The phrase “Not always as it appears” is the best one I can think of to get you in the right frame of mind to appreciate this book.
Written by Mr. Baum in the very early 1900s this books appears to be about the journey of self-discovery a little girl and her dog go on through a magical world known as Oz, as well as the similar journeys had by her traveling companions The Scarecrow (who seeks a brain because he was made without one), The Tin Man (who seeks a heart because in the process of turning his body into tin replacement parts he neglected to include a human heart into the mix), and The Cowardly Lion (who is supposed to be the king of the forests of Oz but is afraid even of his own roar).
Through the pages of the book they travel to the Emerald City to seek the aid of The Wizard in granting their wishes and in the end Dorothy finds a wonderful witch who sends her and her dog Toto back home.
But, we all know this. However it’s not the truth of the matter.
Frank L. Baum wrote the story as a cover for a different journey: The populist movement which sought to change the gold standard to silver (currency in the United States is – supposed to be – based on how much gold we have in our vaults, however this meant that, ostensibly, money was too expensive which lead a huge group of people to march on Washington (the Emerald City) and demand that gold be changed to silver (the yellow brick road which leads to the city of power, and Dorothy’s shoes of silver – NOT NOT NOT ruby!!!).
They were not successful and a full account of the tale can be found here, as well as the full explanation of the undercurrent of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz here because it’s really too much to get into for a review.
Suffice it to say this is a great book, even if you don’t care about silver, gold, or emeralds and one that everyone should read if only so that more people understand that Dorothy’s shoes are SILVER, not RUBY.
