Everyone knows the story of "The Wizard of Oz" either through the movie or the second book in the series written by L. Frank Baum. For this blog, I would like to focus mostly on the movie. So many people have grown up with this movie that we all know it by heart. One of the things that always got to me is what we were never told. Where was Dorothy's parents? She was being raised by her Aunt and Uncle but never once did we get an explanation as to what happened to her biological parents. We have no clue if they are alive, or have passed away. We aren't sure if Dorothy has brothers and sisters or if Auntie Em and Henry were asked to take care of their niece or if they were forced to because she was abandoned. There are many theories, but there has never been an official explanation given.Let's travel down the rabbit hole and through the world of Oz based on the fact that Dorothy got hit on the head and everything proceeding was a dream.
Dorothy was caught up in a storm and suffered a head injury. While she was unconscious, her mind created a world of color and wonder full of characters that she had borrowed from her own life. What if Glenda represented her absent Mother, and the Wizard represented her absent Father? Dorothy was swept away to a different world and was scared. What would you want to see if you are afraid? The most basic instinct is to want one's Mother. Glenda appeared to Dorothy shortly after her arrival in Munchkin Land and was full of mystery and beauty. A young girl would normally see her Mother in a very similar fashion. They would see their Mother as powerful, a bit magical, and a protector. She gave Dorothy sturdy shoes and directions on how to get through her journey, but she had to walk it without her. Much like a Mother giving their child the tools they need to get through life, and guiding their child, but not being able to go through the experience for them.
One could compare the Wicket Witch of the East with Auntie Em. The Wicked Witch of the East had a house dropped on her and died. This could be a metaphor of the day Dorothy came to live with them and making Auntie Em a parent. Her whole world essential died in that moment as she stopped being an Aunt and became a full time parent. It could be equated to having a house dropped on you becoming a parent in an instant and not expecting to become one. Dorothy's parent's are absent in her life no matter what the circumstances leading up to that event. Can you imagine what life changing event that it could be to become a parent instantly and possibly losing someone that you are related to? I'm sure it felt like a house was dropped on them. Or, maybe Dorothy, becoming an adolescent, may think that's how her arrival in her Aunt and Uncle's lives may have been like for them.
It is telling that Dorothy starts off her journey surrounded by Munchkins. Some of them are children and some are adults. At the most basis instincts, especially through the eyes of a child, a person's size equates their age. So a person who is shorter most likely would be younger than older. What if these Munchkins represent the phantom brothers and sisters of Dorothy? Since we know very little about the life of Dorthy before the storm, and almost nothing about her family, it is natural to also wonder if Dorthy had brothers and sisters. Even though they appear to Dorthy as small, you can tell that they have various ages. If Dorthy had older siblings, she may have never known them except through stories or baby pictures, thus freezing them as small. Her mind still in an unconscious state, however, still gave them a more advance age which is why they appear to her as small adults. The children could represent any younger siblings that she may have had, frozen in time, or any imagined younger siblings that she may have wanted or wished for in her life.
When we first meet the Wizard, he is feared, larger than life, and all knowing.
This is also a very natural and basic instinct many young children have about their Father. It is very common that a child would see their Father figure as larger than life and even threatening in a way. As time goes on, and Dorothy spends more time with the Wizard, she realizes that it is all an illusion. This is very similar to a young child coming to terms with the fact that their parent is not larger than life, but a human being. It is very important that Dorthy is going through this journey in a adolescent phase in her life. She is no longer a child and things that she held as a belief when she was younger is starting to break away and the truth is coming through the cracks. This dream world is a safe place for Dorthy to process what has happened in her life, and learn from loss, sadness, and be able to move on her journey in life on her own as an adult.
Both Glenda and the Wizard disappear from Dorthy's life and it is said that they aren't sure if they will even see one another again. The Wizard flies off in his hot air balloon which could represent the real life death of her Father. It could also represent that her Father is alive, but he is scattered to the winds so she has no idea of his location, or if he would come back in her life and leave again. Glenda tells Dorthy that she has always had the power to get home in her. Again, this is very telling of a parent trying to teach their child that they have the tools in them to get through life, and the journey they walk is their own even thought they are always connected. It could also represent Glenda also being dead, and telling her that she needs to carry on without her, but always keep the memory of her and the world that she once lived in, alive in her heart.
Dorthy wakes up to find that everything was a dream, but she wasn't the same as she had been before the bump on the head. Much like going through adolescence, one day you are a child, and as if a storm comes, you become more adult like as quickly as a storm can come, and go. This dream world is where Dorthy could get some comfort from what she once saw her parents to be, which was all knowing, powerful, and maybe even magical. She was able to come to terms with the fact that those childhood beliefs sometimes cocoon the truth of her parents just being normal, human beings. Her Mother wasn't really a Good Witch, but a woman who tried to teach her child lessons to get her through life, but never got to finish. Glenda is very absent during the movie, and only appears at highly emotional moments. You want your Mother during very emotional times, or times of fear. When they appear, there is comfort. If they don't appear, then their lessons and words come to you, even if you never got to know them, you can imagine what the Mother would want to say to the child.
The Wizard started off as threatening, but turned out to be just another average person. Many children see their Fathers as larger than life, and as they grow, begin to see them as regular people. The Wizard makes contact with Dorthy as someone who is a bit of a trickster. Could Dorthy be hoping on some level that her Father is tricking her and someday, he will come home? Or could she just be starting to see her Father as a human and not through a child's eyes anymore? It says a lot that they all say that they don't know if they will ever see the other again. Could this be because of death, or because of abandoning their child for unknown reasons? We, like Dorthy, may never know but she has to move on and not live her life on ideals that she was hung up on. The Munchkins could be the dream life of her once alive brothers and sisters, or her imagined family. They only appear once during the movie and send her on her way. They don't go with her, or have any promise of hope to see Dorthy again in their lives. This could mean that if Dorthy did have siblings, then she knows they are dead. If they are made up, then it could show that she understands on some level that they aren't real even though she might have wished that they were.
Dorthy is missing fundamental members of her family, but she still has her Aunt and her Uncle. At the end of the dream, she wants to get back to her Auntie Em. She calls for her a few times just as a child would call to their Mother. This could be Dorthy letting go of what her biological Mother was to her, and realizing that Auntie Em is now, and forever, her loving Mom. All she wanted was to get back home to her Aunt and her Uncle, who after this journey, are essential to her current and future health and well-being.
*I do not own any photos used. This was used via Free Clip Art
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