The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Illuminating its Historical Accuracy
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum has fulfilled its young reader’s imagination for over one hundred years. The journey begins with Dorothy, a girl from Kansas who is taken aloft by a violent cyclone from which there is no escape. Dorothy finds herself far from home in a foreign land called Oz. With the assistance from different kinds of friends such as scarecrow, tin man, and cowardly lion, Dorothy started her journey to the see the mystic Wizard of Oz, to find answers, and a way to go back home. The work is intended to replace classic fiction and represent social principles of the era. In addition, Frank Baum adds modern education includes morality.1 Since its publication in 1900, there has been much debate over Baum’s plan on the book. One side of the argument claims that Baum’s work does not portray themes during the Populist Era (1892-1896). On the other hand, another argument affirms that Baum’s novel accurately represents obvious economic and political subject matter that symbolize into an imaginative literature. This paper will provide evidence to support the second argument claim, arguing the book indeed symbolize the social environment during the Populist Era.
First, we can see the historical experience of its main characters represented in the novel. Dorothy, the female protagonist in the novel is first described as a “little girl” who had very little creature comforts in life beyond her four timber-clad walls, except for her beloved dog, Toto. Dorothy can be seen as a symbol of innocence, wonder, and perseverance; virtues that were common among the men and women who ventured west of the Mississippi in the years following the Homestead Act of ...
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...ultural trend alluded to in the Wizard of Oz includes the Free Silver and Gold Standard debate. First, silver and gold themes are introduced by way of Dorothy’s silver shoes and the yellow (gold) brick road. Further support discussed above, were provided by Hugh Rockoff. In light of this data, critics have no ground. It is clear that L. Frank Baum wrote his work of fiction as an allegory for the events that unfolded during the Populist Era. Frank Baum intentionally imparted historical experience to many of the main characters represented in the novel, and conveyed major cultural trends of the historical era to his story. In closing, L. F. Baum’s true intention was to create an imaginative tale with cues to modern developments in order to educate his young audience of the principles and morals which must endure through hardship, adversity, and times of uncertainty.
L. Frank Baum achieved a fairy tale classic in his work of The Wizard of Oz. In the story, colors are used repeatedly to directly or indirectly give feeling and meaning to the setting.Color is a crucial imagery factor in a piece of writing. It lets a reader connect and use their imagination to make the words come alive in their heads. Baum specifically uses the colors; gray, yellow, and green. The novel is filled with many mood changes using these colors.
Frank Baums, The Wizard of Oz is arguably one of the most popular films made. Even though it was released in 1939, nearly three-quarters of a century ago, the film continues to entertain audiences and speak to them in a personal way. The question that comes to the mind when analyzing this film is: What is it about this film that gives it such timelessness? When reflecting on the film’s timeless qualities, it seems clear the plot is one of the things that enable it to maintain its relevance. Primarily, the plot of The Wizard of Oz is timeless because it is such an excellent example of the heroic journey, both in literally and cinematically. This journey of self-awareness is a metaphor for growth, which is something we all search to discover at some time in our lives.
In relation to occult symbolism, the above quotes have illustrated these features. Toto, the inner voice, led Dorothy along her trek . Glinda, the guide, gave Dorothy the resources to lead her in the direction to what she ultimately desires, a way to return to Kansas. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion searched for a want or need, while supporting Dorothy. In whole, each of these characters displayed good behavior in assisting the young girl in her exploration to illumination and enlightenment. “Like Dorothy’s journey, ours lead to a better self-understanding and, hopefully, to wisdom. But what does “wisdom” mean? I suspect it consists precisely in having discovered the brightness, the enchantment inside everything we have encountered all our lives.”
“Were off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz” One of the infamous phrases from one of the most well know classics of all time. The original movie titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was made in 1939 by Frank Baum. This film featured stars such as Judy Garland, Jack Hayley and many others. This was not only a movie, it was a fantasy, and a musical storytelling adventure with unusual characters that shook the audience. This was one of the first films to make it to the big screen with color. Because of its success, this film has been remade many times with multiple different spins making it rhetorical. Over the years this film has become one of the best films of all time and is still watched today among all ages
Scene: This scene in the film comes just after the house has been picked up in the twister. Dorothy's house has been lifted up into the sky and suddenly dropped back down to earth in the middle of the Land of Oz. In the scene itself, Dorothy leaves her home to see that she is "Not in Kansas anymore," and finds the new and amazing world of the munchkin city in front of her. She also meets Gwendela the good witch as her journey in Oz begins.
...s. The Scarecrow represents farmers, agricultural workers, ignorant of many city things but honest and able to understand things with a little education. The Tin Man, He represents the industrial worker whose heart has been torn out by the evils of factory work and industrialism. W.J. Bryan embodied the role of the cowardly lion. Bryan was a very loud and booming public speaker but was viewed as a coward because he did not support the Spanish-American war. OZ is the US. The emerald city is Washington D.C. filled with greenbacks and the wizard is the president. Dorothy and her “party” follow the yellow brick way, or gold standard, to find the wizard and fix her problem. When all along they way to fix her problem of how to get back home was to tap her ruby red shoes which were silver thus in the original book thus representing the Populists push for a silver standard.
The first major connection in The Wizard of Oz was the Scarecrow. The scarecrow was used to symbolize the farmers and their struggles in America in the 18th century (Foner, Eric 636-640). The scarecrow made of straw was vulnerable with no brain. The scarecrow had little control over the circumstances he was facing just as the farmers did in the 18th century. The western farmers had issues with overproduction and when prices fell farmers suffered ended up losing their farms (Foner, Eric
The Wizard of Oz the movie demonstrated all three stages Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero’s journey. The first stage or known as the departure of the hero. The hero in the movie is Dorothy. Dorothy’s call to depart is to run away from home to protect her dog Toto from being taken away from her inferior neighbor. While running away Dorothy comes upon Professor Marvel, a fortuneteller. Professor Marvel tells her that her Aunt Em is in danger and needs her assistance back on the farm. When returning to the house a twister hits the ground. As the winds started to get heavier the hero’s house moved across the air uncontrollably, but then she leaves home and enters a new world of talking animals and colorful objects. In the new world of the Oz
The wonderful wizard of Oz is about Dorothy who is a girl from Kansas. A tornado comes to her house and takes her house with her in it to the mythical land of Oz. Dorothy wakes up to see that she is in an unfamiliar place. She meets a witch that tells her that she needs to go to the great wizard Oz who,lives in the Emerald city if she wants to get home.
Glenda starts to sing and invites all the munchkins to come out and meet Dorothy, who has save them from their shadow, the wicket witch of the east. Glenda, after welcoming Dorothy, points to an area that has caused excitement in this new land; Dorothy’s house has landed on and killed a figure whose feet can be seen from beneath the house. This was the wicked witch of the east, who has terrorized the land, the shadow, the villain, the evil one, and she is now dead. The Shadow archetype is a negative figure, representing things we don 't like and would like to eliminate. The shadow often takes the form of the antagonist in a story.” Ms. Gulch in Dorothy’s ordinary world is a person she wanted to be rid of. The only difference in the adventure
Dorothy Gale, the protagonist of the story is a young, optimistic girl who lives on a farm in Kansas, which is a place in Midwest America that lacks colour and mainly consists of flat country land and has minimal trees. The films overall theme is illustrated by Dorothy’s famous line that ultimately
What makes a film interesting? What makes it stand out from other films? What makes it unique? The visual design aspects of color and lighting in a film play a major role in giving the film meaning and depth. A lot of thought goes into what colors and lighting should be used that will help convey a mood and theme central to the film. You wouldn’t see dark colors and lighting used in a children cartoon, instead you see bright color and bright lighting. And vice versa; most horror films don’t focus on bright colors and bright lighting. In The Wizard of Oz (Dir. Victor Fleming, 1939) , the director uses bright colors and lighting to portray the moods of happiness, joy and innocence in Dorothy’s life. In contrast, dark colors and lighting that go hand in hand with the evil parts of Oz portray the
The Wizard of Oz is a fiction story written by L. Frank Baum. The story has two main settings. The first setting is, Dorothy’s home, the Kansas prairies. The prairies are described as dry and gray. The second setting is the land of Oz. Oz is opposed from Kansas, it is colorful, bright, and full of joy. The Wizard of Oz has a grate theme or message behind the story. The message is that we all have good qualities in us, but it is up to us to use them.
In the words of Michael O’Shaughnessy, ‘narratives, or stories, are a basic way of making sense of our experience’ (1999: 266). As a society and a culture, we use stories to comprehend and share our experiences, typically by constructing them with a beginning, middle and an end. In fact, the order that a narrative is structured will directly impact the way it is understood, particularly across cultures. This idea originated through Claude Lévi-Strauss’s concept of structuralism in anthropology which ‘is concerned with uncovering the common structural principles underlying specific and historically variable cultures and myth’ in pre-industrial societies (Strinati 2003: 85). In terms of media studies, structuralism’s inherent objective is to dig beneath the surface of a media text to identify how the structure of a narrative contributes to it’s meaning. Structuralism encompasses a large range of analytical tools, however, this essay will examine Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and Claude Lévi-Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions. Through analysis of Victor Fleming’s film, The Wizard of Oz (1939), it will be shown that although the monomyth and binary oppositions are useful tools with which to unveil how meaning is generated in this text, structuralism can undermine the audience’s ability to engage with their own interpretations of the film.
The Wizard of Oz is a film created by MGM Studios in 1939, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, Frank Morgan as the Wizard and Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz is commonly known as the classic film of American cinema and is loved by many people. It can be classified as a Family, Fantasy, Musical film due to the touching messages told throughout the film, the magical special effects featuredn and the beautiful musical numbers highlighted in the film.