The Wizard of Oz as Allegory and Fairy Tale

Deconstructing a Classic American Book Written for Children

• Jun 12, 2009
• Michael Streich

Ever Since Henry Littlefield's 1964 interpretations of the Wizard of Oz as political allegory were published, scholars have attempted to build on that analysis.

Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has, for decades, been taught as an example of Gilded Age political allegory, reflecting Populism and the gold versus silver debate. Popular American History survey texts like America Past & Present (Robert A. Divine, Et Al., Pearson/Longman) devote 2-page feature essays to the interpretation. Baum himself, writing in April 1900, states that the book “was written solely to please children of today.” How is the Wizard of Oz to be viewed?

The Interpretations of Henry Littlefield

Henry M. Littlefield’s interpretations of Baum’s book were published in 1964. Littlefield, a high school teacher, attempted to provide students with a more interesting way to understand the Populist issues of the late 19th Century. David B. Parker, writing in Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians, [1] analyzes subsequent interpretations that took Littlefield’s conclusions further.

Writing in March, 1988 (Los Angeles Times), Michael A. Genovese, then at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, gives readers the allegorical representations:

• Dorothy is Everyman
• The Tin Woodman is the Industrial Worker
• The Scarecrow is the Farmer
• The Cowardly Lion is William Jennings Bryan
• The Wizard is the President
• The Munchkins are the “little people”
• The Yellow Brick Road is the Gold Standard
• The Wicked Witch of the East represents bankers and capitalists

The deconstruction of the Oz story continued. A college essay, posted on the Cornell University website and written by Grant Wang and Dan Jacobs goes even further. As an example, quoting from the book, Wang and Jacobs related the broken or missing yellow bricks in the road to Oz as Baum’s way of revealing “his opinion that although the gold standard had holes and obstacles, it could still last through the long haul.”

The Wizard of Oz as a Fairy Tale

Psychology Professor Sheldon Cashdan, in his book The Witch Must Die, analyzes Baum’s story as “a fairy tale not only for our time but for all time” and compares the tale’s dynamics to other popular fairy tales. [2] According to Cashdan, Dorothy’s trip to Oz reflects the unconscious and the many twists and turns are a “metaphor for personal growth.”

Cashdan’s chapter on Baum’s story highlights the multi-faceted way scholars can take a story and suggest a myriad of interpretations. Was Baum influenced by folklore, as happens in many fairy tales? [3] To what extend did Baum support and sympathize with Populism.

An Alternative View of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

David Parker quotes from a 1919 biographical piece written by Martin Gardner about Baum and his political beliefs and activities. Gardner concluded that Baum was “inactive in politics” but his sympathies were “on the side of the laboring classes.” Could these have been Baum’s munchkins who, in his book, slaved night and day for the Wicked Witch of the East?

But Baum also supported women’s suffrage. Dorothy might have better represented the emerging feminist whose self-actualization prepared her to kill the evil witch at the end of the story. Dorothy, a girl, was the leader of the intrepid troupe. Cashdan identified and analyzed each specific “shortcoming” relative to the Scarecrow, Lion, and Woodsman.

Yet it was Dorothy whose adventures and confrontations with evil brought out the missing elements in each companion. It was Dorothy who ultimately killed the witch and exposed the wizard as a hypocrite. Dorothy emerges as the heroine, having overcome tremendous obstacles.

Many Ways to Interpret Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz might have been written, as Baum stated, simply as a modern fairy tale. But, like the popular Hollywood interpretation that can easily be used to allegorize the Great Depression, it can be seen in many intriguing ways.

Sources:

• [1] David Parker, “The Rise and Fall of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a ‘Parable on Populism,’” Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians, vol. 15 (1994), pp. 49-63
• [2] Sheldon Cashdan, The Witch Must Die: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives (New York: Basic Books, 1999) see chapter 11
• [3] Jennifer Howard, “From ‘Once Upon a Time’ to ‘Happily Ever After:’ Fairy-tale scholars explore the nuanced history of the genre,” The Chronicle Review published by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Section B, May 22, 2009, pp.B6ff

Copyright Michael Streich. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.

Michael Streich - Former Adjunct Instructor, History & Global Studies