Because… Because… Because… Because…Your’e Oz!

Our 17th book takes you from Texas to Emerald City. 

Yes, we are talking about the famous book by L. Frank Baum, titled, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, first published in 1900 shorturl.at/hjq35. The plot revolves around a young girl, Dorothy Gale, who gets caught up in a cyclone and as a result of which, her house is blown away. It lands in Magical Land of Oz and it lands right on the Wicked Witch of East killing her instantly. Both the inhabitants ( Munchkins) and Good Witch of the North (GWON) are grateful to Dorothy. They even present her with silver shoes*. All that is good, but she needs to get back home to Kansas. GWON tells her that the only way back is to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, find The Great Oz and he will help her. As Dorothy embarks on her journey, she is first joined by the Scarecrow, who is looking for brains. Then the Tinman, who is looking for a heart, and finally, a lion,  looking for courage ! 

This masterpiece is so rich in metaphor, allegory and symbolism that over a 100 years there have been so many interpretations of this book.  Some have said Dorothy is a feminist (we love that);  that the yellow brick road is the path to salvation or perhaps even the gold-standard ( priests and economist love that one);   that Tinman is a factory worker whose mechanical job left him heartless ; that the Scarecrow is a simpleton-peasant (comrades these two men are you), and finally, that cowardly lion is a fence-sitting politician ( all political reporters think so).

We can only imagine what Freud would’ve  said.   And of course,  we would all  jump at a chance of  force-fitting anyone into the “Good and Bad Witch”  category !  

These interpretations only add to the book’s must read aura. The story has also inspired a generation of illustrators and the work that has come from it is quite remarkable.  Remember, this was written at a time when creatives couldn’t make witches fly on screens, but they sure must’ve imagined it.

We are not writing about the end here. Pick any edition and read it. The lesson we learned is this : no one is coming to save you in the end, you are Oz, so keep walking.  Also, for us,  over at the Script, it’s a delightful story of a centered - Dorothy leading her motley crew, who she hasn’t chosen, but who she  trusts, and who she encourages to look within themselves for their strengths. Does it sounds like the team, given to you, that you have to work with and align, so that you can together accomplish the mission?  Is Dorothy a Giver or a Taker? Is she a connector? Is empathy her greatest strength ?

When we suggested this book as a reflection exercise for one of our coachees, they submitted this excerpt:  

• “ I had a couple of takeaways from this book. Dorothy was very open to helping the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion which allowed her to make friends with them… These friendships came in very handy time and again through Dorothy’s journey. I also appreciated just how relentless Dorothy was in wanting to get back home. She went from the Emerald city to the Wicked witch, back to Emerald city and then to the kind witch in order to find a solution.  She wasn’t afraid of the journey and she didn’t give up… She was patient when the wicked Witch made her a slave and dealt with that phase until luck struck and she found a way out.  I loved Dorothy’s attitude. The path to your goals and dreams is never straight forward. You might work hard and discover that it doesn’t yield an outcome. But you can’t give up. You have to be relentless and you have to keep fighting, keep walking, make friends along the way to ease the ride and one of these days, luck will strike!”

Have fun reading this book, watch the fabulous 1939 movie starring Judy Garland, check out vintage posters and even the newer illustrations by stars like Greg Hildebrandt…it will stir your imagination. 

Vinati @The Script

P.s.  * In the book the slippers were silver,  in movie, there are ruby red. It has something to do with finding a contrast with the yellow brick road in the technicolor movie – so says – a google search.