When I first heard that we were going to cover the Wizard of Oz in this class as an American Icon, I was very excited. Like many, I grew up an avid fan of the movie and the story and to this day it is still a once a year tradition in my household to watch the movie as a family.
I remember learning in high school about how the Wizard of Oz is symbolic of the populist movement, and we touched upon this again in class on Monday. Things like the silver shoes representing the move to a silver-based dollar, the yellow brick road representing the current gold standard, the tinman representing the industrialized worker of the east, the representing scarecrow the farmer of the Midwest, the Cowardly Lion representing politician William Jennings Bryan, and the two Wicked Witches representing corrupt business interests.[i] This added a whole new level to the story that I thought for so long was so simple–a story about a girl wanting to go back home–and frankly I was very intrigued by it. As a student of history and someone who enjoys politics, it was interesting to see how Baum’s version of the Cowardly Lion compared with William Jennings Bryan. A lion is obviously a very powerful animal and often considered to be the king of the jungle, and Bryan himself was a very physically imposing man with very powerful oratory skills. [ii] However, in the Wizard of Oz, the lion is cowardly because he is very fearful of everything which is why he joined Dorthey, Toto, the Tinman, and the Scarecrow on their journey to see the great and powerful Oz in the Emerald City to make him more confident and powerful (the ironic thing is that he also possessed these traits, but never realized it). Bryan could be considered cowardly by some of his critics because of his anti-imperialist views on the Spanish-American War.
As someone who really enjoys politics and history, the idea of having an American classic like the Wizard of Oz representing a political movement was very exciting and made me wonder if there were any other instances of well known books, movies, or television shows having so much political symbolism. The one thing that kept coming to my head was the novel Animal Farm. While Author George Orwell may have been of English descent, I would think many people consider it to be almost an American Institution now as it is taught in almost every high school throughout the country. Just reading Animal Farm without looking at any of the symbolism, it looks to be a simple story regarding corruption, conflict, and morals. However, just like with the Wizard of Oz, once you add in the symbolism the story takes on an entire new meaning as it represents the Communist Revolution in Russia. Characters like Old Major come to represent the father of Communism Karl Marx through the wisdom he imparts on the younger animals, Napoleon represents long time Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin and his selfish, shrewd, and calculating rise to power, Snowball represents Trotsky, who both were ousted and killed by their more powerful counterpart, and how Boxer, the trusty horse who never questioned his superiors or their motives, represents the hardworking peasant class that never questioned Stalin and untimely kept him in power.[iii]
This made me wonder why authors decide to engage their audiences using a simple topic to talk about such a complex issue through symbolism. I understand from previous English classes that using symbolism is effective because it creates a new meaning for the reader and a much more powerful and clear image, so does that factor into their decision here? Do the authors use symbolism instead of just stating the obvious to increase popularity of their book–after all, how many people really want to read only about politics? Whatever the reason may be, I am very glad that both Baum and Orwell were innovative and creative enough to think of some of these motifs, symbols, and analogies because it really enhanced my reading experience by adding an entirely new dimension.
[i] Harmon, Julie . “Symbolism of the ‘Wizard of Oz’.” Wicked Tour. September 7, 2009. Accessed March 01, 2018. http://wickedtour.net/symbolism-of-the-wizard-of-oz.
[ii] 2016, Claire Jerry November 3. “Did the Cowardly Lion give the greatest campaign speech of all time? Quite possibly.” National Museum of American History. March 28, 2017. Accessed March 01, 2018. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/cowardly-lion-campaign-speech.
[iii] LitCharts. “Animal Farm Characters.” LitCharts. Accessed March 01, 2018. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/animal-farm/characters.
[2]
When thinking about national statues and monuments, my mind flashed back to a picture I saw when I was twelve and nearing the height of my Jonas Brothers obsession. It was a photo of the three brothers at the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I knew nothing about the statue at the time but I was struck by how massive and looming it was compared to the size of an average human. I was even more captivated when I came across photos that showed the statue looking out over the city’s vast landscape of skyscrapers, mountains, neighboring islands, and water. Christ the Redeemer may seem to have little in common with the U.S.’s Statue of Liberty (for starters, it’s a him/Him…) but the two iconic structures have one striking similarity: they are what their people want them to be.
In a similar way, although Christ the Reedemer began as a symbol of Christianity, it is not exclusively so and it has also acquired a greater significance. According to a BBC article, Count Celso, one of the first to be involved with project in its early stages during the 1920s, described the finished statue as “a monument to science, art and religion.” [4] The rector of the chapel that sits inside the base of the statue (the pedestal that elevates its full height to 125 feet) calls it a religious, cultural, and national symbol for Brazil and a means of welcoming all those who pass through Rio, almost like a host. And for a local sorbet vendor, who is also quoted in the article, the statue is a beautiful place with special significance to the community around it. [5] Christ the Reedemer stands as a representation of the Brazilian people’s accepting and warmhearted attitude towards all visitors to Rio and citizens of the world, just like the welcoming and protective qualities that have been attributed to the Statue of Liberty over time as she has greeted new arrivals to America — “From her beacon-hand/Glows world-wide welcome,” as Emma Lazarus’s famous poem states. [6]
The moment I thought to write about the Statue of Liberty as a strong female icon, I immediately found some depiction of her deep in the abyss of my television knowledge. The animated Netflix show, Big Mouth, follows the exploits of young teens trying to navigate the art of becoming an adult. In the second episode of the series, the kids take a field trip to the Statue of Liberty, where Jessi gets her first period. The Statue of Liberty takes Jessi into her hands and gives her the harsh facts about being a women in today’s society.
Photo from http://www.intanibase.com/shorts.aspx?shortID=713#page=general_info
