The Patchwork Girl of Oz is a very enjoyable book. After reading it, it
is one of my favorite. We are introduced to Scraps, the Patchwork
Girl, Ojo the Unlucky, his Unc Nunkie, and the Woozy. We are
reintroduced to Dr. Pipt (who made the powder of life,) and we meet his
wife Margolotte. Much of this book talks about luck.
Margolotte: The more one knows, the luckier he is, for knowledge is the greatest gift of live.
Patchwork Girl: No one can be unlucky who has the intelligence to
direct his own actions. The unlucky ones are those who beg for a chance
to think
The plot involves a visit by Ojo and Unc Nunkie to the home of Dr Pipt
and Margolotte because they have run out of food and are on their way to
the Emerald City. While there, Dr. Pipt brings the Patchwork Girl to
life to be a servant to his wife. They had different powders for her
brains, and wanted to only give obedience and others needed to be a good
servant. However, Ojo fearing she was being short changed, but all the
different characteristics in. However there is an accident, and a
marble powder spills on Margolette and Unc Nunkie. They are frozen. In
the meantime the rest of the powder of life spilled on a phonograph
bringing it to life. It is no one's friend as it keeps playing the same
music over and over. Ojo is sent on a mission to get the charms for a
restoring spell, three hairs from a Woozy's tail, water from a dark
well, a six-leaf clover, a drop of oil from a living man and the leaf of
a yellow butterfly. There is an ingredient I knew the could not get,
but the adventure is fun all the same. There are three travelers, Ojo,
the Patchwork Girl, and the glass cat. They meet a wise donkey and a
foolish owl:
The wise donkey: Advice doesn’t cost anything—unless you follow it.
The foolish owl: It’s hard to be a glassy cat—
No cat can be more hard than that;
She’s so transparent, every act
Is clear to us, and that’s a fact.
They find the Woozy, but can't get hairs out of his tail, so he joins the group. They next meet the Shaggy man.
Shaggy Man: I never criticize my friends. If they are really true friends, they may be anything they like, for all of me.
Shaggy Man’s song tells us all of Oz:
I’ll sing a song of Ozland, where wondrous creatures dwell
And fruits and flowers and ,bowers abound in every dell,
Where magic is a science and where no one shows surprise
If some amazing thing takes place before his very eyes.
Our Ruler’s a bewitching girl whom fairies love to please;
She’s always kept her magic scepter to enforce decrees
To make her people happy, for her heart is kind and true
And to aid the needy and distressed is what she longs to do.
And then there’s Princess Dorothy, as sweet as any rose,
A lass from Kansas, where they don’t grow fairies, I suppose;
And then there’s the brainy Scarecrow, with a body stuffed with straw,
Who utters words of wisdom rare that fill us all with awe.
I’ll not forget Nick Chopper, the Woodman made of tin,
Whose tender heart thinks killing time is quite a dreadful sin.
Nor old Professor Woggle-Bug, who’s highly magnified
And looks so big to everyone that he is filled with pride.
Jack Pumpkinhead’s a dear old chum who might be called a chump,
But won renown by riding around upon a magic Gump;
The saw-horse is a splendid steed and though he’s made of wood
He does so many thrilling stunts as any meat horse could.
And now I’ll introduce a beast that ev’ryone adores—
The Cowardly Lion shakes with fear ‘most ev’ry time he roars,
And yet he does the bravest things that any lion might,
Because he knows that cowardice is not considered right.
There’s a Tik-Tok—he’s a clockwork man and quite a funny sight—
He talks and walks mechanically, when he’s wound up tight;
And we’ve a Hungry Tiger who would babies love to eat
But never does because we feed him other kinds of meat.
It’s hard to name all of the freaks this noble Land’s acquired;
‘Twould make my song so very long that you would soon be tired;
But give attention while I mention on wise Yellow Hen
And Nine fine tiny Piglets living in a golden pen.
Just search the whole world over—sail the seas from coast to coast—
No other nation in creation queerer folk can boast;
And now our rare museum will include a Cat of Glass,
A Woozy, and—last but not least—a crazy Patchwork Lass.
The come upon a wall across their trail, but are able to walk through it walking backwards.
Shaggy
Man: That wall is what is called an optical illusion. It is quite
real while you have your eyes open, but if you are not looking at it the
barrier doesn’t exist at all. It’s the same way with many other evils
in life; they seem to exist, and yet it’s all seeming and not true.
They happen upon the Scarecrow, who takes a fancy to the Patchwork Girl.
Scarecrow’s song:
Here’s to the hale old bale of straw
That’s cut from the waving grain,
The sweetest sight man ever saw
In forest, dell or plain.
It fills me with a crinkling joy
A straw-stack to behold,
For then I pad this lucky boy
With strands of yellow gold.
Ojo breaks the law, picking a six-leaf clover without permission. He meats the jailkeeper who explains their method of reform.
Jailkeeper:
We consider a prisoner unfortunate. He is unfortunate in two
ways—because he has done something wrong and because he is deprived of
his liberty. Therefore we should treat him kindly, because of his
misfortune, for otherwise he would become hard and bitter and would not
be sorry he had done wrong. Ozma thinks that one who has committed a
fault did so because he was not strong and brave; therefore she puts him
in prison to make him strong and brave. When that is accomplished he
is no longer a prisoner, but a good and loyal citizen and everyone is
glad that he is now strong enough to resist doing wrong. You see, it is
kindness that makes one strong and brave; and so we are kind to our
prisoners.
A funny bit is the Scarecrow and his ear. The paint is falling off, and consequently he has some hearing issues.
Scarecrow:
Jinjur did a neat job, didn’t she? And my hearing is now perfect.
Isn’t it wonderful what a little paint will do, if it’s properly
applied?
The narrator offers some advise about friendships.
The
little band of friends Ozma had gathered around her was so quaintly
assorted that much care must be exercised to avoid hurting their
feelings or making any one of them unhappy. It was this considerate
kindness that held them close friends and enabled them to enjoy one
another’s society.
In their attempt to find a dark well, they go
underground and find the Horners (Horn on their forehead) and the
Hoppers (one leg). They are at war because of a Horner joke about their
having more understanding, referring to their having two legs instead
of one. To advert the war, the joke teller explains the joke. The
Hoppers still think it is a stupid joke, but Dorothy (who joined the
party) convinces them to pretend they understand to avoid any
contention.
After getting the next to last item, oil from the
Tinman's elbow, Ojo is rejected in his desire to get the wing of a
yellow butterfly. The Tinman says he would not consent to a butterfly
being tortured. All yellow bitterflies come from the Land of the
Winkies where the Tinman is emperor. This leads to this important
interchange,Tinman and Ojo:
Ojo: I’m Ojo the Unlucky. I might have known I would fail in anything I tried to do.
Tinman: Why are you Ojo the Unlucky?
Ojo: Because I was born on a Friday.
Tinman:
Friday is not unlucky. It’s just one of seven days. Do you suppose
all the world becomes unlucky one-seventh of the time?
Ojo: It was the thirteenth day of the month.
Tinman:
Thirteen! Ah, that is indeed a lucky number. All my good luck seems
to happen on the thirteenth. I suppose most people never notice the
good luck that comes to them with the number 13, and yet if the least
bit of bad luck falls on that day, they blame it to the number, and not
the proper cause.
Ojo: But I’m left-handed.
Tinman: Many of our
greatest men are that way. To be left-handed is usually to be
two-handed; the right-handed people are usually one-handed.
Ojo: And I’ve a wart under my right arm.
Tinman: How lucky! If it were on the end of your nose it might be unlucky, but under you arm it is luckily out of the way.
Ojo: For all those reasons I have been called Ojo the Unlucky.
Tinman:
Then we must turn over a new leaf and call you henceforth Ojo the
Lucky. Every reason you have given is absurd. But I have noticed that
those who continually dread ill luck and fear it will overtake them,
have no time to take advantage of any good fortune that comes their
way. Make up your mind to be Ojo the Lucky.
There are greater powers in Oz than that of Dr. Pipt. And in the end, Ojo the Lucky is reinforced.
.JPG)
