The Wizard of Oz, published in 1900, proves to be a story that has survived the test of time. Even today, many critics are analyzing different aspects of the story and there is debate over what type of storyline it follows. Many make the argument that it was written as a myth or fairytale, while others believe the symbols can be better interpreted to have other meanings, such as being related to the Populist Party in the late 19th century and issues from the time period. Although many symbols and characters throughout the novel parallel common Populist ideas and people, it was not intentionally written to be a Populist allegory by Baum. The People’s Party, also known as the Populist Party, formed in the 1890s in response to a major financial