When we left off, the Cowardly Lion was the last to join the group. Dorothy's new friends prove to be both useful and kind, helping her to forage for food and covering her with dry leaves to sleep at night. (I'm not convinced that this is an effective blanket, but it's a sweet gesture nevertheless.) The next day they encounter the first real obstacle to their journey, a deep ditch. They solve this problem by taking turns riding on the Lion's back as he leaps across. In the deep forest on the other side, they are on the lookout for dangerous forest beasts - not lions, tigers, and bears, but rather Kalidahs, fierce creatures with the head of a tiger and the body of a bear. I guess we know where that line in the movie came from, at least! They encounter another ditch, this one too wide for the Cowardly Lion to jump, so the Tin Woodman chops down a tree to create a makeshift bridge. Just as they cross, two Kalidahs come rushing out of the forest to attack. The Cowardly Lion turns and roars at them, which scares them and buys the others some time. They begin to attack again, but not before the Tin Woodman chops the tree and destroys the bridge.
This time, it's the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion who prove they already have wit and bravery. The Scarecrow was the one who figured out how to cross both of the ditches, and the Cowardly Lion, although he claims he's never been so terrified, was brave enough to protect the others from the Kalidahs. Baum never actually points this out, trusting in his readers to pick up on it. I've always appreciated it when the author of a children's book has enough faith in young readers not to spell everything out in detail. It's a classic example of the old writers' proverb, "Show, don't tell."
The next day they encounter more obstacles and find ways to pass them. This time, one of the obstacles is a familiar one - the field of poppies. This is not a magic field, supposedly, and was not put there by a witch:
Now it is well known that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is so powerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, and if the sleeper is not carried away from the scent of the flowers he sleeps on and on forever. But Dorothy did not know this, nor could she get away from the bright red flowers that were everywhere about; so presently her eyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and to sleep.
The others try to keep Dorothy walking, but it doesn't work for long, and she falls asleep, as does Toto. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman aren't affected, just as in the movie, but the Cowardly Lion is able to stay awake longer, and although he's fighting off sleepiness, he has the presence of mind to know he must get away. While he makes a run for it, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman make a chair from their arms and carry Dorothy out of the huge poppy field, then lay her down in a meadow until she wakes up. Unfortunately, the Cowardly Lion finally passed out a few feet away from the edge of the poppy field, and he's too heavy to carry, so they aren't sure what to do. Unlike the movie, this time there is no Glinda to send magical snow to wake him.
Just then they see a wildcat about to pounce on and kill a field mouse, so the Tin Woodman chops off the wildcat's head. It turns out he has rescued the Queen of the Field Mice, and she is very grateful. As thanks, she promises that she and her subjects will do anything the Tin Woodman asks. He requests their help in saving the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow comes up with yet another plan, asking the Queen Mouse to have her subjects fetch as many pieces of string as they can. Meanwhile, the Tin Woodman chops some nearby trees and makes a wooden cart to carry the Lion. They harness several thousand mice to the cart with the strings, then pull it over to the Cowardly Lion and manage to get him onto the cart. Once he has been pulled to safety, the mice depart, promising to come to their aid again if they are called. Once both Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion are awake, and they all continue on their way.
Just as in the movie, it's not long after escaping the poppy field that they come to the Emerald City. They know they are close when all the fences, houses, and clothing of the locals are green instead of blue. They stop at a house for food and rest, where the residents tell them more about the Wizard - that he never sees anyone, never leaves his throne room, and can take on any form he wishes. They assure them, however, that Oz can most certainly grant their wishes, if they can only find a way to get in to see him. They finally arrive at the gates to the Emerald City, and again we are in familiar territory. The Guardian of the Gates responds to the bell and greets them inside a room lined with emeralds. He is apparently about the same size as the Munchkins, although we don't know if others in the countryside around the Emerald City are the same height or taller. The Guardian of the Gates gives them all green spectacles:
"Because if you did not wear spectacles the brightness and glory of the Emerald City would blind you. Even those who live in the City must wear spectacles night and day. They are all locked on, for Oz so ordered it when the City was first built, and I have the only key that will unlock them."
Instead of temples over the ears, these spectacles are fastened by a golden band around the head that locks in the back - a bit more like goggles than glasses. Once the Guardian has found glasses that will fit each of them (no mean feat), he lets them on through into the city. The five are dazzled (including Toto, who also got spectacles to wear). It isn't quite the same as the art deco Emerald City from the movie, with all its smooth and gleaming, somewhat futuristic looking turrets, but Baum does describe everything in lovely detail. Apparently everything is completely green, down to the window panes, the sunbeams, the food, and the peoples' skin. The movie has a color-changing horse, but in the Emerald City such a horse would be only green - except that there apparently are no horses at all, something that comes up in later Oz books.
The travelers are given rooms in the palace and told that the Wizard will see them in the morning. Oz will only see them one at a time, however, so Dorothy goes in first. She sees what you might expect if you have seen the movie - a huge, hairless head floating above the emerald-studded throne. The conversation goes much as it does in the movie, occasionally word-for-word, and the Wizard will only send Dorothy back to Kansas if she kills the Wicked Witch of the West. The next day the Wizard sees the Scarecrow, and the conversation is much the same - he will give the Scarecrow brains in exchange for the Wicked Witch's life - but instead of a giant head, he appears this time as a beautiful, winged fairy woman dressed in green, with green hair and a jeweled crown. On the third day, the Tin Woodman is offered the same deal by a five-eyed, five-armed, five-legged, huge and hairy beast. Finally, the Cowardly Lion is seen by the Wizard on the fourth day. This time Oz appears as a giant ball of flame and tells the Lion the same thing he told the others. The lion runs from the room as he did in the movie, but driven as much by the heat from the flame as by fear.
The travelers are not eager, but they decide they have no choice but to go in search of the Wicked Witch of the West. A helpful green maidservant outfits them for their journey with green clothes, a basket of green food, and a green ribbon for Toto's neck. The Guardian of the Gates directs them to the western road to the Winkie Country and puts their glasses away. Once they leave, they discover that Toto's ribbon and all the other green things have lost their color and become white.
(I'm sure you can guess the reason that everything in the Emerald City is green, but white on leaving the city. Again, however, Baum doesn't spell this out for his readers right away, instead trusting that the children will be clever enough to figure it out for themselves.)
Again we are back in movie territory, as the Wicked Witch spies the approaching travelers in her magic telescope and sends her minions after them - but first she sends a pack of forty wolves, which are quickly killed by the Tin Woodman. When the Witch finds out what happened, she sends a flock of crows to peck them to pieces. This time, the Scarecrow easily manages to scare them off (these crows apparently being much stupider than the ones back home in the Munchkin Country). The third time, the Wicked Witch sends a swarm of bees. The Scarecrow deals with this again, but his plan is quite clever - he has the others take all the straw from his body first, and then has Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion lie on the ground. The Tin Woodman covers them with the straw, hiding them from the bees. The bees arrive and die attempting to sting the Tin Woodman. Once the coast is clear, they restuff the Scarecrow and continue on their way. Next, the Wicked Witch flies into a rage and sends the Winkies to attack them with spears, but the Winkies are not particularly brave, and the Cowardly Lion easily frightens them away by roaring loudly.
I love this part because of the symmetry, and the way that each of Dorothy's companions takes his turn in defeating their attackers. It's perfectly in line with the classic fairy tale - like the many ways the witch tried to kill Snow White before the poison apple finally did the trick (or so she thought), or the three chances Rumpelstiltskin gave the queen to guess his name, or the different ways the four animals turned away the thieves in "The Brementown Musicians". (If you're not familiar with any of these stories, I may have to post an entry on Grimm's Fairy Tales at some point!)
In any case, the Wicked Witch now turns to her last resort - the Winged Monkeys. (You were wondering when she'd get around to them, huh?) The Winged Monkeys are actually summoned using a Golden Cap, which is encrusted with diamonds and rubies. Like the genie in the bottle, the cap may be used three times to summon the monkeys using a magic spell, but the Wicked Witch had already used up two of those chances, which explains why it is her last resort now. This time her plan works - the Winged Monkeys remove the straw from the Scarecrow and fling it everywhere, like they did in the movie, but they also pick up the Tin Woodman and drop him onto sharp rocks, which dent him so badly he can't move. They also tie up the Cowardly Lion and imprison him in the castle yard. The monkeys find that they dare not harm Dorothy, however, because she is protected by the Good Witch's kiss. Instead, they carry her to the castle and leave her for the Witch to deal with.
The Wicked Witch discovers that she doesn't dare harm Dorothy, either, for the same reason, and she's even more afraid because she sees the Silver Shoes and knows they are very powerful. Realizing that Dorothy doesn't know how powerful they are, however, she decides to make Dorothy her slave. Dorothy is imprisoned in the castle for many days, doing chores for the Wicked Witch, who threatens to beat her if she does not. Her only consolation is secretly visiting the Cowardly Lion at night. Meanwhile, the Wicked Witch watches Dorothy for a chance to take the Silver Shoes from her, but Dorothy never takes them off except for bedtime and bathtime. Apparently the Witch is afraid of both the dark and water, so she doesn't dare steal them at either of these times. Eventually she comes up with a plan to make Dorothy trip, successfully causing her to lose one of her shoes. The Witch snatches it and puts it on, taunting Dorothy and refusing to give it back. The girl becomes so angry that she upends the bucket of water she was using to mop the floor over the Wicked Witch. This, of course, is what causes her to melt - interestingly enough, into a pile of what looks like gooey brown sugar. Dorothy goes to free the Cowardly Lion and escape the castle, but not before she mops up the brown sugar mess that is left of the Witch, retrieves her Silver Shoe, and cleans it off too. (This amuses me to no end. Dorothy is a very neat little girl.)
I really love this, because Dorothy does a great deal to take care of herself. Rather than sitting and crying while waiting for her friends to save her, she can take care of herself - even if she defeated the Witch only inadvertantly, it took courage to stand up to her, especially for such a little girl. (We really don't know exactly how old she is, but I get the feeling she's around six years old perhaps, judging by her actions. In later books she acts a little older, perhaps eight to ten. Dorothy's personality is another topic I look forward to covering in future reviews!)
This is pretty close to the end of the movie, right? Not so the book - we're only halfway through! And you thought this was the climax! It does seem a little lopsided to have the Witch defeated so early on, unless you think of the story not being about Dorothy killing the Wicked Witch, but rather about her getting home. With that goal in mind, we have a long ways to go yet.
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