The Way of Oz: A Guide to Wisdom, Heart, and Courage

1: Survey of the Original Oz Book and 1939 Film

Having this thought in mind, the story of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out. L. Frank Baum (1856–1919), from his introduction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The original Oz book and its derivative stories have intrigued children and adults for generations. The tale of a midwestern girl sojourning to the fantasy world of Oz embodies powerful messages and imagery, bolstered by the 1939 film, which brilliantly contrasts the gray dust-bowl appearance of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry’s farm on the Kansas prairie with the colorful Land of Oz. With its pastoral appearance and the apparent kindly culture of the Munchkins, Oz, to some readers, epitomizes an agrarian model, which originated in Greek philosophy but was reborn during the time of Thomas Jefferson. Emphasizing rugged individualism, self-reliance, sustenance through agriculture, closeness to nature, love of family and place, wariness of modern technology, and minimal interest in national or international affairs, this model of agrarianism would have been recognizable to many people during Frank Baum’s lifetime. The Oz story begins with Dorothy (in later works she’s given the apt last name of Gale), who is portrayed as a five- or six-year-old when she is first transported to Oz. In his 1964 essay on Oz as a parable for populism, history 1 Survey of the Original Oz Book and the 1939 Film Attorney Charlotte Bingham comments on the effects of the Oz stories on her as a child. Oz and It< Creator.........................4 teacher Henry M. Littlefield suggests Dorothy represents “little Miss innocent everybody”; she is “levelheaded and human . . . good, not precious, and [she] thinks quite naturally about others.” Oz scholar Michael Patrick Hearn writes that “Dorothy is American through and through . . . spunky and tenacious.” Economist Hugh Rockoff adds, “Dorothy represents America —honest, kindhearted, and plucky.” She may also be emblematic of the daughter Frank Baum and his wife, Maud, never had, though having four sons may well have desired. Dorothy is the archetypal heroine who journeys forth, has impressive adventures, and returns home triumphantly, with powers to share, or as Evan Schwartz notes: “The special object or piece of wisdom that signifies transformation.” She symbolizes American optimism and its moral sense of the conquest of good over evil—themes that permeate Baum’s works. I align Dorothy with what I call the future focus tenet of The Way of Oz. She is a symbol of leadership. Along with other female leaders who emerge in the Oz series, Dorothy offers an important role model for women. Clinical psychologist Madonna Kolbenschlag writes, “I have been amazed at the number of times the Dorothy-script surfaces in the consciousness—sometime in the dreams—of women in transition or undergoing a major transformation in self-image,” in part because Dorothy comes from humble beginnings , reaches out to others in need, and lifts them and herself up while becoming, in her translocation and venturing forth, “one of the most wonderful wish fulfillments in all of literature.” Dorothy was accompanied from the start by her faithful companion, Toto, a Cairn terrier in the 1939 film but variously drawn in the Oz books as a Cairn, a Boston bulldog, or a French bulldog. In mythology, dogs are guides, offering safe passage among real and supernatural worlds. Given Frank and Maud Baum’s belief in theosophy, it’s been suggested that the name Toto may be a contraction of totality—a word that embraces the Eastern philosophical concept of totality, or a natural “unity of matter and energy . . . both real and imagined.” Dorothy ventures forth with the help of a Kansas tornado to Oz, a land that becomes much more developed in Baum’s many Oz sequels. You might recall the vivid scene in the now-classic 1939 movie of the legs and feet of the Wicked Witch of the East crushed by the tornado-assisted 5.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film descent of Dorothy’s house into Munchkin land. The scene is significantly different from Baum’s 1900 book in that the film portrays the Wicked Witch’s enchanted slippers as ruby red. The sparkling red slippers that Dorothy inherits from the witch make a vivid visual contrast against Munchkin land’s meandering Yellow Brick Road. (As an aside, one pair of the original ruby slippers sold at auction for $666,000 in 2000; another pair is on display in the American History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington , DC.) The slippers in Baum’s book, however, were silver. Some critics have suggested a link between the silver slippers and the intense political debate during the 1890s about silver and gold standards for US currency. Dorothy isn’t fully aware of the magic of the slippers at the time they appear on her feet, but when the Good Witch of the North bestows a kiss on her forehead, she receives a mark that promises to shield her from harm. The potential for harm, of course, is anticipated by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkin people who encourage Dorothy to travel to the Emerald City to seek the Great Wizard’s help in returning to her native Kansas . This short episode contains another difference between the book and the film. In the film, the Good Witch of the North is referred to as Glinda, who is clearly associated with the Good Witch of the South (and the Quadling people) in the 1900 book and subsequent sequels, including Baum’s last Oz book, Glinda of Oz. Armed with the silver (or ruby red) slippers, the Good Witch of the North’s magic forehead mark, and the farewell wishes of the Munchkin people, Dorothy, accompanied by her faithful Toto, begins a journey west on the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City. You might not fully realize , unless you read the thirteen Baum sequels, that Oz is a country composed of four lands with their associated colors: Munchkin land in the east (blue), Winkie land in the west (yellow), Quadling land in the south (red), and Gilligan land in the north (purple), all surrounding the capital— Oz and It< Creator.........................6 Emerald City—at the center. Oz has been variously associated with America , a place beyond the borders of the United States, or a land beyond the realm of earth. The Yellow Brick Road may reflect Baum’s childhood memories of yellow-brick-paved roads in upstate New York, where he grew up. Dorothy encounters three important companions on her trip to Oz. Baum associated her companions with time-honored character traits, and critics have subsequently linked them with symbols relevant to the sociopolitical events of the 1890s when Baum was crafting his fairy tale masterpiece . The Scarecrow, for example, has been thought to represent Midwest farmers and their problems with drought and finances, particularly during the severe economic depression that became widespread in 1893. Others have seen this character as a metaphor for intelligence or faith. The Scarecrow’s request for a brain from the Wizard is logical but at times paradoxical, since the straw-stuffed character frequently exhibits remarkable insight and wisdom. If you read Baum’s The Marvelous Land of Oz, you’ll delight in the Scarecrow’s wise pronouncement: “I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed .” I have associated the Scarecrow with learning and wisdom in The Way of Oz. The Scarecrow, in search of a brain, and Dorothy, in search of a way back to Kansas, proceed down the Yellow Brick Road, although the road is more and more in disrepair as they proceed. In short order, they encounter the Tin Woodman. His origin in the film is obscure, but in Baum’s book and its sequels we learn he was placed under a spell by the Wicked Witch of the East to deflect his affections for a Munchkin girl (Nimmie Amee), an apparent ward of the witch. The Wicked Witch desires the girl’s services and fears she may fall in love with and marry the woodman. Because of the spell, the woodman, in great distress, cuts off his arms and legs and head with his ax and ultimately strikes his torso, causing him to lose his heart. After each of the woodman’s self-mutilating acts, a tinsmith’s services are engaged to fashion new body parts for him, but his virtual aching heart continues to long for the Munchkin maiden. In the original Oz book the Tin Woodman yearns for her: “While I was in love I was the happiest man on earth; but no 7.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film one can love who has not a heart, and so I am resolved to ask Oz to give me one. If he does, I will go back to the Munchkin maiden and marry her.” Some observers have associated the Tin Woodman with the dehumanization of the working class by the eastern establishment in Baum’s day. Here in The Way of Oz, I have aligned him with “heart” or love. Now the expanded Oz group continues its journey west. We know from the book and the 1939 film that they soon meet up with the Cowardly Lion, who, like the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, reveals traits opposite his name: the Cowardly Lion, who bemoans his lack of bravery, is often courageous and helpful in extricating himself and his fellow travelers from threatening situations. I designate the Cowardly Lion as a model not only for courage but also for service in The Way of Oz. The four seekers and Toto are now on their way to the Emerald City. In Baum’s book, they next encounter the Kalidahs (ferocious beasts, part bear and part tiger), who attempt to devour them but are thwarted by quick thinking on the part of the Cowardly Lion, assisted by the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. After defeating the Kalidahs, in Baum’s book the Oz team encounters a river they must ford on their journey west. The Tin Woodman comes to the rescue by chopping down trees to construct a raft and poles to cross the river. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman volunteer to pole the raft, but during the crossing they encounter a swift current, and the straw-packed hero’s pole becomes stuck in the muddy bottom—lifting him from the raft and stranding him in the middle of the river. The others make it to the opposite side of the river, thanks to the swimming ability of the Cowardly Lion, whose tail becomes a tether for the Tin Woodman, who, along with the raft, is pulled to shore. But now the Oz team minus one must find a way to rescue the Scarecrow. Fortunately, a passing stork stops to chat with the crew on the riverbank. She agrees to fly out to the middle of river to rescue the Scarecrow, and when she does, the team is once again intact. Dorothy and her friends’ next adventure takes them to a poppy field, which is portrayed differently in Baum’s book and the 1939 film. Poppies, well known in the late nineteenth century as a source of opium and its derivatives , are depicted in Baum’s book as having deadly sleep-inducing Oz and It< Creator.........................8 properties. The Oz troupe’s flesh-and-blood members, including Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and Toto, are in mortal danger when they fall asleep in the poppy field. But the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, unaffected by biological poisons, are able to rescue Dorothy and her faithful canine by carrying them away from the deadly flowers. Rescuing the huge Cowardly Lion, however , presents a more formidable challenge. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman seek the help of an army of field mice led by its kindly queen. An alliance is struck in part because of the Tin Woodman’s earlier killing of a wildcat that had endangered the life of the queen mouse. Now, at her command, thousands of mice, each holding a piece of string connected to a wooden cart the Tin Woodman has crafted for the Cowardly Lion, pull the mighty beast to safety. In the 1939 movie, the deadly poppy field episode is portrayed as an intervention of the Wicked Witch of the West who, with Nikko the lead Winged Monkey, is watching the travelers through a crystal ball. Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion are imperiled as they are in the book, but in the movie (and in the 1902 musical The Wizard of Oz), with Glinda’s help, the effects of the poppies are reversed by a snowfall, and Dorothy and her crew set off again to the Emerald City. Passing out of the dangerous territory of the poppies, the Oz team finally comes to the Emerald City (which some critics say is named for Ireland , a country Baum loved) at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. In the Oz movie, relatively little attention is paid to the arrival of the group, but instead the focus is on the striking scene of the city’s Art Deco design (a style unknown at the time of the original Oz book’s publication) and the friendly 9.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film gatekeeper’s greeting of the Oz troupe. In Baum’s book, the Emerald City is depicted with the domes, towers, and spires of Victorian Orientalist design . Studded with emeralds, the city appears to cast a shining green sheen over everything, but visitors and residents are required to wear green-tinted glasses in and around the city to complete the “emerald aura.” The Oz gatekeeper outfits our traveling friends (including Toto) with spectacles and admonishes them not to remove them. Otherwise, of course, the Emerald City would appear principally (and unmagically) white. This mandatory wearing of green spectacles suggests what we learn later of the Wizard’s duping of the residents of Oz. If you are a student of history, you will recall that Chicago was the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, noted for its “White City,” built from cement and fiber of different types (hemp, jute, sisal). Various scholars have suggested that Baum (and his illustrator, W. W. Denslow) used the White City of the Chicago exhibition as the model for his Emerald City. Now in Oz, our traveling friends have come to solicit help from the Great Wizard . And like the character in the film and the book, he is a difficult man to see. Eventually , however, they are granted an audience because of the Wizard’s interest in Dorothy’s silver shoes and the mark on her forehead the Good Witch of the North had given her. The travelers’ collective encounter with the Wizard of Oz in the film is frightening, but the individual meetings Dorothy and her friends have in Baum’s book with the Emerald City bully are even more so. The Wizard appears in meanspirited incarnations to each of them—a disembodied head (to Dorothy), a beautiful yet gruff woman (to the Scarecrow), a five-eyed wooly beast (to the Tin Woodman ), and an intimidating ball of fire (to the Cowardly Lion). The Wizard’s consis- Oz and It< Creator.........................10 tent message is this: You get nothing for nothing; kill the Wicked Witch of the West and I will grant you your wishes. In The Way of Oz I align the Wizard with humility because he is eventually humbled through his interactions with the Oz troupe. In the Oz sequels he is redeemed when Oz’s new ruler, Ozma, invites him to become a citizen of Oz, and he subsequently develops true wizard-like abilities (through the mentoring of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South), which he uses with humility and a spirit of beneficence. Seeking Out the Wicked Witch of the West It is hard to imagine how any unempowered group would feel setting out to kill as implacable a foe as the Wicked Witch of the West, but Dorothy and her fearless crew continue their journey west toward Winkie land. You might recall the vivid kidnapping scene in the film involving the Winged Monkeys. In Baum’s book, life is much more difficult for the Oz team. The Wicked Witch of the West, who has only one eye, is endowed with telescopic powers, which allow her to see the advancing group. She attempts to kill them with waves of fierce wolves, wild crows, black bees, and armed Winkie slaves. When the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, using various strategic moves, defeat the combatants, the Witch sends the Winged Monkeys to kidnap the crew. In Baum’s book, much of the Witch’s power is vested in a Golden Cap she keeps in her cupboard. The cap offers its possessor three wishes. By the time she encounters Dorothy and friends, the Witch has already used the cap twice—first, commanding the Winged Monkeys to defeat the Winkies and take over Winkie land, and second, using the Monkeys’ skills to oust the Great Wizard from her domain. The Witch’s third wish is to destroy or capture Dorothy and her compatriots, which she proceeds to do, disemboweling the Scarecrow’s straw, causing the Tin Woodman to crash to earth during a flight over rocky terrain, abducting and imprisoning the Cowardly Lion, and kidnapping Dorothy and Toto, who end up at the Witch’s castle. With the Witch’s last wish fulfilled, the Winged Monkeys take their leave, happy to be no longer under her command. Dorothy spends several days as an indentured servant in the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, who is fearful of harming the little girl because 11.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film of the charmed mark on her forehead. However, the Witch lusts for Dorothy ’s silver (or ruby red) shoes and their purported power. Thus, one day, the Witch sets a trap involving an invisible iron bar that causes Dorothy to fall and lose one of her shoes. In retaliation, Dorothy tosses a bucket of water on the mean old Witch. In the book as well as the film, the Wicked Witch of the West dissolves, to exist no more. With the Wicked Witch of the West dead, Dorothy and her colleagues regroup and plan a trip back to the Emerald City. In Baum’s book, the queen of the mice tells Dorothy to use the Golden Cap for a wish of her own. Dorothy enlists the help of the Winged Monkeys, who ferry her and the other members of her troupe back to the Emerald City. At the gate to the Emerald City the travelers meet, once again, the Guardian of the Gates, who is surprised and pleased to learn about the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West. After receiving their green spectacles , the troupe walks through the gate and into the Emerald City, where they encounter citizen gawkers, who have apparently been informed of the troupe’s success in killing the Wicked Witch of the West. The citizenry of Oz joins Dorothy and her companions in their march. In the film, as you might recall, the march to the palace is accompanied by a rousing chorus of “Ding-dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!” Word now is sent to the Wizard of the troupe’s arrival at the palace, but the Wizard does not respond for three days. On the third frustrating day, the Scarecrow requests that a message be sent to the Wizard. If the Wizard does not respond immediately, the Scarecrow threatens to send for the Winged Monkeys to harass the Emerald City’s ruler as they had in the past. The Wizard then sends a message to the Oz travelers that he will see them at four minutes past nine the next morning. After a sleepless night, the four travelers are escorted to the gem-studded Throne Room, where they encounter a domed structure covered by a curtain . In this detail, Baum’s book and the film are consistent. Also consistent are the intimidating voice from the top of the dome and the pleas of Dorothy ’s group for the Wizard to deliver on his promises. The Wizard’s request for another day’s delay in their meeting prompts agitated dialogue among the group and a threatening roar from the Cowardly Lion. In the book, the Lion’s roar frightens Toto, who tips over a screen in a corner of the Throne Oz and It< Creator.........................12 Room, revealing the Wizard. In the film, you may recall, Toto drags the curtain aside to expose the embarrassed Wizard. Here the book and the film deviate. In the book, a lengthy dialogue ensues in which the Wizard is reminded of his promises, after which he is forced to confess his phoniness. He goes on to describe the illusions he created when each member of the troupe visited him last. The Wizard talks about his roots in Omaha, Nebraska, and his work with a circus as a ventriloquist and balloonist. He tells them how a “run-away balloon” took him to Oz one day and, upon his descent through the clouds, he was acknowledged as a great wizard. For his amusement, he claims, he ordered the citizenry to construct the Emerald City, where they find themselves this day. In both the book and the film, members of Dorothy’s troupe declare that the Wizard is a humbug. In both, Dorothy says, “I think you are a very bad man.” To which the Wizard replies, “Oh, no, my dear; I’m really a very good man; but I’m a very bad wizard, I must admit.” The Wizard is embarrassed and makes an attempt to fulfill the wishes of the Oz travelers. In Baum’s book, the Scarecrow receives a mixture of bran and pins and needles (to make him sharp) as a replacement for the straw in his head. In the film, he is awarded an honorary degree—the Th.D., or Doctorate of Thinkology—and immediately tries out his new brain by reciting the Pythagorean Theorem, albeit incorrectly. In Baum’s book, the Wizard places in the Tin Woodman’s chest a sawdust -filled silk heart (which Baum later referred to as “a kind but not loving heart”). In the film, the Tin Woodman receives “a testimonial” in the form of a pocket watch and the Wizard’s wise advice: “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.” To the Cowardly Lion, in Baum’s book, the Wizard gives a bowl filled with green liquid dispensed from a square-shaped green bottle along with the admonishment: “You know, of course, that courage is always inside one; so that this really cannot be called courage until you have swallowed it.” The “green liquid” is, of course, liquor—possibly gin. In the film, which was aimed primarily at a children’s audience, instead of liquor the Cowardly Lion is awarded the Triple Cross for “meritorious conduct, extraordinary valor, [and] conspicuous bravery against wicked witches.” Thus, the “humbug Wizard’s” gifts acknowledge what their recipients have demonstrated, 13.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film rather than what they needed, during their adventures in Oz. Or, as Patrick Hearn sums up: “The value of their journey to the Great Oz does not lie in the gifts of a brain, a heart, and courage. The journey itself is more important than its conclusion, for it forced them to discover within themselves what they always possessed. They just had to test the virtues through experience . They learned how to use the gifts of the great Oz, and in doing that they never really needed what he had to give them.” Both in Baum’s book and the film, the Wizard promises to take Dorothy back to Kansas via hot-air balloon, although in the book it takes him four days to dream up the scheme. In the book, Dorothy and the Wizard construct the balloon of silk, glue, and a wash basket. In the film, the Wizard claims to have saved the balloon in which he traveled to Oz. In both cases, a time is set for the balloon’s launching. Before the ascent, the Wizard (in the book) proclaims to his subjects: “I am now going away to make a visit. While I am gone the Scarecrow will rule over you. I command you to obey him as you would me.” Dorothy and the Wizard climb into the balloon’s basket, but Dorothy realizes Toto has disappeared. She jumps out of the basket to retrieve him, but before she can get back, the balloon’s tether is released. The Wizard alone ascends, crying out for Dorothy to come on board. She’s unable to catch Toto in time because of his adventure with another woman’s cat, and she and Toto are stranded on the ground. The Wizard in the balloon floats out of sight, and Dorothy is once again in distress. In the film’s next scene, Glinda returns to give Dorothy instructions on an easy passage to Kansas. The Final Part of the Journey In Baum’s book, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are apparently happy with their respective situations following the Wizard’s exit. But Dorothy is distraught that she’s lost her chance to return to Kansas. The Scarecrow suggests she invoke the help of the Winged Monkeys through the second wish vested in the Golden Cap Dorothy inherited from the Wicked Witch of the West. After Dorothy speaks the conjuring words printed in the hat, a group of Winged Monkeys appears. When she requests their help to get back to Kansas, the lead Winged Monkey proclaims, “We belong to this country alone, and cannot leave it.” Oz and It< Creator.........................14 With the second Golden Cap wish wasted, the troupe seeks advice from Oz’s lone bearded soldier. He recommends seeking help from Glinda because “she is the most powerful of all the witches and rules over the Quadlings.” The Oz troupe resolves to proceed to Quadling land. The next morning, Dorothy and her companions, in renewed good spirits , begin their journey to the Land of the South. After an uneventful first day, they come upon a thickly wooded area with a front row of trees that grab passersby. Soon the Scarecrow is in their clutches. Fortunately, the Tin Woodman is able to use his trusty ax to gain his release. The troupe musters the collective courage to proceed and passes through the remaining trees without incident. As the troupe exits the stand of trees, they encounter a high wall that appears to be made of white china. The Tin Woodman comes to their aid by crafting a ladder to scale the wall. At the top of the wall, the Oz group gains a good view of the Dainty China Country where the floor and all of the houses and inhabitants are made of white china. The houses are brightly painted but only half the size of Dorothy, and the painted china citizens and their animals are half again as small. After a few encounters with the china people, including a mishap with a milkmaid and her cow that breaks its leg and must be glued back together, the troupe proceeds farther south, where they encounter a low china wall they can scale by climbing over the back of the Cowardly Lion. He is able to leap over the wall, but not without accidently damaging a china church with his tail. On the other side of the wall, the Oz troupe passes through marshy country for some time before entering an old forest inhabited by many large animals, including tigers, elephants, bears, and wolves. One of the tigers approaches the Cowardly Lion with the greeting, “Welcome, King of Beasts!” The Cowardly Lion learns later that the forest animals have been threatened for some time by a large spiderlike creature—”with a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as a tree trunk”—that has been devouring many of them. The tiger asks if the Cowardly Lion would take on the spiderlike creature and, if he’s successful, assume the role of “King of the Forest.” The Cowardly Lion agrees and ventures forth to find what turns out to be an exceedingly ugly creature. Fortunately for the Cowardly Lion, the creature is asleep, and he’s able to mount the creature’s back, and with his powerful 15.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film paw, he knocks its head from its body (so much for Baum’s claim of “nightmares . . . [being] left out”). The Cowardly Lion returns to his friends, who have been safely guarded by the forest animals. He promises the forest animals he will return to assume his kingship once he has helped Dorothy return to Kansas. The troupe’s march south continues out of the woods into a clearing, but then the travelers are confronted by a rock-laden hill they must climb to continue their journey. Among the rocks, they encounter hundreds of armless Hammer-Head people. These strange creatures are able to propel their heads into the air several feet to intimidate or strike blows to intruders. After violent “head attacks” to the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodman suggests that Dorothy again summon the help of the Winged Monkeys. She does, and they appear quickly. She asks the Monkeys to whisk the troupe away, and soon they are delivered to Quadling land, which is beautiful to behold, populated by friendly people who are short and stocky, dressed in red outfits, and living in red houses. Literary critics have not been complimentary of the Fighting Trees, Dainty China Country, old forest, and Hammer-Head sections of Baum’s original Oz book. None of these sections, apparently perceived as boring and irrelevant, appear in the 1939 film, except for a short fighting apple tree episode (instigated by the Wicked Witch of the West) right after Dorothy meets the Scarecrow. The film contains at least three other brief scenes in which the Wicked Witch of the West either threatens Dorothy and her friends or directly intervenes in their travails. Baum, in his 1900 classic, places more obstacles in Dorothy and her friends’ path. The challenges to the Oz crew are due—as in all of our lives—to a myriad of characters and events. And, as Patrick Hearn asserts: “Each of Dorothy’s friends now has what he has so long desired, but . . . each had to test himself to see what he is capable of doing. Only experience can do that.” In Baum’s story, the Oz troupe, continuing their march south (through Quadling land), comes upon a beautiful castle guarded at its gate by “three young girls, dressed in handsome red uniforms trimmed with gold braid,” reminiscent of Baum’s time in South Dakota and the lance-carrying drill team there known as the Aberdeen Guards (these were Civil War veterans’ daughters who wore uniforms consisting of red skirts and hats and blue Oz and It< Creator.........................16 jackets with gold piping). Dorothy asks the young women if Glinda resides in the castle and whether the Good Witch of the South might receive her crew. The girls go to find out, and the troupe is soon admitted to the castle. Sitting on a throne of rubies, the beautiful Glinda, with red hair and blue eyes and clad in a long white dress, greets Dorothy and her friends with great kindness and solicitude. When Dorothy explains her wish to return to Kansas, Glinda asks for the Golden Cap. Now that Glinda is the new possessor of the cap, she is entitled to three wishes. She summons the Winged Monkeys and instructs them to carry the Scarecrow back to the Emerald City, where he may assume his leadership position, fly the Tin Woodman to Winkie land where he has been invited to become their ruler, and return the Cowardly Lion to the old forest where he’s been asked to become king. The climax of the Quadling land episode in Baum’s book is similar to the film’s, when Glinda instructs Dorothy to pick up Toto, click the heels of her silver (ruby red) shoes three times, and make a wish (“Take me home to Aunt Em” in Baum’s book and “There is no place like home” in the film). In both the book and the film, Glinda tells Dorothy that she could have returned to Kansas at any time after she inherited the silver (ruby red) shoes, but Dorothy is consoled by the fact that her harrowing sojourn has benefited her new friends greatly. In the scenes that follow, Dorothy is back in Kansas on Aunt Em and Uncle Henry’s farm. In Baum’s book, Uncle Henry has built a new home to replace the one the cyclone carried away. In the film, Dorothy ostensibly awakens from sleep and the dream of Oz—surrounded by Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, Professor Marvel, and the farmhands Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke. Although Dorothy insists her adventure was not a dream—that Oz was a real place with people just like those surrounding her bed—moviegoers are left with the notion that it was all a dream. Connecting the Oz Story to the Way of Oz Dream or not, Baum’s original Oz story offers three major characters whose positive personal traits (the Scarecrow—wisdom, the Tin Woodman—love, and the Cowardly Lion—courage) you can acquire if you pursue life’s journey using what I call the Way of Oz—thoughtfully, caringly, and unselfishly. These traits are potent, particularly when coupled with Dorothy’s focus on the future and the Wizard’s sense of humility. The power of the Way of Oz 17.........................The Original Oz Book and 1939 Film comes from within. As Glinda says at the end of the 1939 film, “You need to find things out for yourself.” Or, as Mariah Carey would sing years later, “… a hero lies in you.” You have no need for shamans, clerics, gurus, or others to dictate to you the precepts of the Way of Oz, although teachers, family members, friends, and colleagues can all contribute to your pursuit of positive practices and character traits. As Matilda Gage, Frank Baum’s mother-in-law, wrote in 1891 during the last days of her life to her daughters and granddaughters, “You have got to do it for yourself. . . . Look within your own soul for light.” Frank Baum believed in the tenets of theosophy, which include an acknowledgment of the power of the Buddha’s Golden Road, or path to selfunderstanding and enlightenment through a life of study and struggle. Baum’s life exemplifies this struggle—in his seeking out many different career paths (of necessity) and in pursuing his many and varied avocational interests. He came to recognize, particularly as he neared death, that his talent for storytelling was his best gift all along. In the final reckoning, it ensured his immortality. ...