The Wizard of Oz: L. Frank Baum's Parable of Populism
The Wonderful Wizard of Populism
The “The Wizard of Oz” is a beloved children's story written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and many historians have tried to come up with arguments that compare the mystical story with the movement of populism. All of these theories have some background but none of them are able to draw any real parallels between the story and populism that are not completely speculative. These historians have done nothing that could bring any evidence or tie any parts of the plot specifically to populism. The convoluted idea that “The Wizard of Oz” is a parable to populism only takes into account drastic assumptions about Baum's work and does not take into account that the story is based off his real life experience.
The idea that Baum’s fanciful story is comparable to populism can only be reached by drastic conjecture. Henry Littlefield, n historian that believes that “The Wizard of Oz” is a parable to populism, made several comparisons of the wizard of Oz to the gilded age and the populist movement. He stated several inflammatory statements like how he assumes that Dorothy's silver slippers are a reference to the populist idea that silver should be coined freely, the city of Oz is the city of Washington DC, and that the wizard is one of the gilded age presidents. These arguments have very little basis in what they are saying because all of these ideas are not thoroughly supported. The idea that Dorothy's shoes are a representation of the free coinage of silver and that Emerald city is the Washington DC is unconvincing because Dorothy did not obtain the shoes in Emerald city. If the story was a parable to populism than Dorothy would have had to obtain the shoes in Emerald city because the only place where the the free coinage would have been able to be obtained was Washington. Also, in the end Oz was able to save Dorothy and let her go home. the populists did not have such favorable view of the gilded age presidents. The fact that the
The “The Wizard of Oz” is a beloved children's story written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and many historians have tried to come up with arguments that compare the mystical story with the movement of populism. All of these theories have some background but none of them are able to draw any real parallels between the story and populism that are not completely speculative. These historians have done nothing that could bring any evidence or tie any parts of the plot specifically to populism. The convoluted idea that “The Wizard of Oz” is a parable to populism only takes into account drastic assumptions about Baum's work and does not take into account that the story is based off his real life experience.
The idea that Baum’s fanciful story is comparable to populism can only be reached by drastic conjecture. Henry Littlefield, n historian that believes that “The Wizard of Oz” is a parable to populism, made several comparisons of the wizard of Oz to the gilded age and the populist movement. He stated several inflammatory statements like how he assumes that Dorothy's silver slippers are a reference to the populist idea that silver should be coined freely, the city of Oz is the city of Washington DC, and that the wizard is one of the gilded age presidents. These arguments have very little basis in what they are saying because all of these ideas are not thoroughly supported. The idea that Dorothy's shoes are a representation of the free coinage of silver and that Emerald city is the Washington DC is unconvincing because Dorothy did not obtain the shoes in Emerald city. If the story was a parable to populism than Dorothy would have had to obtain the shoes in Emerald city because the only place where the the free coinage would have been able to be obtained was Washington. Also, in the end Oz was able to save Dorothy and let her go home. the populists did not have such favorable view of the gilded age presidents. The fact that the