Dorothy Must Die

In Chapter 31, Amy is nearly possessed by Dorothy’s red shoes, which hints that magic could be responsible for Dorothy’s corruption. In these closing chapters, magic stops working for a time, but it does not change who Dorothy is, suggesting that she is not being controlled entirely by the shoes. The shoes may have triggered a change that allowed Dorothy to become who she is now, or the shoes may not have been affected by magic’s failure enough to undo any spell they have over Dorothy. Regardless of the shoes’ power, Dorothy has likely changed so much that the spell no longer matters. Even if the shoes are affecting her, they only add to the changes she’s chosen to make.

Amy’s realization that she has lived a similar life but not become like Dorothy is more support for the theme of Everyone Deserves the Freedom to Choose. Amy finally understands that her choices, rather than her past experiences, define her, and she can keep deciding not to be Dorothy in order to choose to be Oz’s savior. The idea that two people with such similar lives can be so different is embedded in the nature versus nurture debate. Nature suggests that we have little control over who we become because such decisions are within our biological makeup. Nurture is the idea that our experiences/choices play a greater role in who we become. There may be things about Amy that are out of her control, but there are also things she doesn’t need to submit to.

Dorothy’s moment of being different on the tower isn’t real, but it offers a glimpse into who Dorothy was before magic corrupted her. Amy knows she can’t trust Dorothy, but the sincerity in Dorothy’s words makes Amy wonder if the real Dorothy is trapped beneath layers of magic and corruption. This moment may foreshadow Dorothy’s ending, or it may be just an unfortunate glimpse of a girl who’s long gone. Though Amy doesn’t fall for the trick, the moment does make her wonder about what happened to Dorothy. Amy ultimately decides that killing Dorothy won’t turn her into a copy of the tyrant Dorothy has become, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a glimmer of truth behind Dorothy’s words and actions. Killing Dorothy by itself may not be enough to corrupt Amy, but if Amy then chooses to kill other witches, that may be enough to corrupt her. Dorothy likely didn’t become who she is overnight; the corruption took time. This may foreshadow some of Amy’s struggles throughout the rest of the series.

Chapter 42 definitively links Dorothy’s shoes to the Ruby Slippers from the movie. Clicking her heels transports her elsewhere, and since she likely didn’t go back to Kansas, it suggests that the shoes may transport the wearer anywhere or that they can only transport someone “home,” meaning that Dorothy thinks of Oz as her home. The wings Ollie and his sister wear show how magic doesn’t have to change someone. While they cut off their original wings because they made the monkeys easy to control, these new wings let the monkeys fly while keeping them immune to the effects of magic.

The Wizard’s explanations about Oz set up the rest of the series. Dorothy retrieves the Tin Woodman’s heart, and she’ll also need to find the Scarecrow’s brain and the Lion’s courage before Dorothy can be defeated. The Wizard doesn’t elaborate on the many protections Dorothy has, but their mention suggests they will be disclosed in later books. The reveal of Ozma offers hope for Oz. In earlier chapters, Ollie and Indigo lamented that Ozma disappeared because she no longer cared about Oz. Instead, Ozma has been hiding in plain sight and waiting to take Oz back from Dorothy. It is likely Ozma will play a larger role in the rest of the series.