Tammy’s Reviews > The Wonderful Wizard of Oz > Status Update

Ch. 3 Because she still had her house, Dorothy fixed breakfast: bread, butter, delicious fruit from outside, and water (she took a pail to a nearby stream). Toto drank the water. She filled her basket with bread for the journey and covered it with a white cloth. She put on her white-and-blue checked gingham dress but her shoes were old. Toto looked at her silver shoes so she put them on her feet.

Baum may have cut out the Grimm stuff, but at least it has an air of fairy tales and magic. He has fairy tale numbers as well as fairy tale imagery. He does not seek to explain scientifically how the witch disappeared. Dorothy is on a quest because she is trying to return to Kansas. He can’t avoid what works for a story!

Oz is surrounded by deserts and she cannot leave. Dorothy cries. The witch puts the point of her upside-down hat at the end of her wand. A slate appears which says to let Dorothy go to the City of Emeralds, which is in the center of Oz. The good witch says he is a good wizard, but she’s not sure he is a man. The journey is pleasant but some of it will be dark. She just has to follow the yellow brick road.

Dorothy was confused. She told that Aunt Em said all the witches were dead. Then the good witch said that civilized countries don’t have witches (what does that say about us today). Oz also has one wizard, the Great Oz, who lives in the City of Emeralds. After the dead witch dries up, the good witch gives her the siilver shoes, which has some kind of charm but nobody knows what it is. Dorothy asked how to get home.

Two legs with silver shoes stuck out from under the house, which made Dorothy cry out. The old woman is the Good Witch of the North. After the Munchkins realized they were free from bondage, they sent messengers and she came immediately. Her powers are not as strong as the Wicked Witch of the East and she was never able to free them herself. Oz had four witches, the good to the North and South. Now it has three.

They are old but she is older, judging by all the wrinkles on her face and her white hair. She wears a plaited, long dress that sparkles like diamonds. The men wore blue outfits with polished boots. The woman in white calls Dorothy a sorceress, welcomes her to the land of the Munchkins, and thanks her for killig the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy denies it all, but the woman said that her house killed the witch.

Ch. 2 The house landed with a thud, waking up Dorothy and Toto. Bright sunshine flooded into the room. She flung the door to the house open and was amazed by the green, fruitful, flowery scene with song birds and babbling brooks that greeted her. Strange people greeted her: they were her size, but looked much older. Three men were dressed in blue, one woman in white. They wore pointed hats with bells on the brim.

Toto ran under the bed and Dorothy followed him. Suddenly the house lifted up like a hot-air balloon, so she sat on the floor. The dog ran around barking and fell into the trap door hole. The pressure lifted him him and she could see his ears. She snatched him by the ears and sat in her bed. They stayed airborne for so long that the gentle motion rocked her to sleep (metaphorical death). Baum can’t help himself.

Toto is a little black dog with long silky hair. Dorothy played with him all day and he was the reason why she remained cheerful. One day, the sky turned dark gray and Uncle Henry watched for signs of a cyclone. He saw the prairie grass wave and heard the wind whistle and told everyone to head to the cellar. He ran to the shed to take care of the stock. Aunt Em screamed for Dorothy to come. She didn’t stop and wait.

They are farmers who live in small house on the prairie because lumber has to be hauled by wagon. It is basically a one-room cabin with a cellar under the house in case of cyclones. Everything is gray because of the hot, dry weather. There are only two things who still have color left Dorothy and Toto. The hard life on the prairie had hardened her aunt and uncle and they never laughed. I’m seeing fairy tale images.