Re: The Wizard of Oz

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Cori) wrote:

> The character I've found overall the most disturbing, for
> many years if not since childhood, is the Wizard himself, an admitted
> "humbug" who nevertheless describes himself as a "good man." 

In Kansas, he's a charlatan but underneath he has a heart because he 
does want Dorothy to return to her family. Perhaps he doesn't mind 
cheating adults but can't bring himself to do the same to a lost girl.

Since The Wizard of Oz takes Dorothy's everyday experiences and turns 
them into a dream or delerium, the Wizard's behaviour indicates that 
Dorothy, while appearing naive and simple, deep down knows the man she 
meets with the wagon is a charlatan; thus, she gives him some 
not-so-savory attributes. So in the end what I find unsettling is 
Dorothy's surface simplicity and in-depth perception, all in the same 
package. No one is what they seem to be -- and the lion isn't cowardly, 
etc.

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