We have a chapter of blatant filler in which the travelers seek advice from a Foolish Owl and a Wise Donkey. The Wise Donkey is apparently an immigrant from one of Baum's other books, and provides the opportunity for some wordplay while the Owl recites nonsense verse. I haven't seen anyone try to claim that the Owl and Donkey are political satires or anything -- in hindsight one could describe Woodrow Wilson as a Foolish Owl, but it sounds like a stretch to me.
The next encounter is a huge stroke of luck for Ojo the Unlucky: he and his companions stumble across a fenced enclosure containing the Woozy -- three hairs from the tail of which are required for the counter-petrification potion. The Woozy (there's only one, apparently) is an entirely square animal. Its head is a cube, its body is a box, and its legs are rectilinear. Fortunately, it's a good-natured beast. Very fortunately, because the Woozy is more or less Superman: it is completely invulnerable, shoots fire from its eyes when annoyed, and can run fast enough to catch bees on the wing. The only thing it can't do is jump.
The Woozy's invulnerable hide turns out to be a problem: when Ojo tries to pluck the three hairs from the tip of its tail (the only hairs the Woozy has, it turns out), he can't do it. Even with Scraps helping and the Woozy gripping a tree trunk, they can't remove the hairs. Finally the Woozy agrees to join the quest, so that they can bring Dr. Pipt the three hairs and the rest of the Woozy they are attached to.
With a new addition to the party, the group now heads for the Emerald City along the famous Yellow Brick Road. Where they are almost immediately snapped up by giant carnivorous plants. Dorothy didn't run into those on her journey. These plants have giant sticky leaves, and catch unwary passers-by by enfolding them. When Ojo is caught, he struggles but can't free himself.
And now we get one of the more nightmarish lines in Baum's canon: "The minutes passed and became hours. Ojo wondered how long one could live in such a condition and if the leaf would gradually sap his strength and even his life, in order to feed itself. The little Munchkin boy had never heard of any person dying in the Land of Oz, but he knew one could suffer a great deal of pain. His greatest fear at this time was that he would always remain imprisoned in the beautiful leaf and never see the light of day again."
Great. You can't die in the magical fairyland of Oz, but you can suffer an eternity of pain. Somehow that isn't reassuring Fortunately for Ojo et al, they are rescued a short time later by the Shaggy Man, who knows the way to control the deadly plants: music. Whistling or singing makes them give up their captives.
There's some pretty strong foreshadowing here, of another well-known fantasy work. Tolkein fans may recall the scene in The Fellowship of the Ring in which Frodo and his traveling companions are caught by a horrible animated plant -- in their case, the sinister Old Man Willow. And, just like Ojo and his companions, Frodo and the other Hobbits are rescued by a wandering hippie character using music.
I've always said that Tolkein's Tom Bombadil seems like an L. Frank Baum character who wandered into the middle of the War of the Ring -- but what if the reverse is true? We know Tolkein intended his epic novel as a kind of "secret prehistory" taking place around 4000 B.C. We know the character Tom Bombadil is ageless and (presumably) undying. Was he still wandering around, living in his carefree way, six millennia later?
It's significant, I think, that the Shaggy Man is never given a name by L. Frank Baum. If he were an ordinary Kansas hobo, presumably he'd have a name. Bill "Shaggy Man" Smith, or Benjamin Briggs, or Ludwig of Bavaria. But he doesn't. Hmmm. And even before he enters the fairyland of Oz the Shaggy Man seems well-acquainted with magic and supernatural goings-on. Hmmm . . .
Anyway, Tom Bombadil or the Shaggy Man rescues Ojo, and offers to accompany the little band to the Emerald City. He takes the opportunity to show off the amazing condensed square meal tablets, invented by Professor Wogglebug. Each one is an entire meal including soup, fish, roast, salad, apple dumplings, ice cream, and chocolate candy.
This is an old gag in science fiction, but this is about the earliest use of the trope I've seen. Interestingly, whenever "food pills" are depicted in fiction, it's always with mockery. It is a fictional trope which exists only as a parody. Apparently writers love to make fun of the ridiculous idea of food pills, but never realize that nobody has ever depicted the idea as anything but ridiculous.
At this point the animated phonograph catches up with Our Heroes once again, and we get a little more music criticism from Baum. The phonograph has a new record to play, a popular song. And what is a popular song?: "One that the feeble-minded can remember the words of and those ignorant of music can whistle or sing. That makes a popular song popular, and the time is coming when it will take the place of all other songs."
Prescient fellow, that L. Frank Baum.
That is scary about his musical prediction.
Posted by: Chuk | 03/08/2013 at 06:09 PM