"The Wizard of Oz" Hidden Meaning

If you were born in Kansas then you have probably seen The Wizard of Oz more than once. However, sometimes people forget that the classic movie is also a book! You may think that the story was made for children. They had a fun little story of witches and flying monkeys, even a scarecrow that talked! But what some don’t see is the real meaning behind all these characters and places like the “Emerald City.”

Dorothy is a girl from Kansas growing up on a farm with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and her little dog Toto, too. One day that seemed to be like the rest in Kansas, a huge cyclone ripped through Dorothy's farm, picking up her house. Dorothy and Toto were the only ones left in the house when the cyclone picked it up, and up it went. When the house finally lands, Dorothy is not in Kansas anymore. In fact, she is in Oz-specifically the land of the Munchkins. At first, Dorothy is happy to be in a place she had never been before, but it doesn’t take long for her to realize that she may not be able to get back to Kansas and her family that she loves. Dorothy is told by the Munchkins and the “Good Witch of the North” to head to the great and powerful “Wizard of Oz” if she ever wanted to get back to Kansas. On her way to Oz, Dorothy runs into some new friends including a talking scarecrow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion.

Lyman Frank Baum is the author of The Wizard Of Oz. Without Baum, we would never know the saying “There is no place like home.” But the question is who is L. Frank Baum? Baum was born in 1856 in what he called the “Burnt Over District” in New York State. Growing up, Baum went to a military academy at age 12 and then went to high school in Syracuse, but he never graduated. In fact he said this about it, “You see, in this country there are a number of youths who do not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for them.” Baum didn’t mind working. In fact, he had many jobs. Some sadly failed until he found his calling. Baum was a natural entertainer. He wrote plays and even ran a theater company for a while. But work was not very steady for Baum. At age 40 Baum threw himself into his writing career and with that, creating The Wizard Of Oz. This was in 1898. When Baum was done with The Wizard Of Oz he framed the worn out pencil that he wrote with.

The Wizard Of Oz is an allegory. An allegory is a story with a deeper hidden meaning. When Baum was asked if the story was more than just a story for kids or had a deeper meaning, he would always deny it. Many people to this day believe that The Wizard of Oz is an allegory about political issues. Now, you see that Baum was a populist, and populists believed that they should be voices of ordinary people. In the 19th century, which was when this book was created, populists mostly focused on “monetary reform as a way to create more equitable economic growth and opportunity, were mainly supported by farmers, small businessmen, and other powerless groups who suffered acutely during the boom-and-bust cycles that plagued the American economy throughout the post-Civil War era.” According to Off The Grid News.

In The Wizard Of Oz everything represents something. The people, the places, and even the “yellow brick road”. “Dorothy” represents your average “hard working Joe” normal person who sees what is happening in politics. The “Cowardly Lion” is William Jennings Bryan who was a populist/ Democrat that ran for president in 1896, 1900, and 1906. He was called a “lion” because he was fiery but was also called a coward because he said he didn’t support going to war with Spain in 1896. The “Scarecrow” represents a farmer and how they really weren’t looked at as smart, the “Tin Man” is an industrial worker who was seen as just a machine, not a person. “The Munchkins” are the people who are very poor and in debt, but have no idea how to make things change. The “Yellow Brick Road” is the gold standard which was a huge political issue at the time. According to Off The Grid News. “with big businessmen generally supporting tight money and the gold standard while reformers favored an enlargement of the money supply through the coinage of silver or the issuance of paper money.” Dorothy's silver shoes represent silver-pretty much just the sense of money and the gold standard. “Wicked Witch of the East” is a Washington politician, a person in Wall Street, and/or a big businessman. “Wicked Witch of the West” are the bankers, railroads, and western industrialists. The “Good Witch of the North” represents a farmer and other people in the heartland. “Glinda, the Good Witch of the South” is a southerner who realized that they were being exploited by their politicians. The “Yellow Winkies” are the Chinese laborers that were abused, “Oz” is like Washington DC. The “Wizard of Oz” is the president of the United States.

If you really read into the Wizard Of Oz, it a very in depth book. The story is a great book that everyone should read. If you read it correctly it tells you so much about our country's past and what we as a nation have been through. It shows you the political view or worldly view the author has.

"Following the Yellow Brick Road: The Real Story Behind 'The Wizard of Oz'"Off The Grid News. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

"Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain." Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

"What Does It All Mean? Scholars Study 'The Wizard of Oz'" Kansascity. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.