Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion by Zipes Jack

Author:Zipes, Jack
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Baum’s socialist utopia is a strange one because it is governed by a princess named Ozma, but there is no real hierarchy or ruling class in Oz. Ozma the hermaphrodite is a symbol of matriarchy and guarantees the development of socialist humanism in Oz by regulating magic, especially by banning black magic. Not only does she welcome the downtrodden Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, who had been maltreated by bankers and had become fully isolated in America, but she also protects Oz against the revengeful Nome King through a strategy of nonviolence. The Emerald City of Oz is aesthetically the most innovative and thematically the most radical of Baum’s fairy tales. The narrative is based on a twofold plot with dialectical scenes that infuse the action with dramatic suspense. While Dorothy endeavors to “recivilize” Aunt Em and Uncle Henry by showing them the wonders of their new home, the Nome King amasses a large army and attempts to destroy Oz. Baum draws a parallel between the bankers, who are merciless and crush old farmers who can no longer be employed because of bad health, and the Nome King and his allies, the Whimsies, Growleywogs, and Phanfasms, who want to enslave people to attain wealth and power. Each step Aunt Em and Uncle Henry take to realize and appreciate the liberating principles and environment of Oz is matched by a step taken by the Nome King to undermine the utopian civilization. The narrative perspective leads the reader to identify with the cause of Oz, and Baum demonstrates insight and ingenuity in the way he has Ozma save Oz and guarantee its eternal existence. Because he was against violence of any kind, Baum invented a fountain with water of oblivion. One sip of the water makes one forget everything, especially one’s evil intentions, and Ozma’s enemies are led to taste, forget, and return to their homes outside Oz. Baum did not preach a Christian turning of the cheek. Rather he was more aware that, if one uses the same methods as one’s enemies, one can easily become like them. To become cutthroat and militant like the gnomes and bankers would have tarnished the spirit and principles of Oz, and so the endeavor to be different and humanitarian at the same time engenders a greater sense of creativity and humanity in Ozma and her friends. Yet because of this conflict with enemies, Ozma decides to make Oz invisible and unapproachable by outsiders because they mean tragedy for utopia. From Baum’s ideological viewpoint he grasped that technology in the hands of capitalist entrepreneurs would mean the doom of utopian developments like Oz. By making this land invisible, Baum was saying that the chances for the realization of utopia in America had been cancelled and forfeited. The American dream had no chance against the real American world of finance, which manipulated and exploited the dream for its own ends.

In one of the most incisive essays about the Oz books, Gore Vidal41 agrees with Marius Bewley42

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