Dorothy

Let us now view Dorothy and the world of Oz from a Jungian viewpoint. Dorothy is an orphan living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a farm in Kansas, U.S.A. She lives in a dull, conservative world where her role is that of a child who has not really begun to discover herself. Suddenly, a cyclone takes her in her farmhouse to a new and strange world where she lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, perhaps a shadow figure symbolizing elements of her unconscious that Dorothy does not accept, and kills her.

She has arrived in Oz, the world of the unconscious. A group of dwarf-like creatures greet her with much joy and reverie, but Dorothy does not join in. She is bewildered by the strange occurrences and says she wants to go back to Kansas, her former state of consciousness. She has begun her search for individuation and is already ambivalent. The Good Witch of the North appears and encourages her to begin her search for self-discovery through the guise of seeking Emerald City and the Wizard who resides there. She takes the ruby shoes of the dead witch, and, with the encouragement of the Good Witch but the curses of a new shadow figure - the Wicked Witch of the West, she begins to follow the yellow brick road that will lead to the Wizard and individuation. The reappearance of a shadow in the second witch seems to symbolize the continual presence of the personal unconscious. Thus she leaves the immature childish dwarfs behind as she begins her search for self-understanding.

As Dorothy follows the yellow brick road, she encounters three figures that lack important functions, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. These characters can be viewed as animus figures, as the functions of Dorothy herself, or as other immature individuals seeking individuation. The Scarecrow is encountered by Dorothy hung on a stick in a cornfield. His lack of a brain symbolizes absence of the thinking function, thus he behaves foolishly. The Tin Woodman first appears rusted so badly that he can not move. Dorothy oils him only to discover that this creature is also incomplete -- he lacks a heart or the feeling function. The Cowardly Lion first menaces the threesome, but cannot face the reality of a counterattack. He lacks courage or the sensation function -- he cannot face the present. Perhaps Dorothy’s lack is the fourth function, intuition, because she does not have the foresight to see how to achieve her goal of getting back to Kansas or leaving the unconscious world of Oz for the conscious world of Kansas. Dorothy convinces all three to join her in her journey to seek the help of the Wizard.

As this foursome progresses toward the Wizard each seeking that which he lacks, through one another they slowly begin to discover that their weak functions are present but need further development. For as many adventures occur, the Cowardly Lion shows courage, the Tin Woodman feeling, the Scarecrow thinking. Dorothy even begins to show intuition by her dogged determination to see the Wizard as a helper for all.