of the east, killing her immediately. The witch symbolizes the eastern monetary – industrial concerns and their gold- the benchmark of political supporters, which is the main aim of populist venom. It is appropriate that Dorothy obtained the witch of the east’s shoes at the request of the good witch of the north. White represents good witches, about the OZ silver symbolized a white metal.
Dorothy began her journey to emerald using the yellow brick route hoping that the wizard would help on her journey back to Kansas. After walking for some miles she comes across a scared crow who knows nothing because he has no brain. The unintelligent scarecrow symbolizes the Midwestern farmers, they have suffered hardships and ridicule for long thus it has created a feeling of inferiority and doubt.
On her arrival, together with the companions, the wizard gave them the task of killing the evil witch from the west. The witch represents a composite of the slander forces of nature that destroyed the farmers from the Midwest and the power brokers of those areas. The supremacy of Dorothy’s silver shoes signifies the importance of money. The populist leaders were pictured as deceived simpletons who did not understand the real causes of their economic dilemma.
The apocalyptic oratory plans theories and fundamental agenda, which involved state ownership of the railways, set income tax, and limitless currency of silver further revealed their stupidity. Representation of the scarecrow is not one-sided, his behavior throughout the journey of OZ is characterized by a sense of resilience and rectitude. After having set free the tin man, the tri moves on in the forest, only to be approached by a lion. To emphasize the creativity of the wizard of OZ story the lion represents William Jennings Bryan, Nebraska representative in the parliament who later contests for democratic presidential position in the years 1896 and 1900. His name Bryan which rhymed with the name lion symbolizes his tendency of roaring. On some occasions, this was pictured by the press as a lion as it was with the Populist Party itself. Bryan accepted the free silver song and managed to win populist support in his political journey against McKinley. In the same case as the lion of OZ Bryan joined the party last however, he was defeated due to his failure to win the backing from eastern workers.
The failure of Bryan is just the same way the lion’s claw could not cause a feeling on the Tin Man in the story. Without realizing that he was still brave, the lion slays a spiderlike ogre that frightens other wild animals in the forest at the last part of the story. The confidence and corporation that dominated the economy were represented by the terrorizing beast. In the populist scenes, the beliefs were mostly portrayed as a monster of one form or another. The railroads had a significant impact on the business and transportation sector thus being referred to as a huge spider by Jerry Simpson.
In his later work, Baum used the control as octopus metaphor in referring to the standard oil company. Among the populist key agendas was bridging the trust and nationalization of the railroads. About the lion’s attack, and the murder of the huge beast by hitting its head, the release from the eight-legged ogre, the glad forest dwellers would have vowed fealty to the winning lion. This is considered to be the same reaction if Bryan had won over McKinley and probably kill the trust.
The diminutive rodents in the story represent ordinary people, the yellow cat acts as another symbol of the slander supremacy of gold. The killing of the wild cat by Tin Man symbolizes the slaying of the chief who was considered to be an enemy of the public. The planned support of the mice shows the significance of the ordinary folk in Bryans’s contest for the presidency. The winged monkey, the reluctant follower of the witch from the west shows further creativity of the story which also aggravates the issue of allegory. The creatures symbolize the plain Indians, leader of the monkey admits that they were great people with the freedom of moving from tree to tree and eating fruits without referring to anyone as their master. Initially, the monkeys use to be impounded, this referred to the government policy of reservation. The monkeys were forced to become bad creatures by the unnatural evil force otherwise they could have remained good creatures as they use to be. This circumstance corresponds to the ideology of reformers who accused the Indians state of the Europeans cruel practices.
The dowager empress represented the Chinese princess who turned down Dorothy’s invitation to Kansas. Dowager’s empress strongly opposed any foreigner in china; this parallels the presence of anti-imperialism that was endowed by Bryan and his followers. Yellow Winkies symbolized Asians such as Filipinos and Chinese immigrants. They worked for low wages, faced discrimination, abuse and on some occasions, they were murdered. Filipinos were considered to be unfit for self-government by the United States. The postulation that the United States understood what best for the locals was satirized in Baum’s original work in the stage version of the wizard of OZ. This is when the scarecrow commented that is not the natives in-country who know more about their country it referred to Filipino, everybody understand their country better than they do. Concerning green, silver, and gold the land of OZ is colorful.
Gold and silver supported the importance of monetary politics in the 1890s, mostly the bimetallic campaign headed by Bryan and the populists. The color of paper money was green; the greenback party campaigned for more money to be pumped into the system. In the emerald city, people were required to put on green glasses together with golden bands to make everything in the surroundings look green. Toward the end of the story, the wizard is displaced as the ruler of the emerald city by the scarecrow and the Tin Man appointed as the master of the west. The lion becomes the leader of all animals in the forest; Dorothy goes back to Kansas by snapping her silver shoes together thrice. Glinda who was the superior witch from the south contributed greatly to these achievements. Populism is triumphant and the aim of acquiring political ‘power is realized. Failure in populism occurs when Dorothy’s silvery shoes dropped in the desert and disappeared forever. The decline of the free-silver movement occurred following the defeat of Bryan by McKinley in 1896; this pronounced a political suicide for the populists. The wizard of OZ is a very creative story as all characters and images depicted the ongoing political issues. Baum was able to tie all the episodes in a story that ended becoming one of the bestselling children’s literature.
Influences and achievements
The wizard of OZ contributed greatly to the American culture, the literature was famous to both the young and the old. Though the book received a lot of critics especially from a political point of view, the only important difference that matters to a child and probably to an adult is the fact that the movie, Dorothy’s tour to OZ land is just a dream. The book engages children’s minds to be creative and take the journey and the land of OZ as an actual place for adventure. Children were delighted by the story of the wizard of OZ, they consistently to Baum requesting more interesting stories. Baum won the confidence of children, he helped them to become more creative especially in the imaginary story of the wizard of OZ, and kids had to walk with Dorothy to get the flow of the story. Apart from the children, Baum received letters from adults who also found his juvenile literature to be very thrilling. His books were among the best selling in the market and this boosted his financial status greatly. His financial victory earned him reputation and pleasures in life such as traveling. Until his death, Baum was known as the royal historian of OZ. The land of OZ was one of the interesting pieces of literature in a whole continent of desire whose geographies, histories, and inhabitants were developed in detail by Baum. He developed an entertaining tour that was interesting both to the children and also adults. The wizard of OZ explains his richness in imagination and creative literature it further portrays him as a more constant and disciplined writer.
Baum has made great contributions to the field of children’s literature especially the story of the wizard of OZ. The beautiful land of OZ consists of an extraordinary emotive effect on open-eyed young readers. As Dorothy walks down the yellow brick path heading to the city of Emerald with the hope that the great and dreadful wizard will help her get back home. Dorothy shares exploration with three characters defeats the wicked witch learning the power of friendship, devotion, and self-confidence. This excites and creates a lot of joy and wonderment to the children hence liking the story more and more. As it has occurred in the past generations the classic fantasy provided by the wizard of OZ and adventure is what every child needs. The characters and imagery for instance the tin woodman man used are interesting thus making the story more fascinating to the children. The book is colored to attract the attention of children; there is a lot of suspense in the story which motivates the reader to continue reading. The wizard of OZ has a great influence on American culture; this is expressed in films, theme parks, and musicals. In referring to the original influence of the literature, Riley acts as a guide to the OZ above the rainbow and stimulates refurbished appreciation for the renowned writer’s supernatural vision. Baum’s work has been appreciated by many people, OZ which is enjoyed by people of all ages it makes many smiles.
The thought of being transported to a land of little munchkins and talking trees is amazing. More magic about the book and the movie was added by the flying monkeys, amazing crimson slippers, and chatting lion. The environment and other settings are said to be magnificent making the story more fascinating. The flow of the story is captivating with the witch’s castle and the farm perfectly laid out. Some people thought that the wizard of OZ was thorough and there is no other way of making it any better. The innocent girl of Kansas shines; she sings and dances well spicing the story more. The performance of the Tin Man, lion, and the scarecrow is amazing. The writing is good and uncomplicated making it possible for both the children and adults to follow the story. OZ presents an idea of how a perfect world would look like. Even though the book ad the movie have become old people still treasure and enjoy reading and watching them. Regardless of its captivating nature, the wizard of OZ received a lot of critics, other scholars like Littlefield thought that Baum had other intentions apart from producing the book for the children. Littlefield thought that the wizard of OZ story was Baum’s plot on populist allegory.
He supported this by the fact that Baum had been a journalist before he wrote the wizard of OZ. Since Baum had been involved in the writing of political events in the late 1880s and early 1890s, Littlefield thought OZ was an indirect political plot. This elicited many views and in some places, the book was withdrawn from the shelves. Ordinary people did not know who or what to believe but scholars like Rockoff and Michael Hearn set to find the truth about Littlefield’s allegations.
Based on various revelations Michael Hearns did not find any proof on populist allegory associated with the wizard of OZ. However, political issues arose and people could not believe it since they liked the story with passion because of its fascinating nature. This was soon followed by the post-mortem of the symbolic interpretation of Baum’s work. Baum’s literature was full of imageries and evocative plots which could easily be mistaken for anything including populist allegory. The judgment seemed final, in one of the most charming fictional puzzles of the 20th century. The wizard of OZ was not concluded to be a populist allegory plot but according to parker, he believes the books can (5).
Conclusion
The wizard of OZ is a very charming children’s literature written by L. Frank Baum. The story has interesting characters and images which help in capturing the attention of young readers. The coloring of the book is done in a way that it can catch the attention of the children. The book became one of the most captivating children’s literature in the United States. The author sold out many companies and got good financial returns which boosted both his economic and social life. Although the author had the intention of narrating the story to the children, his literature received a lot of critics from other scholars. According to the character and images used in the story, Littlefield thought that the story was a populist allegory. This was supported by the fact that Baum was a journalist and he had written about the political event of late1890 and early 1896. In trying to find the truth about Littlefield allegations Michael Hearns discounted and concluded that the story had nothing like political allegory. However, the characters and images used in the story can suggest anything about the book. The story has a high level of creativity since all the imagery and character can be related to the current political events. For example, the silver and gold are to symbolize money and the lion represents Bryan who bid for the presidency position but was defeated by McKinley. Bryan was authoritative and also roared at people like a lion. Generally, the wizard of OZ has been developed in a way that draws the reader’s attention to read especially the children.
Reference
Algeo, J, Oz and Kansas: A Theosophical Quest, 1986. Web.
Baum, LF, Denslow WW & Barbarese, JT,The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Barnes & Noble Classics Series, 2005, Web.
Gafly, G, The Wizard of Oz: a magical tale for readers of all ages, 2008. Web.
Harmetz, A, The Making of the Wizard of Oz: Movie Magic and Studio Power in the Prime of MGM — and the Miracle of Production #1060, New York, Delta edition, 1989.
Maymay, The “Yellow Brick Road” as Spiritual Journey, 2008, Web.
Rogers, KM, & Baum, Creator of Oz: A Biography. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
Swartz, ME, Oz before the rainbow: L. Frank Baum’s The wonderful Wizard of Oz on stage and screen to 1939 / Mark Evan Swartz. 0801864771 series Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, 239-58. 2010.
Taylor QP, Money and Politics in the Land of Oz, 2005, Web.