Dorothy Must Die Literary Analysis

The story of Dorothy Gale’s tornado swept trailer is an American classic. It tells the story of a young girl finding her way through a fictitious land filled with munchkins and flying monkeys on her way to the Emerald City. The original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been found to relate to the Great Depression and Populist movement that occurred in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. There are many reasons why the modern spin on this classic story is a reflection of this time period and the social movements that occurred. The setting of Oz, and its characters in Dorothy Must Die represents a modern allegory for America during The Great Depression and the Populist movement.
The story of Amy Gumm in Danielle Paige’s Dorothy Must Die is based on the popular children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It follows a …show more content…
She is a bad influence on Amy and is always assuming the worst of her daughter. Ironically, she is the one who steals her daughter’s lifetime savings of $347. Because this was Amy’s getaway money, she is unable to make a new plan to leave the trailer park before the tornado hit (Paige 15). In the end, this is a better situation for her than staying in the toxic household with her mother. This could be directly related to the Populists’ belief that even the worst situations could be fixed (Hansen 256). When most people compare The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to the Great Depression and the Populist movement, Dorothy Gale is portrayed as the typical American person and also as a beacon of hope for society. While this is a good interpretation for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it does not apply to Dorothy Must Die. In Dorothy Must Die, Amy Gumm portrays the hope for society while Dorothy Gale is the antagonist, who takes on the role of the evil government leader (Compton