Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the Populist Movement Essay Example

the Treasury. The price of silver was rapidly declining because the supply of silver increased more rapidly than the demand.

Thus the government abandoned the minting of silver currency and put the United States on a gold standard according to the Coinage Act of 1873. The Specie Resumption Act allowed for the resumption of greenbacks issued during the Civil War for specie at the official exchange ratio of one greenback dollar for one gold dollar . The Civil War inflated the currency so much that the greenback dollar lost most of its value relative to gold, and if resumption was to occur, the U. S government’s gold reserve would have run out . Therefore, they deflated the old gold dollar.The United States government was also scared to incorporate silver in the Treasury because it would hurt international trade, and other countries were mainly on the gold standard.

Including silver in the currency would encourage inflation, which meant that the price of goods produced in the United States would be higher than those produced in other countries, resulting in a less international demand for those goods. The Populists, advocated the Free Silver Movement, which involved the free and unlimited coinage of silver in the ratio of 16:1 relative to gold.The Populists naturally supported the cause of free silver, because additional silver in the treasury would lead to price inflation, since it meant a greater supply of money in circulation. Inflation was good for the Populists who were mainly farmers and opponents of monopolies because it lowered the value of the dollar, and therefore they could repay their debts easier and also increased their crop prices. The Populists

were strong supporters of the fiat-money system and viewed it as a complement to the free coinage of silver.In 1896, Populist Senator William A.

Pefer of Kansas explained his party’s position as follows: “The money that the People’s Party (Populist Party) demands is gold, silver and paper. Populists believe in the ultimate and free-coinage of both metals, and if there is not enough of coin money in the country, supplement it with paper money” . The inclusion of paper money was another method to encourage inflation. The Southern and Western Democrats sided with the Populists, because they too shared the fear of railroad monopolies and big bankers.

However the more conservative Democrats believed that the Populists ideas were too radical, because they included the demand for greenbacks. Therefore the Democrats pushed for a more conservative presidential candidate -William Jennings Bryan with the Populist support. On the other hand, the Republicans comprising mostly of bankers and industrialists rallied for the gold standard because they wanted to keep the value of the dollar high to retain their monopolistic power.The gold standard would also be beneficial to the creditors because the amount of money they received from the debtors would be valued a lot more than that which they initially lent out. Thus the stage was set for the “battle of the standards” in the elections 1896 between the Populist and Democrat nominee William Jennings Bryan and the Republican candidate William McKinley. Baum writes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with the battle between the Republicans and the Populists as the main basis for its plot structure.

L. Frank Baum’s background is instrumental in understanding the parallels etween The Wizard

of Oz and the Gilded Age in which Baum lived. Baum lived in South Dakota during the period when Populism was gaining popularity. Western farmers had naturally rallied for the Populist cause of better crop prices (inflation) because of droughts which destroyed their crops. Baum was witness to the misery of the Western farmer and therefore sympathetic towards them. There is however some confusion regarding Baum’s political beliefs.

Henry M. Littlefield believed that Baum was a “reform-minded Democrat” who supported Bryan and his cause for free silver .Martin Gardner, who wrote a biography on Baum, also mentions that he consistently voted Democrat and his sympathies always seemed to be on the side of the laboring class . In January 1890, after his business in South Dakota failed, he bought a local newspaper and renamed it the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer, which promoted Republican beliefs.

While in Chicago, Baum published a pro-Republican poem in a newspaper that praised McKinley and the gold standard. The Pioneer however was a Republican newspaper before Baum bought it, and he might have been playing Republican in order to keep his business going.He might have been a closet Democrat, who was scared or forced to conceal his Democratic beliefs . Thus The Wizard of Oz was a medium through which he could safely promote his Democratic beliefs through hidden symbolism and the main characters like the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, the Lion, and Dorothy. Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz as an allegory of Populism, and has vividly painted a picture of America as it entered the twentieth century. The Wizard of Oz has been described as a parable, which is defined as

a simple story illustrating some moral or religious lesson.

The story begins in Kansas where the reader is introduced to Dorothy and her dog, Toto. Dorothy represents the common American who is “honest, kindhearted and plucky. ” According to Littlefield, “Dorothy is Baum’s Miss Everyman. She is one of us, levelheaded and human. ” Baum was sympathetic towards the Western farmer. The harsh and severe description of Kansas portrays the depressed, beaten-down farmer-“Uncle Henry never laughed.

He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. The grim description of Kansas can be likened to the period before Populism had taken its roots- the depressed farmer bearing the brunt of deflation and lowering crop prices in a drought-stricken area, while railroad monopolies exploit him. The cyclone that brings Dorothy to the Land of Oz “in a midst of a country of marvelous beauty” symbolizes reform like the Free Silver Movement which took the political world by storm . This is a metaphor that demonstrates that the Populist Party would improve the plight and conditions of farmers through its reform movements like the Free Silver Movement.The Free Silver Movement would help the farmer because it was a movement that would lead to price inflation and an increase in crop prices like the cyclone that transports Dorothy to a better land.

The Munchkins represent the blue-collar workers and industrial laborers. The Wicked Witch of the East, who “held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day” , represents big monopolies and eastern bankers. The word “slave” represents the term “wage slavery”. Big monopolies grew from industrialization,

and they were ruthless to the workers.

Individual workers had no power to battle against the giant industries for wage hikes, in the same way the munchkins were powerless against the Wicked Witch of the East until Dorothy killed her. The silver slippers of the Wicked Witch of the East “had some charm connected in them” , which the Munchkins, the Good Witches and Dorothy did not know. This distinction is important because it represents the Eastern financial and industrial interests who sought to keep silver out of circulation to promote their self-interest through deflation .Since neither Dorothy nor the Munchkins understand the power of the silver slippers, they become a medium through which Baum expresses the irony of the silver issue. The common man did not understand the advantages of the Free Silver Movement, and that it could be used to kill the “wicked witches” of the East and the West.

This is analogous the industrial laborers in the East, who did not understand the power of silver, and the good effect it would have had on them, resulting in not being able to gain much support in the East.It must also be noted that in the Land of Oz, the Wicked Witches dwelt in the East and the West, while the Good Witches dwelt in the North and the South. The Democrats and Populists had strong support in the northern industrial cities, which were packed with immigrants, and in the South, which had a strong farming base. Dorothy wears the “silver shoes” to walk on the “yellow brick road” to reach the Emerald City which is indicative of bimetallism- gold and silver in the

Treasury .

Baum has cleverly used such imagery to illustrate the central importance of bimetallism in the Populist Movement.The Scarecrow that Dorothy meets along the yellow brick road represents the Western farmer. He is tied to his fields, like the Scarecrow is tied to the pole, because of the big railroad monopolies that are taking away his farmland and the gold standard that increases his debt. The Scarecrow illustrates the stereotype that the farmers had in the late 1800’s.

An article entitled “What’s the Matter with Kansas”, written by William Allen White in 1896, accuses the farmers of ignorance, irrationality, and being mentally confused .The Scarecrow lacks brains and does not want people calling him a fool. Being sympathetic to the farmer, Baum did not agree with this stereotype, and thus the Scarecrow emerges as a “shrewd and very capable individual. ” Through the Scarecrow, Baum connects the free-silver movement to the farmer. The land which the Scarecrow and Dorothy pass through bears a resemblance to the land of the West which was plagued by drought that disrupted farms- “The farms were not so nearly well cared for here as they were farther back.

There were fewer houses and fewer fruit trees, and the farther they went the more dismal and lonesome the country became. ” As the Scarecrow and Dorothy walk along the yellow brick road, the Scarecrow stumbles and falls on a patch in the road. This incident symbolizes the “patches” present in the gold standard which cause deflation and damage to the farmer. Dorothy and the Scarecrow are also travelling in the Land of Oz, which corresponds to the abbreviation “oz” for ounce,

the unit in which gold and silver are measured, which hints at bimetallism .The Tin Woodman has no heart (“But, alas! I had no heart, so that I lost all my love for that Munchkin girl”) and symbolizes the industrial workers, who are subjected to wage slavery, making them devoid of any emotion. Once an independent and hard working human being, the Tin Woodman was put on a spell by the Wicked Witch of the East so that each time he swung his enchanted axe it chopped of a different part of his body, which was replaced by tin.

He knew no other trade; therefore he “worked harder than ever. According to Littlefield, this portrayed the simple innocent worker, who was dehumanized by the Eastern influences, and made to work like a machine. Tin Woodman’s joints rust when he does not lubricate it with oil resulting in him being stuck in the same position for over a year, before Dorothy saves him. This condition parallels those of the many Eastern workers, who lost their jobs and became idle during the depression of 1893. Silver is seen by the Populists as the lubricant that rescues a depressed economy with millions of idle workers, just as oil rescues Tin Woodman.

Baum connects the dehumanized industrial worker to the Populist Movement through the Tin Woodman. In the Populist interpretation, the Cowardly Lion is seen as William Jennings Bryan- a staunch follower of the free-silver campaign and the Populist Party nominee. Bryan was a convincing speaker with powerful oratory skills, which can be compared to the Lion’s roar. The Lion was seen as “cowardly”, which signified the anti-imperialism and pacifism

that Bryan advocated, which many thought was cowardly in an age that promoted U.S expansion.

The term “cowardly” is ironic because as the book progresses, the Lion is courageous when the party needs him and is not at all cowardly. Bryan could have been seen as a coward in the eyes of Republicans, because they consider the Populist Party’s decision to fuse with the Democrats as cowardly. The Cowardly Lion tries to scare Tin Woodman, but “could make no impression on his tin body”, just as Bryan’s and the Populists efforts to attract the urban industrial workers to support them in 1896 failed.This is because the industrial workers were often coerced by their bosses to vote Republican.

Thus Baum has connected Bryan, the leader of the Populist Party and Democrats to the Populist Movement. Dorothy is the binding force that brings the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion together in their journey to Oz. Hence, she represents the “common man” from which the Populist Party draws its inspiration. Along the journey to Oz, the party comprising of Dorothy, Toto, Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion meet with many adventures.They encounter a poppy field which makes Dorothy and Toto falls asleep. The Lion tries to run as fast as he can to escape the poppy fields, but eventually he succumbs to the scent of the poppies and falls into a deathly sleep.

The field mice eventually save the Lion by carrying him out of the poppy fields. Dorothy and Toto are saved by the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow. This incident symbolizes how Bryan was distracted by the issue of anti-imperialism. Anti-Imperialism is

seen as the poppy fields that put the Lion to sleep, i. e. istract Bryan from the more important Silver issue.

The field mice symbolize Populist supporters who were the “little people”, and helped bring Bryan back on track. Dorothy and her friends soon reach the Emerald City and are stunned by its bright green color. Dorothy has travelled on the “yellow brick road”, in “silver shoes”, to reach a “green” city. Herein lies the underlying connection between gold, silver and greenbacks. The Populist wanted a combination of gold, silver and paper money in the Treasury. They wanted to supplement silver with paper money.

Thus there is a connection that exists between the Emerald City, the “yellow brick road”, and the “silver shoes”. The gatekeeper of Oz also instructs Dorothy and her party to wear green glasses, which symbolizes the fiat-money system. It is a way by which they could see the world through the eyes of the Populist. Dorothy and her friends finally meet the Wizard of Oz who tells her to destroy the “Wicked Witch of the West”. According to Littlefield, “the Wicked Witch of the West uses natural forces to achieve her ends; she is Baum’s version of sentiment and malign nature.

The Witch could also represent McKinley who uses the “gold cap” symbolizing the gold standard to summon the Winged Monkeys, and instructs them to kill Dorothy and her friends. She wants the “Lion” in order to tame it for her use. Like the Wicked Witch of the West, she could also represent the Eastern industrialists amd their financial interests. This shows the battle between Bryan and Mckinley in the presidential election

of 1896.

In the end, Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West by throwing a pale of water on her which is symbolic to the farmers in Kansas who were drought-stricken.Dorothy and her party make their way back to the Emerald City and Oz grants them all their wishes except for Dorothy. Oz symbolizes the presidents of the Gilded Age, who hid behind a curtain while others put on the show for them. Oz represents politicians too, because he assumes different forms to the Lion, tin man etc. In reality, Oz admits he is but a “common man”, just like all the other presidents of the Gilded Age.

Glinda, tells Dorothy to click her silver shoes thrice and she’ll be transported back to Kansas. When she reaces Kansas, she loses her silver hoes, again indicatice of the power of silver. Thus throughout the story, Baum hints at the Populist movement which he supported, and its main issue- Bimetallism. Though Baum intended the Wonderful Wizard of Oz to be a children’s book, historians have interpreted and analyzed it as being a pro-populist story.

The symbolism associated with the characters in the novel has deeper implications to the Populist movement. Although the real intentions and motivations of Baum writing the book are to be debated upon, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz continues to be a masterful and beautiful piece of American literature.