The Wicked Effects of Prejudice: Prejudice and Discrimination Glinda. Delightful. Angelic. The Wicked Witch of the West. Wretched. Demonic. Although it has been a few years since I last viewed the Wizard of Oz I still recall these perceptions of the characters from the movie. Even now, when I picked up the book Wicked, taking place in Oz, however under different pretenses, these perceptions that I had formed from viewing the Wizard of Oz all those years ago left a lasting impression. After learning about one’s frame of reference, I felt that it was important to mention that seeing the Wizard of Oz and not yet seeing the production of Wicked play important roles in how I went along reading the book.
Understanding the causes of prejudices helps identify perception formations and to recognize discrimination including racism, sexism, xenophobia, and more. Drama and fantasy are two words to describe the genres that Wicked applies …show more content…
Since Oz is divided into various lands with people of different ancestry, customs and appearances I would consider discrimination between the lands to be labeled as xenophobia since those not from the same land as oneself are considered foreign, some lands more than others. Simple comments like “Quadlings spread the plague” (Maguire 51) is an example of xenophobia. Additionally, the Boq is seen to have some xenophobic prejudices towards Avaric since they are from different lands since Boq was described to have felt ill when Avaric would kiss him on both cheeks as customary in the upper-class north of Oz (Maguire 94). It is interesting that although the land of Oz is not the world as we know it, xenophobic prejudices from our world make it into the novel such as “No Irish need apply” (Maguire 383). These examples of xenophobia are just as relevant in Oz as they are in America today regarding people from different parts of the
Understanding the causes of prejudices helps identify perception formations and to recognize discrimination including racism, sexism, xenophobia, and more. Drama and fantasy are two words to describe the genres that Wicked applies …show more content…
Since Oz is divided into various lands with people of different ancestry, customs and appearances I would consider discrimination between the lands to be labeled as xenophobia since those not from the same land as oneself are considered foreign, some lands more than others. Simple comments like “Quadlings spread the plague” (Maguire 51) is an example of xenophobia. Additionally, the Boq is seen to have some xenophobic prejudices towards Avaric since they are from different lands since Boq was described to have felt ill when Avaric would kiss him on both cheeks as customary in the upper-class north of Oz (Maguire 94). It is interesting that although the land of Oz is not the world as we know it, xenophobic prejudices from our world make it into the novel such as “No Irish need apply” (Maguire 383). These examples of xenophobia are just as relevant in Oz as they are in America today regarding people from different parts of the