Week 2: The Road to Oz

I unfortunately was a bit late to class on this day and missed out on the writing assignment so in stead I am choosing to talk about the world building within the land of Oz.

I’ve always known who Dorothy Gale was, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, I understood the “ignore the man behind the curtain!” reference yet I’ve never read a single Oz book nor have I completed the film. The Wonder Wizard of Oz has become a big part of modern day pop culture and for a good reason, Baum gave us a world not to hard to grasp but allowed millions of children to expand their imagination, he created a simple, fun and believable world. To me, when a story becomes that ubiquitous, it moves out of the realm of being a “really great kids’ book” and moves into the realm of folklore, myth, and legend. I think this is exactly what Baum had hoped would happen.