Book Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz By L. Frank Baum

The only word I can associate with this book is 'sweet'. Dorothy (the little girl) and her dog Toto are parted from Dorothy’s Uncle and Aunt, thanks to the cyclone which takes the whole house away. Uncle and aunt are left because they hide themselves in the cellar while Dorothy gets late to get in. The house lands up in the middle of a beautiful country. The country is called the ‘The Land of Munchkins’. Since the house landed on the wicked witch of east and she got killed, the people (dwarfs) of the country are very grateful to Dorothy as she freed them from witch’s slavery.

She is told that there are four witches in the Land of Oz: North, East, West and South and that the witches of North and South are good while the other two are evil. Dorothy gets scared by what is told to her and wants to get back to Kansas where her uncle and aunt live. The munchkins give her the magic shoes of the dead witch and ask her to go to the Wizard of Oz, who might be of help to Dorothy.

Dorothy starts her long journey along with her friend Toto. After a few miles, she finds a scarecrow who tells her how bad it is to be stuck on a pole. Dorothy tells him about the Wizard and his powers. Scarecrow shows his inclination towards accompanying her to the Wizard. He expects to get a brain from the Wizard. Now the three of them carry on with their journey when they meet a Tin-man. The Tin-man can’t move because whole of his body is rusted. Dorothy oils his body and he can move now. He tells her, how the wicked witch of East had his axe cut his body parts. To get his body working, he had to get those parts replaced by tin parts. He requests Dorothy to take him along to the Wizard, so that he can ask for a heart from him.

Now the desperate Dorothy, her dog Toto, brainless scarecrow and heartless Tin-man start moving together. As they go ahead they encounter a lion, who tries to scare them but Dorothy slaps him when he tries to attack Toto. He gets afraid and confesses that he is a cowardly lion. He wants to come along to get courage from the Wizard.

The five of them after countering many problems reach the Emerald City, where the Wizard lives. He asks them to meet him one by one. First, Dorothy goes in. The Wizard who has the ability to take different shapes and forms meets her as a mask. He says that he would help her reach Kansas if she kills the wicked witch of west. Dorothy starts crying thinking that she is incapable of killing the mighty witch but the Wizard does not budge.

Then he asks all the others to help Dorothy in achieving what she has been asked. As they head towards the west, the witch tries different methods to kill them but they are saved because of their bravery and brains. The witch now asks the winged monkeys to capture them. She sees the silver shoes in Dorothy’s feet and wants them but Dorothy refuses. She gets annoyed and puts Dorothy to sweep the floors. One day Dorothy stumbles and one of her shoes comes off. The witch grabs it.

Dorothy, out of anger, throws a bucket full of water and the witch turns into a brown shapeless puddle. Now they head back to the Wizard of Oz and find that he is no magician. He is a normal person, who because of the fear of the witch pretended himself to be a Wizard. The Wizard, now, does everything he can to satisfy all of them. All are satisfied with what the Wizard provides them, but Dorothy is still upset. She is unable to find a way to get back to her uncle and aunt.

The Wizard arranges for a balloon which is supposed to fly Dorothy to Kansas, but Dorothy again gets late and the balloon after breaking the ropes goes up without Dorothy. Now they have only one hope: Glinda, the witch of south. All her friends accompany Dorothy to the south. They face a lot of troubles but finally reach Glinda, who tells Dorothy that the magic shoes she is wearing have the power to take her wherever she wants to go.

Dorothy gets happy and does what she is told so that the shoes fulfill her demands. She reaches Kansas and is really happy.The book has been written in an engaging fashion and has everything to interest the children. It also projects the power of good over the evil which is a very nice lesson for the children to learn early on. Moreover, as you progress in the book you feel nice that good wins over evil regularly though after a bit of struggle. There are a lot of morals to be imbibed by the readers. All in all, a soft read with interesting moments and loveable characters.