In Chapter 19, Dorothy and her friends venture to the South after Oz has left in his balloon. They have a conversation about Oz that is driven by dramatic irony, and this irony serves to gently satirize naive followers of manipulative leaders:
‘Oz was not such a bad Wizard, after all,’ said the Tin Woodman, as he felt his heart rattling around in his breast.
‘He knew how to give me brains, and very good brains, too,’ said the Scarecrow.
‘If Oz had taken a dose of the same courage he gave me,’ added the Lion, ‘he would have been a brave man.’
Dorothy said nothing. Oz had not kept the promise he made her but he had done his best, so she forgave him. As he said, he was a good man, even if he was a bad Wizard.
Dorothy and the reader realize what the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Lion do not: Oz is not a wizard at all, and he did not use magic to solve their problems. Dorothy is frustrated with him for failing to help her. Still, his failure allows her to see him as the fallible human character he is. Whereas the others believe that he has all the answers in the world, Dorothy sees that he simply tricked them into finding their own answers. She does not think this manipulation makes Oz a bad person because ultimately, the Woodman, Scarecrow, and Lion gained much-needed self-confidence. But she is nonetheless frustrated that he led her to believe he could do magic and then let her down.
Although the book treats the Woodman, Scarecrow, and Lion lovingly, this scene portrays them as a bit foolish. Even if they have gotten what they needed through their interaction with Oz, they haven't learned the key lesson Dorothy has learned: no one is all-powerful, and we usually have to find our own answers to life's difficult conundrums. Whether or not Baum intends it, the book satirizes people who blindly believe in powerful people's leadership and wisdom. This critique evokes some of the key tenets of the Populist movement of the 1890s. This movement aimed to divest corporations of power, instead putting it into the collective hands of farmers and laborers.
