The Wizard of Oz
series has always been a favorite of mine.
I have long been proud to call it the American fairytale, but looking
back on it after some distance I am not so sure it fits this claim any longer. Now I consider the American Tall Tales, such
as Paul Bunyan and Pecose Bill, to be the purer representations of our
tales. They exhibit wild exaggerations,
are linked closely to manifest destiny (an important part of our cultural
heritage I feel).
Other national
fairytales such as England’s Alice In Wonderland, Denmark’s Hans Christian
Andersen, and Italy’s Pinocchio, are constructed out of a lot of cultural
imagery and terminology; England’s nonsensical play on words; Denmark’s tales
of trolls and witchcraft; and Italy’s history of marionette performances. While L. Frank Baum does pay homage to the
visuals of American culture, such as midgets, showmen, hot air balloons, the
wilderness, and the cultured central axis, I feel that he still relies heavily
on imagery from the European tradition.
Witches play a vital role in the books, as well as enchanted objects, European
castles, and the magic of the number three are all European conventions.
In his defense it
could be said that Baum was still foraging into “unknown territory” as a writer
of fairytales. After all there were
witch trials in our American history.
My knowledge of
literary history after Baum is weak, but I would like to suggest that James
Thurber’s The Thirteen Clocks, may be a stronger step forward in the tradition of
American Fairytales. Regardless I will
be looking into this topic much further after discussing it in class.
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