Introduction First published in 1900, at a time when economical factors as well as drought and brutal winters were devastating American society, The Wizard of Oz has always maintained a representation of imagination and fantasy. However, as this discussion will attempt to analyze, the social and political symbolism within the story goes far beyond the ostensibly entertaining witches and wizards as depicted in both the novel and the film. Through the symbolism they pertain to, both pieces of work are an undeniably true reflection of the socio-economic and political struggles in the turn of the 19 th century, as well as within the New Deal era of the 1930’s. The Symbolism and Meaning of Oz Distinctly, it would be important to note that in his parallel analysis of the populist movement in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , author Henry Littlefield fails to give any explanation of the name ‘Oz’. 1 However, in the 1971 text The Winning of the Midwest , Richard Jensen demonstrates that ‘OZ’ is actually a contraction of ‘ounce’ – a standard measurement of gold and silver. During the time that The Wizard of Oz was written and published, the United States was firm upon the gold standard. Nevertheless, there were populists who argued that the use of both silver and gold would be much more beneficial to the economy; and interestingly, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum), used extensive amounts of colour in his story – particularly with regards to currency. For example, the Emerald City was green, the yellow brick road was gold and, in the original story, Dorothy’s shoes were silver (rather than ruby as they are in the film version). Having said this, it could be concluded that perhaps the choice of the name ‘OZ’ strengthens the central notion that Baum intentionally wrote a political allegory involving and relating to the current financial status of the era in which the novel was published. A further possibility exists for the origin of the name OZ; in Samuel Bousky’s text entitled The Wizard of Oz Revealed . Bousky notes the biblical image of the ‘Tree of Life,’ as discussed in Genesis and Revelation, which are both the first and last books within the Bible. As Bousky also states “the phonetic name of the symbol within ancient Biblical speak is Otz Chiim. The first word Otz means Tree, but it also means Plan. The final word, rather than Life, means Living, and thus spiritual Plan for Living – and the word Otz can also be articulated as OZ.” 2 It’s also useful to recognize the geographical aspects of Oz, which are analogous of four areas, or territories: North, South, East and West. The antagonists (the Wicked Witches) canonise the East and the West, whilst the friendly witches rule over the North and Southern regions. Within the populist interpretation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the good witches rule over the parts of Oz that related to the agrarian sectors of the United States (these being the Midwest and Southern regions), while the evil witches rule over territories that correspond to the regions where the Populists had very little influence. 3 Furthermore, each region of Oz is coupled with a colour as well as characters that emphasize these associations. Political and Social Sy