Wizard of Oz: 75th Anniversary
It endures! And each generation enjoy it for the first time. Its key messages are still potent, like the day it was born to the world. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is like that. Here are 10 big ideas from the book.
10 Big Ideas from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- We have the capacity to solve our own problems.
- We achieve more when we work together.
- We can accomplish a lot more than we think we can.
- Be happy now – not tomorrow. Happiness is the best thing in the world.
- Don’t be cruel and unkind to anything.
- Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you’ll get.
- True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid.
- That which you are seeking is already within you.
- The road of life is paved with both hardships and triumphs.
- Step up and step out into your true potential.
Have you read?
The Railway Children by E Nesbit – Book Review
Peter Pan by JM Barrie – Book Review
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, a Book Review
Self-Mentoring Strategy
To get the most from this SummaReview of The Wizard of Oz, after you have read book review/summary, reflectively answer the following questions:
- What can you learn from the ideas in The Wizard of Oz?
- What is one action that you can take as a result of reading this SummaReview?
- What are five takeaways from the SummaReview?
- What has made an impression on you while reading?
- Is there a framework that you can use in your life and work?
- How do the concepts in the SummaReview relate to what you already know?
- How can you combine key ideas from the profile to what you already know to create a new idea?
- Is this a book you’d like to read for yourself? Why? Why not?
- The way we view the world depends on the lens we are wearing.
The Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum, the Novel
First published in 1900, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a children’s book. Dorothy is a young orphaned girl living in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in a one room house. Her surroundings is very dismal, and the landscape is described as being grey, even her aunt and uncle have a tinge of grey to their colour. Despite this, Dorothy is happy, because her dog Toto is a source of much joy.
One day a cyclone lifts the house and carries it a long way and deposits it, still intact. When Dorothy opens the door, she is greeted by a
“Country of marvellous beauty. There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes.”
Three men and one woman approach Dorothy. Her house landed in the Land of the Munchins on top of the Wicked Witch of the East killing her, setting the people free. Of the four people who approach Dorothy, the woman is the spokesperson, and also the Good Witch of the North. The Munchkins believe that Dorothy is a Sorceress because she killed the evil witch.
In the Land of Oz there are four witches – two are good and two are wicked. The good ones are in the north and south and the wicked ones in the east and west. The Good Witch of the North tells Dorothy to put on the silver shoes that belonged to the wicked witch that just died. The pair of silver shoes are charmed, but no one knows what kind of charm is connected to them. After speaking to the Good Witch of the North, Dorothy tells her that she wants to return to Kansas.
To do that though, she has to travel to the City of Emeralds to speak to Oz the Terrible who rules there. The journey will be an arduous and dangerous one, so the Good Witch of the North kisses Dorothy on the forehead, which is a seal of protection for the young girl. The young girl is instructed to follow the yellow brick road.
The journey begins, and along the way Dorothy and Toto encounter the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and the cowardly lion, in that order. The scarecrow wants a brain to think, the tin man a heart so he can love and feel, and the lion courage so that he will lose his fear, and that’s their reasons for accompanying Dorothy to the City of Emeralds to seek Oz. While you are reading The Wizard of Oz, the reader clearly sees that the three accompanying Dorothy already have what they are seeking. It’s already inside them, but they are looking outside of themselves for it.
For instance, several times along their journey, when faced with obstacles, it’s the scarecrow that offers a viable solution. When they have to cross the very wide and deep ditch, Scarecrow suggests to Tin Woodman to cut down the tree close to the ditch. The lion forces the tree over so that it forms a bridge that they can cross. When the kalidahs come chasing them, once again it’s Scarecrow who suggests to Tin Woodman to cut the end off the tree so that the monsters fall to their deaths.
When they had to cross the first ditch, the lion allows each of them to get on his back while he leaps across, that isn’t the action of a coward. For each challenge and hardship the five encounter on their way to City of Emeralds, they are able to overcome them because of teamwork.
When they finally get to their destination and have the opportunity to meet Oz, he refuses to grant them their wishes unless they kill the Wicked Witch of the West. They are not happy about it because all Dorothy wants is to return to Kansas to her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry; the Scarecrow wants his brain; Tin Woodsman wants his heart; and the lion wants his courage. Reluctantly they set off on another journey, and once again they encounter hardships and through teamwork they overcome them.
From a great distance, the Wicked Witch of the West spots them and tries to destroy the five. First she sends a pack of 40 wolves, which the tin man chops up with his axe, next she sends 40 wild crows, which the scarecrow kills, she sends wild bees that lose their sting when they bump into the tin man. The lion scares away the slaves that she sends. Finally feeling quite desperate, the Wicked Witch of the West uses the Golden Cap to summon the Winged Monkeys to capture the cowardly lion and kill Dorothy and Toto, the scarecrow and the tin man.
The Winged Monkey gets rid of tin man and the scarecrow but they cannot touch Dorothy because of the mark on her forehead from the Good Witch of the North – good trumps evil. The wicked witch discovers that she cannot harm Dorothy so she makes the girl a slave doing her bidding. She tries to harness the lion who roars at her so she is scared to go close to him. The evil witch decides to starve the lion to bend him to her will, but what she doesn’t know is that at nights Dorothy gives him food.
The Wicked Witch knows the power of the silver shoes that Dorothy wears, and wants to take them away from her. Finally she gets one of the silver shoes and Dorothy is so incensed that she throws a bucket of water on the witch. Unfortunately for the witch, the water melts her away. When Dorothy and the lion are leaving, she sees the Golden Cap and puts it on.
After they recover the scarecrow and the tin man, with the help of the Winged Monkeys, they return to Oz. Much to their dismay, they discover that Oz is really a fraud – he isn’t a wizard. He is simply a man who lost his way decades ago and landed in the Land of Oz. Oz knows that what the scarecrow, tin man and lion are asking for is impossible to give, but he pretends to give them because what they need most is to believe they have those things that they are seeking.
In the end, the Good Witch of the South helps Dorothy to return to Kansas. All Dorothy has to do is click the heels of her silver shoes, so she too has what she needed all along. When she returns with Toto to Kansas, Uncle Henry has built a new home, and Aunt Em is happy to see her niece.
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a beautiful story with powerful lessons and I recommend it.
Wizard of Oz: 75th AnniversaryThe Wizard of Oz CollectionL. Frank Baum: The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection + A Biography of the Author (The Greatest Fictional Characters of All Time)The Emerald City of Oz: By L. Frank Baum – IllustratedL. FRANK BAUM Ultimate Collection:Complete Wizard of Oz Series, The Aunt Jane's Nieces Collection, Mary Louise Mysteries, Fantasy Novels & Fairy Tales … Enchanted Island of Yew, The Sea Fairies…Rinkitink In Oz: By L. Frank Baum – IllustratedThe Magic of Oz: By L. Frank Baum – Illustrated
