Kentucky Derby

World history has long enjoyed a fascination with the horse. Through the horse, travel and farming advanced in the dark ages to bring civilized culture into the future. Horses have long since been replaced with machines that replicate their job faster and more economically. The horse now finds itself in an unusual place, the race is now used as a status symbol and wealthy pet. No event in American culture personifies the luxury status of the horse as does the Kentucky Derby.

Modern horse racing takes its greatest influence from the races put on by the nobility of England. Racing then evolved into a major gambling and social affair, especially in the south. Horse racing in its most recent phase has become rather unimportant, except for the Triple Crown races of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes.

The Triple Crown alludes to the haughty air of antebellum society that faintly remains in the south. Horses cost thousands of dollars to purchase, even more to house, and even more to train. The fascination of Americans luckily fell upon the Triple Crown races and these races have managed to keep the attention of the American people. An aspect of the horse races is an aspect of fantasy. These races are a glimpse into the lifestyle of the persons who can afford them; furthermore, this glimpse into the past reflects on a quality Americans truly value: victory.

No one even mentions a horse unless it has won all three of the Triple Crown races, such as Secretariat and Seattle Slew. The real star of these derbies and stakes are the high levels of society the races manage to portray to the American population. Without public fascination in the whimsy and needless spending of the horse world, the Kentucky Derby and all the other Triple Crown races would be useless.

Winnie the Pooh

Now beloved Disney characters, Winnie the Pooh and his friends first appeared in stories by A.A. Milne in 1926. Over the years and through the Disney acquisition, Pooh Bear has achieved world recognition. Milne based the entire series on his son, Christopher Robin Milne and his love of stuffed companions.

Milne’s son played with many stuffed animals including a teddy bear, a stuffed tiger, a kangaroo, a rabbit, and a piglet. At the beginning of his father’s book’s success, Christopher Milne enjoyed the fame and attention he was given. While all of the characters of the Winnie the Pooh universe would go on to achieve fame through animation, Christopher Milne would become resentful towards the literature inspired by his own stuffed companions. Children who went to school with Milne’s son, Christopher Robin would buy Milne’s books and use them to tease the real life Christopher Robin. They would quote lines from A.A. Milne’s work in order to mock the young boy. Through these tauntings, the real life Christopher Robin began to resent not only his father but the characters of Winnie the Pooh.

It is a shame some school mates of Christopher Milne teased him so much that he began to resent his fathers works and perhaps even the very stuffed animals he had grown up loving to play with. Human jealousy caused Christopher Robin’s school mates to turn to vicious taunting.

Pooh’s modern portrayal is a gentle spirit. Modern Pooh Bear is not easily upset and focuses his life on a search of honey and aid towards his friends. Unfortunately for the real life Christopher Robin resented his fathers work for a time, when all A.A. Milne wanted to do was tell a tale of a boy enthralled with his own imagination.

Winnie the Pooh and the legacy of Christopher Robin have outlasted any of the childish taunts of school age children and become a true American icon.

Wizard of Allegory Part 3

When the group of Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion finally reach the Emerald City of Oz, they meet the underwhelming Wizard of Oz. Through this Wizard, Baum displays the wickedness of politics and reveals his own thoughts about which standard American currency should follow.

Much like a manipulative politician, before agreeing to the favors Dorothy and company ask for, the Wizard requires something of them in return. This scene begins to reveal what Frank L Baum believed to be the answer to American monetary problems in the 1900’s. His characters did not find the solutions to their problems on the yellow brick road (gold standard) so they must leave it. To defeat the witch, Baum sends Dorothy on her own path, a path which is trod upon by her own silver slippers. With her own determination and her silver slippers, Dorothy manages to melt the Wicked Witch of the West.

The greatest evidence of the supremacy Baum believed silver possessed over gold, comes from when Dorothy is finally sent back home. Glinda the good witch informs Dorothy that the solution to all of her problems is already in her possession. This most powerful imagery from Baum proclaims that the American people need not over complicate the situation. The solution to the problem is simple and obvious, America must switch to a silver backed currency instead of the gold standard.

When Dorothy (the common American) finally realizes the power of silver, they achieve all they desire. Baum uses all of his symbolism and fantastical story elements to attempt to change the American view point. His success is limited. Modern American currency has neither a gold or silver standard; however, through his political and economic allegory, Baum wrote one of the most beloved fairy tales of all time. What started out as a political commentary has become a true staple of American storytelling and cinema.

Wizard of Allegory Part 2

While Dorothy represents the average American trying to decide between a gold standard or a silver standard, the other characters she encounters represent minorities throughout America trying to push their agendas through Congress in Washington D.C. (Emerald City).

First, the Scarecrow represents the importance the monetary standard of America means to the farmer. The rise of industrial America had  dwarfed American agriculture. One could say that the farming industry of the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s forgot what their purpose was, similar to how the Scarecrow lacked any memories or brain.

Secondly, the Tin Man represents the importance of the monetary standard to industrial companies, such as Rockefeller’s Standard Oil or Carnegie Steel. He represents the growing industrial sector and its increasingly prominent sway in American politics. The reference to the effects of Rockefeller’s oil monopoly on the American economy are seen through the Tin Man needing to be oiled regularly. The stereotypical callousness of wealthy businessmen is clearly portrayed through the Tin Man needing a heart.

The Cowardly Lion does not represent a minority but a specific person, a two time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. He was a man who believed in switching America to the silver standard, thus his presence makes since accompanying Dorothy to the Emerald City. Bryan was called cowardly because of his notion that a war with Spain over the Philippines at the turn of the century was a mistake.

Finally, Dorothy’s trusted dog Toto is a reference to a “Teetotaler” otherwise known as prohibitionist. These “teetotalers” or prohibitionists stood firm with the Progressive Party that wanted to switch to a silver currency backing, so naturally he would want to direct Dorothy toward the right choice or path.

This band of allegorical misfits travel down the yellow brick road (or the gold standard) in hopes to gain what they each desire. However, in order to accomplish what they desire, the wizard sends this group off the yellow brick road, or gold standard.

Wizard of Allegory Part 1

For the last century, Americans have been enthralled by the fantasy novel The Wizard of Oz. What many of the fans fail to notice is that historians and economists believe The Wizard of Oz is an allegory for the happenings and events of America during the turn of the 20th century. In order to most effectively understand the novel of Frank L. Baum, one must understand the world in which he wrote.

During the turn of the twentieth century, Americans had to choose who would lead the nation, and that depended heavily upon an economic issue: the gold standard. The gold standard is a term applied to a currency that is backed by material gold, like America’s currency was in the 1900’s. New movements wanted to take the US dollar bill off of a gold standard and instead back the US currency with an equal amount of silver. This was due to the fact that silver was more plentiful, and contemporary economists believed this might help boost the economy of the early 1900’s.

This time was known as the “Gilded Age”, a term coined by author Mark Twain because society presented itself as rich when it really was not (thus gilded applies because it means only covered in gold not made of the substance). These few decades brought rise to the first real titans of industry such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.

Baum answers these questions through the protagonist Dorothy Gale, who throughout the Allegory represents the average American voter. A stark contrast from the hit film starring Judy Garland and the novel was that in the novel, the slippers were made silver instead of ruby. This means that in an era when people would question the value of gold or silver, Dorothy Gale sought her happiness by walking down a yellow (Golden/Gilded) brick road while wearing silver slippers.

Baum uses this plot-line to reveal what he believes America should use as its monetary backer. The characters and places Dorothy Gale visits along her journey only add to the allegory of The Wizard of Oz.

Why Teenage Relationships in Literature Lack Love

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green has exploded onto the American cultural scene with its recent movie adaption. However, the book itself deals with many themes its readers say portray the love story of the protagonists Hazel and Augustus as true and undying love. This romantic tragedy may very well be remembered as a modern Romeo & Juliet, but the mere existence of tragedy does not mean love is eternal.

Hazel and Augustus, just like their predecessors Romeo and Juliet, experience hardships throughout their story that in the end prohibit their relationships from continuing. While many argue a relationship is possible through the course of both of these works, true love is not. Teenage love, a different type of love than true love, is achieved between both Hazel and Augustus and between Romeo and Juliet. Teenage love is a lustful concoction created by a mixture of different attractions (physical, emotional, intellectual), so it can be said that both of these couples most definitely have attractions for each other.

True love is not only attraction but also commitment and sacrifice. The truest loves are formed over a long time and through the furnace of hardship.These relationships simply do not last long enough to be considered a viable example of true love. Romeo and Juliet only knew each other for three days, so obviously they could never achieve the level of sacrifice and commitment needed to exemplify a relationship that could last a lifetime.

The closest Hazel and Augustus came to achieving any semblance of sacrifice is when Hazel remains loyal to Augustus throughout his deterioration at the end of the novel. She still comes to visit him even though it is clear he will not be able to give her anything in return. That is a glimpse of true love. Up until that point, every selfless act in The Fault in Our Stars could be traced back to some selfish reason. Augustus’s seemingly heroic act to take Hazel to Amsterdam is partly selfless, but he is still rewarded with sexual favors from Hazel.

Time is what Hazel and Augustus need to form a bond that could last a lifetime. Without the burden of a loyal relationship over time, no relationship can ever exemplify true love.