"The Wizard of Oz" Heroic Analysis of Dorothy Gale

Spoilers ahead:

In the age of adamantium claws and rocket-launching raccoon, viewers expect most of the heroes that are seen in literature, film, and various other art forms to be exceedingly mutant. It’s not often that a character without any superpowers is deemed a hero, especially when her adventure is merely one of self-discovery, but Dorthy Gale (Judy Garland) is such a character. In director Victor Fleming’s 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is just an ordinary girl with no extraordinary abilities, but because of her adventure she becomes an unexpected hero that not only comes of age, but also helps so many of the little people.

Separation

Dorothy’s ordinary world is a small farm in Kansas. She lives on this farm with a few of her uncles Hunk (Ray Bolger), Zeke (Bert Lahr), and Hickory (Jack Haley), as well as her aunt Em (Clara Blandick) and her uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin). This world is dull and uncomfortable for Dorothy. Even though she has a family that clearly loves and cares for her, Dorothy is a dreamer with a heart of gold who has to run away high so she doesn't come home low. In the film, her life is figuratively the shade of sepia tone (I wonder if she sees it in sepia tone, or if she sees it in color) and she desperately clings to her ideology that life “somewhere over the rainbow” is better than on her Kansas farm. She feels left all alone, and what makes this particular ordinary home familiar and important for her development as a hero is that it relates to everyone that watches it. At some point in our lives, we have all felt the sting of desire that makes us long to be in different situations. Whether you dream of wealthier life or seek adventures traveling other countries, Dorothy’s situation rings true for a lot of the viewers, and fits the archetypal agony that many, if not all, heroes face.

The tornado that hits the little farm where Dorothy lives acts as her call to adventure. Dorothy is so unhappy at home that she tries to run away, and after meeting with (a mentor) Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan) she decides to run home and see about her allegedly sick Aunt Em. Unfortunately for Dorothy, she gets swept up in the Tornado and her adventure begins. Dorothy does not want to be taken away by the twister, and tries desperately to get away from it. This is Dorothy’s refusal of her call to adventure. Because she is taken away from her home and transported to Oz, Dorothy does not get to make amends with her Aunt Em and apologize for running away just yet. She hasn't really matured yet, after all. She also still has yet to learn the meaning of home, though Marvel heralds the thought of change in her when she visits him at his road cart.

Dorothy then crosses the first threshold when she steps out of the house and onto the magical Land of Oz. Her life is unexpectedly filled with color and is beginning to change. She is separated from everything that she has known and is now in the special world where her adventure will take place. Oz is not Kansas and Dorothy is now completely in the special world where everything she knows is different from what she has been used to. She does not have her safety zone of uncles and Aunt Em, so if she falls into a pig pen she will have to save herself.

After meeting her second most prominent mentor, Glinda (Billie Burke), Dorothy accepts her supernatural aid in the form of the ruby slippers. Glinda is a mentor because she guides Dorothy to the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) and helps her get the ruby slippers that protect her from the danger of the shadow, the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton). Throughout the entire film the Wicked Witch of the West tries to get the slippers from Dorothy so that Dorothy is not protected by their magic, and if the Wicked Witch does that, she will be able to exact her revenge on Dorothy for killing her sister.

As Dorothy begins to explore Oz, she meets 3 characters that become her allies and each represent various conventional character archetypes for her. The Scarecrow represents the trickster figure. He is physically funny in his movements and his interesting mentality that he does not have a brain, even though ironically enough he is one of the brightest minds in Oz. Next, she meets the Tin Man, who could represent a shapeshifter character. Sometimes he is loving, warm and emotionally uplifting, and other times he is cold and literally stiff to the point of being solid. Lastly, she meets the Cowardly Lion, who probably represents both of what the previous two characters represent. He is sometimes brave, sometimes not, so he can fit the role of shapeshifter. He is silly and offers a comedic relief at times in the film, so he can also represent the trickster figure. All three of these characters also test Dorothy and serve as threshold guardians. When she meets the Scarecrow, she is challenged to help him and get him down. This shows that she is thinking of others as she takes time out of her journey to help him. The Kansas Dorothy runs away from home because she is selfish. She proves that she is not selfish when she further helps the Tin Man by giving him oil. Last but not least, she must overcome her fear and stand up to the things in her life that threaten her. She is threatened by the Cowardly Lion just as she is threatened by Miss Gulch (Billie Burke).

Now, Dorothy is in the Belly of the Whale. She has her magical aid with the ruby slippers. She has met some of her mentors as represented by her uncles, her aunt, professor Marvel, and Glinda the Good. She is in the special world that is the Land of Oz, and for that matter is nowhere in her ordinary world and does not know the power that can return her home. She has identified her shadow in the Wicked Witch of the West. She has assembled her allies and supporting characters and now her road of trials can begin.

The Belly of the Whale is marked by Dorothy’s exposure to the poppy fields. Though she is in Oz, a place where Dorothy is still very inexperienced, this marks the first part of the physical landscape that is nothing like it is in Kansas. Until the poppies, nothing about Oz gives her reason to fear that her journey is in jeopardy.

Initiation

Dorothy now has a series of trials that test her and present her with a series of threshold guardians to overcome.

• She has to overcome the poppies, which act as a threshold guardian because the stop her journey by putting her into a magical sleep. She is able to overcome this because of her previous victories of character by helping the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.

• She has to gain entry into the Oz’s lair. At first he tells her no, and the threshold guardian that is the Gatekeeper (Frank Morgan again) has be convinced to let her and gang have access into the lair. When she accepts that she has been selfish and needs to get home to take care of her Aunt Em, the Gatekeeper allows her entry. This is also the stage where Dorothy has her allegorical meeting with the Goddess. Her love for Aunt Em helps her overcome this guardian, but it represents a love so strong that it helps her make it through a tough challenge. Her Aunt Em may also represent a father figure that Dorothy is beginning to atone with.

• Then, Dorothy is sent on her 3^rd and last trial to get the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the west, her ultimate approach and preparation is about to begin. In this trial she faces her temptress when she is caught by the Wicked Witch of the West (sayeed). The Witch offers her a false boon/elixir so that the Witch can get the ruby slippers.

Although Dorothy does not die a literal, physical death. The threat of death signifies her apotheosis / Crisis when she is trapped in the Witch’s castle. She also has the threat of losing the elixir, which is unbeknownst to Dorothy also her magical aid. The slippers are the elixir because they are the point of conflict between Dorothy and the Witch. The Witch wants the slippers, but Dorothy has them. The ruby slippers also represent Dorothy’s elixir because they are the only things that can get her home. The metaphorical death and losing of the elixir allow her to reflect on what matters in her life the most, her boon of getting home and seeing her family again. She overcomes this death when she seizes the sword, a metaphor for the heroine to overcome her shadow, and destroys the witch by pouring water on her. With this, Dorothy successfully defeats the Wicked Witch of the West and can begin her return home.

Return

Dorothy’s return happens when she and gang return to the Wizard of Oz at the Emerald City. The Scarecrow receives his “brains,” the Cowardly Lion receives his “courage,” and the Tin Man gets a “heart.” Oz offers to take Dorothy home in his hot air balloon. However, her dog Toto becomes one last threshold guardian, the guardian for her return home. He jumps out of the hot air balloon and causes Dorothy, one last time, to think selflessly and help her dog. This may serve as her refusal of the return home, though she really does want to return. Her mentor Glinda arrives and helps her reflect on her experience in Oz, putting her entire journey into perspective. The knowledge That Glinda imparts on Dorothy, and Dorothy’s reflection, helps her find her magical flight home through her ruby slippers and her slippers grant her a rescue from without. Then, Dorothy scandalously (red high heels, mmhmm) clicks her heels 3 times and crosses the return threshold and is home again at Kansas.

As the master of two worlds, Dorothy can now make peace with her ordinary world because she learned how to appreciate it, and the people in it, while in the special world. She dreamed of a land over the rainbow, and even though it is as magical and fantastical as she dreamed it would be, for Dorothy there was no place like home where the people love and care for her. Now Dorothy has the freedom to live, having mastered both worlds and being capable of living in both worlds.