Dorothy Must Die

Pete’s behavior throughout the book hints at his true identity as Ozma. His appearance in the heavily guarded dungeon and his ability to open the magical disappearing door of Amy’s cell would be impossible without very strong magic, which Ozma possesses. The way Pete looks away and starts to flicker suggests the disguise only lasts for a short time. This may be because it was cast by the Wizard, who doesn’t have the strongest magic. It may also be because the magic in the palace disrupts any magic not cast for Dorothy’s benefit. Ozma’s disguise mirrors the disguise Amy later takes on, and both show that despite all the magic Dorothy and Glinda have, some types of spells are even beyond their ability to see through.

The false trial is another staple of the dystopian genre. While Dorothy is corrupt, she doesn’t want the people of Oz to see just how little she cares about them. Trials allow her to maintain the image of a kindly ruler while still ensuring the outcomes she wants. Offering criminals a trial tells the people that there is a chance the person on trial could be innocent. The inevitable guilty verdict is Dorothy exercising control and neatly disposing of anyone who opposes her. Corrupt rulers in dystopian fiction rely on trials and other fixed-outcome public displays to keep the people they rule in line.

The order of wicked witches is an underground rebel group working toward a better world, yet another staple of dystopian novels. Their base is in an area of Oz cut off from the rest of the land by a mountain range that constantly rearranges itself. As a result, Dorothy has not yet breeched that part of the land, which means its magic reserves are untouched. Still, the witches believe it’s only a matter of time before she does because her addiction to magic will not allow her to do otherwise. The magic in that part of the land gives the witches access to spells to hide their cave and also to make the area comfortable for living. The healing pool is one of many resources the witches have that gives them an edge against Dorothy.

The enchanted knife Amy fights with foreshadows how she changes over the course of the book. Here, the knife seems to do most of the work while calling on Amy’s warrior spirit. While Mombi argues that Amy has to have something for the knife to work with, Amy doubts that is the case, which shows she still thinks of herself as trash. She is hesitant to think of herself as a warrior because, to her, that means she is good at violence, something she doesn’t want to be proud of. As Amy’s skills in combat and magic grow, she finds that she does have a fighting spirit and begins to shed her trash image. She relies less on enchanted objects and more on her own skills, which mirrors how her general self-reliance grows. As her skills improve and she gains confidence in herself, she starts to fully leave behind the Amy she was in Kansas to become more of the Amy that Oz needs.

The pitch darkness Amy walks through in Chapter 13 symbolizes a few things. First, the darkness shows that Amy is at one of her darkest moments. She is uncertain about her arrival in Oz and what role she is meant to play. She also doesn’t know how to feel about her future. Kansas is the only world she’s ever known, and part of her wants to go back for that fact alone, but Oz offers her a life she never could have dreamt of in Kansas. She wants to stay to see what else there is, even if doing so means abandoning her mother—whom she still has mixed feelings about. Amy exhibits true bravery when she walks through the darkness, not knowing if there is a ground to step on or even which way to go. The appearance of the cave means that Amy has found the next place she needs to be and the next part of her journey. The darkness may also be a test from the witches, and Amy persevering proves that she is worthy of joining their cause.