The Appeal of Dorothy Gale

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Chapter 8  The Valley of Voices,  Chapter 9  They Fight the Invisible Bears  Chapter 10  The Bearded Man of Pyramid Mountain,  Chapter 11  They Meet the Wooden Gargoyles,  Chapter 12  A Wonderful Escape  Chapter 13  The Den of the Dragonettes

Dorothy, the Wizard, Zeb and the animals  find themselves in the beautiful Valley of Voe which is populated by invisible people and dangerous invisible bears.

An invisible bear attacks them and the Wizard kills it with his sword.

They meet the braided man who directs them to the land of the Gargoyles which may lead them back to the surface of the Earth. 

The Gargoyles are mute, wooden creatures with magical detachable wings. Zeb steals a few of their wings and they attach them to their carriage.  They escape to a cavern in a mountain. 

As they try to make their way to the top of the cavern they meet a den of baby dragons.

After they escape from the dragons, they find themselves trapped. 

They can see the surface of the Earth through a hole in the rock but have no way of reaching it.

They can't go back and they can't go forward.

They resign themselves to death by starvation.

***

Of course the story doesn't end there.

But that is the climax so that is where I will stop.

When I saw the "Celebrate Oz Day" at Oma Linda's blog,

lindaomasoldebaggsnstuftshirts.blogspot.com/

I was immediately intrigued.

I read and reread the Oz books when I was a kid. 

When I was in university I bought the series. 

It is still one of my most treasured possessions. 

I think the books were important to me because I grew up at a time when little girls, generally, were less valued than little boys and were given fewer opportunities to speak or act freely. 

The intrepid Dorothy was a role model.

"But  I am one of the greatest humbug wizards that ever lived and you will realize it when we have all starved together and our bones are scattered over the floor of this lonely cave."

"I don't believe we'll realize anything, when it comes to that," remarked Dorothy who had been deep in thought. "But I'm not going to scatter my bones just yet because I need them and you'll prob'ly need yours, too."

She taught us things about being a girl that our parents and teachers either
didn't know or were reluctant to impart.   

Thanks to Oma Linda for giving me the idea of looking back and thanks to L. Frank Baum for telling the stories and John R. Neil for drawing the pictures.


What a ride!

Dark Days for Dorothy





Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Chapter 4  The Vegetable Kingdom,  Chapter 5  Dorothy Picks the Princess,
Chapter 6  The Mangaboos Prove Dangerous  Chapter 7 Into the Black Pit and Out Again

Dorothy and the Wizard discover that the Mangaboos are non-human vegetable people that grow on large plants.

They are taken to a garden by the Mangaboo Prince to observe the planting of the dead sorcerer.

While observing this practice they happen to notice that the next royal ruler is ripe and ready to be picked.

Not realizing what his captives have seen, the old Prince tells them to prepare themselves as they will soon be put to death.

Dorothy and the Wizard escape and pick the ripe Princess from the plant upon which she is growing, in hopes that she will spare them.

But after she takes over and sends the old Prince off to be killed and planted, the new Princess decides to sentence Dorothy, the Wizard, Zeb and the animals  to death by forcing them into the dreaded black pit.

The Mangaboo vegetable people are all adults. 

The children grow as the fruit of a rather sturdy plant and do not come to life until they are picked when they are adults. 

"On some of the bushes might be seen a bud, a blossom, a baby, a half-grown person and a ripe one; but even those ready to pluck were motionless and silent, as if devoid of life."

Dorothy, a child who is seen and heard, doesn't fit into this world.

Consequently she, the Wizard, Zeb and the animals are pushed into the  black pit.

(In our world, the place where complete freedom dies and where a child learns to conform, i.e., school.)

 They find themselves on a dark and frightening path but it buys them some time.

"It isn't a bad road," observed the Wizard.

"... it is dark; but we have our lanterns to light the way, so I propose we start out and discover where this tunnel in the mountain leads to."

And the reader breathes a sigh of relief knowing that time is the only vehicle through childhood.

As the chapter ends, much to their surprise, they emerge out of the darkness into a beautiful countryside.