Journey Narrative

The Wizard of Oz

"The Wizard of Oz" is one of the most famous and popular fantasy films in Hollywood history. The movie starts out in Kansas and a grainy black and white picture focuses in on Dorothy, a young farm girl. Dorothy starts to daydream of what her life would be like if she could protect her dog Toto and escape a cruel neighbor and go “somewhere over the rainbow”.  After a dangerous tornado hits and injures Dorothy, she has a dream where she journeys to the land of “somewhere over the rainbow”. Dorothy wakes up in her old house in a new land. She is “no longer in Kansas anymore” and must go through a spiritual journey in this strange, new place before she can return home.

The plot structure of “The Wizard of Oz” is similar to Rip Van Winkle in that the story begins in Kansas (A). The story continues from Munchkin land, to the Yellow Brick Road, to Emerald City (B) and ends back in Kansas (A). When Dorothy awakens, the tornado has transformed the landscape and her in “real life”. The time she spends in Oz marks her growing up and the different obstacles she faces on her journey. During her journey she meets companions, hides from the witch, reaches Emerald City, and finally reaches home. When Dorothy gets to Emerald City and is denied entry to see Oz she says, “But we’ve come such a long way already.” In Oz time, the days seem long and full of peril, but in Kansas time it is just overnight like a dream.

Kansas represents the old, naïve Dorothy and Oz now represents the strong and resilient Dorothy that she must become. Dorothy ends up landing on the wicked witch of the east because of the tornado and after the wicked witch of the west learns of her sister’s death, she plans to seek revenge. The only way for Dorothy to be safe is to seek help from the Wizard of Oz who lives in Emerald City. Dorothy must now leave behind her home that landed in munchkin land and start out on a walk to Oz, all alone except for Toto. To stay protected from the wicked witch, Glinda the Good gives Dorothy ruby slippers. As long as she keeps on the ruby slippers and does not give them away, she cannot be hurt
An important part of Dorothy’s journey is for her to find out that she has the power all along. The ruby slippers are just a figure of strength and protection that Dorothy has always had inside of her. The witches are figurative direction markers in her journey. Miss Gulch, the evil neighbor represents "the law" of Kansas when she cries to Dorothy, "I'm going to take that dog and make sure he's destroyed!" Dorothy obliterates the wicked witch of the East with her house and the munchkins cry, "It landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch". The main adversary is the wicked witch of the West, who Dorothy runs away from but must confront in order to go “home”. Glinda, the good witch of the north, floats down in a bubble; and that leaves one direction missing-South. The missing direction (or witch) is Dorothy, in spite of her denial when she tells Glinda, "I'm not a witch at all; I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas." Glinda ignores that statement and says, "Well, I hope you brought your broomstick." Like Young Goodman Brown, Dorothy is a participant in the magic and transformation. She is a good witch like Glinda.

              The function of “nature” as a space of transformation is shown throughout the film. Kansas is a bleak, Depression era dust bowl, while Oz is full of vibrant color and fantastic plants like talking trees, opium poppies, munchkin flowers, and even the Emerald City is green and full of hope. Kansas is coded like a wasteland and Oz is the land of her dreams. Poor Dorothy must go over the rainbow to a fertile land of magic and possibility. On her journey, Dorothy has the company of her head, heart, and courage, which are represented by Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion all doubt themselves--just like an adolescent girl doubts herself. Scarecrow and Tin Man get on board easily on the trip down yellow brick road, but the Lion is harder to keep hold of, just like courage itself.

In the end, Dorothy clicks together her ruby slippers and says, “there’s no place like home” over and over. The vastness of yellow, brick road is gone and has turned into Dorothy’s small, comforting bedroom where she exclaims ,“You’re all here in my room and oh Aunti Em there’s really no place like home.”