In a period of despair and depression one gleam of light shone through the midst of darkness, Frank Baum’s classic work of fiction, The Wizard of Oz. In 1900, The Wizard of Oz was published. The late nineteenth century was hard on the average American worker, especially farmers. Droughts, tariffs and deflation forced farmers in an economic depression. They relied on railroads to transport their goods to the north, so the railroad companies took advantage of this and raised the prices. Not only that, but the government put high taxes and tariffs on their products. Farmers lost money. Frank Baum struggled too; The Wizard of Oz was his way of escaping the dark times. He wanted to produce happier fairy tale and make a new genre for children and young adults; writing The Wizard of Oz was his way of doing so. Baum wrote the novel during a time called the Populist Movement and many believe this influenced the plot. In a short time The Wizard of Oz flew off the shelves and spread quickly throughout America. The Library of Congress, the official library of the United States, recognized his achievement and that is why for years the novel has been selected for “The Books That Shaped America”, a list of books selected across the country by the Library of Congress. Frank Baum captured the hearts of the young and the old with The Wizard of Oz, yet what was supposed to be the new “sweet fairytale” turned into a controversial political scandal, making it an immensely popular, inspiring writers and young literature enthusiasts to produce similar works.
Baum’s aspiration was create a new type of fairy tale called a “Wonder Tale”; given that the book was published in the midst of an economic struggle, its optimism and inspiration made it stand out....
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Frank Baums, The Wizard of Oz is arguably one of the most popular films made. Even though it was released in 1939, nearly three-quarters of a century ago, the film continues to entertain audiences and speak to them in a personal way. The question that comes to the mind when analyzing this film is: What is it about this film that gives it such timelessness? When reflecting on the film’s timeless qualities, it seems clear the plot is one of the things that enable it to maintain its relevance. Primarily, the plot of The Wizard of Oz is timeless because it is such an excellent example of the heroic journey, both in literally and cinematically. This journey of self-awareness is a metaphor for growth, which is something we all search to discover at some time in our lives.
L. Frank Baum shared an imaginary tale to the world when she wrote the “The Wonderful Land of Oz”. His passion and reasoning for writing this story was “written solely to pleasure the children of today”. Although not everyone agreed with this reason and thought otherwise. Quentin P. Taylor believed the “The Wonderful land of Oz” was a political symbolism and even thought that it was a populist allegory. Taylor accused the author of this imaginary tale that he was putting hidden messages or meaning in his story. Not only was Taylor accusing Mr. Baum of these actions but used different examples to prove his point. The biggest and most iconic example was the shoes Dorothy wore. In the movie “The Wizard of Oz” Dorothy wore shiny red ruby slippers but in Baum story Dorothy wears a pair of silver slippers. Taylor believe that not only was the slippers an issue but the yellow brick road with attaching the silver slippers was an Populist platform in which it demanded “ free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver”.
Baum was very close with his mother-in-law, who was an influential suffragist who had worked with woman such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Baum had also been the secretary of his local women’s suffrage club. Knowing this some would say that some feminism aspects had found its way into the story of The Wizard of Oz, the men in this story have no real power and are lacking some sort of aspects such as a heart, brain, courage. Though, the woman such as Dorothy and the witches have great power and are not lacking in any
Lions and tigers and politics oh my? The Wonderful Wizard of OZ written by L. Frank Baum has become an American classic since 1900 with its simple good hearted storyline, but enough parallels have been found within the written text linking it to politics that suggests otherwise. Baum claims to have written the story solely for the pleasure of children and that he could never have imagined the impact it would have on the public. When the text was adapted to film nearly 40 years later, it became an instant block buster and captured the hearts of the movie going public. It remains an American favorite today thanks to its charismatic actors, dazzling colors, and unforgettable music. But The Wizard of Oz is not the simple tale it alludes to, under its façade of charm lies hidden themes and motifs filled with political symbolism referring to the Populist Party.
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During the 19th and 20th century, America became a massive super power of cultural abundance and productivity. As William Leach states in his work The Land of Desire and the Culture of Consumer Capitalism, “the cardinal features of this culture were acquisition and consumption as the means of achieving happiness; the cult of the new; the democratization of desire; and money value as the predominant measure of all value in society” (Leach page 3). With the rise of consumption, Americans would begin to spend their few open hours entering dream worlds of fantasy and enchantment to suppress the bland monotonous confines and shackles of the new modern society. One work of unimaginable enticement that catapulted Americans deep into the realm of imagination and wonder was the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The Wizard of Oz appears to be a magnificent tale about the quest for one’s identity and purpose in a world of ideological liberation and self-expression. However, if one unveils the ubiquitous layer of fantasy ornamented in the story, the mechanisms of capitalism reveal themselves. Furth...
Starting in the 1870’s - 1880’s the United States experienced a depression that cut the prices of agricultural related good and led to the eviction of many farmers. Since farmers were at the bottom of the totem pole socioeconomically they were faced with high railroad fees and unsurmountable debt due to the fact that they had to take out loans to be pay for their crop harvesting and planting. This was partially due to the sharecropping system which would ignite a system of perpetual debt for poor farmers. Ultimately, the farmers would rise up and unite to what would be known as a populist movement; in retribution to what they claimed was the source of their problems. These events and time period heavily influenced Lyman Frank Baum in regards to the production and underlying political message in the Wizard of Oz. Author Henry Littlefield of “The Wizard of Oz: Parable of Populism” makes a compelling argument that indeed The Wizard of Oz was a political work, this can be linked to the many different life experiences of Baum that are mentioned throughout the article. Littlefield introduces the reader to whom Baum was during the first two pages, it becomes apparent that Baum views start to change as the Populist movement grows in strength and becomes accustomed to South Dakota frontier, once he moved there. It is stated in the article “The stark reality of the dry, open plains the acceptance of man’s Darwinian subservience to his environment served to crush Romantic idealism.”(Culmsee) Baum romantic view of benign nature had disappeared. The way Baum described where he lived and nature would serve as an allegory for the where Dorothy lived in The Wizard of Oz. “When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing ...
In The Wizard of Oz (1939), Dorothy and her friends journey to the Emerald City in seek of Oz – the great and powerful wizard. Upon finally reaching him, Dorothy’s dog opens a curtain to reveal that the Wizard is merely an ordinary man speaking into a microphone while using various knobs and levers to create a smoke-and-mirrors effect. In many ways this story is similar to the creation and interpretation of religion by individuals within society.
In conclusion, the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz Dorothy Gale, is initially unsatisfied with her life on her Aunt and Uncle’s farm and dreams of a foreign land over the rainbow, where there are no worries or disasters. Although as the story progresses, Victor Fleming incorporates a wide range of
J.R.R. Tolkien's concept of too much power is summed up by Lord Acton when he once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." In Tolkien's first book of his fantasy based trilogy, Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Rings tells a story of a quest to destroy a powerful ring throughout Tolkien's created "Middle Earth". This quest was headed by a "Hobbit" named Frodo Baggins who, in the end, becomes corrupted by power himself. This corruption begins when Frodo uses his ring to become invisible over and over again to escape certain situations. The quest to destroy the powerful "Ruling Ring" forms the basis for this story.
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The Wizard of Oz was directed by Victor Fleming and was released in 1939. The movie is about Dorothy Gale, a young girl living on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothy gets into some trouble with her neighbor, Miss Gulch, but everyone else on the farm is too busy to pay attention to her. Miss Gulch arrives with the sheriff to take away Dorothy’s dog Toto, because he bit her leg. Toto escapes the sheriff and Dorothy decides to run away with Toto. She meets a fortune teller who makes her, falsely, believe that Aunt Em is ill. So she runs home straight away, but as she gets there a tornado starts coming up. Not being able to get into the cellar, she is knocked out by flying debris and awakens to the house being carried away by the twister. The house lands in the World of Oz in Munchkin Land. Dorothy is greeted by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, and the Munchkins. Dorothy is treated like a heroine because she killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda transfers the witch’s ruby slippers to Dorothy’s feet, and the Wicked Witch of the West swears revenge on her. Dorothy is told to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and talk to the Wizard of Oz to get her back home. On the way, she befriends the brainless Scarecrow, the heartless Tin Man, and the cowardly Lion. They get into some trouble, along the way, but they get to the Wizard. He said that he wouldn’t help unless they return with the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West. After a lot of danger and the kidnapping of Dorothy, her new friends save her and Dorothy kills the evil witch. The witch’s guards rejoice and give Dorothy the broom. Back in the Emerald City the Wizard still will not grant the groups wishes and Toto exposes the Wizard to be ...
Sullivan, A., & Steven M., (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey : Pearson Prentice Hal