Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The book I choose to do for this 3rd quarter book report was the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book follows a young girl, Dorothy Gale’s, adventures as she meets new people/creatures and has many fun adventures. She is described as a quiet homebody living with her Aunt and Uncle on a Kansas farm. Her dog, Toto, goes with her wherever she goes and she has a big heart for helping people. This is shown from even the very beginning when she first lands in the land of Oz, she first worries that her family is worrying about her.

The book starts off with Dorothy wanting a change in her life and being unhappy with her loneliness. She wants to go “somewhere over the rainbow.” Not long after, her and her dog get swept up in a cyclone only to transport them to the mysterious land of Oz. Once her house lands it falls directly on top of the Wicked Witch of the East which is great news for the Munchkins.

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However she does not see this as good news as she has much sorrow and regret for murdering someone. She hopes to find a perfect life and wisdom to hopefully fill that feeling of being uncontent or unhappy with what she has. After getting some advice from the munchkins and the Good Witch of the North she heads down the famous yellow brick road in hopes it will lead her to someone who can possibly help. Before she heads off though the Good Witch of the North gives her a pair of silver shoes that once belonged to the witch she killed and the good witch gave her a kiss that acts as a protective shield.

As she heads down the road she is happy, cheerful and hopeful.

Dorothy is unaware of just how much power she holds and this is shown when she passes by a house party and Boq asks her about the silver shoes she wears knowing she must be special to own them. She also has compassion for new people she meets which is shown when she comes across the scarecrow and helps him off the pole. Or when she feels bad for the tin man and oils his rusted joints. These experiences also make her question her own life and helps her appreciate what she has. She also gains confidence in herself to defend not only her but also her friends. Like when the lion tried to scare Toto and attacked the scarecrow and tinman she hit the lion and called him a coward. The new group goes on an adventurous journey and meets a lot of new people along the way.

When they finally reach the great and powerful Oz he gives them what they have all been looking for. To the Tinman he gave him a heart, the scarecrow a brain, and the lion courage. Most importantly though he helped Dorothy realize that her gift lies within herself. Here she realizes that she loves her home life and she shouldn’t take things for granted and she wants to go back to her loved ones. It is here when Oz tells her to click her heels and repeat the famous phrase, “there’s no place like home.” When she returns to Kansas she is better able to appreciate her friends, family and life.

Dorothy’s growth can relate to a lot of students at Hope Christian. A lot of us take what we’re given for granted. We don’t fully appreciate the friends we have, or the family we’re given or even the level of education we are offered. We need to realize that God has blessed us many different ways and we shouldn’t take these things for granted because we might not always have them. We can a lot of times have envy for other people that seem to have more but there is a purpose to everything that is put in our life. Much like Dorothy’s story we can find the solution to this problem in our heart if we let God unto our hearts and change us for the better. We all struggle with greed here and there but it’s very important we are grateful, appreciative and thankful for everything we currently have or everyone that is in our life.

A bible character that also was not content with what they had were Joseph’s brothers. They had greed and envy in their hearts and did not fully appreciate their family. Dorothy is a lot like this is the sense she went to the land of Oz in hope to find a better life than what she had. However she did not go to the extreme that Joseph’s brothers did by selling a family member of hers to slavery. Greed is a recurring theme in the Bible and God uses examples like Joseph’s story to show how it can damage us. For example Luke 12:15 says “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of things he posses.” (New King James Version, Luk. 12:15) Another bible verse that talks about greed is Luke 11:33 and it says, “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.” (New King James Version, Luk. 11:33)

I can also relate to Dorothy’s struggle in the book. There have been many times where I have evaluated my life and then looked at another life and wished I had what they had or even lived the life they lead. But perfect is impossible and even though other people’s life may seem “perfect” I had to realize that they also go through hardships as well.