The Wizard of Oz: More Than Just a Children’s Story by Lauren Houlberg

The Wizard of Oz is a classic, a legend, and a children’s story that
will never grow old. Quotes from the story such as “Toto, I have a feeling
we’re not in Kansas anymore,” “Lions, and tigers, and bears!
Oh, my,” and “There’s no place like home,” are ones
that will always pop into our heads when someone says “The Wizard of Oz.”
These are the lines that are related right away to the famous story. Dorothy’s
long, adventurous trip down the Yellow Brick Road is something that everyone
loves to read and watch. It is a story that touches all of us. The 1939 MGM
film interpretation of the 1900 published book written by L. Frank Baum, brought
this story to life for all of those who were unable to go to the 1902 stage
performance. I’ll never forget watching the movie for the first time.
Seeing the screen turn from black and white, to beautiful, stunning colors was
amazing. Hearing Judy Garland as Dorothy sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
for the first time, left me with a lasting memory. It was as if I felt what
she was feeling at that moment; that there was a better place somewhere out
there- somewhere over the rainbow. Most viewers were able to relate to a character,
whether it was the Scarecrow in need of a brain, the Tin Man in need of a heart,
or the Cowardly Lion, in need of courage. The obvious message of the story is
that there is no place like home. However, The Wizard of Oz has been taken to
another level. Individuals such as Henry Littlefield, John Beebe, Joey Green,
and others have interpreted the story and have found many different theories
to go along with it. Theories include parallels to Populism, Buddhist Taoism,
Jungian Psychology, etc. The two main theories that make the most sense are
Henry Littlefield’s theory on the story representing Populism during the
time period which Baum wrote the book, and John Beebe’s theory on how
the story goes hand in hand with C.G. Jung’s Jungian Psychology.

According to Neil Earle, “The Political reading of Oz was given classic
expression by Henry M. Littlefield in the Spring, 1964, American Quarterly”
(6). Henry Littlefield argues that The Wizard of Oz is a story representing
Populism- a philosophy that supports the rights of the people, and the 1896
presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. Littlefield
describes every character as a representation of something specific during that
time period. In his book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular
Culture,” Neil Earle writes “According to Littlefield, Baum marched
in torch-light parades for Bryan in 1896. Thus when he came to write his best-known
work in 1900 he simply dressed it up as a Populist allegory” (8). Littlefield
describes Dorothy as an everyday man to Baum; the people of America. Her character
and her problem of trying to get home, is the main plot in the movie. This shows
what the main point of Populism was: the concerns of the American people. Since
Dorothy is the main character, we can see that the American population was the
main focus. The Scarecrow represents the farmers in America. In the story, the
Scarecrow is in need of a brain, which shows that he might not be the brightest
one on the journey. According to the web page “Littlefield’s Interpretation”,
“Baum’s Scarecrow is a response to the prejudicial notion that farmers
were not smart enough to recognize their own interests” (“Interpretation”).
During this time period, farmers in a way were helpless. Their conditions became
harder, and the economy was changing. “To millions of late nineteenth
century Americans, farming was a way of life that was infused with honor and
patriotism” (“Third Party Politics”). This quote explains
exactly how the Scarecrow is in the story. He is helpless because he has no
brain, so he really doesn’t know what to do. But on the other hand, he
takes pride in being a Scarecrow, and gets upset when he is unsuccessful in
scaring away the crows. As the story goes along, a better representation of
the American people is portrayed. When Dorothy comes along and takes the Scarecrow
with her on her journey to Oz, one can see that the story is slowly piecing
together an image of the American population.

According to the web page “Farmers and Third Party Politics”, “Between
1870 and 1896, the wholesale price index for farm products declined by fifty
percent. But railroads and other middlemen took their profits despite the farmer's
plight” (“Third Party Politics”). This quote explains how
the factories and the workers acted towards the farmers. They didn’t really
care if the farmers were in trouble. The Tin Man, another main character, is
a good representation of this because on the journey to Oz, he is the individual
that is in search of a heart. He depicts the factories and the factory workers
during the time period of the 1890s, when the depression took place. Factories
were shut down, and when the Tin Man is first found, he is so rusted that he
cannot move. This scene in the movie represents this idea perfectly. Littlefield’s
interpretation of the Tin Man goes entirely with his theory. Even though it
takes a little bit of time for Dorothy to oil the Tin Man, she gets the job
done. This portrays the idea that even though America had a tough time at first
during the depression, they were able to make it through okay. The Cowardly
Lion is another main character introduced in the story. He represents William
Jennings Bryan, according to Littlefield. This is because Bryan was unable to
get the votes of the industrial workers in the election. The part of the story
that best depicts this is “When the Cowardly Lion first meets Dorothy
and her companions, he strikes the Tin Man but does not make a dent in his metal
body” (“Interpretation”). William Jennings Bryan was unable
to make a “dent” in votes with the industrial workers, just like
the Cowardly Lion was unable to dent the Tin Man. The Cowardly Lion’s
weakness is also represented in this part of the story, which also depicts the
weakness of Bryan. As each of the three main characters meet up with each other,
one can see that they each represent a part of the American population. The
Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion together, make up the American
society during the time period of the late 1800s, early 1900s. They all follow
Dorothy on the road to Oz. This represents, again, how the main focus of The
Wizard of Oz is on the people of America.

Further into this interpretation, according to Littlefield, The Wicked Witch
of the West is a representation of the Great Plains, and how hard it was for
Americans to make a living there. According to the website The Wizard of Oz-Turn
Me On, Dead Man, “The land on the Great Plains was not as fertile as lands
to the east of the Mississippi River and to make matters worse, a drought was
driving many farmers out of business in the 1890s” (“Wicked Witch”).
The bucket of water that Dorothy pours on the Wicked Witch at the end of the
story represents the end of the drought. The Wicked Witch melts from the water,
which symbolizes how the drought finished. Other symbols recognized by Littlefield
also include ones about the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy’s slippers, the
Emerald City, and the actual Wizard of Oz. The Wizard represents President William
McKinley. Earle quotes Littlefield and writes, “The Wizard in his Emerald
City is none other than the evasive, hard-to-pin-down President William McKinley:
‘[h]e symbolizes the American criterion for leadership-he is able to be
everything to everybody’” (qtd in Earle 8). Everyone looks up to
the President of the United States, just like everyone in Oz looked up to the
Wizard. This is a perfect analysis of what the Wizard represents in the story.

Littlefield’s interpretation also discusses the big representation of
money in the story. Ranjit S. Dighe writes “The book teems with references
to the colors gold, silver, and green-the colors of money” (2). The ruby
slippers were originally silver in Baum’s book. MGM changed the color
of the slippers in order to show the new technology of Technicolor. According
to Dighe, Littlefield interpreted the story as an allegory about monetary populism.
“To get there she must follow the yellow brick road (gold standard), and
her journey is made much easier by her new silver shoes (the Populist goal of
replacing the gold standard with a “bimetallic” standard of gold
and silver)” (2), writes Dighe. The Yellow Brick Road symbolizes the gold
standard. According to the web page “What is the Gold Standard”,
“The phrase ‘gold standard’ is defined as the use of gold
as the standard value for the money of a country. If a country will redeem any
of its money in gold it is said to be using the gold standard” (“Standard”).
Dorothy’s silver slippers represent the silver standard of the time. These
two elements of the story end up at the same place in the end: The Emerald City.
Dorothy’s silver slippers follow the Yellow Brick Road, which both end
up in the Emerald City, where the green color represents money all together.
Henry Littlefield’s interpretations have made many people analyze the
story and read into it more. His theories about what each element in the story
represents, matches perfectly.

Toto on the other hand, creates problems for Dorothy, but she doesn’t
seem to think of him as any trouble. Beebe writes “But Toto is also a
trickster, who consistently moves the plot forward by creating some kind of
mischief that breaks with an established order of things (biting Almira Gulch,
growling at the Lion, jumping out of the hot-air balloon just as the Wizard
is about to take Dorothy back to America)” (73). When Toto jumps out of
the hot-air balloon, he causes Dorothy to loose her one chance, or so she thinks,
to go back home. Toto also causes the Cowardly Lion to growl at him, causing
Dorothy to hit the Lion on the nose. Without Toto’s mischief ways, Dorothy
and the other characters would have been a lot better off.

The shadow is another archetype included in Jung’s theory. In the story,
the flying monkeys symbolize the shadow figure. “It is the ‘dark
side’ of the ego, and the evil that we are capable of is often stored
there. Actually, the shadow is amoral-neither good nor bad, just like animals”
(“Jung”), written in the “Carl Jung” web page. In the
story, the monkeys come and take Dorothy to the Wicked Witch. They just do what
they are told to do, and in this case, they are the evil ones in the story.
The Wizard of Oz is the perfect representation of the persona archetype. “The
persona represents your public image. The world is, obviously, related to the
word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask. So the persona
is the mask you put on before you show yourself to the outside world”
(“Jung”). The Wizard is looked up to all throughout the story until
the very end. He puts up an image to the people of Oz, that he is some great
person, capable of anything. However, at the end of the story, Toto reveals
who the Wizard really is: a normal man, pretending to be an intimidating individual.

The hero archetype is represented by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly
Lion. All three of these characters set out to rescue Dorothy, and help her
when she is captured by the Wicked Witch of the West. The web page “Carl
Jung” explains, “Basically, [the hero] represents the ego-we do
tend to identify with the hero of the story-and is often engaged in fighting
the shadow, in the form of dragons and other monsters. The hero is, however,
often dumb as a post” (“Jung”). Dorothy, of course, represents
the maiden archetype. The same web page describes the maiden archetype by writing,
“She represents purity, innocence, and, in all likelihood, naïveté”
(“Jung”). According to Jung’s theory, the hero is set out
to rescue the maiden. This is exactly what the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the
Tin Man are doing towards the end of the story when they sneak into the Wicked
Witches castle.

Jung’s theory also consists of three principles: the principle of opposites,
the principle of equivalence, and the principle of entropy. Beebe relates the
story to the principle of opposites; for everything good, there must be something
bad. Beebe talks about how The Wicked Witch is the shadow, the alter ego, of
Glinda the Good Witch, and how Toto is the shadow or the opposite of the Cowardly
Lion. Glinda acts as Dorothy’s good conscience, while the Wicked Witch
acts as her bad one. Glinda from the beginning of the story is there for Dorothy.
The Wicked Witch is just doing anything she can to get the ruby slippers from
Dorothy. Toto and the Cowardly Lion’s characters clash, especially in
the part of the story where Toto instigates the Lion to get angry and growl
at him in the woods. An example of the principle of equivalence in the story
is seen through the relationship between Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man,
and the Lion. “The energy created from the opposition is ‘given’
to both sides equally” (“Jung”), which is explained in the
“Carl Jung” web page. Each of these characters feed off of each
other with their desire to make it to the Emerald City. The third principle,
the principle of entropy, is seen through the image that the Wizard puts up
for himself, and his actual personality. “This is the tendency for oppositions
to come together, and so for energy to decrease, over a person’s lifetime”
(“Jung”). The image that the Wizard tries to fool everyone with
is the total opposite than that of his true identity. At the end of the story,
since his true identity is revealed, these opposite images even each other out.

One would have never known that there would be so many different theories and
ideas about what The Wizard of Oz represents. All of the interpretations have
led to many different conclusions about the story. Who would have ever thought
that a story that seems obvious that it was written specifically for children,
would have had so many hidden messages in it? Out of all of the theories about
The Wizard of Oz, I think that if Baum did actually write the story with means
to convey a message other than just about a girl on a journey to find her way
home, then I believe that Henry Littlefield’s interpretation makes the
most sense. The story is written where each character or place can actually
be representing something during the time period in which it was written in.
The other theories seem to have over analyzed the story too much. Even though
I don’t disagree with John Beebe’s theory, I think he dug too deep
into the meaning of the story. I think that if Baum would have intended to imply
a message through The Wizard of Oz, he would not have spent so much time analyzing
each character psychologically. The other theories seem too complex. Although
to some, theories about this story may seem way out of the question, The Wizard
of Oz still is more than just a children’s story; it is an allegory for
many different ideas.

Works Cited
Beebe, John. The Vision Thing: Myth, Politics and Psyche in the World, Edited
by Thomas Singer. London: Routledge, 2000.

Dighe, Ranjit S. The Historian’s Wizard of Oz: Reading L. Frank Baum’s
Classic as a Political and Monetary Allegory. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2002.

Earle, Neil. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture: Uneasy
in Eden. Lewiston, New York, Queenston, Ontario, Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales: The Edwin
Mellen Press, 1993.

Fricke, John. 100 Years of Oz. New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, 1999.
Greene, David L., and Martin, Dick. The Oz Scrapbook. New York: Random, 1977.
PageWise. “What is the Gold Standard?” 20, Oct. 2004,
<http://tx.essortment.com/goldstandards_rgvh.htm>.

Populism. “Farmers and Third Party Politics.” 20, Oct. 2004,
<http://history.smsu.edu/wrmiller/Populism/Texts/populism.htm>.

Shippensburg University. “Carl Jung.” 27 Sept. 2004,
<http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/jung.html
>.

The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man. “Littlefield’s Interpretation.”
2004, 27, Sept. 2004, <http://www.turnmeondeadman.net/OZ/Littlefield.html>.

The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man. “The Symbolism of Dorothy.”
2004, 27, Sept. 2004, <http://www.turnmeondeadman.net/OZ/Dorothy.html>.

The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man. “The Symbolism of the Wicked Witch.”
2004, 27, Sept. 2004, <http://www.turnmeondeadman.net/OZ/WickedWitch.html>.

The Wizard of Oz: More Than Just a Children’s Story, draft

The Wizard of Oz is a classic, a legend, and a children’s story that will never grow old. Quotes such as “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” “Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my,” and “There’s no place like home,” are ones that will always pop into our heads when someone says “The Wizard of Oz.” These are the lines that are related right away to the famous story. Dorothy’s long, adventurous trip down the Yellow Brick Road is something that everyone loves to read and watch. It is a story that touches all of us. The 1939 MGM film interpretation of the 1900 published book written by L. Frank Baum, brought this story to life for all of those who were unable to go to the 1902 stage performance. I’ll never forget watching the movie for the first time. Seeing the screen turn from black and white, to beautiful, stunning colors was amazing. Hearing Judy Garland as Dorothy sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for the first time, left me with a lasting memory. It was as if we felt what she was feeling at that moment; that there was a better place somewhere out there- somewhere over the rainbow. Viewers were able to relate to a character, whether it was the Scarecrow in need of a brain, the Tin Man in need of a heart, or the Cowardly Lion, in need of courage. The obvious message of the story is that there is no place like home. But The Wizard of Oz has been taken to another level. Individuals such as Henry Littlefield, John Beebe, Joey Green, and others have interpreted the story and have found many different theories to go along with it. Theories include parallels to Populism, Buddhist Taoism, Jungian Psychology, etc. The two main theories that make the most sense are Henry Littlefield’s theory on the story representing Populism during the time period which Baum wrote the book, and John Beebe’s theory on how the story goes hand in hand with C.G. Jung’s Jungian Psychology.

“The Political reading of Oz was given classic expression by Henry M. Littlefield in the Spring, 1964, American Quarterly” (Earle, 6). Henry Littlefield argues that The Wizard of Oz is a story representing Populism- a philosophy that supports the rights of the people, and the 1896 presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. Littlefield describes every character as a representation of something specific during that time period. In his book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture,” Neil Earle writes “According to Littlefield, Baum marched in torch-light parades for Bryan in 1896. Thus when he came to write his best-known work in 1900 he simply dressed it up as a Populist allegory” (Earle, 8). Littlefield describes Dorothy as an everyday man to Baum; the people of America. Her character and her problem of trying to get home, is the main plot in the movie. This shows what the main point of Populism was: the concerns of the American people. Since Dorothy is the main character, we can see that the American population was the main focus. The Scarecrow represents the farmers in America. In the story, the Scarecrow is in need of a brain, which shows that he might not be the brightest one on the journey. “Baum’s Scarecrow is a response to the prejudicial notion that farmers were not smart enough to recognize their own interests” (Littlefield’s Interpretation). During this time period, farmers in a way were helpless. Their conditions became harder, and the economy was changing. “To millions of late nineteenth century Americans, farming was a way of life that was infused with honor and patriotism” (Farmers and Third Party Politics). This quote explains exactly how the Scarecrow is in the story. He is helpless because he has no brain, so he really doesn’t know what to do. But on the other hand, he takes pride in being a Scarecrow, and gets upset when he is unsuccessful in scaring away the crows. As the story goes along, a better representation of the American people is portrayed. When Dorothy comes along and takes the Scarecrow with her on her journey to Oz, one can see that the story is slowly piecing together an image of the American population.

“Between 1870 and 1896, the wholesale price index for farm products declined by fifty percent. But railroads and other middlemen took their profits despite the farmer's plight” (Farmers and Third Party Politics). The next main character that is introduced in the story is the Tin Man. The Tin Man represents the factories and the factory workers during the time period of the 1890s, when the depression took place. Factories were shut down, and when the Tin Man is first found, he is so rusted that he cannot move. This scene in the movie represents this idea perfectly. Littlefield’s interpretation of the Tin Man goes entirely with his theory. Even though it takes a little bit of time for Dorothy to oil the Tin Man, she gets the job done. This portrays the idea that even though America had a tough time at first during the depression, they were able to make it through okay. The Cowardly Lion is another main character introduced in the story. He represents William Jennings Bryan, according to Littlefield. This is because Bryan was unable to get the votes of the industrial workers in the election. The part of the story that depicts this is “When the Cowardly Lion first meets Dorothy and her companions, he strikes the Tin Man but does not make a dent in his metal body.” (Littlefield’s Interpretation). William Jennings Bryan was unable to make a “dent” in votes with the industrial workers, just like the Cowardly Lion was unable to dent the Tin Man. The Cowardly Lion’s weakness is also represented in this part of the story, which also depicts the weakness of Bryan. As each of the three main characters meet up with each other, one can see that they each represent a part of the American population. What the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion represent, together make up the American society during the time period of the late 1800s, early 1900s. They all follow Dorothy in the story, to Oz. This represents, again, how the main focus of The Wizard of Oz is on the people of America.

Further into this interpretation, according to Littlefield, The Wicked Witch of the West is a representation of the Great Plains, and how hard it was for Americans to make a living there. “The land on the Great Plains was not as fertile as lands to the east of the Mississippi River and to make matters worse, a drought was driving many farmers out of business in the 1890s” (The Symbolism of the Wicked Witch). The bucket of water that Dorothy pours on the Wicked Witch at the end of the story represents the end of the drought. The Wicked Witch melts from the water, which symbolizes how the drought finished. Other symbols recognized by Littlefield also include ones about the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy’s slippers, the Emerald City, and the actual Wizard of Oz. The Wizard represents President William McKinley. “The Wizard in his Emerald City is none other than the evasive, hard-to-pin-down President William McKinley: ‘[h]e symbolizes the American criterion for leadership-he is able to be everything to everybody’” (Earle, 8). Everyone looks up to the President of the United States, just like everyone in Oz looked up to the Wizard. This is a perfect analysis of what the Wizard represents in the story.

Littlefield’s interpretation also discusses the big representation of money in the story. “The book teems with references to the colors gold, silver, and green-the colors of money” (Dighe, 2). The ruby slippers were originally silver in Baum’s book. MGM changed the color of the slippers in order to show the new technology of Technicolor. According to Dighe, Littlefield interpreted the story as an allegory about monetary populism. “To get there she must follow the yellow brick road (gold standard), and her journey is made much easier by her new silver shoes (the Populist goal of replacing the gold standard with a “bimetallic” standard of gold and silver)” (Dighe, 2), writes Dighe. The Yellow Brick Road symbolizes the gold standard. “The phrase ‘gold standard’ is defined as the use of gold as the standard value for the money of a country. If a country will redeem any of its money in gold it is said to be using the gold standard” (What is the Gold Standard?). Dorothy’s silver slippers represent the silver standard of the time. These two elements of the story end up at the same place in the end: The Emerald City. Dorothy’s silver slippers follow the Yellow Brick Road, which both end up in the Emerald City, where the green color represents money all together. Henry Littlefield’s interpretations have made many people analyze the story and read into it more. His theories about what each element in the story represents, matches perfectly.

John Beebe’s theory on The Wizard of Oz differs from Littlefield’s, in that he argues that the story is primarily depicting a psychological view; particularly C.G. Jung’s psychological theory. Jung’s theory is based on three things: the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The ego is recognized with the conscious mind, the personal unconscious is basically memories that easily come to mind, and the collective unconscious is like an instinct that we all have. Examples of the collective unconscious are ones like déjà vu, and the near-death experience. These are things that just happen to us, we don’t choose for them to happen. In Jung’s theory, archetypes make up the collective unconscious. “An archetype is an unlearned tendency to experience things in a certain way.” (Carl Jung). Some of Jung’s archetypes include the mother, the shadow, the animus, and the trickster. In The Wizard of Oz, characters like Glinda the Good Witch represent the mother archetype because she looks out for Dorothy, and Toto represent the trickster, because he is always creating problems. Right when Dorothy enters Oz, Glinda is there for her, giving her the ruby slippers, and telling her to follow the Yellow Brick Road. But like a mother figure, Glinda lets Dorothy find out for herself what they slippers are for, and how important they are going to be to her. Toto on the other hand, creates problems for Dorothy, but she doesn’t seem to think of him as any trouble. Beebe writes “But Toto is also a trickster, who consistently moves the plot forward by creating some kind of mischief that breaks with an established order of things (biting Almira Gulch, growling at the Lion, jumping out of the hot-air balloon just as the Wizard is about to take Dorothy back to America)” (Beebe, 73). When Toto jumps out of the hot-air balloon, he causes Dorothy to loose her one chance, or so she thinks, to go back home. Toto also causes the Cowardly Lion to growl at him, causing Dorothy to hit the Lion on the nose. Without Toto’s mischief ways, Dorothy and the other characters would have been a lot better off. The shadow is another archetype included in Jung’s theory. In the story, the flying monkeys symbolize the shadow figure. “It is the ‘dark side’ of the ego, and the evil that we are capable of is often stored there. Actually, the shadow is amoral-neither good nor bad, just like animals” (Carl Jung). In the story, the monkeys come and take Dorothy to the Wicked Witch. They just do what they are told to do, and in this case, they are the evil ones in the story. The Wizard of Oz is the perfect representation of the persona archetype. “The persona represents your public image. The world is, obviously, related to the word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask. So the persona is the mask you put on before you show yourself to the outside world” (Carl Jung). The Wizard is looked up to all throughout the story until the very end. He puts up an image to the people of Oz, that he is some great person, capable of anything. However, at the end of the story, Toto reveals who the Wizard really is: a normal man, pretending to be an intimidating individual. The hero archetype is represented by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. All three of these characters set out to rescue Dorothy, and help her when she is captured by the Wicked Witch of the West. “Basically, he represents the ego-we do tend to identify with the hero of the story-and is often engaged in fighting the shadow, in the form of dragons and other monsters. The hero is, however, often dumb as a post” (Carl Jung). Dorothy, of course, represents the maiden archetype. “She represents purity, innocence, and, in all likelihood, naïveté” (Carl Jung). According to Jung’s theory, the hero is set out to rescue the maiden. This is exactly what the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man are doing towards the end of the story when they sneak into the Wicked Witches castle.

Jung’s theory also consists of three principles: the principle of opposites, the principle of equivalence, and the principle of entropy. Beebe relates the story to the principle of opposites; for everything good, there must be something bad. Beebe talks about how The Wicked Witch is the shadow, the alter ego, of Glinda the Good Witch, and how Toto is the shadow or the opposite of the Cowardly Lion. Glinda acts as Dorothy’s good conscience, while the Wicked Witch acts as her bad one. Glinda from the beginning of the story is there for Dorothy. The Wicked Witch is just doing anything she can to get the ruby slippers from Dorothy. Toto and the Cowardly Lion’s characters clash, especially in the part of the story where Toto instigates the Lion to get angry and growl at him in the woods. An example of the principle of equivalence in the story is seen through the relationship between Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. “The energy created from the opposition is ‘given’ to both sides equally” (Carl Jung). Each of these characters feed off of each other with their desire to make it to the Emerald City. The third principle, the principle of entropy, is seen through the image that the Wizard puts up for himself, and his actual personality. “This is the tendency for oppositions to come together, and so for energy to decrease, over a person’s lifetime” (Carl Jung). The image that the Wizard tries to fool everyone with is the total opposite than that of his true identity. At the end of the story, since his true identity is revealed, these opposite images even each other out.

One would have never known that there would be so many different theories and ideas about what The Wizard of Oz represents. All of the interpretations have led to many different conclusions about the story. Who would have ever thought that a story that seems obvious that it was written specifically for children, would have had so many hidden messages in it? Out of all of the theories about The Wizard of Oz, I think that if Baum did actually write the story with means to convey a message other than just about a girl on a journey to find her way home, then I believe that Henry Littlefield’s interpretation makes the most sense. The story is written where each character or place can actually be representing something during the time period in which it was written in. The other theories seem to have over analyzed the story too much. Even though I don’t disagree with John Beebe’s theory, I think he dug too deep into the meaning of the story. I think that if Baum would have intended to imply a message through The Wizard of Oz, he would not have spent so much time analyzing each character psychologically. The other theories seem too complex. Although to some, theories about this story may seem way out of the question, The Wizard of Oz still is more than just a children’s story; it is an allegory for many different ideas.

The Wizard of Oz: More Than Just a Children’s Story, draft 1

The Wizard of Oz: a classic, a legend, a children’s story that will never grow old. Quotes such as “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” “Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my,” and “There’s no place like home,” are ones that will always pop into our heads when someone says “The Wizard of Oz.” Dorothy’s long, adventurous trip down the Yellow Brick Road is something that everyone loves to read and watch. It is a story that touches all of us. The 1939 MGM film interpretation of the 1900 published book written by L. Frank Baum, brought this story to life for all of those who were unable to go to the 1902 stage performance. Watching the movie turn from black and white to Technicolor was amazing. Hearing Judy Garland as Dorothy sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” left an impression on every individual who watched the movie. It was as if we felt what she was feeling at that moment; that there was a better place somewhere out there- somewhere over the rainbow. Viewers were able to relate to a character, whether it was the Scarecrow in need of a brain, the Tin Man in need of a heart, or the Cowardly Lion, in need of courage. The obvious message of the story is that there is no place like home. But what if we were to read into it a little bit more? What if we analyzed what the actual characters represented, and what the plot of the story actually was talking about? What if there were hidden messages behind this classic children’s story? If we were to do this, we would then come up with different theories that are conveyed through The Wizard of Oz. Individuals such as Henry Littlefield, John Beebe, Joey Green, and others have interpreted the story and have found many different theories to go along with it. Theories include parallels to Populism, Buddhist Taoism, Jungian Psychology, and womanhood; how Dorothy grows up.

Henry Littlefield argues that The Wizard of Oz is a story representing Populism- a philosophy that supports the rights of the people, and the 1896 presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. He states his theory in “The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism,” in the American Quarterly during Spring of 1964. Littlefield describes every character as a representation of something specific during that time period. In his book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture,” Neil Earle writes “According to Littlefield, Baum marched in torch-light parades for Bryan in 1896. Thus when he came to write his best-known work in 1900 he simply dressed it up as a Populist allegory” (Earle, 8). Littlefield describes Dorothy as an everyday man to Baum; the people of America. Her character and her problem of trying to get home, is the main plot in the movie. The Scarecrow represents the farmers in America. In the story, the Scarecrow is in need of a brain, which shows that he might not be the brightest one on the journey. “Baum’s Scarecrow is a response to the prejudicial notion that farmers were not smart enough to recognize their own interests.” (Littlefield’s Interpretation-The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man). The Tin Man represents the factories and the factory workers during the time period of the 1890s, when the depression took place. Factories were shut down, and when the Tin Man is first found, he is so rusted that he cannot move. This scene in the movie represents this idea. The Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan, according to Littlefield. This is because Bryan was unable to get the votes of the industrial workers in the election. The part of the story that depicts this is “When the Cowardly Lion first meets Dorothy and her companions, he strikes the Tin Man but does not make a dent in his metal body.” (Littlefield’s Interpretation- The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man). The Wicked Witch of the West is a representation of the Great Plains, and how hard it was for Americans to make a living there. “The land on the Great Plains was not as fertile as lands to the east of the Mississippi River and to make matters worse, a drought was driving many farmers out of business in the 1890s.” (The Symbolism of the Wicked Witch- The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man). The bucket of water that Dorothy pours on the Wicked Witch at the end of the story represents the end of the drought. Henry Littlefield’s interpretations have made many people analyze the story and read into it more.

Another interpretation of The Wizard of Oz, includes individuals like Joey Green’s theory from a religious point of view. Dorothy is on a spiritual journey to find herself. Green writes “Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, is clearly a Zen Master. She sets Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road to spiritual enlightenment” (Joey Green- The Zen of Oz). Toto is the character that loves Dorothy no matter what, even though he brings bad karma to her. Green talks about how the Yellow Brick Road is the main path that Dorothy takes to find herself. “In Joey Green's Buddhist interpretation of The Wizard of Oz, the yellow brick road is the path to self-actualization.” (The Symbolism of the Yellow Brick Road- The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man).

The Wizard of Oz: More Than Just a Children’s Story, draft 2

Henry Littlefield argues that The Wizard of Oz is a story representing Populism- a philosophy that supports the rights of the people, and the 1896 presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. He states his theory in “The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism,” in the American Quarterly during Spring of 1964. Littlefield describes every character as a representation of something specific during that time period. In his book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture,” Neil Earle writes “According to Littlefield, Baum marched in torch-light parades for Bryan in 1896. Thus when he came to write his best-known work in 1900 he simply dressed it up as a Populist allegory” (Earle, 8). Littlefield describes Dorothy as an everyday man to Baum; the people of America. Her character and her problem of trying to get home, is the main plot in the movie. The Scarecrow represents the farmers in America. In the story, the Scarecrow is in need of a brain, which shows that he might not be the brightest one on the journey. “Baum’s Scarecrow is a response to the prejudicial notion that farmers were not smart enough to recognize their own interests.” (Littlefield’s Interpretation-The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man). The Tin Man represents the factories and the factory workers during the time period of the 1890s, when the depression took place. Factories were shut down, and when the Tin Man is first found, he is so rusted that he cannot move. This scene in the movie represents this idea. The Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan, according to Littlefield. This is because Bryan was unable to get the votes of the industrial workers in the election. The part of the story that depicts this is “When the Cowardly Lion first meets Dorothy and her companions, he strikes the Tin Man but does not make a dent in his metal body.” (Littlefield’s Interpretation- The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man). The Wicked Witch of the West is a representation of the Great Plains, and how hard it was for Americans to make a living there. “The land on the Great Plains was not as fertile as lands to the east of the Mississippi River and to make matters worse, a drought was driving many farmers out of business in the 1890s.” (The Symbolism of the Wicked Witch- The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, Dead Man). The bucket of water that Dorothy pours on the Wicked Witch at the end of the story represents the end of the drought. Other symbols recognized by Littlefield also include ones about the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy’s slippers, the Emerald City, and the actual Wizard of Oz. “The book teems with references to the colors gold, silver, and green-the colors of money” (Dighe, 2). The ruby slippers were originally silver in Baum’s book. MGM changed the color of the slippers in order to show the new technology of Technicolor. According to Dighe, Littlefield interpreted the story as an allegory about monetary populism. “To get there she must follow the yellow brick road (gold standard), and her journey is made much easier by her new silver shoes (the Populist goal of replacing the gold standard with a “bimetallic” standard of gold and silver)” (Dighe, 2), writes Dighe. Henry Littlefield’s interpretations have made many people analyze the story and read into it more.

One would have never known that there would be so many different theories and ideas about what The Wizard of Oz represents. All of the interpretations have led to many different conclusions about the story. Who would have ever thought that a story that seems obvious that it was written specifically for children, would have had so many hidden messages in it? But did Baum really intend to write the story this way? Did he really mean to have all of these meanings encoded within the story? Out of all of the theories about The Wizard of Oz, I think that if Baum did actually write the story with means to convey a message other than just about a girl on a journey to find her way home, then I believe that Henry Littlefield’s interpretation makes the most sense. The story is written where each character or place, can actually be representing something during the time period which it was written in. The other theories seem to have over analyzed the story. I think that if Baum would have intended to imply a message through The Wizard of Oz, he would not have spent so much time analyzing each character philosophically, or psychologically. The other theories seem too complex. Although to some, theories about this story may seem way out of the question, The Wizard of Oz still is more than just a children’s story; it is an allegory for many different ideas.

The Wizard of Oz: More Than Just a Children’s Story, draft 4

The Wizard of Oz is a classic, a legend, and a children’s story that will never grow old. Quotes from the story such as “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” “Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my,” and “There’s no place like home,” are ones that will always pop into our heads when someone says “The Wizard of Oz.” These are the lines that are related right away to the famous story. Dorothy’s long, adventurous trip down the Yellow Brick Road is something that everyone loves to read and watch. It is a story that touches all of us. The 1939 MGM film interpretation of the 1900 published book written by L. Frank Baum, brought this story to life for all of those who were unable to go to the 1902 stage performance. I’ll never forget watching the movie for the first time. Seeing the screen turn from black and white, to beautiful, stunning colors was amazing. Hearing Judy Garland as Dorothy sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for the first time, left me with a lasting memory. It was as if I felt what she was feeling at that moment; that there was a better place somewhere out there- somewhere over the rainbow. Most viewers were able to relate to a character, whether it was the Scarecrow in need of a brain, the Tin Man in need of a heart, or the Cowardly Lion, in need of courage. The obvious message of the story is that there isno place like home. However, The Wizard of Oz has been taken to another level. Individuals such as Henry Littlefield, John Beebe, Joey Green, and others have interpreted the story and have found many different theories to go along with it. Theories include parallels to Populism, Buddhist Taoism, Jungian Psychology, etc. The two main theories that make the most sense are Henry Littlefield’s theory on the story representing Populism during the time period which Baum wrote the book, and John Beebe’s theory on how the story goes hand in hand with C.G. Jung’s Jungian Psychology.

According to Neil Earle, “The Political reading of Oz was given classic expression by Henry M. Littlefield in the Spring, 1964, American Quarterly” (6). Henry Littlefield argues that The Wizard of Oz is a story representing Populism- a philosophy that supports the rights of the people, and the 1896 presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. Littlefield describes every character as a representation of something specific during that time period. In his book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture,” Neil Earle writes “According to Littlefield, Baum marched in torch-light parades for Bryan in 1896. Thus when he came to write his best-known work in 1900 he simply dressed it up as a Populist allegory” (8). Littlefield describes Dorothy as an everyday man to Baum; the people of America. Her character and her problem of trying to get home, is the main plot in the movie. This shows what the main point of Populism was: the concerns of the American people. Since Dorothy is the main character, we can see that the American population was the main focus. The Scarecrow represents the farmers in America. In the story, the Scarecrow is in need of a brain, which shows that he might not be the brightest one on the journey. According to the web page Littlefield’s interpretation, “Baum’s Scarecrow is a response to the prejudicial notion that farmers were not smart enough to recognize their own interests” (Interpretation). During this time period, farmers in a way were helpless. Their conditions became harder, and the economy was changing. “To millions of late nineteenth century Americans, farming was a way of life that was infused with honor and patriotism” (Third Party Politics). This quote explains exactly how the Scarecrow is in the story. He is helpless because he has no brain, so he really doesn’t know what to do. But on the other hand, he takes pride in being a Scarecrow, and gets upset when he is unsuccessful in scaring away the crows. As the story goes along, a better representation of the American people is portrayed. When Dorothy comes along and takes the Scarecrow with her on her journey to Oz, one can see that the story is slowly piecing together an image of the American population.

According to the web page Farmers and Third Party Politics, “Between 1870 and 1896, the wholesale price index for farm products declined by fifty percent. But railroads and other middlemen took their profits despite the farmer's plight” (Third Party Politics). This quote explains how the factories and the workers acted towards the farmers. They didn’t really care if the farmers were in trouble. The next main character who is introduced into the story which represents this, is the Tin Man. He depicts the factories and the factory workers during the time period of the 1890s, when the depression took place. Factories were shut down, and when the Tin Man is first found, he is so rusted that he cannot move. This scene in the movie represents this idea perfectly. Littlefield’s interpretation of the Tin Man goes entirely with his theory. Even though it takes a little bit of time for Dorothy to oil the Tin Man, she gets the job done. This portrays the idea that even though America had a tough time at first during the depression, they were able to make it through okay. The Cowardly Lion is another main character introduced in the story. He represents William Jennings Bryan, according to Littlefield. This is because Bryan was unable to get the votes of the industrial workers in the election. The part of the story that best depicts this is “When the Cowardly Lion first meets Dorothy and her companions, he strikes the Tin Man but does not make a dent in his metal body” (Interpretation). William Jennings Bryan was unable to make a “dent” in votes with the industrial workers, just like the Cowardly Lion was unable to dent the Tin Man. The Cowardly Lion’s weakness is also represented in this part of the story, which also depicts the weakness of Bryan. As each of the three main characters meet up with each other, one can see that they each represent a part of the American population. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion together, make up the American society during the time period of the late 1800s, early 1900s. They all follow Dorothy on the road to Oz. This represents, again, how the main focus of The Wizard of Oz is on the people of America.

Further into this interpretation, according to Littlefield, The Wicked Witch of the West is a representation of the Great Plains, and how hard it was for Americans to make a living there. According to the website The Wizard of Oz-Turn Me On, Dead Man, “The land on the Great Plains was not as fertile as lands to the east of the Mississippi River and to make matters worse, a drought was driving many farmers out of business in the 1890s” (Wicked Witch). The bucket of water that Dorothy pours on the Wicked Witch at the end of the story represents the end of the drought. The Wicked Witch melts from the water, which symbolizes how the drought finished. Other symbols recognized by Littlefield also include ones about the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy’s slippers, the Emerald City, and the actual Wizard of Oz. The Wizard represents President William McKinley. Earle quotes Littlefield and writes, “The Wizard in his Emerald City is none other than the evasive, hard-to-pin-down President William McKinley: ‘[h]e symbolizes the American criterion for leadership-he is able to be everything to everybody’” (qtd in Earle 8). Everyone looks up to the President of the United States, just like everyone in Oz looked up to the Wizard. This is a perfect analysis of what the Wizard represents in the story.

Littlefield’s interpretation also discusses the big representation of money in the story. Ranjit S. Dighe writes “The book teems with references to the colors gold, silver, and green-the colors of money” (2). The ruby slippers were originally silver in Baum’s book. MGM changed the color of the slippers in order to show the new technology of Technicolor. According to Dighe, Littlefield interpreted the story as an allegory about monetary populism. “To get there she must follow the yellow brick road (gold standard), and her journey is made much easier by her new silver shoes (the Populist goal of replacing the gold standard with a “bimetallic” standard of gold and silver)” (2), writes Dighe. The Yellow Brick Road symbolizes the gold standard. According to the web page What is the Gold Standard, “The phrase ‘gold standard’ is defined as the use of gold as the standard value for the money of a country. If a country will redeem any of its money in gold it is said to be using the gold standard” (Standard). Dorothy’s silver slippers represent the silver standard of the time. These two elements of the story end up at the same place in the end: The Emerald City. Dorothy’s silver slippers follow the Yellow Brick Road, which both end up in the Emerald City, where the green color represents money all together. Henry Littlefield’s interpretations have made many people analyze the story and read into it more. His theories about what each element in the story represents, matches perfectly.

John Beebe’s theory on The Wizard of Oz differs from Littlefield’s, in that he argues that the story is primarily depicting a psychological view; particularly C.G. Jung’s psychological theory. Jung’s theory is based on three things: the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The ego is recognized with the conscious mind, the personal unconscious is basically memories that easily come to mind, and the collective unconscious is like an instinct that we all have. Examples of the collective unconscious are ones like déjà vu, and the near-death experience. These are things that just happen to us, we don’t choose for them to happen. In Jung’s theory, archetypes make up the collective unconscious. According to the web page Carl Jung, “An archetype is an unlearned tendency to experience things in a certain way” (Jung). Some of Jung’s archetypes include the mother, the shadow, the animus, and the trickster. In The Wizard of Oz, characters like Glinda the Good Witch represent the mother archetype because she looks out for Dorothy, and Toto represent the trickster, because he is always creating problems. Right when Dorothy enters Oz, Glinda is there for her, giving her the ruby slippers, and telling her to follow the Yellow Brick Road. But like a mother figure, Glinda lets Dorothy find out for herself what the slippers are for, and how important they are going to be to her. Toto on the other hand, creates problems for Dorothy, but she doesn’t seem to think of him as any trouble. Beebe writes “But Toto is also a trickster, who consistently moves the plot forward by creating some kind of mischief that breaks with an established order of things (biting Almira Gulch, growling at the Lion, jumping out of the hot-air balloon just as the Wizard is about to take Dorothy back to America)” (73). When Toto jumps out of the hot-air balloon, he causes Dorothy to loose her one chance, or so she thinks, to go back home. Toto also causes the Cowardly Lion to growl at him, causing Dorothy to hit the Lion on the nose. Without Toto’s mischief ways, Dorothy and the other characters would have been a lot better off. The shadow is another archetype included in Jung’s theory. In the story, the flying monkeys symbolize the shadow figure. “It is the ‘dark side’ of the ego, and the evil that we are capable of is often stored there. Actually, the shadow is amoral-neither good nor bad, just like animals” (Jung), written in the Carl Jung web page. In the story, the monkeys come and take Dorothy to the Wicked Witch. They just do what they are told to do, and in this case, they are the evil ones in the story. The Wizard of Oz is the perfect representation of the persona archetype. “The persona represents your public image. The world is, obviously, related to the word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask. So the persona is the mask you put on before you show yourself to the outside world” (Jung). The Wizard is looked up to all throughout the story until the very end. He puts up an image to the people of Oz, that he is some great person, capable of anything. However, at the end of the story, Toto reveals who the Wizard really is: a normal man, pretending to be an intimidating individual. The hero archetype is represented by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. All three of these characters set out to rescue Dorothy, and help her when she is captured by the Wicked Witch of the West. The web page Carl Jung explains, “Basically, [the hero] represents the ego-we do tend to identify with the hero of the story-and is often engaged in fighting the shadow, in the form of dragons and other monsters. The hero is, however, often dumb as a post” (Jung). Dorothy, of course, represents the maiden archetype. “She represents purity, innocence, and, in all likelihood, naïveté” (Jung). According to Jung’s theory, the hero is set out to rescue the maiden. This is exactly what the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man are doing towards the end of the story when they sneak into the Wicked Witches castle.

Jung’s theory also consists of three principles: the principle of opposites, the principle of equivalence, and the principle of entropy. Beebe relates the story to the principle of opposites; for everything good, there must be something bad. Beebe talks about how The Wicked Witch is the shadow, the alter ego, of Glinda the Good Witch, and how Toto is the shadow or the opposite of the Cowardly Lion. Glinda acts as Dorothy’s good conscience, while the Wicked Witch acts as her bad one. Glinda from the beginning of the story is there for Dorothy. The Wicked Witch is just doing anything she can to get the ruby slippers from Dorothy. Toto and the Cowardly Lion’s characters clash, especially in the part of the story where Toto instigates the Lion to get angry and growl at him in the woods. An example of the principle of equivalence in the story is seen through the relationship between Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. “The energy created from the opposition is ‘given’ to both sides equally” (Jung). Each of these characters feed off of each other with their desire to make it to the Emerald City. The third principle, the principle of entropy, is seen through the image that the Wizard puts up for himself, and his actual personality. “This is the tendency for oppositions to come together, and so for energy to decrease, over a person’s lifetime” (Jung). The image that the Wizard tries to fool everyone with is the total opposite than that of his true identity. At the end of the story, since his true identity is revealed, these opposite images even each other out.

One would have never known that there would be so many different theories and ideas about what The Wizard of Oz represents. All of the interpretations have led to many different conclusions about the story. Who would have ever thought that a story that seems obvious that it was written specifically for children, would have had so many hidden messages in it? Out of all of the theories about The Wizard of Oz, I think that if Baum did actually write the story with means to convey a message other than just about a girl on a journey to find her way home, then I believe that Henry Littlefield’s interpretation makes the most sense. The story is written where each character or place can actually be representing something during the time period in which it was written in. The other theories seem to have over analyzed the story too much. Even though I don’t disagree with John Beebe’s theory, I think he dug too deep into the meaning of the story. I think that if Baum would have intended to imply a message through The Wizard of Oz, he would not have spent so much time analyzing each character psychologically. The other theories seem too complex. Although to some, theories about this story may seem way out of the question, The Wizard of Oz still ismore than just a children’s story; it is an allegory for many different ideas.

The Wizard of Oz: More Than Just a Children’s Story, proposal

The idea that I have chosen for my research essay is how The Wizard of Oz is more than just a classic children’s story. I have chosen to write about all of the hidden messages, and interpretations about the story. Some of these include political views, religious views, psychological views, etc. The only way that this is related to my abstracts is that I am going to be using the film The Wizard of Oz as one of my resources, just as I used a clip from the film Chicago for my abstracts.

The major focus of my essay is going to be discussing all of the different interpretations of The Wizard of Oz. For example, according to Henry M. Littlefield, The Wizard of Oz was a story about Populism, a philosophy that supported the rights of the people. This analysis of the story suggests that Dorothy is “Baum’s Miss Everyman” (Littlefield, Littlefield’s Interpretation), that the Scarecrow and the Tin Man represent farmers and industrial workers, the Lion represents William Jennings Bryan (the Democratic nominee for president at that time), Emerald City represents Washington D.C., etc. John Beebe on the other hand, shows how The Wizard of Oz falls hand in hand with C.G. Jung’s theory of psychology. Beebe writes how Dorothy portrays the extraverted psychological type (people who prefer the external world, and who are usually more social), while the Scarecrow portrays the introverted psychological type (people who prefer their internal world, and who tend to be more shy). He also discusses some of Jung’s principles such as the principle of opposites. He uses Glinda the Good Witch compared to the Cowardly Lion as one example, and Dorothy compared to the Scarecrow as another. Another interpretation of The Wizard of Oz is from a spiritual point of view. For example, Joey Green writes how Glinda the Good Witch is the Zen Master, and how Dorothy finds her true self during her journey on the Yellow Brick Road.

I first heard about this idea from a friend. She started to explain how The Wizard of Oz represents people striving for the American Dream. She then told me that there were a lot of other interpretations about the story. This immediately caught my interest. Before my discussion with her, I had no idea that people had even analyzed The Wizard of Oz. I am very excited to learn more about the different analogies that people have come up with for this story.

I plan to make this essay more of an informative one. I would just like to discuss and write about all of the different interpretations of the story. As of now, each paragraph will talk about each interpretation that I have researched. This includes analogies from people such as Henry Littlefield, Joey Green, and John Beebe. I would also like to include my opinion on what The Wizard of Oz represents.