The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Chapter-by-chapter summary

Spoiler warning: this section covers the whole plot, including the ending.

Chapter 1: The Cyclone

A cyclone lifts the Kansas farmhouse of Dorothy and her dog Toto off the grey prairie and carries it high into the storm. Toto nearly falls through the trapdoor, and Dorothy pulls him back by the ear. The house spins for hours until Dorothy lies down on her bed and falls asleep. When the chapter ends, the house is still in the air, and Kansas lies far below. This matters because the story begins with a journey Dorothy never chose, which explains her urgent wish to get home.

Chapter 2: The Council with the Munchkins

The house lands gently in a bright country, but it has landed on the Wicked Witch of the East, and only her silver-shoed feet show beneath it. Some Munchkin men gather, and the Witch of the North, a little old woman, thanks Dorothy and gives her the dead Witch's silver shoes. She explains that Oz, the Great Wizard, lives in the City of Emeralds. Before leaving, she kisses Dorothy's forehead, leaving a mark that will protect her, and tells her to follow the road of yellow brick. This matters because the silver shoes and the yellow road set the course of the whole journey.

Chapter 3: How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow

After a night with a Munchkin named Boq, Dorothy sets off in the dead Witch's silver shoes. In a cornfield she finds a Scarecrow fixed high on a pole, who winks and asks to be lifted down. He wants brains, since his head is stuffed with straw, and hopes Oz will give him some. Dorothy agrees to take him along. Toto growls at him, and the Scarecrow admits he is afraid of a lighted match. This matters because the Scarecrow becomes the first friend to join, and his wish for brains sets up the book's central question.

Chapter 4: The Road Through the Forest

The yellow brick road turns rough, and the Scarecrow keeps tumbling into holes. At noon Dorothy eats bread by a brook, and the Scarecrow tells her how a Munchkin farmer made him. He recalls an old crow who said brains were the only things worth having. At dusk the pair reach a small log cottage in a dark forest, where Dorothy sleeps on leaves while the Scarecrow stands watch all night. This matters because the crow's words give the Scarecrow's wish a weight that the rest of the journey will test.

Chapter 5: The Rescue of the Tin Woodman

In the forest the pair find a Tin Woodman who has rusted solid, his axe frozen mid-swing. Dorothy finds an oil-can and oils his joints until he moves again. He explains that he was once a woodcutter who loved a Munchkin maiden. The Wicked Witch of the East enchanted his axe, which kept slipping and cutting him up, and a tinsmith replaced each lost part with tin. With his heart gone, he lost all his love for the girl. He now hopes Oz will give him a new heart: “Do you suppose Oz could give me a heart?” This matters because his wish joins the Scarecrow's wish for brains, so the group now has two quests.

Chapter 6: The Cowardly Lion

A Lion attacks the Scarecrow and the Woodman, then goes for Toto. Dorothy scolds him and slaps his nose, and he sadly admits that a King of Beasts should not be such a coward. Despite his fearsome roar, he confesses that he is a coward at heart. He asks whether Oz could give him courage, and the travellers invite him to join them. This matters because his honesty about his fear wins him a place in the group, and it sets up his later quest for courage.

Chapter 7: The Journey to the Great Oz

The travellers reach a wide ditch, and the Lion jumps it three times, carrying them over one at a time. Next, the Woodman chops down a tree to span a second gulf. Two Kalidahs, beasts with bear bodies and tiger heads, chase them until a plan by the Scarecrow drops the beasts into the gulf. At nightfall the group reaches a broad river. The Woodman starts chopping small trees to make a raft, but night falls before it is finished, so they sleep on the bank. This matters because the Scarecrow's plan and the Woodman's axe show the friends solving problems as a team.

Chapter 8: The Deadly Poppy Field

The Woodman finishes the raft by morning, fastening it with wooden pins. When the Lion steps on, the raft tips, and the travellers push off with long poles. Partway across, the swift current carries the raft downstream, and the Scarecrow is left clinging to his pole in the middle of the river. The Lion tows the raft ashore, and a Stork flies out, lifts the Scarecrow from the water and carries him back to the bank. Next comes a field of scarlet poppies, whose scent makes people sleep. Dorothy, Toto and the Lion fall asleep, and the Scarecrow and Woodman carry Dorothy and Toto out, but the Lion is too heavy to move. This matters because the poppy field shows that even the strongest friend can be stopped by something as gentle as a scent.

Chapter 9: The Queen of the Field Mice

The Tin Woodman chops off the head of a yellow Wildcat that is chasing a small grey mouse, because he judges the attack to be wrong. The mouse turns out to be the Queen of the Field Mice, who promises that her people will serve him. Later the Scarecrow suggests asking the mice to rescue the sleeping Lion. The Woodman builds a wheeled truck from tree limbs, and thousands of mice tie string to themselves and pull the Lion out of the poppies. This matters because a small act of kindness returns when it is needed most.

Chapter 10: The Guardian of the Gates

At the Emerald City the gatekeeper fits every visitor with green spectacles, locked on with a small key on a chain around his neck. The spectacles protect eyes from the city's glare, he says. Dorothy, her companions and Toto all wear them, and so do the townspeople. The Lion repeats his wish: “And I want him to give me courage.” The group is then led into the palace to wait. This matters because the green spectacles are the first hint that the city's splendour may be a matter of appearance.

Chapter 11: The Wonderful City of Oz

Oz receives the travellers one at a time, on four separate mornings. Dorothy meets a great Head, which orders her to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West. The next morning the Scarecrow sees a lovely Lady, who promises him brains if he kills the Witch. The Woodman faces a terrible Beast and is given the same task. On the fourth morning the Lion faces a Ball of Fire and must bring proof that the Witch is dead. This matters because each traveller sees a different Oz yet receives the same demand, which hints that the Wizard is not what he seems.

Chapter 12: The Search for the Wicked Witch

The travellers head west to find the Witch. She sends forty wolves, which the Woodman chops down, then forty crows, whose necks the Scarecrow twists. Black bees come next, but the Scarecrow covers Dorothy, Toto and the Lion with straw, and the stingers break on the Woodman's tin. The Witch then calls the Winged Monkeys with the Golden Cap for the third and last time. They drop the Woodman onto rocks, strip the Scarecrow and tie up the Lion. At the castle, Dorothy is made a servant. The Witch sets a hidden iron bar in the kitchen floor, Dorothy trips over it, and the Witch snatches one Silver Shoe. Dorothy, angry, throws a bucket of water over the Witch, who melts away. This matters because Dorothy's anger over the stolen shoe is what finally ends the Witch's threat.

Chapter 13: The Rescue

Dorothy frees the Lion from the yard where he is kept and tells the Winkies that they are no longer slaves. The Winkies carry the battered Woodman back to the castle, where tinsmiths spend three days and four nights mending him. The Woodman then chops down the tree that holds the Scarecrow's clothes, and the Scarecrow is restuffed. Dorothy finds the Golden Cap in the Witch's cupboard, and the Winkies send the travellers off with farewell gifts. This matters because the Golden Cap becomes the key to the next stage of the journey.

Chapter 14: The Winged Monkeys

The travellers wander into fields of buttercups and yellow daisies, where everyone falls asleep except the Scarecrow and the Woodman. The Queen of the Field Mice appears and tells Dorothy to use the Golden Cap, whose charm is written inside it. Dorothy speaks the charm, and the Winged Monkeys carry everyone to the Emerald City. Their King explains that the Cap's owner may command them three times, and this is Dorothy's first. This matters because the three-command limit shapes how the Cap can be used for the rest of the journey.

Chapter 15: The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible

Oz keeps the travellers waiting for days, so they threaten to call the Winged Monkeys, and at last he agrees to see them. His Voice fills the throne room until the Lion roars and Toto runs off, knocking over a screen. Behind it stands a little old man working levers. He confesses to being a ventriloquist and a former balloonist from Omaha, and he admits, “I am a humbug.” He promises brains, courage and a heart tomorrow, but says he must still think about how to send Dorothy home. This matters because the Great Wizard's confession exposes his lack of real magic and changes what the friends believed.

Chapter 16: The Magic Art of the Great Humbug

Oz gives each friend what they asked for, dressed up as magic. He takes the Scarecrow's head off and fills it with bran mixed with pins and needles. He cuts a square hole in the Woodman's left breast and places a silk heart stuffed with sawdust inside. For the Lion he pours a liquid from a square green bottle into a dish, which he says will be courage once it is inside him. To the Scarecrow he says, “Hereafter you will be a great man, for I have given you a lot of bran-new brains.” This matters because each gift is a prop, and the friends' real strengths were already theirs.

Chapter 17: How the Balloon Was Launched

Oz plans to fly Dorothy across the desert in a hot-air balloon, and she helps sew the silk. The Woodman chops a large pile of wood and makes the fire that heats the balloon. Toto runs off to bark at a kitten, and Dorothy chases him. Just as she runs back toward the balloon with Toto, the ropes crack and the balloon rises with Oz alone inside. He calls, “I can't come back, my dear,” and floats away. The Scarecrow is left to rule the Emerald City. This matters because Dorothy's route home fails again, so she must look for another way.

Chapter 18: Away to the South

Dorothy wipes the Woodman's tears so that he will not rust, then asks the Monkey King to carry her to Kansas. He refuses: his people belong to the Land of Oz and cannot leave it, and no Winged Monkey has ever been to Kansas. A soldier with green whiskers suggests Glinda, the Witch of the South, whose castle stands at the edge of the desert. The Scarecrow, the Woodman and the Lion decide to go with Dorothy. This matters because the Monkey King's refusal sends the group toward Glinda, the one person who can point Dorothy toward a real road home.

Chapter 19: Attacked by the Fighting Trees

At the edge of a forest, the trees reach out to seize the travellers. One tree grabs the Scarecrow and flings him headlong among his companions, so the trees are clearly more dangerous than they look. The Woodman chops a big branch, and the tree shakes. A branch then catches Toto, and the Woodman cuts him free. The travellers come out on the far side and face a high wall of white china. This matters because the fighting trees show that the friends must help one another, since no single traveller can beat the forest alone.

Chapter 20: The Dainty China Country

The Woodman builds a ladder, and the travellers climb the china wall. The ladder is too heavy to pull up, so the Scarecrow falls off the wall and the others land on him. In the china country a cow kicks over its stool, pail and milkmaid, and its leg breaks off. A china princess refuses Dorothy's offer of a trip to Kansas, saying the journey would stiffen her joints. As the Lion jumps the second wall, his tail smashes a china church. This matters because the fragile china folk show how easily a careless step can break something precious.

Chapter 21: The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts

In the forest, a giant spider has been seizing the beasts one by one, and they are gathered in fear. The beasts greet the Lion as King of Beasts, but he does not accept the title yet and asks what their trouble is. He then sets his terms: if he ends the spider, they must bow to him and obey him as King of the Forest. The beasts agree. He finds the spider asleep under the oak trees, leaps onto its back and strikes once, knocking its head off. This matters because the Lion who called himself a coward has now shown courage through action.

Chapter 22: The Country of the Quadlings

The travellers reach a steep, rocky hill guarded by armless Hammer-Heads, whose heads shoot out from their necks. One knocks the Scarecrow down the slope first, then the Lion, and Dorothy runs down to help them up. When the Woodman suggests calling the Winged Monkeys, Dorothy uses the Golden Cap to carry the group over the hill. Their leader warns that this is the last time she can summon them. A farmer's wife feeds them dinner and points them south, saying Glinda's castle is not far. This matters because the Cap's power is now spent for Dorothy, so the group must rely on Glinda.

Chapter 23: Glinda the Good Witch Grants Dorothy's Wish

Dorothy gives the Golden Cap to Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, who asked for it in exchange for telling her how to get home. Glinda uses its commands to send the Monkeys with the Scarecrow to the gates of the Emerald City, the Woodman to the Winkie country, and last of all the Lion to his forest. Glinda explains that the Silver Shoes can carry Dorothy home in three steps. Dorothy clicks her heels together three times and says, “Take me home to Aunt Em!” She lands on the Kansas prairie, but the shoes fall off along the way and are lost in the desert. This matters because the magic shoes finally take Dorothy home, and the story closes where it began.

Chapter 24: Home Again

Aunt Em has just come out to water the cabbages when she sees Dorothy running across the farm. She runs to her, cries, “My darling child!” and covers her with kisses. When Aunt Em asks where she has come from, Dorothy says she comes from the Land of Oz and is glad to be home again. The journey that began with a cyclone ends on the farm Dorothy wanted to reach. This matters because the ending brings the story back to the place where it began, so the reader sees how far Dorothy has come.

Characters

Dorothy. A Kansas girl carried off by a cyclone into the land of Oz. She is practical, brave and kind, and she takes charge when the others are unsure. Her one wish is to go home, and her bucket of water melts the Wicked Witch of the West.

The Scarecrow. A stuffed figure who believes he has no brains. He is thoughtful and quick to propose a plan, such as asking the mice to rescue the sleeping Lion. He stands watch all night in the forest cottage, and the Monkeys pull his straw out before he is restuffed.

The Tin Woodman. A woodcutter made of tin, rusted solid in the forest until Dorothy oils him. Once he loved a Munchkin maiden, but the enchanted axe cut him up piece by piece and he lost his heart, along with all his love for her. He hopes Oz will give him a new heart. His axe fells the tree over the second gulf.

The Cowardly Lion. A lion who admits he is a coward, though his roar can frighten others. He wants courage and is left asleep in the poppy field until the mice rescue him. Later he defeats the giant spider and is hailed as King of the Beasts.

Oz. The Great and Terrible Oz appears as a great Head, a lovely Lady, a terrible Beast or a Ball of Fire, depending on who meets him. In truth he is a little old man who works levers, and he admits he is a humbug. Each traveller is given the same task: destroy the Wicked Witch of the West.

The Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch of the West rules the land of the Winkies and keeps them enslaved. She sends wolves, crows and black bees after the travellers, and she calls the Winged Monkeys with the Golden Cap. After she snatches one Silver Shoe, Dorothy's bucket of water melts her away.

Glinda. The Good Witch of the South lives in a castle at the edge of the desert. Once she holds the Golden Cap, she can command the Winged Monkeys, and she tells Dorothy how the Silver Shoes can carry her home. She is kind and wise, and she asks for the Cap in return for her advice.

Toto. Dorothy's little dog, who is with her at every stage of the journey. He growls at the Scarecrow, knocks over the screen in Oz's throne room, and is caught by a fighting tree until the Woodman cuts him free. His loyalty to Dorothy never wavers.

Aunt Em. Dorothy's aunt, who lives on the Kansas farm where the book begins and ends. She is watering the cabbages when Dorothy returns. When she sees her niece running across the farm, she runs to her and covers her with kisses.

Writing about this book

Start with the friends. Which of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Lion is most like you, and why? Choose one scene where that friend shows the quality they thought they lacked, and explain what it shows about them.

Look at the Emerald City, then compare it with a place you know. Does the green spectacle idea change how you see the city? Think about why Baum made Oz a humbug rather than a true wizard, and what that says about trust.

Look at kindness as a theme. The Queen of the Field Mice, the farmer's wife and the Winged Monkeys all help the travellers, although the Monkeys are bound by the Golden Cap rather than acting freely. Write about one act of kindness and what it teaches about friendship.

Finally, ask whether the book is really about the road or about home. Give one example from the story to support your view.