Ms. Hen reviews The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

L. Frank Baum

George M. Hill Co

1900

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she is interested in children's literature right now. She read this novel many years ago as a child, but did not have the same book. She bought the book, because she felt compelled to read this, because it is an American fable. Everyone knows the movie, but not many people have read the book. The story is similar, but it goes about it a different way.

A little girl named Dorothy lives in Kansas, which is a gray country. She lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. One day, a tornado comes, and Dorothy tries to hide in the cellar, but she and her dog, Toto get whisked to the sky. They float and float until the house lands with a quiet thud. She discovers that she has landed on The Wicked Witch of the East, and has freed the Munchkins, which are small people. A small woman with them is the Witch of the North, and she explains to Dorothy that the silver shoes are hers now that she killed the witch. Dorothy tells her that she wants to go home, and the witch tells her the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City can help her get home. She gives Dorothy a kiss on the forehead, which is the mark of good luck that will help her.

Dorothy starts on her journey, and meets the Scarecrow, who is looking for brains, the Tin Woodman, who wishes for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who is looking for courage. Dorothy, Toto and the Lion faint in a field of poppies, but the Tin Man and the Scarecrow carry Dorothy and Toto, but the Lion is too heavy. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man enlist the field mice, led by their Queen to assist moving the Lion. The group goes to The Emerald City, and tries to meet the Wizard, but they have to wait.

When they meet the Wizard, he looks different for everyone. For Dorothy, he is a giant head, for the Scarecrow, he is a lovely woman, for the Tin Man, he is a giant beast, and for the Lion, he is a ball of fire. The Wizard tells Dorothy that he wants her to kill the Witch of the West. She says she does not think she can, but the Wizard tells her that he will not grant any of their wishes until the witch is dead. The group travels to the country of the witch, and Dorothy eventually kills her. At the end of the book, the same thing happens as the movie, but the Good Witch of the South, who does not appear in the movie, who they travel to see, tells Dorothy she always had the power to get home with the silver shoes.

Ms. Hen enjoyed reading this book. She remembered some things that happened in the book that she read many years ago, but some surprised her. She read that this book was written as a morality tale, a new American version of fairy tales that have a moral for children, things to help them understand the world.

Ms. Hen wondered if this book was inspired by ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and she did some research and read that it must have been. The stories are similar, two girls get whisked away to another world, Alice dreams she is in a fantasy land, and Dorothy gets blown away in a tornado, and THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ goes to a strange land, but has more of a plot with characters, while ALICE sort of meanders in her dream world.

Some chickens appear, which made Ms. Hen happy. The group is about to leave The Emerald City, and, "They went to bed quite early and slept soundly until daylight, when they were awakened by the crowing of a green cock that lived in the back yard of the Palace, and the cackling of a hen that had laid a green egg." Everything in The Emerald City is green, including the chickens! But they really aren't because everyone wears green spectacles.

Ms. Hen thinks this book is a wonderful respite from the gloom and doom of the world. It's nostalgia, because everyone has seen the film, but it's a different type of nostalgia, one for something you knew but you didn't know, a world that exists that is out of time, but inside it as well, that moves with time and stays with us wherever we are.