Frank Baum’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) strived to be a different type of fairy tale than what had previously been written. Baum explains his experimentation of children’s fair tales in his writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the introduction of the book. In the introduction Baum explains that fairy tales have long followed children through the ages, but that he felt it was time for a new type of tale for children in “wonder tales”. In the introduction he explained:
“Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.”
Therefore, Baum set out to write a “wonder tale” to be a modern fairy tale for the modern children who sought entertainment and imagination and who didn’t need a moral lesson.
Instead of teaching a moral lesson or a warning on behavior like many fairy tales sought to do The Wonderful Wizard of Oz teaches life principles. In particular the tale teaches the importance and significance of three virtues. These virtues are the importance of brains or intelligence, of having a heart, and of having courage. These virtues are embodied by Dorothy's three comrades on her adventure through the land of Oz. The Scarecrow is seeking for brains, the Tin-man is seeking to regain a heart, and the Cowardly Lion is seeking for courage. Throughout the tale is is shown that it of these characters possess these traits which they so dearly yearn for. For example, on the way to land of the Wicked Witch of the West the Scarecrow demonstrates great wisdom in devising the plans to conquer both the black crows and the swarm of bees. The Scarecrow is quite the problem solver and it is his lack of knowledge and experience which makes him feel he is a fool. The Wizard of Oz later gives him a “new bran of brains” which really consisted of changing out the straw in his head for bran and needles (needles to show he is sharp). The wizard didn’t ‘really’ give him brains but gave him a placebo to feel like he had a brain to better store his knowledge and experience. The lesson here though is that the Scarecrow had intelligence all along and that he would only continue to get smarter since as the Wizard advised one gets smarter the longer one lives and experiences life.
Each of these three virtues which the Scarecrow, Tin-man, and Lion strive for are things which do not manifest themselves physically but they each wanted a physical display of the characteristic. The Wizard contemplates how it was easy for him to give them what they wanted since it wasn’t possible to give them what they really wanted but it also wasn’t necessary since they already possessed within themselves. They just felt like they needed something tangible to manifest it to themselves and others. The Scarecrow already smart, the Tin-man was already loving and caring, and the Lion was already brave but like the lion they just needed to realize that the things like courage comes from ‘confidence’ which exist from within. So, the Wizard just gave them placebos to help them gain confidence in themselves and their talents which they had been developing.
It is a different type of tale too, in the fact, that Baum continues the story with the Scarecrow, Tin-man, and Lion even after they gain/realize their desires. Baum didn’t have to keep the characters around as Dorothy continued on her quest to find her way home but he did. And in so doing we see the characters further develop the attributes they had gained through out the first portion of the books. By doing this Baum is teaching that talents must be maintained and developed to continue to posses them. This part of the plot has the story seem to continue farther than what most fairy tales tend to do, making this tale even more unique in comparison to other children’s tales of the time and previously.
Overall, the book The Wizard of Oz is a new type of fairy tale in being a ‘wonder tale’ of entertainment and life lessons being taught in a non-didactic manner. There are some elements of fairytales still present such as the battle between good and bad and magical creatures, however, the stereotypical characters are done away with and the driving moral messages are also not present. The book really is an example of a new type of tale for children which strives to bring 'wonder' to their lives.
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