Chapter18 Away to the South

Dorothy's one and only and last hope was gone! I worried that how she would be depressed....but she was as positive as ever!:) She thought "I'm glad I didn't ride in a balloon like that." Certainly, a balloon is a very unstable conveyance. No one knew for sure if the balloon would be able to cross the Deadly Desert for sure. Even if it could, no one knew where it would arrive.

Then, I thought Dorothy would decide to stay in Oz. But I was wrong! When the Scarecrow, who was now the ruler of Oz now, in place of the Wizard of Oz, asked, "We'd be happy if you would live here with us," she said, "No, I don't want to live here, I want to go back to Kansas." Ummm...she never seems to give up on going home.

And when the Flying Monkeys refused her wish because they couldn't fly to Kansas, before she moaned "Then, I can't go home anymore!", she cried "I have wasted the charm of the Golden Cap to no purpose!":P Dorothy, are you sure that you want to go home? How seriously do you think of it?

When they heard about Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, they decided to go to the South. The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and The Cowardly Lion, even though their wishes had come true, they offered to go to the South with Dorothy to look after her safety. Then, Dorothy said "Thank you. You are all very kind to me. But I should like to start as soon as possible." She clearly stated what she wanted to. What a nice character!:P Why didn't she say "Thank you, but you shouldn't. None of you need to do that anymore. I can't let you put yourselves in danger for my sake."? Can I never hear any humble words from her?

By the way, I always think that one of the things the author wanted to say in his Oz series is "Everyone is different. That's why you are very important. The uniqueness is wonderful." The idea can already be seen in this chapter in the first Oz books.

People in the Emerald City are proud of being ruled by the Scarecrow. They think that there is no other city which is ruled by a stuffed man. Normally, you would think that having a scarecrow succeeded a great wizard is a very derogatory, wouldn't you? But they were satisfied because the most important point for them was the uniqueness:)

When you call the Flying Monkeys, it counts even if they aren't able to grant your wish. That's kind of unfair:( I had hoped that it wouldn't count because they couldn't grant the wish.