Take home ESSAY-->Wizard of Oz--> Mythopoeia

The Wizard of Oz is an extraordinary tale that is a classic example of mythopoeia and its main elements. The Wizard of Oz is a story about a young girl named Dorothy who wished for a better place. After being knocked out by a blow to the head in a cyclone, she gets what she wanted, and a little that she didn’t. The movie follows Dorothy as she travels through the mythical Land of Oz, she believes to be over the rainbow and encounters certain characters that add to the development of the story. Things like archetypes and other mythological elements are used throughout the story making it fall into the mythopoeic genre.

When analyzing The Wizard of Oz, you have to consider all of the things that set it apart from society now. The first things to notice are the improbable events of Dorothy getting caught in the cyclone and surviving while in the cyclone as well taken to the magical Land of Oz, “Over the Rainbow”. These events are presumed impossible which is one of the elements that make this mythopoeia. Mythopoeia borrows elements from real life, and incorporates them to make something that normally would seem impossible, seem very probable.

The Land of Oz is a mythical land found just over the rainbow, a colourful place inhabited by munchkins. This land is a prime example of a fantasy world within a fictional universe. Although Kansas is a non-fictional location, the story is still considered to be in a fictional universe. The events in the film never took place, and the Land of Oz is considered to be a fantasy land, making it a fantasy world within a fictional universe. Elements such as the excessive amount of munchkins living in the Land of Oz and the unrealistic characters add to the fantastical and fictional aspects of the story.
An element of a mythopoeic story is the archetypes that are found within the story itself. Archetypes can be found within characters as well as plot and story itself. The main character, Dorothy, is an archetype as well as the path that she follows. At the beginning of the story, Dorothy is on a mission to get out of Kansas to “a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It's far, far away, behind the moon beyond the rain. Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high [...]” (Wizard of Oz) [ellipses mine].

Ironically, this mission changes very quickly as the story progresses and Dorothy arrives in the Land of Oz. This is also when the theme of the story is revealed to the audience of the film. There’s no place like home. After arriving in the Land of Oz, her mission no longer becomes getting out of Kansas, it becomes getting back to Kansas. This mission or quest is an archetype of the journey of a protagonist towards their goal, Dorothy’s goal being to find a way home and escape the Land of Oz.
Not only is Dorothy on a quest for the Wizard, Dorothy’s companions tag along to fulfill their wishes as well. Each companion has a journey of their own, they are all related in the sense that they are each missing something from their lives and they are on a quest to achieve what they are missing. The Scarecrow is on a quest for a brain, the tin man is on a quest for a heart and the lion is on a quest for courage. Although each of these characters believe they lack these qualities, they have possessed them throughout their entire journey and displayed it as well, but just had to discover it within themselves. This is something that the each companion as well as Dorothy have in common.

In the Witch’s castle, the Scarecrow displays that he does indeed have a brain when he thinks quickly and gets the crew out of a nasty situation with the guards. The Lion displays courage when he encounters the Wizard as well as at the castle in the attempt to save Dorothy. The Tin Man shows that he does have a heart when he demonstrates his love for other characters throughout the film. As the film nears the end, Dorothy realizes, with a little help from Glinda the Good Witch of the North, that she had the power to get home all along.

DOROTHY:
Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
GLINDA:
You don't need to be helped any longer.
You've always had the power to go back to
Kansas.
DOROTHY:
I have?
[...]
GLINDA:
[...] she wouldn't have believed me.
She had to learn it for herself.
TIN MAN:
What have you learned, Dorothy?
DOROTHY:
Welll, I -- I think that it -- that it
wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle
Henry and Auntie Em -- and it's that --
if I ever go looking for my heart's
desire again, I won't look any further
than my own backyard. Because if it
isn't there, I never really lost it to
begin with! Is that right?
GLINDA:
That's all it is!
[...]
DOROTHY:
Yes, I'm ready now.
GLINDA:
Then close your eyes, and tap your heels
together three times.
GLINDA:
And think to yourself -- "There's no
place like home; there's no place like
home; there's no place like home."
(Wizard of Oz) [ellipsis mine]

At the beginning of the film Dorothy is greeted by the Good Witch of the North who isn’t what Dorothy expected of a witch. Dorothy sees a witch as “old and ugly.”(Wizard of Oz). That is the normal archetype of a witch within a story, but Glinda is a beautiful, good witch. The only ones that are ugly as Dorothy described are the bad witches. The difference is contrasted when the Wicked Witch of the West enters the scene. The Wicked Witch of the West is a haggard, old woman with a dreadful, cackling voice and green coloured skin, what you would normally see a witch as. These descriptions are what separate the two characters archetypes as good and evil. Good being portrayed as beautiful and light and evil being seen as dark and hideous.

As well as the character contrast between Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West, there is a contrast between the two settings in the story. When Dorothy is in Kansas it is seen as a very dull place because of the use of sepia tones and the lack of color. Once Dorothy arrives in the Land of Oz it is a land of great colour and many details. This helps you understand how much more a desirable place the Land of Oz really is although Dorothy is still interested in making her way home. In addition to the contrast between Kansas and Oz, you can compare Emerald City to the domain of the Wicked Witch of the West. Emerald city is a bright, colourful, lively, happy place whereas the domain of the Wicked Witch of the West is a dull, dark, ominous and dreadful place.

After comparing Kansas, the Land of OZ and each character more and more, it demonstrates the main elements of a mythopoeic tale. The lack of reality within the Land of Oz is frequently reflected throughout the film by taking viewers over the rainbow and travelling with Dorothy on her journey down the yellow brick road.


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