The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Interpretations

Baum rejected the idea that his story was an allegory for anything; however, many see it as a political or spiritual allegory. Psychologist Shelden Kopp demonstrated in a 1970 article in Psychology Today that the story has parallels to the processes individuals undergo during psychological therapy; Madonna Kolbenschlag later took up this idea in her non-fiction book Lost in the Land of Oz. In his book The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow, Joey Green explores the parallels between The Wizard of Oz and Zen Buddhism (this is not as far-fetched as it may first seem, as Frank Baum was greatly influenced by his mother-in-law, who took an interest in eastern mysticism). Others have written about parallels between the book and the situation in Europe on the eve of World War II, despite the fact that the book was published nearly 40 years before the war.

Related Topics:
Shelden Kopp - Psychology Today - Madonna Kolbenschlag - Zen Buddhism - Mother-in-law - Europe - World War II

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For additional interpretations, see:

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• Oz as a spiritual allegory
• http://www.turnmeondeadman.net/OZ/Intro.html

The book as a parallel on populism

But the most persistent theory is that Baum's story was written as an allegorical commentary on U.S. politics at the end of the 19th century, notably the Bimetallic system. The seed for this theory was planted in 1963, when a school teacher named Henry Littlefield decided to spice up his history classes by using the characters and events of The Wizard of Oz as metaphors to teach historical concepts. Together with his students, Littlefield drew parallels between historical events and events in the book, and eventually published these parallels in an article in the 1964 American Quarterly magazine. Littlefield never claimed that Baum had purposefully planted these themes in his book, but he did point out that the book was written at about the same time these events were taking place.

Related Topics:
19th century - Bimetallic system - 1963 - Henry Littlefield - 1964

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Over the years, the idea captured the attention of various writers and journalists, and took wing. Several writers expanded upon Littlefield's parallels, and soon the allegory was being printed not only in literary essays but in several economics and history textbooks.

Related Topics:
Economics - History

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For a more detailed history of this debate, see the following external articles:

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• A history of the debate
• David Parker's article "The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a 'Parable on Populism'"; also in the Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians, vol. 15 (1994), pp. 49-63
• Littlefield's 1992 article on the subject
• Collection of material relating to Oz as a political allegory
• The Fable of the Allegory: The Wizard of Oz in Economics, 2002 Review of the above and the academic context from the Journal of Economic Education.

And the book: The Historian's Wizard of Oz - Reading L. Frank Baum's Classic as a Political and Monetary Allegory, edited by Ranjit S. Dighe, Praegur Publishers, Westport, Connecticut 2002.

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An outline of the allegory

Many of the events and characters of the book can be seen to stand for political events and ideas. Even the title has been interpreted as alluding to a political reality: oz. is an abbreviation for ounce, a unit familiar to those who fought for a 16 to 1 ounce ratio of silver to gold in the name of bimetallism.

Related Topics:
Ounce - Silver - Gold - Bimetallism

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The Kansas of the book depicts the hardship of rural life in America at the turn of the 20th century, right after the Panic of 1893. Dorothy is swept away to a fantasy version of America that represents the country's potential. Dorothy's silver slippers (they were changed to ruby only in the film) and their relationship to the yellow brick road represents the potential of a bimetallic, gold-and-silver system to better the US.

Related Topics:
Kansas - Panic of 1893 - Ruby - Yellow brick road

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Other allegorical aspects of the book include:

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• Dorothy, naïve and simple yet sweet at heart, represents the American people.
• Toto, a play on the word teetotalers, represents the Prohibitionists of the era.
• The Wicked Witch of the East represents Eastern money power, the big banks and businesses of the East; her oppression of the Munchkins stands for the oppression of the average American at the hands of these financial forces.
• The Wicked Witch of the West represents Western political influence, particularly the power exerted by the growing railroad industries.
• The Emerald City represents a greenback version of Washington D.C..
• The Scarecrow represents the American farmer—although thought to be unintelligent, he possesses a strong common sense.
• The Tin Man represents the American industrial labor force—as with the erroneous image of the farmer, he is perceived as heartless, but in reality has a strong sense of cooperation and love.
• The Cowardly Lion represents reformers, particularly William Jennings Bryan.
• The Wizard of Oz, like the Wicked Witch of the East, symbolizes the political and economic power that runs the country. Although he has immense power and prestige, in the end he is exposed as a charlatan, more pathetic than awe-inspiring. This depiction is a reflection of Baum's belief that the spirit of America lies in its working classes and their values. Specifically, many see the wizard as representing the President (at the time, William McKinley).
• The poppy fields represent Americans' fear of Asian countries and "the Orient".
• Oz is an abbreviation for "ounces," which was a rallying cry for those reformers in favor of changing to the silver standard.

In addition, a number of developments in later books in the Oz series are sometimes given as further evidence. The primary example of this is in the sixth book in the series, The Emerald City of Oz. In this story, Dorothy's aunt and uncle, who have never financially recovered from the tornado, lose their farm to the bank. Dorothy takes them to live in Oz where, it is explained, there are no poor people because there is no money. All property is effectively owned by the Queen of Oz and distributed fairly, and everyone works autonomously (without "cruel overseers") for the good of the community and in turn the community provides everyone with what they desire.

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In refutation of the allegory

Baum's family and researchers of Oz and Baum have rejected the idea that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was purposefully written as an allegory. When reviewed by those with a greater familiarity with Baum's known political views and his writing style, the idea of an intentional pro-silverite allegory seems highly unlikely.

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• Baum seldom mixed politics into his stories, and when he did, he did not tend to do so subtly. His digs against Standard Oil in The Sea Fairies, for example, are heavy handed to the point of crassness.
• No contemporary reviews of the book alluded to politics. The first time the parallels were drawn was well over 50 years after the events the book supposedly represents.
• Baum's political opinions do not fit neatly with the pro-silverites. Neither was he a classic republican, though there is more evidence to support his republican leanings. In 1890, he bought the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer, a staunchly Republican newspaper. One of his editorials shows his Republican sympathies:

:We are all members of one great family, the family which saved the Union, the family which stands together as the emblem of prosperity among the nations--Republicanism!

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• As for being anti-McKinley, Michael Patrick Hearn, author of The Annotated Wizard of Oz and many important scholarly works on Oz and Baum, unearthed the following poem by Frank Baum, published in a Chicago newspaper in 1896, at the height of populism:

:When McKinley gets the chair, boys,

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:There'll be a jollification

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:Throughout our happy nation

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:And contentment everywhere!

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:Great will be our satisfaction

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:When the "honest money" faction

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:Seats McKinley in the chair!

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:No more the ample crops of grain

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:That in our granaries have lain

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:Will seek a purchaser in vain

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:Or be at mercy of the "bull" or "bear";

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:Our merchants won't be trembling

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:At the silverites' dissembling

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:When McKinley gets the chair!

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:When McKinley gets the chair, boys,

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:The magic word "protection"

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:Will banish all dejection

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:And free the workingman from every care;

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:We will gain the world's respect

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:When it knows our coin's "correct"

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:And McKinley's in the chair!

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If this poem is taken at face value it indicates clear support for McKinley. It is hard to believe Baum would change his politics so drastically by the time he sat down to write The Wizard of Oz, four years later.

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The strongest point in opposition to Littlefield's original essay is that he, himself, later amended it. Following Hearn's publishing of the poem above, Littlefield responded in the New York Times that the poem was proof that "there is no basis in fact to consider Baum a supporter of turn-of-the-century Populist ideology".

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