After Dorothy is swept away from Kansas and stranded in the bizarre Land of Oz, she meets three characters who wish to follow her and see the Wizard of Oz with her. But while Dorothy wants to ask the Wizard to send her back home, her new friends are more interested in changing something about themselves. Each of Dorothy’s new companions doubts that they have everything it takes to be a complete person. However, it becomes clear throughout their journey that the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion already possess what they think they lack. The Scarecrow wants a brain, but he’s constantly devising clever plans and strategies for facing the deadly challenges of the Land of Oz. While the Tin Woodman claims to be heartless, his behavior throughout the adventure reveals him to be a kind and compassionate soul from the start. The Lion’s cowardice isn’t nearly as apparent as his bravery, as he voluntarily puts himself in dangerous and frightening situations to help his friends.
Ultimately, the novel suggests that the only quality that any of them truly lacked was a willingness to rely on and believe in themselves. By assuming that only an external force like the Wizard of Oz can make them feel whole, they ignore what skills and qualities they already have in spades. Misunderstanding themselves in this way teaches a simple but effective lesson: that self-respect comes from within, not from without. Dorothy’s companions didn’t believe they were real people because they felt themselves lacking, but by relying on themselves during their adventure, they prove that they’re just as real and as valuable as anyone else. The silver slippers themselves encapsulate this idea: Dorothy has had them on her feet since arriving in Oz but only finds out at the end of the novel that they’ve always been capable of transporting her back home. She simply needed to learn this about herself to accomplish her goal.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Self-Doubt vs. Self-Confidence ThemeTracker
Self-Doubt vs. Self-Confidence Quotes in The Wizard of Oz
‘I don’t mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because I cannot get hurt. If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me it doesn’t matter, for I can’t feel it. But I do not want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays stuffed with straw instead of with brains, as yours is, how am I ever to know anything?’
‘While I was in love I was the happiest man on earth; but no one can love who has not a heart, and so I am resolved to ask Oz to give me one. If he does, I will go back to the Munchkin maiden and marry her.’
Once, indeed, the Tin Woodman stepped upon a beetle that was crawling along the road, and killed the poor little thing. This made the Tin Woodman very unhappy, for he was always careful not to hurt any living creature; and as he walked along he wept several tears of sorrow and regret.
‘We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with their sharp claws. But stand close behind me, and I will fight them as long as I am alive.’
‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ the girl asked, as she breathed in the spicy scent of the flowers.
‘I suppose so,’ answered the Scarecrow. ‘When I have brains I shall probably like them better.’
‘If only I had a heart I should love them,’ added the Tin Woodman.
‘Is there anything we can do,’ it asked, ‘to repay you for saving the life of our Queen?’
‘Nothing that I know of,’ answered the Woodman; but the Scarecrow, who had been trying to think, but could not because his head was stuffed with straw, said, quickly, ‘Oh, yes; you can save our friend, the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep in the poppy bed.’
‘I’m very sorry, indeed,’ said Dorothy, who was truly frightened to see the Witch actually melting away like brown sugar before her very eyes.
‘Didn’t you know water would be the end of me?’ asked the Witch, in a wailing, despairing voice.
‘Of course not,’ answered Dorothy. ‘How should I?’
When, at last, he walked into Dorothy’s room and thanked her for rescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy, and Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face with her apron, so his joints would not be rusted. At the same time her own tears fell thick and fast at the joy of meeting her old friend again, and these tears did not need to be wiped away.
‘You have plenty of courage, I am sure,’ answered Oz. ‘All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.’
Oz, left to himself, smiled to think of his success in giving the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion exactly what they thought they wanted. ‘How can I help being a humbug,’ he said, ‘when all these people make me do things that everybody knows can’t be done?’
‘Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert,’ replied Glinda. ‘If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country.’
