Dominic Esposito Box #627 10/14/12 Professor Hodge Draft/Final Paper Two/Two

The Lullaby of Ozzzzzzzzzz MGMs 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz predominantly lends itself to an interpretation of Auntie Em as Dorothys maternal figure, specifically, Dorothys subservient mother who puts her daughters interests ahead of her own. The lay critic arrives at these assumptions naturally, viewing the movie in its entirety. Yet, who could blame the viewer? To the lay critic, the last scenethe most remembered sceneis a sentimental moment between Dorothy and Auntie Em in which Dorothy exclaims I love you all (Fleming). Dorothys final exclamation makes the lay critic believe that Auntie Em acts with Dorothys best interest in mind. But for a second, consider the opposite. Consider that Auntie Em has her own best interest in mind. If Auntie Em acts with her own best interest in mind, then her actions parallel her desires. So then the question remains, what does Auntie Em desire? Auntie Em desires Dorothys unconditional love. However, Auntie Ems desires are now unfulfilled; Dorothy is no longer a child, she is an adolescent on the brink of a personal and sexual awakening role (Cvetkovic 66). But Auntie Em wants Dorothy to be a child forever; she will do anythinganythingto keep Dorothy dependent of her. When Dorothy awakes from the nightmare of Oz, she shouts, I'm not going to leave here ever, ever again, fulfilling Auntie Ems Desires (Fleming). It is clear then that Dorothys nightmare forces her to retrocede into the dependent child that Auntie Em desires. If Dorothys adventure through the Land of Oz makes her retrocede into a dependent child, then would it not make sense that Auntie Em wants Dorothy to dream of the Land of Oz? Perhaps

then, Auntie Em will do anything to make Dorothy dream of the land of Oz and is in fact not most concerned with Dorothys desires, but with her own desires. Auntie Em desires to keep Dorothy unconditionally dependent of her forever, so Auntie Ems neglects Dorothy in the hope that she will be scared of life outside Kansas. Similarly, Zornado argues that every parent achieves this desire of complete dependence when they turn on The Wizard of Oz and press play. Zornado, in his "Swaddling the Child in Children's Literature argues that these children are not watching a fairytale, but rather a nightmare that inflicts emotional and physical trauma upon the child (105). Zornado explains that childrens literature of the nineteenth century, and consequently film based on childrens literature of the nineteenth century, was not written to appeal to children, but rather to teach them about [parental] ideas of pleasureexploring not what is alive in us but rather dead, buried, and forgotten (105). He concludes that this kind of storytelling makes the child go into a withdrawal of the parents love and attention, (105) empowering the parent. Zornado argues that this empowerment is the modern replacement of physical abuse in order to begin molding the child (106). He concludes that when parents make their kids watch The Wizard of OZ they achieve this empowerment. Parental empowerment is also a byproduct of theres no place like home, Dorothys expression that she is not upset because she has left the Technicolor fantasy Land of Oz; rather, she is excited to be back home, in her black and white world (Zornado 109). Undeniably sending children the message that although there is a difference between Oz and Kansas, every child should stay home with their mother (Zornado 109). Vibiana Bowman Cvetkoic takes this idea of theres no place like home and analyses maternal roles in her Theres No Place Like Home: Mothers, Daughters, and Domestic Spaces in 20th Century American Film. In this essay concerning maternal roles, Cvetkoic identifies that Auntie Em is

the distracted mother who fails to protect Dorothy (Cvetkoic 67). At this stage in her life, Dorothy, as Cvetkoic suggests, is on a search for identity (Cvetkoic 66) and therefore, needs protection, attention, and direction. However, Auntie Em lacks all three and thus, while on her search, Dorothy is in limbo between teenage girlhood and female adulthood. This state of uncertainty is modeled by her blue bobby socks and red high heels respectively. Ultimately, it seems that Dorothy chooses the blue bobby socks with Cvetkoics conclusion that Dorothys search for identity ends at home, because Dorothy realizes that she is willing to accept the limitations of home and hearth for the security that they provide (67). Dorothy, like nineteenth-century children who are read bed time stories in Zornados opinion, accepts the limitations of home and hearth (Cvetkoic 67) because shes scared of the Land of Oz. Dorothy is scared of unfamiliar territory. But just before the twister, when Dorothy ran away abandoning Auntie Em and her family, Dorothy did not seem so scared of unfamiliar territory. Dorothy was ready to leave Kansas and go with [Professor Marvel] and see all the Crowned Heads of Europe (Fleming). As Cvetkoic points out, this is the part of Dorothy searching for female adulthoodthe part of Dorothy that Auntie Em never wants to come to fruition. But Auntie Em must know that with age comes female adulthood and that as people grow up they become less reliant on those who were once closest to them. So, for a second, consider that Auntie Em, like all mothers, knows that her child will eventually not unconditionally love her like she once did. Consider now if Auntie Em could prolong, even stop, this process, would she? If she could, would Auntie Em try to keep Dorothy unconditionally attached to her forever, feeling her compassion and devotion every day? If this is Auntie Ems desire, and it is possible, then it would be hard to argue that she would not pursue it. Auntie Em is so commonly seen as the mother of Dorothy, but perhaps, she too, could be the creator of the

Land of Oz. Perhaps Dorothys imagination, hurt by Auntie Ems neglect, demands an escape to a fantasy worldthe Land of Oz. This fantasy world produces a scene in which Miss Gultch tries to take Toto from Dorthy creating a dichotomy between Auntie Em in the presence of Dorothy, as in Cvetkoics words, a distracted mother, and Auntie Em, in privacy, as a mother who loves her child and couldnt live without her. After Toto bites Miss Gulch when Dorothy brings him over to her garden, Miss Gulch forcefully states, in the presence of Auntie Em and Dorothy together, that Toto is a menace to the community and that she is taking him to the sheriff to make sure hes destroyed. While Dorothy is in the room, Auntie Em replies in a passive tone, Im afraid poor Toto will have to go, never once trying to defend Dorothy. Then Auntie Em determines his fate exclaiming Put [Toto] in the basket, Henry. Dorothy looks at Auntie Em as to say please, help but Auntie Em, as the distracted mother in public, refuses to say a word. But then, Dorothy runs out of the scene, and all of a sudden, the once distracted mother, stands up, clutches her fist, changes her passive tone to an aggressive tone, and exclaims that Miss Gulch does not have the power to run the rest of [them] and that she has been dying to tell [Miss Gulch] what [she] thought of [her.] Auntie Em stands up for Dorothy when Dorothy has left the room, but would it not have been more effective for Auntie Em to stand up to Miss Gulch in Dorothys presence? Would it not make her seem more loving, and caring to take Dorothys side in her presence? So why then, does Auntie Em wait until Dorothy leaves the room to show this loving side? It is hard not to think that Auntie Em wants Dorothy to feel alone. It seems like Auntie Em wants Dorothy to make the statement, Nobody cares about me at home. They wouldn't even miss me when she is talking to Professor Marvel about running away with him (Fleming). If Auntie Em wants

Dorothy to make this statement; if Auntie Em wants Dorothy to feel so abandoned that she tries to run-away then she must have good reason. Auntie Em is trying to satisfy her desire. Auntie Em realizes that nowwhen Dorothy is starting to explore the world and ask questionsis the perfect time to scare her back into the unconditionally loving child she once was. The child who held onto her mother because she was naturally scared of anything foreign that entered into her world. So then, it is evident, in the comparison between Auntie Ems public and private affection for Dorothy, that Auntie Em has a plan; that Auntie Em is not just the stereotypical maternal figure, but more than not, an incarcerator. If Auntie Em, by neglecting Dorothy in public, forces Dorothy to dream of a fantasy land, then why does Dorothy dream of the Land of Oz? As a dream, the Land of Oz is not the exact fairytale that would satisfy Dorothys youthful heart. The minor instances of this fairytale when Glinda, who Cvetkovic describes as the idealized mother, (67) pleases Dorothys youthful heart are overpowered by the major instances when the Wicked Witch of the West, who Cvetkovic describes as the devouring mother (67) taints, damages, and steals Dorothys youthful heart. But why would Dorothy, who is forced to dream of a fantasy land because of Auntie Ems neglect, include in her dream the evils and torture of the Wicked Witch of the West, the flying monkeys, and the like? More questions appear when considering the extent of detail in the dream as well; the detail is so significant that it seems almost impossible to believe that this is the first time Dorothy had this dreamor at least impossible to believe that this is the first time she has heard of this dream. From these questions, it seems that, like all dreams, Dorothy is not in complete control and that unlike Auntie Ems unintentional neglect; there is an intentional force at play. If Auntie Em truly wants Dorothy to stay unconditionally devoted to her forever, then would it not make sense that Auntie Em has intentionally told Dorothy of this dream before

in the hopes that one day she would dream it herself and be scared of life outside of Kansas? Imagine that Auntie Em could tell Dorothy the story of the Land of Oz when she is asleep at night, and place the dream in her unconscious, then, in the opinion of Zornado, Dorothy would suffer from emotional and physical trauma (105). Yet, there is no evidence that Auntie Em told Dorothy a story of the Land of Oz, but what about a lullaby? Is a lullaby not just a story with a melody? When Dorothy sings the most famous number in the film, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, she tells us of a land that I [Dorothy] heard of once in a lullaby (emphasis added) (Garland). A lullaby of the Land of Oz sang by Auntie Em. If Dorothy is true to her statement that she is not going to leave here [Kansas] ever, ever again, then Auntie Ems intentional and unintentional acts have succeeded in her mission to incarcerate her loved daughter. If Auntie Em is controlling Dorothys dream, in the literal sense, then it seems too, that Auntie Em, like all parents who incarcerate their children, is controlling Dorothys dreams (goals) in the metaphorical sense as well. Because if Dorothys dreams are controlled by Auntie Em and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true, (Garland) then it is Auntie Ems dreams coming true for Dorothy not Dorothys dreams coming true for Dorothy. Then, Auntie Emlike all parents that try to instill their dreams inside their children by living vicariously through theminhibits and forever limits the childs ability to find and discover their own somewhere over the rainbow (Garland).

Works Cited Cvetkovic, Vibiana B. "There's No Place Like Home: Mothers, Daughters, and Domestic Spaces in 20th Century American Film." Academinist. Google Scholar, Feb. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. <http://academinist.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/02/05_Cvetkovic_VBCMothers.pdf>. Garland, Judy. Over the Rainbow. Pickwick/33, [197. CD. The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming. By Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Alan Woolf, Herbert Stothart, E. Y. Harburg, Garland, Georgie Stoll, George Bassman, Murray Cutter, Bobby Connolly, Harold Rosson, Douglas Shearer, Arnold Gillespie, and Blanche Sewell. Prod. Mervyn LeRoy, Cedric Gibbons, William A. Horning, Edwin B. Willis, Adrian, and Jack Dawn. Perf. Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charles Grapewin, and Clara Blandick. Metro-GoldwynMayer Presents, 1939. DVD. Zornado, Joseph. "Swaddling the Child in Children's Literature." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 22.3 (1997): 105-12. Project Muse. John Hopkins University Press. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. <http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.babson.edu/journals/childrens_literature_association_qu arterly/v022/22.3.zornado.html>.