A look at the treasure of childhood and how L. Frank Baum uses that to teach us all a valuable life lesson.
The Wizard of Oz is a tale that many of us grew up with; the book has become a staple of children’s literature and a standard of modern folklore. Simple in its context it has many themes that both parents and children can relate to. Oz is a place that is full of wonder and childlike innocence that is a treasured resource. Perhaps that is why many parents choose to share this story with their children, so that they can relive their childhood for just a little bit.
Much of modern folklore is based on the principle of childhood imagination (I.E. Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Just So Stories etc). To a strict adult mind most of Oz is absurd; a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man that talk, flying monkeys and wizards that grant wishes are ridiculous. However to the mind of a child this isn’t too far out of the norm. For the most part children have active imaginations that engulf their world, the Wizard of Oz plays to that. According to L. Frank Baum’s biography he had a heart condition that limited how much he was able to play outside with other children. Perhaps it was during this time that he created the world of Oz. It’s quite possible that this fantastic land that Baum created stemmed from his childhood and carried through in his adult years where he would tell stories that enchanted local children to the point that he decided to put his fictional world into print. However, it is through these “ridiculous” characters that we learn valuable lessons about life and take a further look at ourselves.
The most important lesson that we can learn from this story is that we don’t need to look to other people to find what is already inside of us. The Tin man was desperate to get a heart from the Wizard for he thought that he couldn’t feel anything without it but when the Queen of the field mice was being chased down by a cat it was his axe that saved her. Why? Because he couldn’t bear the thought of her being eaten, it saddened him too much. Perhaps the most important lesson was the one we learn from Dorothy. From the time she left Munchkin land to her final stop in Quadling Country to see Glinda, Dorothy looked to others to help her but it was the shoes that she wore on her feet through out the land of Oz that would take her home. The whole time all she needed to do was click her heels together, she had to look to herself to find the answers she needed and not to someone else. As with most things in life, we just have to look at the tools that we have already been given to be able to accomplish our goals.
