Symbolism in the Wizard of Oz

[Lebenz]

The Tin Man is said to be representative of industrial workers. Tin Man said he was a human who was transformed due to a curse placed on him by Wicked Witch of the East. The curse was that with each blow of his axe, a part of his anatomy would be lost. The only assistance available to the Tin Man at this time was a tinsmith, who replaced Tin Man’s severed limbs with the tools of his trade, leading to the total transformation from human to machine. In time after the transformation, Tin Man rusted into place and was abandoned. That is, until he was revived.

When did popular literature start expressing that the process of work transformed one into a dehumanized machine? Was witch craft a product of this dehumanization or was it yet another layer of talking about the effects of industry upon man without doing so directly – as if to say we are driven to our ends by demons? Or was it something else?

Could it be that spirituality in this moral play was hidden and disguised as witch craft? And what of this transformation of everything except Tin Man’s absent heart? Could it be that Tin Man was a mockery of Nietzsche’s Over man and of capitalism at the same time? And an even worse implication is that his heart was ultimately replaced by a ticking clock. Does this mean that our sense of spirituality is like Newtonian physics, only a mechanical process which keeps time but which slowly runs down?

Another view of Tin Man was that he represents the will of technological mankind, which cannot endure the test of time without passion. This too implies that passion is a mechanical process. Is it really the effect of time or merely of life in the industrial age that causes ones sense of passion to fade? Could it be that by the curse which caused him to change, Tin Man has gone so very far from his origins that all he has left is a fabricated image of what he once were? Is this fabricated image representative of the beginning of materialism? Is Tin Man really any different that anyone else?

Or is it all a mere bleak and meaningless fantasy? What is it that made this story so popular and enduring?

[MS Fowler]

Is this an example of exogesis, or isogesis?
Are you trying to discover the author's original intent, or are you trying to cram some sort of meaning, or political agenda into a strory that had no such aim?
I've never heard of such symbolism in the Wizard; it may have been the author's intent, but this is the first I've heard of it. Please research and tell me more.
As to trying to explain its popularity.....Its a good story, well told, where Good triumphs over Evil.

[djugurba]

wasn't the wicked witch of the west the 'wickedest witch of them all'?

all I know is that the horse of a different color was actually several different horses. scandal!

[Jim Anderson]

I first saw the movie when I was knee high to a grasshopper and have retained my first impression and views for my many subsequent viewings.

[Lebenz]

Originally Posted by djugurba

wasn't the wicked witch of the west the 'wickedest witch of them all'?

all I know is that the horse of a different color was actually several different horses. scandal!

"You wicked old witch! Uncle Henry, Auntie Em! Don't let 'em take Toto! Don't let her take him--please!"

Hmmm. when is Toto a dog and when is it....

BTW, speaking of scandal, one report said that the lolly pop guild munchkins had orgies at the hotel they were staying in while filming….

To pluck a line from Tom Petty: “It paints a picture in your mind, you know... You know?

[Botnst]

One word: "Zardoz."

[Lebenz]

Following are some notes from my reading. They serve to illustrate a few of the many interpretations of the story.

Interesting analysis of the characterization

http://www.bridgewater.edu/philo/philo96/knott.html


This article states that the Wizard is a parable of the populast movement.

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~marcum/wizard1.htm

“One particular reviewer took that theme to the next level and wrote an essay that would become what most historians accept as the correct interpretation of The Wizard of OZ. In 1964 high school history instructor Henry M. Littlefield published a paper in American Quarterly that analyzed the social phenomenon in 19th century America among the agricultural and labor force spheres known as ‘populism’ and analogized it with the Wizard of OZ. The Wizard of OZ: Parable on Populism was an investigation into what extent Baum’s work was a biography of William Jennings Bryant and the populist movement. Littlefield’s paper was written as an analysis of the political life and times of L. Frank Baum and his peers. However, like all creative thinkers, Baum was influenced by the social constructs, restraints, and developments of his era. Considering this notion, the purpose of this paper is to explain how the Wizard of OZ is an autobiography, as well as ethnology of 1890’s Americana.”

WOW: many of Baum’s publications on line!!!!

http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/ReadingRoom/Fiction/Baum/

One of the more interesting assessments of the story:

http://www.nonduality.com/oz.htm

“I believe that the perennial popularity (and classic film status) of the Wizard of Oz is due to the fact that it helps explain a way to resolve that "inner longing" that all people have for True Self. Through the use of symbolism, it clearly shows the futility of the search, and the constant presence of That which is desired -- whether or not we are aware it is there. It contains an uplifting message that is also a true one, and people subconsciously respond to that (especially children, who are generally closer to Ground of Being than adults).”

One more note on Toto: I think he also represented the "still, small voice" of the Infinite within each of us. Toto was a complex character. Perhaps he represented the Infinite Itself. Toto is the mystery, Dorothy's spirit and will to go on. When the old lady took Toto away, it also took Dorothy's spirit and happiness away, and precipitated the dark night of the soul period which resulted in her "traveling to the land of Oz." Toto is the aspect of unconditional love, that aspect that is exquisitely vulnerable and yet at the same time represents pure intuition and guidance and strength, both for "itself" and for its "owner." Remember that Toto was smart enough to jump out of the old lady's basket and escape, yet Dorothy was unaware of the fact. Toto also "saved" Dorothy several times throughout the movie, if I remember correctly. Essentially, Toto represents intuition and love.

[Bill Wood]

Originally Posted by Lebenz

Was witch craft a product of this dehumanization or was it yet another layer of talking about the effects of industry upon man without doing so directly – as if to say we are driven to our ends by demons? Or was it something else?

I don't think witchcraft had anything to do with it.
I think it was a commentary on the movement from an agricultural to industrial society. The factories around in the 1920's & 30's were becoming more mechanized. Mass production was coming on strong. Man had to work at the pace of the machine and therefore became a part of the machine.

[R Leo]

But what about the Wizard of Oz / Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon connection?

Anyone here ever done that? It's truly weird!!

[kott]

I heard it's a populist/farmer anomoly. Takes place in Kansas, breadbasket of the country. Farmers/agrarians were the scarecrow- no brains, but well-intentioned souls. Tin man was rustbelt mechanical revolution- tired, with no heart. Cowardly lion was.... don't remember. The wizard has to represent big government- let's go see him. He has all the an$wer$, but pay no attention to the reality behind the curtain.

I'm sure the Dark Side of the Moon parallel is much more entertaining, though.

[Lebenz]

Is this an example of exogesis, or isogesis?
Are you trying to discover the author's original intent, or are you trying to cram some sort of meaning, or political agenda into a strory that had no such aim? I've never heard of such symbolism in the Wizard; it may have been the author's intent, but this is the first I've heard of it. Please research and tell me more.

Great question! My own agenda is only to encourage discussion on the topic. There is a huge amount of study done on this story. As an example, when I was an undergrad it was the subject of 3 consecutive terms of upper division study in the English dept (which i regret that I didn't pursue). The web abounds with scholarly interpretations of nearly every element of the story. Granted some of the stuff out there is rife with personal agenda but the Wizard ties to so many literary, psychological, philosophical, historical, and sociological topics as to be a kind of modest literary nexus.

Here’s some notes for starters

Biography of the L. Frank Baum author, who lived 1856-1919. The wiz was published in 1900.

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/lfbaum.htm

works & biography of L. Frank Baum

http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Baum/

Baum was a reporter who became a writer of children’s novels. He was knowledgeable of a number of authors and one of his goals was to create modern fairy tales. Remember also that while the Wizard novel was published about 1900 it wasn’t until nearly 40 years (1939) that the musical film story we all know came to be. The film was aimed squarely at post depression USA. Consequently there are some blatantly political statements about FDR and the New Deal being what the film is about. Some even say that Tin Man's heart was a representation of the New Deal. While clearly the great depression was well after the original book, one can’t deny the obvious role of the depression in the story. Look at a timeline of USA expansion and contraction periods (http://www.nber.org/cycles/cyclesmain.html ) and it’s obvious the reality was part of the Baum’s life. Given that 1889 was the first time the USA produced more Steel than did GB, is it unreasonable to see the heartless Tin Man as a 2 edged symbol of the USA personified?

Baum was active during on of the richest periods in intellectual thought ever. As a couple of examples, for sources in psychology and philosophy, Freud was a contemporary of Baum. They were born the same year, while Nietzsche was born in 1844 and he (Nietzsche) died the year that the Wizard was published. He would have know of Marx as The Communist Manifesto and Das Capital were published in the late 1880s-1890s.

Against this backdrop, some of Baum’s goals were to create new kind of fairy tail. Given that the novel includes references to murder (dead witches), drug use (poppy fields), good and bad magic, and revolves around what in the novel is Dorothy’s dream, how can it be anything other than richly symbolic? In turn the film was a composite of several authors and a musician who had a prominent role in the film’s direction. Draw your own conclusions, but IMO a film that employs talking trees and animals, and hapless wizardry and magic to tell a journey about how lost became is found is almost boundless in symbolism.

[J. R. B.]

I like the symbolism in Ritchie Blackmore's version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" best.