A friend of mine with a slight penchant for expanding stories beyond the factual just told me that his Econ Professor mentioned that the Oz books are, in some ways, an extended metaphor of the political environment of the time.
He gave the following “points” as examples:
[ul]
[li]Dorothy walks down a golden road in the land of Oz (oz. = ounces)[/li]
[li]She originally had silver slippers in the books, signifying the silver standard.[/li]
[li]The wizard (I think) is supposed to be William Jennings Bryan.[/li]
[li]Various other characters represent the different political figures/groups of the time.[/li][/ul]
This is really two questions in one:
Is this a reputable analysis of the Oz books? is the second point true?
What exactly was the whole gold/silver standard conflict about? Did it take place at the time of the writing of the Oz books?
Basically, it’s as much bunk as the belief that Ring around the Rosey is about the black plague, or that the Twelve Days of Christmas is a coded Catholic catechism.
Ok, I’ve heard the Black Plague/Ring Around The Rosey and the Wizard of Oz/Econ-Political things before, but not the Twelve Days of Christmas/Catholic one. What is that all about?
Thanks.
There has been an e-mail and handout circulating for a couple of years that the Twelve Days of Christmas was a coded catechism forCatholics during the period when they were suppressed in Britain. I’m pretty sure that Cecil has addressed it and I know that Snopes has addressed it. http://www.snopes.com/holidays/xmas/12days.htm
Basically, the reasons given why it could have been written for that purpose are as watertight as an old beat-up window screen.
