The story in one page
Dorothy Gale is whisked from her Kansas farm by a cyclone and lands in the middle of a Munchkin property dispute. She follows a yellow brick road to request a passage home from a reputedly powerful wizard. Along the way, she recruits a straw-filled man seeking brains, a rusted tin woodman needing a heart, and a lion desperate for courage. When they eventually corner the Great Oz in his emerald throne room, they discover he is a mere man masquerading behind curtains and special effects. After the Wizard departs by balloon, Glinda the Good reveals that Dorothy’s silver shoes possess the latent power to return her to Kansas, which she activates with a few clicks of her heels.
Who's who
- Dorothy Gale
A farm girl seeking a way back to Kansas.
- Scarecrow
An animated field guard who wants a functional brain.
- Tin Woodman
A rusted metal laborer who wants to feel love.
- Cowardly Lion
An oversized feline who is worried about his nerves.
- Oz
A man hiding behind a curtain operating a ventriloquist act.
What it's really about
- Self-Actualization
- Everyone already has what they think they lack.
- Bureaucratic Deception
- The powerful are often just hiding behind curtains.
Why it's memorable
- A tin man rusted solid in the woods while holding his oil-can.
- The Great and Terrible Oz is actually a humbug operating a series of elaborate projections from behind a screen.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
Dorothy clicks her heels three times to travel home, arriving in her stocking feet just as Aunt Em goes out to water the cabbages.
For your book club
- The silver shoes are far more useful than the wizard.
- Everyone in the group is a victim of their own self-doubt.
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