The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The ‘Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by L. Frank Baum is a simple but amazing tale of the adventures of little Dorothy, whose house was blown (along with her and her little dog Toto) by a great cyclone one fine afternoon from her hometown Kansas to the mysterious Land of Oz. To her great surprise and horror, her house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East and killed her, liberating a group of people called the Munchkins. She came to wear the silver shoes belonging to the Wicked Witch and was bestowed a kiss of protection from the Good Witch of the North.

Her journey in the bizarre land began with her search for a way to return in Kansas to be reunited with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Along the way, she was joined by a scarecrow who desired brains, a tin woodsman who would give anything in the world for a heart, and a cowardly lion who yearned for courage.

Dorothy and her friends trod along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, where they would consult the great and terrible wizard of Oz and implore him to grant each of them their hearts’ desires. The wizard agreed on one condition – that they would slay the Wicked Witch of the West.

As the band headed west in search of the Wicked Witch, she saw them from afar and intercepted them. With her magical cap, she was able to summon a ferocious troupe of flying monkeys, who easily subdued the scarecrow and the woodsman. The lion was captured and caged. Dorothy and Toto, too, were imprisoned, but inside the castle of the Wicked Witch.

The Wicked Witch saw that Dorothy bore the mark of the Good Witch, so the witch was powerless to harm the little girl. Also, unbeknownst to Dorothy, she wielded tremendous power in the silver shoes she was wearing. The witch, knowing she could not hurt Dorothy, decided to deceive Dorothy into thinking that she was helpless against the witch and forced the little girl to serve her in the castle.

One day, the Wicked Witch managed to trip Dorothy while she was on her way to the bathroom, and stole one of Dorothy’s silver shoes that fell off in the process. Furious, Dorothy splashed a bucket of water on the witch and serendipitously killed her (for water was her weakness). The death of the witch liberated the Winkies under her control. The band regrouped and went on their way back to the Emerald City to claim their reward.

Upon being summoned to the throne room of Oz again, however, they unwittingly discovered a secret hidden from the rest of the denizens of the Land of Oz – the wizard was a fake! Oz was actually a mere man, a ventriloquist from Omaha who drifted in a hot air balloon to the Land of Oz. The people of the land heralded him as a great wizard and made him to rule over the entire land. Through his elaborate contraptions and prohibition of his subjects to see him face to face, he managed to maintain the image of the Great Wizard in the eyes of the people.

The party, however, refused to leave without having their wishes granted, and threatened to expose him to the inhabitants of the land. Fearing for his reputation, he agreed to ‘grant’ them their heart’s desires.

As the scarecrow wanted brains, Oz filled his head with bran and needles – ‘brain’ material!

As the tin woodman wanted a heart, Oz opened up his chest and inserted a silk heart.

As the lion wanted courage, Oz gave him a drink containing ‘courage’.

All of them felt satisfied that their desires had been granted, save for Dorothy, who still could not return to Kansas.

Oz conceived of a brilliant idea – a hot air balloon to take Dorothy back to Kansas and himself back to Omaha. The balloon was successfully constructed. Oz announced to his people that he would be leaving the land, and he would leave the rulership to the hands of the now wise scarecrow. However, as he prepared for launch, Dorothy went to fetch Toto, but ended up missing the launch. So, Oz was gone but poor Dorothy was still stuck in the land.

Yet, all was not lost! There was one last resort – the Good Witch of the South. To show their gratitude to Dorothy for helping them getting what they wanted, the scarecrow, woodman and lion once again accompanied Dorothy on her quest.

On the way, the lion slew a giant spider that had been threatening the animals of the jungle, and was made king of the jungle.

When they finally came to her palace, the Witch agreed to help Dorothy. The Witch explained the power of the silver shoes that Dorothy wore – they had the ability to transport the wearer to anywhere in the world!

After much tearful goodbyes, Dorothy tapped on her shoes, exclaimed her destination, and she was instantly whizzed away back home to Kansas (with Toto, of course), never to return again to the Land of Oz, as she lost the silver shoes in the journey home.

As for the rest the trio, the scarecrow returned to the Emerald City and ruled it in wisdom. The woodman ruled over the land of the West, caring for his subjects with his new kind heart. The lion returned to the jungle to take his rightful place as the king of all the animals of the jungle.

Lessons that can be drawn from this story…

The ways of the Wicked Witch of the West were just so similar to the ways of the Devil. He knows that we as the people of God wield greater power and authority than he does. Yet, he chooses to deceive us into believing that he is much stronger than he actually is, and that we are helpless against him. But truth be told, we have all the power and authority that we need to demolish the works of the devil, to crush him under our feet and to set the people free from his evil tyranny!

Wisdom, love and courage most certainly are not get just by stuffing brains into someone’s head, or transplanting a heart into another’s mediastinum (chest) or glugging it down like a shot of whisky. We do not need people to do things for us to make us wise, loving or more courageous. Truth be told, all of us have each of those attributes within us, albeit to varying degrees and levels. The key to ‘acquiring’ them is really through practice and using those gifts that are very much part of our humanity, choosing to step forth in faith with what little that we have that our capacities for each of them may be stretched and expanded each time we use them. The scarecrow didn’t need a new brain to be smart – he just needed to experience more of life (a baby is not born knowing all things, it come by experience). The woodman didn’t need a heart transplant to be more loving – he just needed to practice to love and kindness that is already inside of him. The lion didn’t need a shot of ‘courage’ to make him brave – he just needed to step out despite being scared (afterall, courage is not being brave when you are unafraid, it is being brave despite knowing that you are afraid).

Last but not least, this is one that spoke most powerfully to me. It is that everything is good for something. I enjoyed reading this part a lot, so I shall include the excerpt of the passage from the story:

“The Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert,” replied Glinda (the witch of the South). “If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country.” (Bummer!)

“But then I should not have had my wonderful brain!” cried the Scarecrow. “I might have passed m whole life in the farmer’s cornfield.”

“And I should not have had my lovely heart,” said the Tin Woodman. “I might have stood and rusted in the forest till the end of the world.”

“And I should have lived a coward forever,” declared the Lion, “and no beast in all the forest would have had a good word to say to me.”

So, in all things, no matter how bad it may seem there is always good to be found in it. In each moment you invest into someone’s life, there is always something good to come at the end of it, no matter how painful or how much of a ‘waste of time’ it may seem.

These are my reflections from the story of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a tale of wisdom, love and courage that I truly enjoyed reading and one that I most certainly would like to pass on the my children in generations to come.