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How does The Wizard of Oz reflect the Progressive Era's ideas and values?
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The Wizard of Oz reflects Progressive Era ideas by symbolizing social justice and the empowerment of marginalized groups. Dorothy's journey represents the Progressive movement, aiding characters like the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, who symbolize farmers, industrial workers, and political figures like William Jennings Bryan. Dorothy's defeat of the Wicked Witch signifies overcoming oppression, aligning with Progressive values of inclusion and challenging unequal power distribution, highlighting the era's advocacy for broader social and political participation.
There are many Progressive ideas embedded in The Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy arrives in Oz, her house falls on the Wicked Witch of the East, thus saving the munchkins from her oppression. The munchkins symbolize the "little people" who are victimized by the banking interests located in the East. Dorothy helps the Scarecrow, who symbolizes farming interests; the Tin Man, who symbolizes industrial workers; and the Cowardly Lion, who symbolizes William Jennings Bryan, a leading Progressive candidate who never could get enough votes.
Dorothy works with this diverse cast of characters because throughout the story, Dorothy is innately good. Dorothy has powerful ruby slippers that serve as her protection from the Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy symbolizes the Progressive movement, as she herself wields the power to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West, who symbolizes further abuses against other less fortunate people, such as farmers and industrial...
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laborers. In the end, Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the West and life is better in the land of Oz. Baum'sWizard of Oz is a Progressive novel in that the weak prevail over the all-powerful, and Dorothy uses her ability to help others rather than help herself first.
In developing the idea of speaking out for others and authentication of individual voice through inclusion, I think that Baum's work speaks to the Progressivist ideals of the early portion of the 20th Century. The Progressives sought to bring more people into the political and social process of the time period. The inclusion of women, people of color, and workers were examples of this. When Jacob Riis photographs "the other half," he does so with the idea of being able to bring another aspect of social reality into focus. In much the same way, Dorothy does not exclude anyone. The Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow are all excluded from society. When they are encountered, they are not the wielders of social and political power, and yet, Dorothy validates their voice and hears their plight. In doing so, she represents a Progressivist ideal. In addition to this, Dorothy sets out to destroy evil. While she wishes to get home, she understands through her quest that destroying the Wicked Witch of the East is the only way this is possible. She is aware of what power the witch holds. While Dorothy is far from secure as to how this will play out, she embraces the challenge for she understands that the destruction of unequal distribution of power is vitally important to both herself and the social order of Oz. In this, Dorothy is a Progressivist for the Progressive thinkers understood that there was something wrong in remaining silent when there was such a unequal distribution of wealth and power in American society.