Dorothy Must Die

These introductory chapters set up Amy’s backstory and her similarities to Dorothy Gale, one of the main protagonists in L. Frank Baum’s Oz stories. Like Dorothy, Amy lives in Kansas and feels discontent with her life. Paige puts a modern twist on Amy’s Dorothy-character by having Amy live in a trailer park rather than on a farm and be unpopular in high school rather than isolated from others her age. Where Dorothy lived with her aunt and uncle, who cared for her, Amy lives with an absent mother who contributes to Amy’s feelings of not belonging. The comparison Amy’s mother makes between herself and Madison makes Amy feel as if she is not wanted or cared for. Her mother’s statements about children sucking their parents dry show Amy’s mother’s discontent, which isn’t yet clear to Amy. At this point, Amy believes she is a burden, and her mother’s words tell Amy how ungrateful her mother is for all Amy’s help in the last several years. It isn’t until much later in the story, after Amy has grown past holding on to her anger, that she understands how becoming an adult does not necessarily make us more equipped to handle life’s challenges.

Amy’s discontent stems from her unhappy home life and the ridicule she receives at school because she comes from a place of financial disadvantage. At the story’s beginning, she believes she is trash because others believe this of her, and her journey toward self-worth and appreciation is one of the main examples of the book’s theme of Learning Who We Are Gives Us Power. In these early chapters, Amy believes things about herself that are not true, and as a result, she is powerless against the attacks Madison levies on her, as well as the emotional abuse from her mother. Amy’s wish for the storm to take her away from Kansas is her inner self reaching toward who it knows she can be with the right opportunity.

The events of these chapters mirror how Dorothy arrived in Oz in the 1939 movie. Like Dorothy, Amy is in her home when the storm hits and has only an animal companion for company. The tornado picks up the trailer, as it did Dorothy’s farmhouse, and Amy holds on for dear life until she lands in Munchkin country, just as Dorothy did. The 1939 movie switched from black-and-white to Technicolor when Dorothy arrived in Oz to set off Oz’s magical nature. In contrast to the vibrant landscape of the movie, Amy finds a wasteland of muted shades, the first significant difference between the stories and a sign that things have changed for the worse in Oz. The faded Oz foreshadows how Oz differs from the place readers are familiar with and is now the dystopian society Dorothy has created.

Amy’s final thought in Chapter 1 is a call to Dorothy’s well-known phrase, “There’s no place like home.” Where the words allowed Dorothy to return home from Oz, Amy’s version may trigger her arrival in Oz. Amy doesn’t think of Kansas or the trailer as home, and her deepest desire is to get out of Kansas. The words answer her wish and deliver her to a place that, despite its dangers, becomes home throughout the rest of the book. The words also jumpstart her transformation toward finding herself. As long as she remains in Kansas, Amy will believe she’s the trash Madison says she is. Oz represents a chance for Amy to shed the hurtful impact of her past to find who she truly wants to be and become the force that’s been suppressed by the hurtful words of others.

Pete is later revealed to be Ozma, the missing princess of Oz, in disguise. Ozma is extremely powerful and can sense Amy’s arrival in Oz. It’s likely Ozma knows more than she lets on about Dorothy and the role Amy can play in freeing Oz from tyrannical rule. The “she” Pete/Ozma refers to is Dorothy and implies that Dorothy’s rule over Oz was not just a product of Dorothy’s desire for power. Dorothy’s mistakes may have contributed to her current situation, but her exact mistakes are not made clear by the end of the book.