Race, ethnic, social state, and religion shaped the characters and events of the novel. It is in the person’s skin color and other differences that complicated the identity and acceptance of people in Oz. This thesis states about how people are said to be discriminated through those aspects and how the characters tend to defy it. The story depicted how certain people expect another people’s assuming character by their outer appearance.It shows how people would accept you as a person according to your abilities, weaknesses and even physical characters such as if you are a person with beautiful features or a person unfortunately considered as “ugly”. It also show’s the author’s view about society as to discrimination and politics as to superiority and authority versus inferiority. Racial and ethnic identity of the character shapes the events of the novel as showed when Elphaba as the wicked witch was the center of attention and is seemed to be disliked because of her color which is different from the others(Maguire).In other ways it is also established through the family and social level where a person came from.
This also happens in the real world where certain people are discriminated because of their skin color or race from where they came from. Discrimination is in deed the center point of the story, every part of the novel by Gregory Maguire somehow showed how other influential people deprived others by discriminating them. In the story, because the animals are different from the people in Oz, they were taken away and all their abilities are taken from them such as speaking and also they lost their jobs(Maguire).In reality, people who are low in the level of the society are having a difficult time looking for a job and are sometimes deprived from the things which they really deserve. Another that depicts difference is about Nessarose, Elphaba’s crippled sister feels inferior from everybody because she feel’s that she can’t do things those others can because of her being born disabled (Maguire). Because unlike others, Nessarose does not have a complete body pert that’s why she is considered different and that the man she liked does not like her.
That kind of difference between them is one of the factor why the guy did not liked her, because her body part wasn’t complete. Some people are casted and unliked because they are different, they are considered as a “stranger” to the new place they are at. It is depicted in the novel when Elphaba was outcasted, was unliked because she was the only person who has a green colored skin and a different and powerful magical ability(Maguire). For example, when a black or Native American tended to go to school, not all teachers are fair.There are some of them who are In favor of those in their same race that makes them disregard those students who are intellectual but are said to be different. The characters of the story tried to defy and overcome such difficulties in the story through doing good things and showing the crowd that despite of their physical appearance, they do nice things.
It is showed when Elphaba insisted Madame Morrible to include Glinda in the seminar when she was the only one chosen; another is when she tried to stop the wicked wizard from using the white lion for an experiment in their class by using her magic.Another is when Elphaba tried to stop Madame Morrible’s plan to exploit the animals as much as do them harm. Elphaba though is said to be ugly because of her green color tried to do everything to show the kindness in her such as saving the animals from deprivation, she proved that despite of her being “different” from the others, she wanted to do kindness (Maguire). These differences among people according to the novel’s story shows that these certain differences tends to be the society’s base on how they consider a certain person if he or she is superior or inferior.It is a vulgar condition in which the weak ones are outlawed. Like their difference in class, the distinction between animals and humans in the story. The animals are considered as the lower class of being than that of the humans. The politics in Oz depicted how low level of beings in the society is deprived from their rights to live according to how they want to.
It is showed when all the animals in Oz are seized and are removed from their jobs(Maguire).It is showed in this story how the superior authorities took advantage of the inferior’s weaknesses. It is also shown in the novel how the wizard took the animal’s abilities and freedom knowing that the small ones can’t fight back. That because the authority knows that they are superior from the others, they tend to abuse the other people for their own good and their own reasons. How certain people wanted to gain advantages from others disregarding if they would hurt or deprive other people’s dignity and emotions or not.
An example of this incident in reality is the period where Jews are all to be killed, there’s no other particular reason about it but because they are Jews and their religion is not accepted by the society. Unfortunately, the Jews are just ordinary people that are why none of them can do a certain way to counteract the authority’s cruel act against them. Another is the racial difference like in Chinese traditions; Chinese does not accept another race when it comes to marriage.They are not allowed to marry a woman/man who is not Chinese like them. Lastly the is the difference in race like the continuous problem between the white and black Americans also can be depicted by the novel Because of these differences that’s why a lot of countries and territories are having a misunderstanding in reality. The story is really unbelievable hence the real meaning that the author was his readers to understand is that the novel mirror’s the reality in a lot of aspects such as deprivation of rights.It is also about the taking advantage of the superior from people or beings which are inferior to them.
Lastly it also explains discrimination, of how people of their kinds with different social state and or race are being disregarded and instead they are giving special attention or opportunities to those of their same kind or to those whom they can get benefits from. This always happen everywhere, ethnic, religion and race always played an essential role in our life being a people different from each other.It affects all aspect in our lives. The novel only wanted the people to open their eyes about the reality that’s happening around us.
That people are only kind to those of their same race and religion and how they tend to be cruel to those who are different especially to those unfortunately ugly ones. The real focus of this story is about how a person’s difference in aspects such as sociality, ethics, religion and race affect their lives and how these differences affect them as a person.Works CitedMaguire, Gregory. “Wicked. ” 1995.
