Allegory
A story in which characters, settings, and events stand in for other people, events, or abstract ideas, or qualities. An allegory can be read on one level for its LITERAL meaning, and on another level for its ALLEGORICAL, or SYMBOLIC meaning.
Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a political allegory of America in the 1890’s?
UNMASKING THE WIZARD OF OZ
Henry Littlefield was the first author to posit this notion in his article “The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism”
But first, a little background on The Wizard of Oz…
L. Frank BaumThe Author of The Wizard of Oz
Wrote The Wizard of Oz in 1900.
Activist in American Populist movement
Political views may have influenced writing
Had a special interest in the gold and silver monetary standards debate of the time.
What is Populism?
Populists in late nineteenth century
America wanted to help the common people
They advocated measures that would help
farmers and laborers
They supported the free coinage of silver
The Populist symbolism in the Wizard of Oz can be found in…
•Settings
•Key Objects
•Characters
KANSAS IN THE LATE 1800s
Farmer discontent and Populist politics were
concentrated in Kansas
Suffering from a drought—many farmers
going through hard times
Farmers wanted the free coinage of silver to
help them out of debt
Dorothy
• Naïve, young, and simple.
• Represents the American people, led astray and seeking her way back
home.
• Dorothy wants out— “Somewhere Over the
Rainbow”
THE SCARECROW
Represents farmers
Farmers thought to be ignorant—looking for a brain
Shows common sense throughout the story—has always had a brain
Shows belief that farmers were not as ignorant as wealthy people thought
THE COWARDLY LION
•Represents William Jennings Bryan—Populist leader
•Looking for courage—Bryan thought to be a coward by some
•Possessed courage all along
THE TIN MAN
•Industrial workers
•Wants a heart—dehumanized
•Physically strong, hollow inside
•Stuck when they found him—workers felt trapped in an economic rut
•Needs oil to operate, shuts down when oil production shuts down.
THE EMERALD CITY
•Main political city of Oz
•Symbolizes the national capital, as well as paper money
CYCLONE
•Cyclones used in many Populist political cartoons
•Serves as a metaphor for a policial upheaval that would transform the country into a land of color and unlimited prosperity.
The Ruby (Silver) Slippers
•Originally silver
•Changed to ruby because of color technology
•Symbolize the power of the silver movement
Silver is measured in ouncesBright and colorful “Oz”= ounce
Oz
The Yellow Brick Road
Represents the gold standard.
Journey on this road is a false undertaking that will not solve our problems.
WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST
Stands for wealthy people of the East favoring gold currency
Symbolic of big businesses and corporations who also wanted gold standard
Dorothy kills her—defeats people who wanted gold currency
WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST
•Personification of harsh natural forces of west, such as the drought
•Dorothy’s main adversary—present throughout entire story
She is killed by water, just like a drought
THE WIZARD
•Represents the scheming politician who pretends to have all the answers.
• Tricks the people into believing he’s wise and benevolent, when he’s actually selfish and cruel.
•Send others into danger for his own personal gain.
LOTF ConnectionWhat allegorical representations can you
determine for these characters ?
Ralph represents…….
Piggy
Jack
Roger
Simon
The Littluns
What’s Golding’s purpose for writing LOTF as an allegory?
Extra Time??
What other aspects of the novel LOTF are allegorical? For example, the conch….. Think back to the symbolism writing you did Make a list and what each represents.
