The Wizard of Oz begins with Dorothy being uprooted from her home and ends with her returning to it. And in the time in between these two events, she mostly talks about wanting to get back there. Dorothy Gale is determined to get back to Kansas, by Jove. Home. Home, sweet home. Home on the range. Homeity-home-home-home.
Say, did you know that Dorothy wants to go home?
But the book isn't just about Dorothy finding her way back to Uncle Henry and Aunt Em; it's also about her friends finding their homes, which aren't the unhappy places whence they came. Like Dorothy, the Scarecrow's original home was a farm—but he winds up in Oz, ruling a kingdom. The tin man abandons his cottage in the woods for a new life with his good friends the Winkies. And the Lion leaves behind his old forest so he can be king of a new one.
So while there's a strong undercurrent of "home is where you come from," that's not the real message of the book. In the final analysis, home is wherever you feel most happy.
Questions About Home
- Dorothy is in Kansas in the first and last chapters. How has her home changed in the meantime?
- Why did Oz never feel like home to the wizard? Why did it never feel like home to Dorothy?
- Dorothy travels a long way just to end up back where she started. Do you think she'd call her journey pointless? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Dorothy's obsession with getting home prevents her from enjoying the good things about Oz.
Dorothy's obsession with getting home is what gives her purpose and fuels the plot.