Apr 01, · But it sure seems like “Wizard of Oz” is a better fit — at least, hearing Roger Waters speak the line “I don’t know; I was really drunk at the time” while we gaze upon Munchkin Land seems like a pretty realistic reaction. There are plenty of tidy thematic coincidences between “Wizard of Oz” and “Dark Side of the Moon.” Mar 07, · Over the decades, The Wizard of Oz has been seen by many Christians (and used often in sermons — see here for one example) as an allegory of faith. Consider: The Yellow Brick Road is the path to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Summary. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Plot Summary of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics
7 Theories of What The Wizard of Oz Is Really About
It is a story that touches all of us, the wizard of oz essay. The MGM film interpretation of the published book written by L. Frank Baum, brought this story to life for all of those who were unable to go to the stage performance. Seeing the screen turn from black and white, to beautiful, stunning colors was amazing.
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. Henry Littlefield argues that The Wizard of Oz is a story representing Populism- a philosophy that supports the rights of the people, and the presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. Littlefield describes every character as a representation of something specific during that time period.
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. During this time period, farmers in a way were helpless.
Their conditions became harder, and the economy was changing. This quote explains exactly how the Scarecrow is in the story. 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. This quote explains how the factories and the workers acted towards the farmers.
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 the wizard of oz essay of the s, 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. 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.
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 the wizard of oz essay s, early s.
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.
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 the wizard of oz essay from the water, which symbolizes how the drought finished.
The Wizard represents President William McKinley. Everyone looks up to the President of the United The wizard of oz essay, just like everyone in Oz looked up to the Wizard. This is a perfect analysis of what the Wizard represents in the story. Ranjit S. 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.
The Yellow Brick Road symbolizes the gold standard. These two elements of the story end up at the same place in the end: The Emerald City, the wizard of oz essay. His theories the wizard of oz essay what each element in the story represents, matches perfectly.
The ego is recognized with the conscious mind, the personal unconscious is basically memories that easily come to mind, the wizard of oz essay, and the collective unconscious is like the wizard of oz essay instinct that we all have. Examples of the collective unconscious are ones like déjà vu, and the near-death experience.
In The Wizard of Oz, characters like Glinda the Good Witch represent the mother archetype because she looks out for Dorothy, and Toto represents 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.
When Toto jumps out of the hot-air balloon, he causes Dorothy the wizard of oz essay 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. In the story, the flying monkeys symbolize the shadow figure. 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 world is, obviously, related to the word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask.
The Wizard is looked up to all throughout the story until the very end. He puts up an image to the people of Oz, the wizard of oz essay 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. Dorothy, of course, represents the maiden archetype. 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.
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 from the beginning of the story is there for Dorothy, the wizard of oz essay.
The Wicked Witch is just doing anything she can to get the ruby slippers from Dorothy. 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.
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.
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 the wizard of oz essay had so many hidden messages in it?
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.
I think that if Baum would have intended to the wizard of oz essay 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. Works Cited Beebe, John. The Vision Thing: Myth, the wizard of oz essay, Politics and Psyche in the World, Edited by Thomas Singer. London: Routledge, Dighe, Ranjit S.
Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 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, Fricke, John, the wizard of oz essay. Greene, David L. The Oz Scrapbook. New York: Random, Shippensburg University. The Wizard of Oz- Turn Me On, the wizard of oz essay, Dead Man.
1939: The Wizard of Oz - The Magic of the Movie Musical
, time: 12:40Toto (Oz) - Wikipedia
Mar 07, · Over the decades, The Wizard of Oz has been seen by many Christians (and used often in sermons — see here for one example) as an allegory of faith. Consider: The Yellow Brick Road is the path to Apr 01, · But it sure seems like “Wizard of Oz” is a better fit — at least, hearing Roger Waters speak the line “I don’t know; I was really drunk at the time” while we gaze upon Munchkin Land seems like a pretty realistic reaction. There are plenty of tidy thematic coincidences between “Wizard of Oz” and “Dark Side of the Moon.” Study Guide for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz study guide contains a biography of L. Frank Baum, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis
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