No Place Like Home: The Wizard of Oz and America of Yore
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a uniquely American fairy story. As mentioned in my video, I do not approach this book from one of the readings modern scholars might give it. Readings which are akin to putting on emerald-colored spectacles to make everything seem emerald regardless of its true color.
Rather, I believe we should approach the story as a story. That means recognizing Dorothy as the protagonist and experiencing Oz as we adventure with her. And it is in this that we see just how unique The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is as an American fairy tale.
Let’s start at the beginning. Dorothy lives in Kansas, and given the publication date it is safe to say she lives in 1880s-1890s Kansas. Dorothy’s Kansas is gray, literally. The prairie is gray, the house is gray, even dear old Aunt Em is gray and sun-scorched. Historically, Kansas was in a drought in the 1890s, and that lends credibility to Baum’s depiction of Kansas.
Most people want to get out of such an environment. Dorothy does get out, thanks to a cyclone. She arrives in the beautiful land of Oz. Green trees full of fruit, plentiful flowers, and a world of color meet Dorothy’s eyes in Oz. In other tales such beauty might be followed by “And they lived happily ever after.” But Dorothy’s story is only beginning. Shortly after arriving in Oz Dorothy wants to get back to Uncle Henry and Aunt Em.
The perceptive reader might think this is a mistake. Who wants to leave the beautiful, colorful country for the gray, drab, drought of 1890s Kansas? In answering that question we find the American spirit. Dorothy wants to get back home to her family, there’s nothing too uniquely American about that (Odysseus was Greek). What is uniquely American is the fighting spirit of 1890s farmers, the struggle to build a life and enjoy freedom against the hostile environment of the mid-West and West. While I cannot say Dorothy had a particular commitment to Kansas, she did have a particular commitment to family, and her family was particularly connected to the land.
This is what makes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz such a uniquely American fairy tale. Dorothy didn’t escape to Oz. The entire story is about an escape from Oz in an effort to return home, to get back to family, and to fulfill familial duties even in drab gray Kansas.
We meet many characters along the way. The courageous Lion, the wise Scarecrow, and tender-hearted Tin Man. These characters all think of themselves opposite of how I’ve just described them. But their actions prove my assessment correct. The Tin Man, who doesn’t have the heart to kill the Wicked Witch, has the heart to interpose himself between 40 wolves and his friends. The brainless Scarecrow devises a plan to keep a murder of crows at bay. The cowardly lion defies the Wicked Witch for days, threatening to bite her if she enters the courtyard where she has him imprisoned. These characters all display great virtue at various points of the story, the very virtues that sustain the farm back in Kansas.
There was a time in America when we could paint a picture of a difficult and drab life in Kansas and credibly contend it licks the world of Oz hollow. Dorothy wanted to get home. This desire defines Dorothy (as our desires define us, Matthew 6:21). Demonstrating virtue in the face of peril to attain a greater good is what makes a character. It is what made America. And in 2024 when it seems we have all the benefits of Oz but none of the freedoms of the open prairies of Kansas it is central to the recovery of the American spirit portrayed in the American fairytale.
To that end, our next book is You Are What You Love by James K. A. Smith. Just as Dorothy’s desire to get home defined her journey, for better or worse our desires define us. We’ve fallen into many bad habits that malform our desires. But by God’s grace that too can pass. I hope you’ve enjoyed The Wizard of Oz and that you’ll stick with us for You Are What You Love as we continue our Book Club.
