In starting our journey to the Emerald City through this analysis of The Wizard of Oz, we begin by cracking the first five chapters of this classic. Now, even though this book is for younger readers, L. Frank Baum wrote it during a time when childlike flights of fancy were in the narrative ecosystem. But, let us not tarry, and let’s start our adventure into the wonderful land of Oz!
Chapter One Summary: The Cyclone
Life on the Farm
This Wizard of Oz analysis begins in chapter one with descriptions of the dull life of Dorothy Gale. As an orphan, she lives with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em on a lonely farm in Kansas. The picture of her life is unexciting and helps inform the audience of the dire nature of her existence.
“Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cooking stove, a cupboard for dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the bed.”
We get more of the desolate nature of Dorothy’s life as we learn more about Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. The land they lived on has taken the shine and sparkle from them. This may be due to hardship, or perhaps from the loneliness of the place. The elements had changed them, including Aunt Em.
Baum states: “They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also.”
This is a very deliberate description of Em and pairs with the description of Uncle Henry. Her husband apparently “never laughed,” and only “worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was” (Baum). The author also characterizes him as “gray” and absent of life.
The Things Dorothy Loves
Nevertheless, there was light in this world that certainly kept Dorothy motivated in the form of her little dog Toto. Toto “was not gray,” and had “long, silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.” The dour mood of the first few pages begins to dissipate shortly after. The now famous tornado comes and sweeps the house away and into the sky—literally. Before the tornado arrives, Uncle Henry runs to tend to the cows and the horses. Meanwhile, Aunt Em runs for the cellar with Dorothy behind her. But, alas, Dorothy is too late, and a tornado sweeps her and the house into the the air. They are carried far, far away.
Again, Dorothy’s very surroundings want to destroy her. This is either by a slow descent into grayness, or by outright obliteration due to a tornado.
Chapter Two Summary: The Council with the Munchkins
Dorothy arrives in Oz via the cyclone, which lands harshly and jolts her awake from her slumber. Immediately upon exiting the house, she meets some of the inhabitants of this strange land. They include a witch and a few munchkins. To her dismay, she learns that her rough landing caused quite a stir. Her house and grand entrance killed the Wicked Witch of the East.
“Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes” (Baum). Dorothy is distraught, because she was “an innocent, harmless little girl … and she had never killed anything in all her life.”
This is a nice touch of character and softens the reader to Dorothy’s disposition. Witch of the North (the good witch) consoles Dorothy. She tells the young girl that the Wicked Witch of the East lived a monstrous life. She had kept the munchkin people in “bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day.” This description seems like a really terrible way to live your life as a munchkin.
Regardless, the munchkins are now in Dorothy’s debt for freeing them. She is gifted the silver shoes that once belonged to the now deceased witch. Additionally, the munchkins give her directions to the City of Emeralds, where she can find the Great Wizard of Oz.
As the good witch tells her: “’The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick,’ said the Witch; ‘so you cannot miss it. When you get to Oz do not be afraid of him, but tell your story and ask him to help you. Good-by, my dear” (Baum).
As we know from the film, Dorothy’s journey truly begins in the next chapter.
Chapter Three Summary: How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
In this chapter, Dorothy does exactly as the title states, and makes a new friend on her journey from the Munchkin land to the Emerald City. The Scarecrow is stuck on a post and can not move from where he is set. As such, Dorothy takes plight on him and removes him from his imprisonment (much as she had freed the munchkins).
We have some obvious and less obvious characterization in this chapter. For starters, the author has revealed Dorothy to be an empathetic character who cares about those around her. We see this when she unintentionally frees the munchkins from their slavery.
The Scarecrow, we learn, lacks confidence in himself. Baum reveals this in both his literal characterization and his metaphorical characterization. That is, he is literally a scarecrow, left in a field without company. He is stuffed with straw, so he lacks a brain (and blood and organs for that matter). This is who he literally is.
“Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand and gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow. Its head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes, nose and mouth painted on it to represent a face. An old, pointed blue hat, that had belonged to some Munchkin, was perched on his head, and the rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also been stuffed with straw. On the feet were some old boots with blue tops, such as every man wore in this country, and the figure was raised above the stalks of corn by means of the pole stuck up its back.“
Metaphorically, we understand him to have low self-esteem, or at least he represents a failure to understand one’s own capabilities. This drives his goals to journey with Dorothy to the Emerald City where there is a chance for him to receive a brain. We learn this about the Scarecrow through his own words when he speaks to Dorothy about his desires and ambitions. He tells her that he doesn’t care that he is a stuffed man because he cannot be hurt. Yet, he does not want people to make fun of him for being a fool.
Chapter Four Summary: The Road through the Forest
It is at this point in The Wizard of Oz that Dorothy has made a friend and is now making her way to the Emerald City to speak with the wizard of Oz. They continue following the road but are finding it hard to navigate because the road itself is shabby. The “walking grew so difficult that the Scarecrow often stumbled over the yellow brick, which were here very uneven” (Baum). Because this development creates complications, Dorothy and the Scarecrow stop and set up camp near a little brook where she then prepares dinner.
We get some more moments of characterization, as we learn a little more about the Scarecrow. He tells Dorothy that he never hungers because his mouth is not real. Additionally, we start to see some of Dorothy’s values arise in this scenario. She tells him that she hopes to return to Kansas regardless of how “gray” the homes are. This is because “we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home” (Baum). One of the characteristics we will come to find out is that Dorothy is a loyal person. This loyalty will see her through to the end of the story. She is both loyal to Kansas and loyal to her friends.
Chapter Five Summary: The Rescue of the Tin Woodman
The Sad Tale of the Tin Woodsman
Dorothy and the Scarecrow continue venturing toward the Emerald City through a great forest. They discover a man made entirely out of tin rusted into a standing position. Dorothy retrieves an oil can and begins oiling the tinman’s joints.
It’s here that we learn of his sad tale:
The Tin Woodman was in love with a munchkin girl and was engaged to marry her. However, he did not have a home, so decided that he would make a home and some money. Yet, the munchkin girl lived with a lazy old woman who did not want her to leave. Her laziness ensured the munchkin would be around to do her bidding.
A Promise Made
As the Tin Woodman tells Dorothy: “So, the old woman went to the Wicked Witch of the East, and promised her two sheep and a cow if she would prevent the marriage. Thereupon the wicked witch enchanted my axe, and when I was chopping away at my best one day, the axe slipped all at once an cut off my leg.”
From here, the enchanted axe deals blow after blow to the Tin Woodman. Yet, the Tinsman fashions him new appendages to replace the old ones he continuously loses. Finally, though, to really do him in, the Wicked Witch of the East causes the axe to slice his abdomen in two, which destroys his heart.
Again, the Tin Woodman says to Dorothy:
“But, alas!I had now no heart, so that I lost all my love for the Munchkin girl and did not care whether I married her or not. I suppose she is still living with that old woman, waiting for me to come after her.”
They all decide to venture off together to find the Wizard of Oz, because the Tin Woodman could benefit from a heart so that he could love again, and the Scarecrow wanted a brain as to not be a fool. Dorothy, meanwhile, in a moment of selfishness, thinks that it doesn’t matter whether either of her adventuring friends ever actually get what they want as long as she gets what she wants: a return ticket to Kansas.
Chapter 1-5 Analysis
Setting
I think revealing the setting as a form of conflict is a really interesting way to open a book. Baum clearly understood the hardship of this sort of life and what it can do to somebody’s spirit, as he had spent time in the Dakota Territory in the late 1800s and had gone bankrupt after failing to adjust his bazaar to the “hard times” put on by a drought. I can certainly see a socioeconomic critique in this first chapter.
“In an editorial on mercantile practices written a few months after the business folded, Baum probed the heart of the matter when he wrote that customers cry “not so much for genuine worth as for something pretty and attractive at a low cost” (Koupal).
Conflict drives all classic stories and typically your most interesting ones are the ones that stand the test of time. As such, there are many conflicts in this book.
Moreover, it matters where you live, and it matters where you stand. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are colorless forms because the land has taken the life out of them. Yet we see that is not always the case in Baum’s work because we find colorful inhabitants of Oz waiting just at the other end of the cyclone. The contrast is intentional, and, in fact, if you were to watch the1939 film, one could surmise that this juxtaposition is exactly why the first part of the film is in black and white and the other two-thirds are in full color.
Additionally, the munchkins live in a beautiful world. So, we can assume that they would otherwise prosper if it were not for the Wicked Witch’s “bondage” of servitude. Therein, we see that geography matters because the land has not robbed them of their joy. Yet Oz is not without treacherous locations.
The East and South feature a massive desert that is impassable by anybody, and so does the West, which also has the last Wicked Witch on the lookout for people foolish enough tread her land.
Meanwhile, in the North:
“’The North is my home,’ said the old lady (the good witch), ‘and at its edge is the same great desert that surrounds this Land of Oz…’” (Buam).
Conflict
So, Oz is a dangerous place to live. And, the characters give us directions—directions to the City of Emeralds—which help us navigate the world. And, all of this matters, because the munchkins prosper in their land even though danger is right next door. With that said, there are even pleasant lands in the North, but East and West are dangerous, as is the great desert.
The Good Witch even makes it a point to tell Dorothy that “there are no witches left; nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians” in civilized places like Kansas, but that such things are alive and well in the Land of Oz. This creates a contrast between lands and belief systems as well. Kansas is civilized while Oz must be uncivilized. Or, perhaps, there are only pockets of civilizations in the world.
Lastly, lest I stray too far into the reeds, while geographic location matters, it also matters where you stand in general. In the last chapter, Dorothy was standing in the house when she was picked up from the storm, while Uncle Henry had run to the stables and Aunt Em had hidden in the cellar. The Wicked Witch of the East was unfortunately standing under the house as it landed roughly on her old bones. In a careful Wizard of Oz analysis, we can see how there is a clear sequence of events driving her from location to location.
Characterization
Continuing, good characterization should serve the plot in some way, too. We learn about the Scarecrow in chapter three, but we also learn more about the theme and what the story is trying to tell us and how it might end. Likewise, we learn more about our protagonist, which serves the plot, because we need to know how Dorothy will respond to trouble when it presents itself.
For example, we learn more about the Scarecrow and how he came to be. After two munchkins put him together, and literally paint on his senses, he is used as a prop to scare away the crows from eating all the corn in the Munchkins’ farm field. This does not work because, apparently, he is not all that imposing.
A crow lands on the Scarecrow’s shoulder and tells him that “’Any crow of sense could see that you are only stuffed with straw.’ Then he hopped down at my feet and ate all the corn he wanted.” Such an insult reveals to us why the Scarecrow feels like a fool. He is entirely incapable of doing what he was created to do, which is super insulting to his life’s purpose.
“I felt sad at this,” he states in the book, “for it showed I was not such a good Scarecrow after all …”
The Wizard of Oz Analysis and Conclusion
This analysis of The Wizard of Oz shows the book as a much darker story than the one given to us in the movie. The movie shies away from the gorier, controversial aspects. It certainly would have been a little violent for the child audience for whom the film was made. There is also a lot about slavery in this story, and many of the characters are ostensibly imprisoned in their own lives.
For instance, the Munchkins are literally imprisoned by the Wicked Witch to do her biding. Dorothy is imprisoned in her dull life in Kansas; the Scarecrow is imprisoned on a stake in a corn field,; and the Tin Woodman is imprisoned in his rust. Slavery is not an easy theme and neither is imprisonment, but both of those ideas are present in The Wizard of Oz.
Nevertheless, between both this chapter and the previous chapter, we get solid character development with both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. Both characters are kind and courageous because they have decided to journey with Dorothy to the Emerald City. We also learn about Dorothy’s selfish side, which has hitherto not revealed itself. I have no doubt that this characteristic will show itself again in the story (like Chekov’s gun) but let us hope Dorothy can look past her self-interest in the future to help her new acquaintances.
Works Cited
Baum, L. Frank. “The Wizard of Oz the First Five Novels.” Fall River Press, 2014.
KOUPAL, NANCY TYSTAD. “THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF THE WEST: L. FRANK BAUM IN SOUTH DAKOTA, 1888-91.” Great Plains Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 4, 1989, pp. 203–215. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23531112. Accessed 8 July 2021.
Leave a comment