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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wizard of Oz, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Self-Doubt vs. Self-Confidence
Home and Belonging
Good vs. Evil
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
After mounting the wall, the friends behold a strange sight: the wall surrounds an entire country made of china. All of the buildings, people, and animals of the country are tiny and made of china, and the four travelers resolve to be careful as they move southwards through this fragile place. They frighten a china cow, who breaks its leg and upsets the china milkmaid, who mentions that she’ll have to take the cow to the mender’s shop to get its leg glued back on. The Tin Woodman reminds his companions to be especially careful, as he would hate to harm any of these little people.
The Tin Woodman’s behavior in the china country is identical to his behavior before the Wizard gave him a sawdust heart. Just as he would try to avoid stepping on innocent beetles, he now walks carefully among these small, fragile people. It’s clear that the only real change that’s affected the Tin Woodman is his increased level of confidence and his belief that he’s capable of love and sensitivity. The existence of a tiny china country reiterates the idea that everyone has somewhere they belong, no matter how unusual they might be.
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Dorothy begins following a beautiful china princess. The princess insists on not being chased, as she might fall and crack, and no one is nearly as beautiful once they’ve broken and been mended. Dorothy asks the china princess if she’d like to come home with her and sit on Aunt Em’s mantelpiece, but the princess explains that china people are happiest in their own country, where they don’t have to stand still all day. After an hour of travel, the four friends reach the end of the china country and climb over the southern wall. The Lion accidentally breaks a china church on his way up the wall, and the travelers reflect on how brittle these tiny people are. The Scarecrow considers that there are much worse things to be than a scarecrow.
This conversation with the china princess further examines the concepts of home and belonging. Not only do the people made of china belong in their own tiny country, but they even lose their own identity and mobility when they leave home, becoming lifeless statues. In this way, the china people mirror Dorothy’s pressing need to get home. Just as Aunt Em’s mantel might be a pleasant place where the china people would nonetheless be unhappy, Dorothy cannot stay in Oz if she belongs in Kansas. If the china people lose the ability to move when they leave their country, it might only be a matter of time before Dorothy loses herself if she doesn’t return to the place where she’s meant to be.
Themes
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