The Wizard of Oz is the type of book I'd give to my enemies' children. I'd do that in order to bamboozle their minds into thinking that magical things are real, and the real things in life are gray and boring. And then I'd make a real theme park where they could take themselves and believe that the magical things are the only real things in life, where they can touch the magical creations and then tell themselves breathlessly how wonderful it all is that they can live in magic land.
This book, along with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan, make up the surreality trifecta - crazy stories that make kids crazy-minded.
About the book
The books was about Dorothy's jaunt into another realm beyond America. Much of the book was about slaves and kingdoms. The Wicked Witch kept the Munchkins as slaves.
"She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor."There were benevolent witches and wizards. Each wizard and witch ruled over a kingdom. In the end, the lion, tinman, and the scarecrow all ruled in their own kingdoms (don't go expecting democracy or a republic up in here).
The witches would also cast spells on Dorothy, introducing children to the wonderful world of the occult.
The book had some interesting characters, and it talked much about courage, brains, and having brains, which are admirable, but the story was quite juvenile and the prose was quite flat. Not that everyone has to be a Lord Byron, but after reading Wind in the Willows, this book falls short in depth. But the forms of the characters are interesting.
The whole time I was reading about the wonderful land of munchkins and how much they adored Dorothy from freeing them from bondage and slavery, I thought to myself, "why doesn't Dorothy stay there?" Especially because Kansas, according to the author, was so gray and boring.
In the land of the munchkins, she could have contented herself to living with the little people, but instead, she had this quaint notion that 'there's no place like home.' This is true, but it was also true that there was no place like the dull, flat, and gray prairies of Kansas, which was not such a good thing. And besides, her family could have been killed in the cyclone. After reading the fanciful tale, she really should have just stayed in Oz. We would have all been better off for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment