In this post, we are looking at L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by summarizing and analyzing chapters 12-17. A lot happens in this chapter, and we should be aware of the world in which Baum is writing. With that said, we will learn about the Wicked Witch of the West and how she can be stopped.
Chapter Twelve Summary: The Search for the Wicked Witch
In Search of Evil
Dorothy and her party leave the Emerald City and travel in the direction of the Wicked Witch of the West. Before they enter her territory, however, the Witch spies them and begins to plot their demise.
Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere. So, as she sat in the door of her castle, she happened to look around and saw Dorothy lying asleep, with her friends all about her. They were a long distance off, but the Wicked Witch was angry to find them in her country; so she blew upon a silver whistle that hung around her neck.
As we know in The Wizard of Oz, things can get violent and quite dark. As such, the book does not shy away from gory depictions. This is reminiscent of some of the dark elements present in Grimms’ Fairy Tales. So far, it’s one of my favorite chapters!
The Witch’s whistle summons a pack of hungry wolves that descend upon Dorothy and her friends. The wolves seem very excited to do away with the group. At first, all is lost. There are 40 wolves and four of the party. Yet, the Tin Woodman takes his sharpened axe and takes to killing all of the wolves.
Angered, the Witch decides to send her crows to kill the group. This action is thwarted due to the Scarecrow’s stature as, well, a Scarecrow. He takes to snapping the crows’ necks as they descend upon the group.
The King Crow flew at the Scarecrow, who caught it by the head and twisted its neck until it died. And then another crow flew at him, and the Scarecrow twisted its neck also. There were forty crows, and forty times the Scarecrow twisted a neck, until at last all were lying dead beside him. Then he called to his companions to rise, and again they went upon their journey.
Likewise, a group of black bees attempts to kill the group. Yet, the Tin Woodsman is able to easily foil them. The bees cannot harm the Woodsman with their stingers. As such, they die in a pile on the ground around him. Lastly, the Winkies try to kill the group with their spears. Yet, the Cowardly Lion roars and scares them off. This action works wonderfully. For their failure, the Wicked Witch beats them with a strap and sends them back to their labors.
The Flying Monkeys and a Gold Cap
It is at this point that the Wicked Witch summons the Flying Monkeys. The Witch can only summon the monkeys three times due to the rules surrounding the summoning device—a golden cap. The Witch had already used it twice. Once to enslave the Winkies to steal their land, and once to drive the Wizard of Oz from the West. Now, on her third time, she commands them to defeat Dorothy and her companions; a job they competently execute.
They destroy the Tin Woodman by dropping him from a high altitude down onto sharp rocks. This dents him so badly that he cannot move. They destroy the Scarecrow by ripping him to pieces. Then they tie up the Cowardly Lion and kidnap Dorothy, taking her to the Wicked Witch’s castle for interrogation. But, Dorothy has the mark of protection on her forehead given to her by the Good Witch of the North.
The Wicked Witch was both surprised and worried when she saw the mark on Dorothy’s forehead, for she knew well that neither the Winged Monkeys nor she, herself, dare hurt the girl in any way. She looked down at Dorothy’s feet, and seeing the Silver Shoes, began to tremble with fear, for she knew what a powerful charm belonged to them.
One day, the Witch tricks Dorothy into falling to the ground, and one of her silver slippers falls free from her foot. This gives the Witch just enough time to nab it up from the ground. Enraged, Dorothy grabs a pale of ill-placed water and douses the Witch with it, which causes her to melt. With freedom in her hands, Dorothy tells the Cowardly Lion that the Witch no longer threatens them.
Analysis of Chapter Twelve
In this chapter, the Witch destroys the party. Therefore, the fellowship breaks. However, there is a theme in this chapter of perseverance. Even though Dorothy feels defeated, she still maintains that there must be something to do to defeat the Wicked Witch. She is right, because by the end of the chapter, Dorothy destroys the Witch and frees the Cowardly Lion.
Additionally, the Cowardly Lion, himself, remains undefeated, even in captivity. The Witch tries to break his spirit every day by visiting him in the courtyard. Here, she tells him that she can put a harness on him and use him as a slave. Nonetheless, the Lion remains stalwart and unbreakable. He tells the Witch, “No. If you come in this yard, I will bite you.”
There is definitely something to take from both Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion’s colossal spirits.
Chapter Thirteen Summary: The Rescue
Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion, freed from the Wicked Witches enslavement, set about trying to save their friends. Though the Winged Monkeys destroyed them, they are able to reassemble them. Dorothy asks the Winkies to help her collect and save her friends, and they happily oblige.
So they called the yellow Winkies and asked them if they would help to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would be delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them free from bondage. So she chose a number of the Winkies who looked as if they knew the most, and they all started away.
The Winkies fixed up the Tin Woodsman as some of their ranks were knowledgeable about tin working and they sharpened his axe, setting him up as if he were brand new. Then, they found and brought The Scarecrow back to the Wicked Witch’s castle and stuffed him with new straw and sewed him back up again. At this point, because they were all rejoined in good company in the Wicked Witch’s Yellow Castle, the “spent a few happy days” there until they realized that they had to venture off again to the Emerald City—with a few new tools even.
Dorothy went to the Witch’s cupboard to fill her basket with food for the journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She tried it on her own head and found that it fitted her exactly. She did not know anything about the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw that it was pretty, so she made up her mind to wear it and carry her sunbonnet in the basket. Then, being prepared for the journey, they all started for the Emerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many good wishes to carry with them.
Analysis of Chapter Thirteen
In this chapter, the company uses the friendships and skills they have acquired on their journey to fight against hardship. The field mice once again direct them to the right place, and Dorothy uses a newly acquired magical item to help her and friends reach their objective. Likewise, we continue seeing Dorothy’s resourcefulness and compassion in this chapter. She implores the Winkies to help her, which they do, and asks the field mice for help, which they also do, and she also uses the Winged Monkeys to her benefit.
Journeys and quests should not be easy. They should be dangerous and exciting. We have seen a lot of that here, especially when they put together her friends and venture off yet again to head back home. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, just because you think the adventure is over, one more thing always seems to creep up to hinder the heroes.
Chapter Fourteen Summary: The Winged Monkeys
On their way to the Emerald City, Dorothy and her companions become lost and have to resort to asking the field mice if they know they direction. As it turns out, though the Queen of the Field Mice tells them the correct direction, they realize that they are far off course, as the Winged Monkeys had kidnapped them and flown them a great distance to reach the evil witch.
It is here that Dorothy learns about the Golden Cap she took from the Witch. It is actually a charm that allows her to possess the Winged Monkeys for her own benefit. After calling upon them, she asks them to fly her and her friends to the Emerald City. The Winged Monkey’s agree to do so because Dorothy controls them.
“We will carry you,” replied the King, and no sooner had he spoken than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew away with her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and the Lion, and one little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dog tried hard to bite him.
While flying, the Winged Monkeys tell Dorothy about how they became enslaved by the cap, and it involved dropping a sorceress’s loved one in a river, because the Winged Monkeys are mischievous creatures that’s what fantastical creatures do in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The sorceress, unhappy with the Winged Monkeys’ conduct, threatened them with the same treatment if they did not agree to her wishes: “… the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap.”
After the story, the Winged Monkey’s deposit Dorothy and her friends at the gates of the Emerald City. The Winged Monkeys depart until they are needed again.
Chapter Fifteen Summary: The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible
The Quest Rewards
Dorothy and company enter the Emerald City and straightaway head to the Wizard of Oz, who owes them each a debt for ridding the land of the Wicked Witch of the West. However, Oz does not send for them immediately, and the group has to sit and wait for three days until The Scarecrow threatens the wizard with the Winged Monkeys. Of course, Oz relents and asks them to meet him in the throne room to receive their reward. Oz gets dodgy at this point and tells them to return the following day. Dorothy and friends do not like this response and decide to try and intimidate; however, that doesn’t go accordingly.
The Lion thought it might be as well to frighten the Wizard, so he gave a large, loud roar, which was so fierce and dreadful that Toto jumped away from him in alarm and tipped over the screen that stood in a corner. As it fell with a crash they looked that way, and the next moment all of them were filled with wonder. For they saw, standing in just the spot the screen had hidden, a little old man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face, who seemed to be as much surprised as they were.
The Truth Revealed
It is at this point that the Wizard of Oz reveals the truth. As it turns out, he is but a normal man and has kept himself safe due to his deceptive nature. The Wicked Witch, for instance, thought of him as a powerful wizard and thus was afraid to attack him head on unless she had magical means (the Winged Monkeys). Though he’s a liar, the Wizard of Oz rationalizes his actions to the best of his ability.
According to the wizard, he actually from Omaha. One day, he flew into the sky in his balloon and became lost above the clouds. By the time he landed, he found himself in the land of Oz. Once there, he commanded the people to build his city and his palace, and he named it the Emerald City. Why would the good people of Oz do this? Well, much like the Wicked Witch, they thought he was powerful. Nevertheless, he lived in fear of the Witches. Yet, he grew relieved to discover that Dorothy had landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. He was more relieved when he found at that she had killed the Wicked Witch of the West with a bucket of water.
Though, now that the truth was out, the Wizard of Oz tells Dorothy that there is little he can do to actually help her and her friends, but tells them to give him a few days to think about it, because even though he has no real powers, he was still quite ingenious.
Analysis of Chapter Fifteen
This is a chapter is a centered on a big reveal and offers up a fun twist to the story. In fact, it is an education in how to take your own story and flip it on its head if you were of the mind. In other words, all stories need twists and turns to remain engaging and entertaining, and you should think about what Baum does here to make this already fantastical story even more delightful. The wizard is not a wizard but a normal man, and he has an interesting story (more interesting than the Winged Monkeys’ story, I think), which causes the readers and Dorothy and her friends to take pity on him. It’s really creative!
Also, I love that at the end of the chapter it is revealed that Dorothy refers to the Wizard of Oz as “The Great and Terrible Humbug.” This is amusing because it’s really disparaging. It’s made even funnier in the next chapter because the wizard sees himself that way, too.
Chapter Sixteen Summary: The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
The chapter opens with the company reaping the rewards of the fantastic adventure.
- The wizard stuffs The Scarecrow’s head with a large amount of bran, pins, and needles, and “stuffed the rest with straw, to hold it in place,” and The Scarecrow was thankful.
- The Tin Woodman receives a heart after the Wizard cuts a hole in his chest and plops in a pretty heart that is made of “silk and stuffed with sawdust.”
- The Cowardly Lion is given his courage through the use of a tonic, which gives him the courage he was after since the beginning of their quest.
As for Dorothy, the Wizard is perplexed, as he is conflicted about his own powers.
“How can I help being a humbug,” he said, “when all these people make me do things that everybody knows can’t be done? It was easy to make the Scarecrow and the Lion and the Woodman happy, because they imagined I could do anything. But it will take more than imagination to carry Dorothy back to Kansas, and I’m sure I don’t know how it can be done.”
At that, the chapter ends. We as the reader are left to ponder how the Wizard will help Dorothy in order to get her back to Kansas.
Chapter Seventeen Summary: How the Balloon Was Launched
The Wizard decides that to get Dorothy back to Kansas, he must construct a large balloon to launch into the air. The balloon will then carry both himself and Dorothy home to where they belong.
“You see, when I came to this country it was in a balloon. You also came through the air, being carried by a cyclone. So I believe the best way to get across the desert will be through the air. Now, it is quite beyond my powers to make a cyclone; but I’ve been thinking the matter over, and I believe I can make a balloon.”
The Wizard and Dorothy set themselves about constructing a wonderful balloon to fly across the great desert and upon its completion the Wizard informs the people of the Emerald City that he is going to go visit “a great brother Wizard who lived in the clouds.” Of course, the people believe him to be magic when he is in fact not. So, this news is taken exactly as expected and the “news spread rapidly throughout the city…”
The Wizard has the balloon brought out, and he addresses the audience as a charlatan. However, he grants the Scarecrow permission to rule the city; but, unfortunately, before Dorothy can get on the balloon, her dog Toto runs into the crowd and Dorothy chases after him. The Wizard sails away into the clouds. He is never seen again.
Chapter Seventeen Analysis
For this week’s posts, we are looking at the theme of magic in writing, and both chapter sixteen and seventeen of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz deals with the Wizard’s magic in some way. What we know of the Wizard is that he is a fake; that is, he has lied about who he is to the people who love and cherish him, which has caused a conflict inside of him (man vs. man), as he is unsure of how to proceed with rewarding Dorothy and her friends because he has no way to actually reward them through the use of magical powers.
Thus, he resorts to practical means to reward each member of the company and to reward Dorothy herself; so, he makes handcrafted rewards and, because they all believe in him (which they really shouldn’t) they take their rewards as truth, like a odd sort of placebo. He stuffs The Scarecrow’s head with straw, gives the Tin Woodsman a beautiful heart, and concocts a tonic for the Cowardly Lion. Lastly, he literally creates a balloon with Dorothy’s help.
Yet, because the Wizard is a flawed individual, not all of his magical tricks work, as he leaves Dorothy behind as he has no way to control the balloon once it takes flight.
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