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Wizard of oz symbolism list
Symbolism in The Wonderful Wizard of OZ
Symbolism in The Wonderful Wizard of OZ
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L. Frank Baum uses many colors throughout the novel The wizard of Oz, colors have a role and are symbolic in the novel. Glinda the good witch is symbolized as the United States.The land of Oz is divided into colors and regions. There is a symbolic representation of money used the the novel. Dorthory's home in Kanas is symbolic by the color grey symboling oldness. The colors of the wicked witches are also symbolic. Color is used in the novel to symbolize different things. First, in the start of the novel Glinda, who is a good witch, is represented in the colors of the U.S. flag. Glinda has rich red hair, bright blue eyes, and a pure white dress, red, white, and blue which is symbolic the the United States as it represents the …show more content…
Each country or region has it's own distinctive color. The way the colors are arranged are also very important. The change from one region to another follows the principles of color theory. Each of the three major countries visited by Dorthory and her friends in the Wizard of Oz has a primary color. Dorothy and her companions do not journey directly from one primary color to another. Instead their path passes through a secondary color. To get to the West, they go through the green countryside around the Emerald City. They also traverse from the Winkie Country to Glinda’s Castle in the red South, which in the mixing of green and red forms the color …show more content…
Lastly, there is even symbolism in the colors of the Wicked Witchs. The black in the Wicked Witch’s clothes represents the evil nature they have. While the red in her hourglass symbolizes danger, her anger, and Dorothy’s impending doom. The green complexion the the witches has represents her jealousy, both of Dorothy and the silver slippers. The witches castle is dark with the only color red other than grey represents the evilness of that part of land. L. Frank Baum uses many colors throughout the novel The wizard of Oz, colors have a role and are symbolic in the novel. Glinda the good witch is symbolized as the United States.The land of Oz is divided into colors and regions. There is a symbolic representation of money used the the novel. Dorthory's home in Kanas is symbolic by the color grey symboling oldness. The colors of the wicked witches are also symbolic. Color is used in the novel to symbolize different meanings and uses the theory of color
Frank Baum accurately presented ideas of occult symbolism in The Wizard of Oz, through aspects of illumination, enlightenment, and self-realization. This was accomplished by depicting multiple characters’ desires and needs, and others as guides to enlightenment. Baum would agree with the quote above, saying that The Wizard of Oz does focus on occult symbolism, and a journey to self-understanding. Everything one has experienced in life leads to self-realization and further, wisdom. Furthermore, the quote “Real power, for good or ill, lies with the women” (DATABASE) states that women have power as much as men do. The young heroine displays this by saving her male companions along her journey and completing her
The story ( The Wonder World of OZ ) written by Frank Baum is filled with symbolism. Symbolism a style of writing using symbols and indirect suggestion to express ideas, emotions, people etc. The story gives a lot of symbols relating to the gilded age in American history which took place from 1880– 1900. The main symbols are: Dorothy, the Land of Oz, lion, Emerald City, flying monkeys.
L. Frank Baum achieved a fairy tale classic in his work of The Wizard of Oz. In the story, colors are used repeatedly to directly or indirectly give feeling and meaning to the setting.Color is a crucial imagery factor in a piece of writing. It lets a reader connect and use their imagination to make the words come alive in their heads. Baum specifically uses the colors; gray, yellow, and green. The novel is filled with many mood changes using these colors.
Therefore, they have no brains just like the Scarecrow. Additionally, theses events in America’s history are also symbolized through each of the characters. The Wicked Witch of the East represents the eastern industrialists and businessmen. Just like the Wicked Witch of the East imprisoned the munchkins, the eastern industrialists and businessmen imprisoned the common people by controlling the monetary system. The Scarecrow, whom is in search for a brain, was the symbol of the inexperienced western farmers. The Tin Man, who was in search for a heart, symbolizes the dehumanized industrial worker. The industrial workers suffered so much for a long time, they no longer cared about what was happening to them, and they felt powerless to stop it. The Cowardly Lion, who symbolized Williams Jennings Bryan, the presidential candidate who supported the silver movement, was in search for courage. Similar to the Cowardly Lion, Bryan needed to pursue his belief in supporting the common people. The Yellow Brick Road and its dangers stood for the gold standard. In contrast, the red slippers, originally sliver in the novel, symbolized the sliver movement. Silver stood as the answer to the Populists to help the common people. The Emerald City symbolized Washington D.C., with the Wizard as William
Frank L. Baum begins The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Kansas, a land devoid of color and life, to show Dorothy’s dismal world. Her Aunt Em, who had once been a beautiful woman, has become as colorless as the gray and dried vegetation on her farm. When Dorothy is caught in a cyclone, she is transported to a colorful and lively world, but she desperately tries to return to the colorless farm. Inherently Dorothy knows that home is where one’s loved ones live not some beautiful illusion. However, on her journey home Dorothy becomes enticed by the illusion of the prosperous Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy, along with the friends who join her, willingly follow the Great and Terrible Wizard rather than looking within themselves to find their
...s. The Scarecrow represents farmers, agricultural workers, ignorant of many city things but honest and able to understand things with a little education. The Tin Man, He represents the industrial worker whose heart has been torn out by the evils of factory work and industrialism. W.J. Bryan embodied the role of the cowardly lion. Bryan was a very loud and booming public speaker but was viewed as a coward because he did not support the Spanish-American war. OZ is the US. The emerald city is Washington D.C. filled with greenbacks and the wizard is the president. Dorothy and her “party” follow the yellow brick way, or gold standard, to find the wizard and fix her problem. When all along they way to fix her problem of how to get back home was to tap her ruby red shoes which were silver thus in the original book thus representing the Populists push for a silver standard.
Throughout history, colors have been used as symbols in literature. When people see or hear certain colors, they automatically associate them with symbols and feelings. For example, red is love, blue is sadness, and purple is royalty. Many of these symbols are universal. You could go anywhere in the world and ask someone how yellow makes them feel, and they would say happy. Some great examples of color symbolism are in the novel The Great Gatsby. Well-known symbols as well as new meanings are used to enrich the story. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, he used the colors gold, white, green and blue to symbolize deeper meanings.
The first major connection in The Wizard of Oz was the Scarecrow. The scarecrow was used to symbolize the farmers and their struggles in America in the 18th century (Foner, Eric 636-640). The scarecrow made of straw was vulnerable with no brain. The scarecrow had little control over the circumstances he was facing just as the farmers did in the 18th century. The western farmers had issues with overproduction and when prices fell farmers suffered ended up losing their farms (Foner, Eric
In the beginning of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is living in Kansas with her Aunt and Uncle, and her small dog, Toto. Everything is described in shades of black and white and very gray and boring, stretching as far as she can see with no trees or other houses. Even her Aunt and Uncle are described as if they’ve lost their color and are gray. This literal description of the
... The final symbolism is the dead children. The dead children are shown in many ways throughout the play. For example, when the witches throw into the cauldron a finger of a birth strangled babe. This shows the evilness of parents for their children that would kill their babies.
Many locations are also colored very differently to other. It becomes clear to the reader that L. Frank Baum is attempting to convey the more grandeur points of cultural, regional and racial diversity in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In conclusion, Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz reveals a variety of real-life aspects through the color symbology. Color is used to represent both race and creed while more generally symbolizing diversity. The population of Oz is culturally, regionally and racially diverse.
He would have been a young child during the American Civil War, and the freedom of African Americans was still important to him at age 44 when he wrote this tale. The color blue represents the feeling of kindness and care-giving and being thankful toward this girl who freed them yet is a stranger herself. Blue was a good choice for the first happy scene of the story because it was depressing that Dorothy was an orphan and separated from her two caregivers by a
Red ruby slippers. Green emerald city. Yellow brick road. These are just of the few iconic colors that bring to life The Wizard of Oz film. But before color even gets introduced, we see Dorothy in a monotone world of black and white with a sepia toned film. Set in the middle of Kansas, the viewer gets a sense of boredom and bareness. It seems as if the only people in that whole state are Dorothy, her immediate family and the farmhands! However, after her house gets lifted up and redeposited, she opens the door to a world of Technicolor. Your eyes are shocked as the screen is filled with various bright colors. The colors of Munchkin Land symbolize a vibrant, surreal, dreamlike adventure. It creates moods of happiness and security for the viewer as we are transported back to a world we know; color. In his article Color and Storytelling in Films, Robert Mills says, “Kansas is described as grey and lifeless whilst
The colors in the hat are extremely significant. Its purple velvet flap creates the image of royalty, and the rest of it, green, represents money. This is the only time that green is mentioned in the story, for money is not something that they have, which even the mother cannot dispute. In addition to the hat, the sky of their once “fashionable” neighborhood is the color of “a dying violet,” and the house...
Whether the color being symbolized contradicts their lifestyle or correlatively fits the characters lifestyle. After reading Tenesse Williams's literature we can conclude he uses the symbolism of color to emphasize certain atmospheres and characteristic features of places or things in his literature. The author also uses color in objects in his literature as well to symbolize their meaning in the story. By doing so he contrasts the characters personal traits and lifestyles. Which creates a more clear and better visual for the reader. The characters being symbolized by color is what the author thought fit that specific character. Therefore we can conclude in literature symbolism takes form of a figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another meaning other than its literal