Wizard Of Oz Parable On Populism

769 Words4 Pages
The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism starts off with Henry M. Littlefield talking about how Winston Churchill felt a sense of nostalgia when he ever heard a song from the wizard of oz. The nostalgia was most likely cause by what happened in North Africa in 1941 when Australian brigades would sing the song as its battle cry, which reminded Churchill of the buoyant days. Littlefield then goes on to explain the history of the Wizard Of Oz. Lyman Frank Baum wrote the Wizard Of Oz in 1900 the book received national acclaim with several musicals and plays based on the book. Scholars such as Martin Gardiner and Russell Nye really appreciated the Oz tale and, much like thousands of other fans, they wanted to see a sequel to the first book. Even…show more content…
Mainly because William Bryan was too afraid to promote most of the populist platform although his speeches were rather powerful in there own right. The tin man in the Wizard Of Oz is supposed to symbolize the eastern worker. In the story, the tin man was found rusted up and immobile and according to Littlefield that was the same the depression that went on in the 1890s where factories started closing down and left hundreds of workers were living on the streets unemployed. The scarecrow represented the common Midwestern farmer, very smart but equally gullible. Usually looked down upon and made fun of. Which is a fair comparison because many farmers in the early 1900s made great efforts in producing an abundance amount of crops but were taken advantage of by the common businessman most the time. Emerald City symbolized Washington DC and in the book Dorothy asks what a balloonist is and scarecrow tell her that its someone that goes up in a balloon and draw a crowd to pay for the circus show and that person symbolizes William McKinley. The Wizard of Oz could have also symbolized William McKinley because McKinley and the Wizard of Oz were both at the end common men with superior identities. The wicked witch of the East represented the bank bosses of time. Banker Bosses controlled manufacturing and business with the use of trusts and directorates. The common child worker suffered the most from the profits the banker bosses were making, which is why the munchkins that worked for the witch symbolized the child work force. The wicked witch of the west represented Railroad Barron because in the same way the witch did away with tin man and the scarecrow, railroad barons controlled farmers shipping expenses and took advantage the warnings of railroad workers. The cool thing about the witches is that the witches from the east and west were considered the bad ones and the ones from the north and south were good, they
Open Document