In the introduction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the author L. Frank Baum explains that he wanted to write an entertaining, modern fairy tale without the moralising and horror of the classic tales.
Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. 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.
Despite the intentions of the author, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from this classic children’s story, moral or otherwise.
1. Parallel Universes exist
Scientists are still debating this, but, lo and behold, parallel worlds do exist! They may be inhabited by winged monkeys, hammer-head people, living scarecrows, china figurines and witches. The renowned wormhole, which provides passage from one universe to another, is reached by air, ideally using a cyclone. (Note to scientists: should cyclones be inconvenient, rabbit holes and old wardrobes might be workable alternatives).
2. There’s no place like home
Adventures are great, but even if life at home is dreary, there is nothing better than coming back.
“No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, 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.” The Scarecrow sighed. “Of course I cannot understand it,” he said. “If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.”
Hmm, actually I might be with the Scarecrow on this one.
3. Believe in yourself
We are not always entirely happy with ourselves. There is always something missing. Perhaps we wished we were cleverer or more considerate. But expecting some great wizard to put these characteristics into us is not the right way to go about it. Finding the properties within ourselves is the key.
“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”
4. Even the greatest and most powerful man may be a fake
Some seemingly great people achieve their power by using smoke and mirrors and without these accessories, they will be revealed as ordinary and unworthy of the position they hold. For such people, it might be worth noticing, it could be the (under)dog and not the great mind in the party, who eventually brings you down.
5. The right shoes give you power!
Well, women all over the world already knew that. However, discussions have been going on regarding the right colour for these shoes and potential interpretations of the colour. In the iconic movie from 1939, the shoes are red, whereas the book has silver versions. I won’t take sides in this particular discussion.
6. Brain versus Heart
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman discusses whether a heart or a brain is preferable. In some sense, they are both right, hence the conclusion must be, one does not make sense without the other.
“All the same,” said the Scarecrow, “I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.”
“I shall take the heart,” returned the Tin Woodman, “for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first published in 1900. Reading it as an adult, more than 100 years later, I still found it fun and entertaining. Anne Hathaway’s narration contributed to this; she lived and breathed the story and made all the quirky characters jump off the pages and come alive. Perhaps, everyone ought to go to Oz once in a while, and enjoy a couple of happy hours at the place where wonderment and joy reside forever.
Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [1900]
Author: L. Frank Baum
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Anne Hathaway
Genre: Children's Fiction
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:
What I learned from Lord of the Flies
What I learned from Great Expectations
What I Learned from Frankenstein
What I learned from The Metamorphosis.
Fabulous post! I borrowed this book from the library this summer but not got around to reading it. I love the sound of the audiobook, excuse the pun, maybe I’ll that instead.
Thanks, I highly recommend the audiobook – it was so much fun! Actually, it was daily deal from Audible not long ago, which is why I picked it up. Too bad you missed it.
Wow those are interesting insights, I never gave the story and characters so much thought! I also didn’t know that the red shoes weren’t always red, but I like that colour of power!
I like the red shoes as well! Actually, there is quite an extensive economic/political interpretation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which relates back to the Populist movement, the gold standard and monetary policy. Obviously, I didn’t want to go into that – it kinda takes out all the fun of the story – but this allegory doesn’t work with red shoes…
Huh, I knew it’s a story with some messages but didn’t expect that at all. Interesting enough to do some searches myself. Thanks for the info!
You are welcome! 😊
I’ve not read the book, only seen the movie, but you’re inspiring me to consider this audiobook. Wonderful analysis and post💜
Thanks Jonetta! I think the audiobook was great, The narrator did an amazing job, but also I find that children’s stories and fairy tales lend themselves perfectly to being read aloud.
What a great post!
Thanks, I had fun writing it! 😊
AWWWWW!! THIS IS SO SO SOOO SWEEETT! 😍😍❤️ I LOVED THIS POST SOOO MUCH, star! ❤️❤️😍😍😍💕💕💕 I haven’t yet read The Wizard of Oz but this made me emotional and now I have this strong urge to read it! LOVELYYYY!! 😍😍❤️👻👻💕💕☔️☔️
Awww, thanks so much, I am so happy, you liked the post! 🤗 I hope you get to read it – it really is a lovely little story!
We had a lovely illustrated copy of this when I was a child. I haven’t read it since. Such a lovely and very clever post – I’m going to have to read this one again very soon 🙂 🦁
Thanks! This story probably brings back childhood memories for many people. Actually, I haven’t read it before, only watched the movie. But I am glad I did. In these days when everyone is reading horror, I thought something light and fun was needed #contrarianreader 😉
😂 👍
Great post. Lots of lessons to be learned from Oz, and there’s a bit of horror in it too, so while I don’t think the author achieved his goal, I’m very glad that he didn’t!
Thanks! You are completely right, by modern standards (snowflake generation and all…) there is quite a bit of horror and violence included. But I suspect, compared to the fairy tales the author read as a child, it is still relatively innocent. Just goes to show how our perception changes over time!
So true!
Love this post! Really great idea 🙂
Thanks! I always try to write an alternative review for the classics. Somehow, I find it difficult to write a traditional review. Perhaps it’s because I think, everything which can be said has already been said about these classics. Thanks for stopping by!
I see what you mean, the classics have been much discussed and it’s great to find new perspectives on them. 🙂
Haha! Great post! I’m so glad you agreed with the Scarecrow about the relative joys of beautiful places v. home – I was just thinking that I was rather on his side! And definitely red shoes – I can’t imagine the story with silver shoes! No doubt that’s because I’ve never read the book, just seen the film…
Thanks, I had so much fun writing it! Interestingly, the Scarecrow often has some rather profound comments and regularly, he is the one who gets the party out of a tight spot. Perhaps, brains really are overrated 🤔. I like red as a symbol of power, silver shoes have their charm as well, but are perhaps more associated with the sweet and innocent princesses in the fairy tales.
I remember my mom saying that this book scared her to pieces. I know there are more books after; are you going to keep reading the series?
Yes, there are horror elements, although I am sure the author found it rather innocent compared to some of the fairy tales, he read as a child. Interesting, how our perception has changed over time. This was a one off, I won’t continue with the series. I did thoroughly enjoy this one, though!
Excellent post!
Thanks so much! 😀
You’re welcome 😇
I love this post so much! What an amazing job you did with your points! I have listened to this audio and enjoyed it. I think it’s funny about Baum saying this didn’t have horror. I still have nightmares about those monkeys. 😂
Aww thanks, I am happy you enjoyed it! Yes, it struck me as well – for an ‘innocent’ children’s book, this one did contain quite a lot of horror! But I suspect the fairy stories, the author read as a child, were much worse!
Great review! That’s an interesting quote from Baum. Thanks for checking out and liking my review on the book!
Thanks! And good to see, I am not the only one reading children’s fiction at the moment!
The classic movie with Judy Garland has always been one of my mom’s favorites, but I never got into it that much. The book is way better and I kind of wish I’d read the whole series as a kid. Maybe I still will! 🙂
The book was good fun! Normally, I prefer the book over the movie, but there are exceptions. Amazing, that we are still reading a book written in 1900. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Oh, those shoes!
I know!