Oz_Parable_on_Populism

March 9, 2010 Parable on Populism Dorothy Dorothy represents the common man who encounters a real problem. She is not precious, instead she is good. She puts others before herself, a natural talent. Even though the Landof Oz appears to be more appealing and easy-going than life in Kansas, she still wants to go home. She symbolizes the innocent factor in the big issue on silver, yet she doesn’t comprehend the worth, power, and significance the silver holds. The character Dorothy proposes how the silver industry can have a person live in delusion. She never once is far from reality, but it takes her a while to figure out how to get back to reality. Silver Shoes The shoes represent the silver industry. It was portrayed as the road to success and money, but the delusion that attracted people could not be delegated as a political symbol. Instead the silver shoes generate delusion and create heartbreak. The silver shoes show the meaning of goodness and how it protects against evil. They possess ignorance of their capabilities to allow evil to enforce itself upon them. After all it was the silver slippers that allowed Dorothy to get home, back to her land of happiness. But the silver slippers were lost forever. The Scarecrow The scarecrow represents the people that William Allen White wrote about in his article in 1896. He said that people who farm and live in Kansas are filled with ignorance, irrationality, and general muded-headness. But, when the end came, the scarecrow was the one who is left to rule Oz, similar to the farmers who took control and ruled the West. His conduct on the journey through Oz is marked by common sense, spirit, and morality. He is not so dumb after all. As we learn near the end of the story, the Scarecrow-cum-farmer had brains all along-perhaps brains enough to grasp the true causes of his misery and the basics of economic policy. On the trek through the forest, where the road is in bad shape, the Scarecrow stumbles and falls on the "hard [yellow] bricks," an allusion to the Populist claim that the gold standard had a damaging impact on farmers and the people at large. Still, the Scarecrow is "never hurt" by his falls, which suggests that the yellow metal was not the real reason of the farmer's woes. Tin Man The tin man represents the condition of many Eastern workers after the depression of 1893. Once healthy and productive, the Woodman was cursed by the wicked Witch of the East, lost his dexterity, and accidentally hacked off his limbs. Each lost appendage was replaced with tin until the Woodman was made entirely of metal. In essence, the Witch of the East (big business) reduced the Woodman to a machine, a dehumanized worker who no longer feels, who has no heart. As such, the Tin Man represents the nation's workers, in particular the industrial workers with whom the Populists hoped to make common cause. His rusted condition parallels the prostrated condition of labor during the depression of 1890s; like many workers of that period, the Tin Man is unemployed. Yet, with a few drops of oil, he is able to resume his customary labors-a remedy akin to the "pump-priming" measures that Populists advocated. The Lion The Wizard of Oz The Flying Monkeys The Munchkins The Yellow Brick Road