The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

there's no place like home

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

by L. Frank Baum and W.W. Denslow

An iconic 1900 novel exploring the idea that people already possess what they think they lack.

Some readers believed the seemingly simple fairy tale actually explored more complex political and societal issues. Notably, the book has been seen as a feminist work.

Some consider Dorothy one of the first feminist heroes in children’s literature

Suffragettes and Silver Shoes: Dorothy’s Feminism in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

“As a protagonist, Dorothy acts as a model of a developing feminist. She is influenced by other women as she goes on her journey, and when she finally recognizes the authority being given to her, she claims it and internalizes it in a way that transforms her. She learns that a woman can be authoritative and nurturing like the stork and small yet powerful like the mouse. These lessons help her to realize that she can be an empowered feminist who willfully takes ownership of authority while still returning to domestic life, proving that domestic life does not signify a failure as an empowered woman. Therefore, Dorothy’s choice to go home to Kansas in no way demonstrates an inadequacy to live up to feminist ideas of empowerment. To misinterpret Dorothy’s return is to reject that she has the will to act on her own desires, thus rejecting that women have the power to transform the places where they assert authority. Dorothy, the willful woman, chooses to return home, where she will be an empowered woman who empowers her community. Through Dorothy’s adventure and self-development, she proves that a new definition of womanhood is sometimes just three heel-clicks away.”

MOTHERHOOD

by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Motherhood and the power of suggestion.

A few weeks ago, my toddler ran into the middle of a pitch-black, winding road. I’m ashamed to say I didn't even see her do it.

We were leaving a friend's house. I was at their front door, kissing them thanks. My husband went ahead of me to put the overtired baby in our car, parked across the street.

At some point, in a universe of goodbyes, the tiny toddler slipped by me and onto the blacktop. I imagine she went after her father to help him.

Even though I would've sworn she was by my side when her father started the car, the headlights shone, and I saw her tiny silver frame sparkling in the spotlight.

My yell was something deep and wicked, echoing and swirling the neighborhood like a violent wind.

…

Once she was tucked in bed, the panic set in.

I spent the night hallucinating her being hit over and over by a stoned teenager, an exhausted truck driver, a crazed ballet mom on their cell phone. I saw her dead under a house, her little silver shoes sticking out.

I'll do better. I'll be more vigilant. I'll never take my eyes off her again. I'll buy a harness!

I woke up in a daze having slept in a poison poppy field of my own imagination.

My hands and eyes won’t always be on her. How can I teach her to never go into the street alone?

A good Witch Waldorf teacher once said if I want to teach a child a lesson, I should tell them a story about the topic and always have a positive outcome.

I'm a storyteller. How hard could this be?

But I walked about it for days rehearsing over and over trying to find the right words and tone.

A little girl ran into the middle of the street, and she got very hurt because she didn't have her mommy and daddy with her. Her mommy cried. And her daddy cried and the little girl died.

My anxiety was in the way.

There once was a little girl who ran into the middle of the street. She was so small that when a car drove by, it couldn't see her, and it ran her over. She was bleeding, and her bones were broken. She went to the hospital, and she never ever saw her mommy again.

Oy.

One dark evening, a little girl ran into the street without her mommy and daddy, and she was carried off by winged monkeys to an evil queen's castle!

Is parenting writer's block a thing? Pretty sure I’m not supposed to traumatize her.

...

A few days later as I was driving her to school --

"Mommy?"

"Yes, honey"

"Remember when I ran into the street?"

Here's my chance!

"Yes, I think it's time to tell you the story about The Little Girl who ran into the street…"

...

...

...

"What happened?" she muttered.

I had never heard this tone from her before. She sounded so scared. So curious. So desperate for help. Lost and longing for home.

Suddenly, it hit me! The answers were within her. All I had to do was show her the way. I didn't have to tell her what happened to the little girl! Whatever she was imagining was much worse and more complex. Who knows what horrible images she was cooking up!

MWAHAHA.

"Yes dear, I had better tell you the story about the little girl who ran into the street."

"Tell me now."

"Not today, darling. But someday soon. Someday very, very soon."

CHAPTER VIII.

by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz