Transcript The Wizard of Oz - Olean Middle School

The Wizard of Oz
A Parable of the Populist Era
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by
L. Frank Baum

Book was written in
1900 when the
Populist movement
was a relatively
current event in
American politics
The Characters

Dorothy


The Scarecrow


The farmers
The Tin Woodsman


“Every person” with
common sense
Dehumanized labor
The Cowardly Lion

Wm. Jennings Bryan

The Wicked Witch of
the West

The harsh
environment of the
Great Plains

The Wicked Witch of
the East

The eastern
industrialists and
bankers who
controlled the little
people (The
Munchkins)

Toto


The tee totaling
prohibitionists
The Good Witch

The Farmers Alliance
(The Grange)

Dorothy’s Ruby Red
Slippers


Were actually silver
slippers in the book
but in the Technicolor
film, red looked better
than silver
Silver was the
Populists solution to
the nation’s economic
problems

The Wizard

Represents any one of
the Presidents from
the Gilded Age

The Yellow Brick Road


(With all the dangers
along the way)
represented the Gold
Standard
Emerald City

Washington, D.C.

Oz

Is the abbreviation for
ounces, a reference to
the silverites who
supported free silver in
the ratio of 16 oz. of
silver to 1 oz. of gold
And as any Populist would know…
There is no place like home (steading)!
Why did the Populist Party
disappear?



Major political parties adopted ideas of the
Populists – no need for a minor party
Gold discovered in Alaska(1898) – no need for
silver
Better economic times returned for the farmers



Famine in Europe increased demand for American
products
 immigration to US meant more “mouths to feed”
“Golden Age of American Agriculture” (1900-1914)
Importance of the Populist Party


Many Populist suggestions were eventually
adopted into law
Minority group can create change within
the system!!!