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THE WIZARD OF OZ | |||||||||||||||||
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Kansas | |||||||||||||||||
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One of the lines most often repeated from The Wizard of Oz is "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Baum was only briefly in Kansas and may have drawn more on his experiences living in South Dakota than on Kansas for his description of life on the Great Plains. Baum may have chosen Kansas because it was a Populist stronghold. Or perhaps he was indulging the attitude expressed in an 1896 editorial in the Emporia Gazette by William Allen White entitled "What's the Matter with Kansas?". In it, White claimed that Kansas had lost population and money, even though the rest of the country was growing and becoming richer. He stated sarcastically, "Oh, this is a state to be proud of! We are a people who can hold up our heads! What we need is not more money, but less capital, fewer white shirts and brains, fewer men with business judgment...."
[1] White was opposed to the Populists and the editorial he wrote was embraced by Republicans.
To Joey Green, the bleakness of Dorothy's Kansas is the result of the loss of her parents and because she has a distant relationship with her aunt and uncle. Through her unconscious choices, Dorothy's life has become bleak. The only way Dorothy can end the suffering is to rise above her karma by becoming aware of her choices. [2] To Jesse Stewart, Kansas is Dorothy's outer world while Oz represents her inner world. Dorothy is an orphan and wants to find her true spiritual nature, so she embarks on a journey through her inner world, Oz. [3] | |||||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||
| 1. | William Allen White, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" The Emporia Gazette, 1896. | |
| 2. | Joey Green, The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow (Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 1998), pp. 23-25. | |
| 3. | Jesse Stewart, Secrets of the Yellow Brick Road: A Map for the Modern Spiritual Journey (Hygiene, CO: Sunshine Press Publications, Inc., 1997), p. 11-14. | |
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