Wizard Of Oz Color Analysis

Throughout the course of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum implements the use of colors in order to give the readers a sense of urgency whether it symbolizes the danger of the situation which Dorothy and her group are facing or it simply represents the different people in the land of Oz, as they are all very different. Color also plays an important part in both the setting and tone of the story. From the very beginning L. Frank Baum uses colors to highlight the sharp contrast between the land of Oz and Kansas he does so by describing Kansas as a dull, and life less gray place as opposed to the vibrant and colorful Oz, not only did he highlight physical changes but by describing these two very different places the author also manages

to shift the tone of the novel. Colors are used throughout the novel for a variety of reasons from, being used to represent a shift and tone, as well as to symbolize an idea or characteristic, to finally representing the emotional and internal shifts of Dorothy and her group .

When the story first starts L. Frank Baum describes Kansas as a very Bleak place to the point where he describes it as such a joy sucking abyss, and he uses aunt Em as the example as when she first arrived she was a cheerful happy young bride but is later shocked by the cries of joy from a young Dorothy. Not only does he use colors he to set the tone for the setting in Kansas but also uses color to set up Dorothy as a point of joy and happiness no matter the setting. He does so by saying that Dorothy was always happy playing with her little black dog, Toto. Normally the color of the dog does not affect the dog but by making the dog black, the only color that absorbs all else, he sets up Toto as the guardian of Dorothy's happiness and by Dorothy having someone to nullify the dullness of the gray Kansas she becomes the symbol of hope in even the worst of situations. When Dorothy first arrives to Oz she is shocked to see all of the new and different colors. As she passes through different parts of Oz the colors change. When she first starts her journey she is in the land of the munchkins and their color is blue and she must follow the yellow brick road to reach the Emerald city, blue and yellow represent stability, kindness and illumination. Though as Dorothy and her group start to get closer to the Emerald city the colors change from the safety and stability of the blue to the all encompassing darkness of the forest where new dangers lie.

Just as the color of the territory surrounding Dorothy changes so does the color of the different people of Oz.

In her travels Dorothy meets the green people of Emerald city, the yellow winkies, and the blue munchkins. Each of the three different types of people reacted to Dorothy and her people differently, the munchkins were warm and welcoming, the people of Emerald city were cautious and courteous and the yellow winkies were curious and helpful. The distinction in color was made because each color represented a defining characteristic, the people of Emerald city represented greed as they were not only green, the color of money, but they were also heavily isolated from the rest of the people of Oz; the people of Emerald city lived in the richest city as seen with the jewels that surrounded the houses as such they did not openly welcome strangers nor did they treat them kindly a sign of disdain for outsiders, they represented the higher class in society, or the richest class. The yellow winkies represented hard workers, and the working to lower class as they were not only very skilled at every craft but their enslavement to the much more powerful which represented the constant oppression of the less powerful, or poorer class in society. The blue munchkins represented the middle class, not necessarily know for wealth or for being poor, they are kind and strive to be successful as seen with Boq one of the richest munchkins. Each of the different people of Oz and

their color had a defining characteristic and represented a social class and their location in the world of Oz as well as the way they lived prior to the arrival of Dorothy represented this.

One of the first colors to be used in the novel as a representation of something was the color black, and it was first used with Toto and he represented Dorothy's happiness, he was the only source of joy that allowed Dorothy to maintain herself as the center of hope in the novel. Though as the novel progressed the color black no longer represented something good but instead it represented a hidden danger and the possibility of death as shown with the thick forest. This was the first sign of the corruption that happens the closer someone gets to the Emerald city. All colors that were presented as something good lost not only their color but also the meaning that they stood for, the blue of the munchkin territory which represented kindness slowly grew darker until it became pitch black and the kindness that was once represented was now replaced by hostility of the great forest. The Emerald city's immediate surrounding were filled with danger and multiple representations of death, from the dark forest to the eternal slumber of the red poppies. Which is the opposite of what the greatest city in Oz was supposed to be, many people though the Emerald city to be the greatest place in all of Oz and the journey to it represented the corruption of the land and people when faced with the great green Emerald city, green is the color of money and commonly associated with greed the lands that surround the emerald city are filled with danger which means if any of the people of Oz wish to arrive to the best place in Oz must in a sense become corrupted with greed. This was shown with Dorothy, as when she arrived in the Emerald city all she could see was the green of greed, or self interest, the same goes for the rest of the members of the group each one survived the journey but were corrupted all were sad at finding out that the person who met Oz before them had been denied their wish but stated that it only really mattered if their wish was granted. When Oz tells them the condition which they must meet in order to have their wish granted they are all bonded with a common goal, to not only have their own wish granted but the wish of everyone in the entire group, in a sense they are reborn by leaving behind their greed and purifying the corruption they had sustained on their journey which is why Dorothy left the Emerald city wearing a white dress, as white is commonly used to represent purity, and not the green dress of greed.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was filled with many different colors, each color hat was mentioned by L.

Frank Baum had a specific purpose, some were used to set up the tone and setting for different parts of the novel such as the colors used to describe Kansas and Oz. Colors were also used to represent the different people in Oz, not everyone in Oz were alike and were different from the way they acted, lived or the characteristic which defined them. This use of color also helped to set up an underlying theme of corruption and greed represented by the journey and the group of travelers headed up by Dorothy, who when she reaches Oz is driven by self interest as opposed to later when she wants to make sure that everyone benefits from the death of the wicked witch. Finally colors where used as representation of ideas from representing joy, death, and danger, whenever a color was used to describe something it represented that character or setting tying together the underlying themes of greed, corruption and social

disparities.