The Kansas farmhand who parallels the Scarecrow is Hunk. Ray Bolger plays Hunk in Kansas and the Scarecrow in Oz in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
Hunk is not literally transformed into a straw figure on the Kansas farm. The film presents the Kansas characters as counterparts to Dorothy’s companions in Oz, with Hunk corresponding to the Scarecrow, Hickory to the Tin Man, and Zeke to the Cowardly Lion. These roles are part of the film’s dream structure, which connects Dorothy’s Kansas life with her adventures after the tornado.
Hunk was created for the film rather than taken directly from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel. Screenwriter Noel Langley developed the Kansas farmhands as human parallels for the Oz characters. Hunk helps around Uncle Henry’s farm and appears during the tornado sequence before Dorothy awakens from her dream.
A frequent mix-up is choosing Hickory or Zeke because all three men work on the farm and reappear in related roles. Hickory is the Tin Man’s counterpart, while Zeke corresponds to the Cowardly Lion. Hunk is specifically the Scarecrow’s Kansas counterpart.