The Real Oz?

   The first novel we were instructed to read was the original 1900 Wizard of Oz. When coming into the novel, I thought for sure I knew this story. Girl goes to Oz, tries to find her way home, kills witch, and finally goes home/wakes up. What I found is that I absolutely did not know the story of the Wizard of Oz - at least not how Frank Baum intended it to be.

   In the novel, there is no antagonist. The wicked witch has about one chapter in the story and then dies, but not before hundreds of other creatures die horrific deaths before her. The biggest difference though was the number of worlds or cities Dorothy visits. To me, this made Oz all the more interesting. I actually prefer this version to the classic 1939 film of the same name. Of course, nothing will replace that movie as it has a nice and cozy piece of my childhood, but now I feel like I'm only getting parts of a better story whenever I think back to the film.

   In class, we discussed the idea of text and what makes up the text. For the longest time, the film version was the Wizard of Oz text for me. I knew no other version. So, for me, stories like Wicked or the Disney film Return to Oz made no sense. They didn't seem like they fit into the story. The lesson that I learned is that it's a story. A story is something that can be told in several different ways and be understood in several different more. The world of The Wizard of Oz in mythological. We all know the wicked witch and Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion. They're basically engrained into our culture. Much like how comic books have many different versions of the same basic story. You just have to choose which one you like the most. For me? I liked the novel a lot better.