Many of the events and characters of the book resemble the actual
political personalities, events and ideas of the 1890s.[1] The 1902
stage adaptation mentioned, by name, President Theodore Roosevelt, oil
magnate John D. Rockefeller, and other political celebrities.[1] (No
real people are mentioned by name in the book.) Even the title has
been interpreted as alluding to a political reality: oz. is an
abbreviation for ounce, a unit familiar to those who fought for a 16
to 1 ounce ratio of silver to gold in the name of bimetallism, though
Baum stated he got the name from a file cabinet labeled A-N and O-Z.
It should also be noted, however, that in later books Baum mentions
contemporary figures by name and takes blatantly political stances
without the benefit of allegory including a condemnation in no
uncertain terms of Standard Oil.
The book opens not in an imaginary place but in real life Kansas,
which in the 1890s was well-known for the hardships of rural life, and
for destructive tornadoes. The Panic of 1893 caused widespread
distress in rural America. Dorothy is swept away to a colorful land of
unlimited resources that nevertheless has serious political
problems.[1] This utopia is ruled in part by people designated as
wicked. Dorothy and her cyclone kill the Wicked Witch of the East. The
Witch had previously controlled the all-powerful silver slippers
(which were changed to ruby in the 1939 film). The slippers will in
the end liberate Dorothy but first she must walk in them down the
golden yellow brick road, i.e. she must take silver down the path of
gold, the path of free coinage. Following the road of gold leads
eventually only to the Emerald City, which may symbolize the
fraudulent world of greenback paper money that only pretends to have
value, or may symbolize the greenback value that is placed on gold
(and for silver, possibly).[1] Other allegorical devices of the book
include:
* Dorothy, naïve, young and simple, represents the American
people. She is Everyman, led astray and who seeks the way back
home.[1] She resembles the young hero of Coin's financial school, a
very popular political pamphlet of 1893. Another interpretation holds
that she is a representation of Theodore Roosevelt: note that the
syllables "Dor-o-thy" are the reverse of the syllables "The-o-dore."
* The cyclone was used in the 1890s as a metaphor for a political
revolution that would transform the drab country into a land of color
and unlimited prosperity. The cyclone was used by editorial
cartoonists of the 1890s to represent political upheaval.[1]
* Historians and economists who read the original 1900 book as a
political allegory interpret the Tin Woodman as the dehumanized
industrial worker, badly mistreated by the Wicked Witch of the East
who rules Munchkin Country before the cyclone creates a political
revolution and kills her. The Woodman is rusted and
helplessineffective until he starts to work together with the
Scarecrow (the farmer), in a Farmer-Labor coalition that was much
discussed in the 1890s, which culminated in the successful
Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota and its eventual merger with the
Minnesota Democratic Party to form the Minnesota
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in 1944.
* The Munchkins are the little peopleordinary citizens. This 1897
Judge cartoon shows famous politicians as little people after they
were on the losing side in the election. However, in Oz the Munchkins
are all dressed similarly in blue, unlike these caricatures.
--- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, "maidmarian_thepoet"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> So, I am reading a review of "The Tin Man" in my local paper. The
> article is actually from the NY Times, so I guess that you can find it
> there. And I run up against the following:
>
> "Baum said that he sought simply to produce a modern fairy tale, but
> his symbolism was hardly subtle. The novel came to be understood as an
> allegory for debates about turn-of-the-century monetary policy
> stemming from outrage over the subjugation of agricultural interests
> to the imperialism of bankers on the East Coast. (In the book, unlike
> in the 1939 film, Dorothy's shoes are made of silver, not rubies. The
> notion of silver shoes ambling on a yellow brick road is thought to
> stand for Baum's advocacy of bimetallism, a shift from the gold
> standard that would have given farmers access to cheaper money.)"
>
> Now, I've come to love literary criticism. Reading Torah commentaries
> uses the same muscles. As I exercise one, I exercise the other. But
> HUH? "The Wizard of Oz" was about monetary policy?
>
> Do we have some degreed folks here who can explain that one to me? I
> am very confused. And this from a person who loves "Was"--Ryman's
> rewrite of the OZ story.
>
