What is the book The Wizard of Oz about?

Answer 1

It's about team work, loyalty, honesty, home, friendship, family, determination, courage, common sense, and adventurous fun. Dorothy sees herself as part of a team, with her pet dog Toto and with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. She also sees herself and Toto as a team with her three friends. In both cases, the teams work together. Dorothy is loyal to her family in Kansas, her pet dog Toto, and to her new friends in Oz. She loses a chance to go back home, because Toto jumps out of the hot air balloon basket. Dorothy chooses to catch Toto, and the two don't get back to the balloon before take-off. Even the Wizard of Oz is an honest humbug. Dorothy's message throughout is the uniqueness of the place like no other: home, in the company of family. There are a number of instances in which one or more of the friends is left behind. And Dorothy finds the means to bring them back into the group. So the Cowardly Lion isn't left behind in the deadly poppy fields. The Scarecrow isn't left behind in the river, or destrawed and undressed in the Yellow Land of the Winkies. And the Tin Woodman isn't left behind - battered, bent, and broken - on the rocky plains near the Yellow Castle of the Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy and her four friends have the determination and the courage to see their missions through to the end. They may get sidetracked, as when they get lost or when they must carry out a distasteful though necessary mission for the Wizard. But they never lose their commitment, or their sight of the end to their journeys. Despite all the adventurous fun and not-so-much fun, they begin, and stay with, the end in mind. But the two most striking themes in The Wizard of Oz may be the appreciation of home, and the value of common sense. For all five friends either have already what they seek, or have on or within their persons the means to get what they want. The Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion already have a heart, a brain, and courage, respectively. Dorothy already has the Slippers that can take her back to Kansas. In a rapidly industrializing world, technology as represented by artificial hearts, imaginative drinks, and paper degrees or restuffed brains may make it seem as though the answers don't lie within us and what we can figure out from the shared experiences and expertise of us and of those near and dear to us.

Answer 2

No. Parodies and satires aim to ridicule. And that wasn't the expressed aim of author and Oz series originator Lyman Frank Baum [May 15, 1856-May 5, 1919]. Baum said that he wrote the Oz books as royal histories, in the form of Fairy Tales, for the enjoyment of children in all places and times. And the author was particularly concerned with pleasurable reactions to his writings. For he said that previous fairy tales had included blood, gore, and guts that could leave children with nightmares. He wanted to eliminate - not continue or include by satire, ridicule, or parody - the unsettling components from fairy tale telling.

Answer 3

The Wizard of Oz may be read as a book, and viewed as a film, on two levels. One is on the level of pure enjoyment. For author and Oz series originator Lyman Frank Baum [May 15, 1856-May 5, 1919] described his purpose, in the book's introduction, as writing an American fairy tale in honor, and for the continuation, of the joyful wonderment of children in all times and all places. And so on the one level the book, and the film, may be seen as good storytelling for the sake of good storytelling. On another level there are many interpretations that may be given to the book's, and the film's, underlying meaning, be that meaning deliberate or coincidental. One interpretation may be of the story as the passage from childhood to adulthood, from understanding and doing things as a child, to understanding and doing things as an adult. For Dorothy Gale must determine what kind of balance that she needs to reach between the extreme self-reliance, which may be an aim of adulthood; and the extreme dependency, which may be a hallmark of early childhood. In the process, she also must reconcile the halcyon attractions of dreams with the often harsh realities of the real world. And throughout all of her adventures, she must weigh the prospects of an exciting, unfamiliar lifestyle that may separate her forever from the less exciting, but tried and true life of family and longtime friends. The book and the film are good how-to's on the possibilities of living one's dreams, making new friends. surviving new adventures, trusting in oneself, and vanquishing enemies that won't be won over. It all comes down to knowing oneself, and moving as part of a team.

Answer 4

The Wizard of Oz is about a young girl named Dorothy that gets caught in a tornado and ends up in a wierd and magical world. She meets some interesting people and they all travel to Oz to meet the wizard.

Answer 5

The Wizard of Oz was not so much a parody as it was more of a statement. It deals with the gold and silver standards whereas all the characters, places, and major objects were symbols.

Answer 6

The 1939 musical staring Judy Garland as Dorothy was based on the 1900 novel of the same name written my L. Frank Baum.