How Did Kansas Change Throughout The Wizard Of Oz

The view of Kansas changed greatly between the Kansas and Nebraska Act and the time the Wizard of Oz was written. In 1854, after Kansas was made a territory open to settlement, many people flocked to it to claim the new land available as it seemed like a beautiful place to live as well as a place full of opportunity. People were attracted to Kansas as the fertile soil, plentiful land, and heavy rainfall led farmers to becoming successful at growing crops. Eventually, life in Kansas would prove dull as it was lonely and desolate. Other factors such as the droughts in 1887 which mortgaged many farms throughout Kansas would cause thousands of settlers to resettle back in the Eastern United States. Baum’s book includes the characters Aunt Em and
Aunt Em for example, used to be young and pretty but her eyes lost their sparkle and turned a dreary grey color as which also occurred with her formerly red cheeks and lips. Uncle Henry was never happy or laughed and all he did all day was work hard. As both Aunt Em and Kansas used to look attractive but turned more wearisome and Uncle Henry had no emotion and just worked all the time, Baum does a good job at using them to symbolize Kansas.
Baum uses many examples in his story to represent the political and economic issues of the Gilded Age. For instance, the conflict between gold and silver which correlates with the rich of the northeast and the common folk is expressed in Baum’s book. Dorothy represents the common folk and once she is taken by the cyclone from Kansas to Oz, which places her in a fantastic place compared to gloomy Kansas. The process of being carried by the tornado shows the victory of silver being primarily used and once Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the East who symbolizes the Eastern rich who favor gold, she allows the munchkins, the common people to live a better life. Another Gilded Age issue illustrated in Baum’s book is the people she comes across. Dorothy like the common