The Wizard of Oz: An Allegory of Populism

Allegory and Parable Allegory is a literary device in which characters or events in a literary, visual, or musical art form represent or symbolize ideas and concepts. A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or (sometimes) a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters. It is a type of analogy. The allegory is a more general narrative type, which covers any use of figurative metaphor. Like the allegory, the parable uses metaphor to make its point. But unlike allegory, the parable makes a single, unambiguous point. The allegory may have multiple non-contradictory interpretations, and may also have implications that are ambiguous or hard to interpret.

The Populist Party The People's party, more commonly known as the Populist party, was organized in St. Louis in 1892 to represent the common folk—especially farmers—against the entrenched interests of railroads, bankers, processers, corporations, and the politicians in league with such interests.

William Jennings Bryan The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Chicago, 1900) is a parable about Money Reform and the 1890s Midwestern political movement led by William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925); three times candidate for President of the United States. From 1891-1895 Bryan served in the House of Representatives, where he advocated the coinage of silver at a fixed ratio with gold, in order to break the bankers’ monopoly and manipulation of the gold-backed currency. Bryan and his supporters accused Eastern banks and railroads of oppressing farmers and industrial workers. Bryan believed that a switch to silver-backed currency would make money plentiful. Although correct, Money Reformers today would argue that money need not, and should not, be backed by either silver or gold, but only by the people, their skills, and their resources.

The Silverites The Silverites were members of a political movement in the United States in the late-19th century that advocated that silver should continue to be a monetary standard along with gold, as authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Silverite coalition's famous slogan was "16 to 1" – that is, the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver equal in value to one ounce of gold, a ratio similar to that established in the Coinage Act of 1834. The Silverites advocated free coinage of silver. They wanted to lower the gold standard of the United States to silver, which would have simultaneously allowed more money to be printed and made available to the public and cause inflation. Advocates predicted that if silver were used as the standard of money, they would be able to pay off all of their debt. The debt amount would stay the same but they would have more silver money with which to pay it.

Bimetallism Bimetallism and "Free Silver" were demanded by William Jennings Bryan who took over leadership of the Democratic Party in 1896, as well as the Populist and Silver Republican Parties. The Republican Party nominated William McKinley on a platform supporting the gold standard which was favored by financial interests on the East Coast. A faction of Republicans from silver mining regions in the West known as the Silver Republicans endorsed Bryan.

Oz Symbolism The Tornado represented the panic of 1893, the worst economic depression the U.S. had seen at the time. Dorothy, hailing from Kansas, represents the common man. The Scarecrow is the farmer who apparently doesn’t have the wit to understand his situation or his political interests. The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker, rusted as solid as the factories shut down in the 1893 depression. The Cowardly Lion is Bryan himself; who had a loud roar but little political power.

Oz Symbolism Oz is short for ounce, the measure for gold and silver. The Silver Slippers represent the silver standard. The Yellow Brick Road represents the gold standard, which was the road to power. The Emerald City is Washington D.C., or the fraudulent world of greenback paper money that only pretends to have value.

Oz Symbolism The Munchkins represent the “little people” or common folk who are overrun by the oppression of the government. The Wicked Witch of the East is Wall Street bankers in NY, led by J.P. Morgan. The Wicked Witch of the West represents the wealthy railroad and oil barons of the American West The Good Witch of the North - Bryan’s Populist supporters in the North and Northwest. The South and North largely supported Bryan in his Presidential campaign. The Wizard is William McKinley, the President of the United States and political opponent of WJ Bryan

Discussion Questions What is the message’s value of The Wizard of Oz? (emotional, intellectual, aesthetic) What is the theme of the film? What is the mood? What is the tone? Given the symbolism and allegorical references, what did you learn about the Populist movement?