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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a modernized fairy tale written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was first published in 1900, and has since been reprinted countless times, sometimes under the name The Wizard of Oz. Many scholars have interpreted the book as an allegory or metaphor for the political, economic and social events of America of the 1890s.

Both Baum and Denslow had been actively involved in politics in the 1890s. However, Baum never said that the original story was an allegory for politics, although he did not deny it, either.

Sources of The Wizard of Oz images and ideas

Some scholars have asserted that the images and characters used by Baum and Denslow closely resembled political images that were well known in the 1890s. They believe that Baum and Denslow did not invent the Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Yellow Brick Road, Silver Slippers, cyclone, monkeys, Emerald City, little people, Uncle Henry, passenger balloons, witches and the wizard.

These were all common themes in the editorial cartoons of the previous decade. Baum and Denslow built a story around them, added Dorothy, and added a series of lessons to the effect that everyone possesses the resources they need if only they had self-confidence. Positive thinking was a prevalent trend in this period, and Dorothy ultimately gets herself home. Baum may also have been influenced by the elaborate Christmas displays in Chicago and Saint Louis .

For additional interpretations, see:

Political sources used in The Wizard of Oz
Many of the events and characters of the book resemble the actual political personalities, events and ideas of the 1890s. The 1902 stage adaptation mentioned, by name, President Theodore Roosevelt, oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, and other political celebrities. (No one is mentioned by name in the book.) 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, though Baum stated he got the name from a file cabinet labeled A-N and O-Z.

The book opens not in an imaginary place but in real life Kansas, which in the 1890s was well-known for the hardships of rural life, and for destructive cyclones. The Panic of 1893 caused widespread distress in rural America. Dorothy is swept away to a colorful land of unlimited resources that nevertheless has serious political problems. This utopia is ruled in part by people designated as Wicked. Dorothy and her cyclone kill the Wicked Witch of the East. The Witch had previously controlled the all-powerful silver slippers (which were changed to ruby in the 1939 film). The Wicked Witch of the West tries to seize the silver slippers, but cannot because they are already on Dorothy's feet. The slippers will in the end liberate Dorothy but first she must traverse the golden yellow brick road, perhaps the most dangerous route in American literature. Following the road of gold leads eventually only to the Emerald City, which may symbolize the fraudulent world of greenback paper money that only pretends to have value. Other allegorical sources of the book include:

  • Dorothy, naïve, young and simple, represents the American people. She is Everyman, led astray and who seeks the way back home. She resembles the young hero of Coin's financial school, a very popular political pamphlet of 1893. Another interpretation holds that she is a representation of Theodore Roosevelt: note that the syllables "Dor-o-thy" are the reverse of the syllables "The-o-dore."

  • The cyclone was used in the 1890s as a metaphor for a political revolution that will transform the drab country into a land of color and unlimited prosperity. The cyclone was used by editorial cartoonists of the 1890s to represent political upheaval.

  • Historians and economists who read the original 1900 book as a political allegory interpret the Tin Woodman as the dehumanized industrial worker, badly mistreated by the Wicked Witch of the East who rules Munchkin Country before the cyclone creates a political revolution and kills her. The Woodman is rusted and helpless—ineffective until he starts to work together with the Scarecrow (the farmer), in a Farmer-Labor coalition that was much discussed in the 1890s.

  • The Munchkins are the little people — ordinary citizens. This 1897 Judge cartoon shows famous politicians as little people after they were on the losing side in the election. However, in Oz the Munchkins are all dressed similarly in blue, unlike these caricatures.

Additional sources
  • The Tin Man was a common feature in political cartoons and in advertisements in the 1890s. Indeed, he had been part of European folk art for 300 years.

  • The oil needed by the Tin Woodman had a political dimension at the time because Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company stood accused of being a monopoly (and in fact was later found guilty by the Supreme Court.) In the 1902 stage adaptation the Tin Woodman wonders what he would do if he ran out of oil. "You wouldn't be as badly off as John D. Rockefeller," the Scarecrow responds, "He'd lose six thousand dollars a minute if that happened." (Swartz, Oz p 34).
  • The lion that Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin-Man encounter in the enchanted forest may be a reference to William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic candidate for president in 1896. Bryan was described as having a great roar with no bite due to his opposition to the Spanish-American war.
  • The wicked witch of the east could be a reference to bankers and brokers on Wall Street; Baum's depiction of them is that they were ruthless, savage capitalists whose sole interest was disown the yeomanry of their land. In turn, the wicked witch of the west may be a reference to the west-coast counterpart or (as was more likely the case) the consistent drought that plagued land out west in the 1890s, since all that is needed to quell her is water. The good witches of the south and north likely represent the southern and northern electoral mandate; that is, Baum's desire to see the agrarian south and the industrial north vote in harmony (i.e. for William Jennings Bryan) and drive out President William McKinley.

    • In 1900 by far the most famous farmer in America was Henry Wallace, editor of the leading farm magazine. Everyone called him "Uncle Henry."
    • Aunt Em is a matter of some dispute. Baum did have an Aunt M, Matilda Joslyn Gage, who was a leader of the woman suffrage movement, but nothing about the book's character suggests suffrage interests.
    • The Emerald City looks like a greenback version of the national capital, and is modeled after the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, officially named World's Columbian Exposition, which dazzled millions as "The Great White City." It is "emerald" only because those in it wear green glasses and hence think it is made of a green jewel; just as paper greenbacks have value only because people pretend that it has value. The poppies which surround the Emerald City are likely a reference to the opium poppies and the Boxer rebellion of 1899.

    • Cartoons often portrayed leading politicians as lions. Perhaps the Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan; people asked in early 1900, when the book was written, if he had the courage to oppose the McKinley Administration.

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

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