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Consumerism in the 1920s
Symbolism in the wonderful wizard of oz
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Recommended: Consumerism in the 1920s
The Wizard of Oz is a story of a young girl named Dorothy, who gets carried away in a tornado away from her Kansas home to a new place nothing like she’s ever seen. Her house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and she is welcomed to the magical and colorful new land by the Munchkins. She meets the Good Witch of the North, who tells her the only way she can return home is if she goes to Emerald City to seek help from the Wizard of Oz. Along her journey, Dorothy and her dog Toto meet the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion and they begin their travel to the Emerald City in search of the great Wizard of Oz. The purpose of the visiting the wizard is that he is the only one able to grant the Scarecrow a brain, the Tin man a heart, …show more content…
Frank Baum wrote his tale, he was responding to the current conditions of America, specifically the severe depression that struck America in 1893 and the shift from a rural to an industrial society. During this period, the Populist movement began to grow as a reaction to the changes due to industrialization. Many people moved from the country to the city, in search of new opportunities and transformation. During this point in history, there was also a rise in consumer economy, and things that were readily available to purchase became important to people (Mary Corey, Wizard of Oz, 4/14/2016). When the economy changed, there was a change in culture and popular culture began to become associated with advertising and consumerism. The turn of the century was a major decade of progression for America. American people were very hungry for new and beautiful advances and it was a time of invention and …show more content…
It is depicted as a gray and dull, representing the world of reality. On the other hand, Oz is full of color and is vibrant, representing the world of fantasy and imagination. If this is the case, why would Dorothy want to return to a dull and boring reality. She travels all the way to see the Wizard of Oz, only to realize that home is the only place she wants to be. Baum stresses this idea with Dorothy proclaiming, “there’s no place like home” (Baum 21), which she repeats several times. Dorothy wants to go back to Kansas because it is home and she ties there. Readers of the book identify with Dorothy and some of them can relate with wanting to go back home, while others don't go home, but they want to know that they can (Mary Corey, Wizard of Oz, 4/14/2016). Dorothy has been on a thrilling adventure, and discovered her own power, however, her main goal throughout her journey has been to return home. While Oz may be rich and appealing, it is simply not home and not where Dorothy’s heart and mind desires to
Frank Baum accurately presented ideas of occult symbolism in The Wizard of Oz, through aspects of illumination, enlightenment, and self-realization. This was accomplished by depicting multiple characters’ desires and needs, and others as guides to enlightenment. Baum would agree with the quote above, saying that The Wizard of Oz does focus on occult symbolism, and a journey to self-understanding. Everything one has experienced in life leads to self-realization and further, wisdom. Furthermore, the quote “Real power, for good or ill, lies with the women” (DATABASE) states that women have power as much as men do. The young heroine displays this by saving her male companions along her journey and completing her
The narrative begins with Dorothy, who lives on a farm in a black and white setting presuming the absence of vitality and the insufficiency of a place that was in poverty at the time. However, when Dorothy is picked up by a twister and wakes up in the Land of Oz, she finds herself in a completely opposite environment full of life, beauty, and color filled with new found opportunities. On her quest to Emerald City, Dorothy is presented with a few characters who are The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, and The Scarecrow who all feel like they need something more to complete them and they all seek out the “all powerful” wizard to obtain the things they want. The items they yearn for were a brain, a heart, and courage. Three things that we learn to utilize with experiences we go through. The characters eventually realize that they have always had what they have been longing for after the many obstacles they came through on their journey. In the end, Dorothy says, “If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't
...are similar in both her ordinary and special worlds, and she must work throughout the rest of the film to resolve them. The Wizard of Oz can be analyzed in many different ways, but the depth of the plot is what gives this movie its timeless qualities making it a favorite still today, and one can’t also help to note how cinematically advanced this movie was for its time making it truly a masterpiece.
...lf-confidence. The Scarecrow was the one who believed that he had no brain even with him coming up with brilliant and clever solutions to the many problems that they faced on their journey. The tin man believed that he didn’t have a heart, but cries when bad things are brought upon the creatures they come to encounter. The lion believed that he had no courage even though he was the one brave enough to continue the journey, he always stated how brave he was and pushed forward even when the others did not want to. A famous quote from Carl L. Bankston III of Salem Press stated that "These three characters embody the classical human virtues of intelligence, caring, and courage, but their self-doubts keep them from being reduced to mere symbols of these qualities” (). This is an important quote because it highlights the self-confidence that Baum explored in his story.
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.
In her travels Dorothy meets the green people of Emerald city, the yellow winkies, and the blue munchkins. Each of the three different types of people reacted to Dorothy and her people differently, the munchkins were warm and welcoming, the people of Emerald city were cautious and courteous and the yellow winkies were curious and helpful. The distinction in color was made because each color represented a defining characteristic, the people of Emerald city represented greed as they were not only green, the color of money, but they were also heavily isolated from the rest of the people of Oz; the people of Emerald city lived in the richest city as seen with the jewels that surrounded the houses as such they did not openly welcome strangers nor did they treat them kindly a sign of disdain for outsiders, they represented the higher class in society, or the richest class. The yellow winkies represented hard workers, and the working to lower class as they were not only very skilled at every craft but their enslavement to the much more powerful which represented the constant oppression of the less powerful, or poorer class in society. The blue munchkins represented the middle class, not necessarily know for wealth or for being poor, they are kind and strive to be successful as seen with Boq one of the richest munchkins. Each of the different people of Oz and
In the movie the Wizard was exposed as a fraud and a fake, yet he still convinced the group that he could give them what they needed. The imposter gave the Scarecrow a diploma, the Lion a medal of honor, and the Tin Man a ticking heart-shaped watch. The Wizard of OZ granted their wishes convincing
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
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
In the beginning of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is living in Kansas with her Aunt and Uncle, and her small dog, Toto. Everything is described in shades of black and white and very gray and boring, stretching as far as she can see with no trees or other houses. Even her Aunt and Uncle are described as if they’ve lost their color and are gray. This literal description of the
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 film directed by Victor Fleming, which follows Dorothy Gale on her journey through the magical land of Oz. Dorothy is swept away from a farm in Kansas to the land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return to her home in Kansas. The director, uses a number cinematic techniques such as camera angles, lighting, colour and dialogue to portray a central theme of There’s no place like home.
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.
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.