The Not So Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The “Wizard of Oz” is a movie based on the book by Frank Baum. The Land of Oz is not governed by the same rules and principles at those express in a Biblical world view. In Oz, the Wizard rules, but he is not like the God of our world. Unlike the Biblical view about the nature of man, which says that man is sinful and has choice, the Wizard of Oz shows man without any choice. Similarly, evil in the story does not reflect a biblical world view.

Contrary to the God of the Bible, the Wizard of Oz is neither infinite nor personal. Although in the beginning of the story the Wizard is inaccurately portrayed as great and wonderful, we find out later that he is not great or powerful, and he is just a man who acts great and helps no one. Hiding from the people of Oz, the Wizard does nothing without payment, and he does not keep his promises. The Wizard also cannot give Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, or the Lion what they need and tells them that they already have what they need.

In the Land of Oz, the nature of man is very different than what is the Biblical world view. For example, the Bible says that man is created in the image of God, and is special because of it. While in the Land of Oz, we find out the Scarecrow’s take on life by some of his song lyrics. “I would not be just a nothin,’ my head all full of stuffin’.” As you can see, the scarecrow measures his worth by his knowledge. Also, the biblical view says that man has choice about his actions. The Lion says that it’s his fate to be a sissy, which means he doesn’t get to decide whether he’s brave or not.

Suffering and evil are caused by the witch who lives in Oz. This is different from the biblical world view because she’s the only source of evil. But in the Bible it says that man’s choices also lead to suffering and evil. Therefore, in the movie, once the witch is dead, that means that all is good. There’s no requirement for a savior. In fact, the Wizard God is not the savior. Man is. In the end of the story, the witch is killed by Dorothy, who does it on her own strength.

In conclusion, the Wizard of Oz is the not the hero. The heroes are Dorothy and her friends. Overall, the movie portrays a world view that is not biblical. It has a very different view of God, of man, and of evil.

The Seemingly Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Somewhere over the rainbow lies a land with a wonderful wizard, where there are no troubles, and where all your dreams come true. Or so you thought. The movie “The Wizard of Oz,” based on the books, which were written by Frank Baum, was released in the late 1930s. If we carefully examine “The Wizard of Oz,” we will see that the wizard represents the god of Oz, although there are some differences between the wizard and our God. Presumably, Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion represent man. Throughout the movie, the despicable witch represents evil.

The god of Oz is the wizard, who is seemingly great and wonderful. Although the wizard is known as great, and Dorothy and her friends sing of “all the wonderful things he does” the wizard is later revealed to be a disappointing man--only a man. Absolutely different from our God, the wizard is not loving or infinite. Yelling at Dorothy and her friends in a deep commanding voice, the wizard has no compassion for the distance they’ve traveled, calls them degrading names, and forcefully tells them to “go away and come back tomorrow.” Because of his deep commanding voice, the wizard might be pictured to be an infinite, omniscient God, but his words betray him. Asking them what they want, he demonstrates that he isn’t all-knowing. He doesn’t know them either. When we look closely we can easily see that the wizard isn’t as great and wonderful as everyone thought.

In the land of Oz, man is represented by Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion. The Bible tells us that man is made in the image of God, which gives us worth and significance to him, but that isn’t clearly found in “The Wizard of Oz.” “I would not be just a nothin’ my head all full of stuffin’ my heart all full of pain.” Singing these words, the scarecrow tells us that he believes he is worth nothing because he believes he has no brains. Intelligence gives him value. When the tin man sings that he’s an empty kettle he shows that he believes he’s a piece of junk because he thinks he has no heart. Remarkably difficult to uncover, the view of choice in Oz is not always free will as in the Biblical world view. Fate affects the circumstance more than the individual actions of the character and when action is taken it is usually an accident. Blaming his cowardice on fate, the lion sings, “When you're born to be a sissy” and “a fate I don’t deserve.” When Dorothy kills the witches both times she whimpers, “Oh, I didn’t mean to.” Repeatedly she insists that Toto didn’t know what he was doing when he bit Ms. Gulch. Unlike the Biblical world view, “the Wizard of Oz” doesn’t consistently show a view of free will.

Representing evil in Oz, the witch correctly portrays evil, but the view of evil is tainted because of the imperfect misgivings of the wizard. Evil comes from another source, which is the witch, as well as the wizard. Because the wizard isn’t holy, this view doesn’t follow the Biblical world view which is that evil comes from another source outside of God. In the Bible, sin leads to pain suffering, and death, but only occasionally in Oz. Predictably, the witch dies in the end and “evil” is overthrown, but the wizard, when accused of being “ a very bad man” never repents as he isn’t “that bad.” He was “acceptable.” The view of evil is skewed because of the imperfection of the wizard.

Representing God in Oz, the wizard portrays a different kind of god than our God. Within the story, Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion represent man. The witch represents evil. The most significant thing about “The Wizard of Oz,” which is still an entertaining movie, is that it doesn’t follow the Biblical world view. Although, if you don’t study it closely you might not discover this.

Aslan's World

Extraordinarily magical, Narnia is filled with talking beasts and other creatures. While Aslan is king of Narnia, he also has some characteristics of God. Created by a god, Narnia's nature is very like our world. Narnia is affected by evil just as our world is because of man’s choice.

Being the perfect example of God, Aslan, who created Narnia, is also the God of that world. Fully loving, Aslan feels grief for Diggory in The Magician’s Nephew and gives his life for Edmund in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, just like Jesus gave his life for us. While having loving characteristics, Aslan is also omnipresent. He knew what happened in the world of Charn and what Charn had become. Aslan also says in the book the Dawn Treader that he is also the God of our world.

Similarly, Narnia and our world are created by a God and have seen and unseen portions. Being created, Narnia was not an accident, which means Aslan, the creator, is in control. During the White Witch’s rule, the animals still believe in Aslan even though Aslan isn’t visible, which shows great faith in the unseen. The deeper magic from the dawn of time also shows how the invisible things have great power.

In Narnia, the causes of evil and suffering are human choice and Queen Jadis. Waking Jadis up, Diggory had a choice, but he chose to do the wrong thing which eventually led to evil in Narnia. As in our world, humans have choice and so does Diggory.

Madly evil and violently cruel, Queen Jadis hates Narnia because she feels a greater power there (Aslan) than she possesses, which makes her even more insane and she runs off to the mountains. Queen Jadis becomes Queen of Narnia many years later and her rule ends with her death; she is killed by Aslan, who saves Narnia.

Narnia is a world existing alongside ours and also having meaningful sequences of events. Existing beside our world Narnia, is much different from our world. In one way Narnia has its own time. In Narnia some of the meaningful things are Diggory bringing Jadis to Narnia, which is how evil enters Narnia. Briefly, here are some meaningful things that happened in Narnia: Narnia was created, evil entered Narnia, Aslan died and was resurrected, the Golden Age, new Narnia. While Narnia has many similar events it is also a very different world than ours.

Obviously Narnia is very like our world with a god like ours, man having a nature like ours, and finally that free choice is the reason for evil. The most significant thing about Narnia is Aslan and how holy and mighty he is.

Jack's Imagination and the World of Narnia

Who was the first to enter Narnia? Some might say Lucy or some might say Polly and Diggory, but the first to enter Narnia was C.S. Leiws. Born in 1898, C.S. grew up in Ireland. As a child, Lewis already had an exceedingly extraordinary imagination. Probably the books that he’s most famous for writing, The Chronicles of Narnia, soared to the top book sales in the 1950’s. When C.S. Lewis was an older man, he fell in love with Joy Gresham, who was also a writer.

In 1898 on November 29 the writer, Clives Staples Lewis was born on outskirts of Belfast, Ireland. His family consisted of his father, Alfred Lewis, his mother, Flora Hamilton Lewis, and his older brother, Warren Lewis. Assuredly deciding, when he was four that his name didn’t suit him, Clives changed his name to Jack. Growing up, Jack was always incredibly close to his older brother, although his brother was three years older than him. They were best friends. When Jack was young he didn’t go to school but was taught at home by a tutor until he was nine years old. Unlike most young boys, they enjoyed using their exceedingly grand imaginations to write stories and draw pictures to accompany them. They created their own medieval world called animal land. Using these characters, Jack also wrote a three act play. As a young Irish boy, Jack was a unique and passionate writer already.

Imagining a snowy wood, Jack pictured a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels. Suddenly appearing to Jack, this image would form into the brilliant story known as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When Jack wrote The Chronicles of Narnia he said that if no one else would write the sort of books he wanted to read, then he would write them himself. In 1950 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was published. Immediately, the book soared to the top sales along side The Lord of the Rings, which was written by his friend J.R.R. Tolkien. After writing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Jack went on to write the other books which are The Horse and his Boy, Prince Caspian, The Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Last Battle, and The Magician’s Nephew, which completed the series. It took him years to write all seven books. Children especially loved Jack’s books, and he received many letters from children about them. He always replied. Welcoming thousands to Narnia, the faun is the first character readers meet in Narnia when they open the book and escape there.

Jack met Joy Gresham, who was an intelligent and witty woman and also a writer, when she asked him to lunch after corresponding about Jack’s books in 1950. Finding her to be engaging, Jack invited Joy and her two sons, David and Douglas, to come stay at the Kilns for Christmas. Unfortunately, Joy’s marriage was wavering, and her husband was demanding a divorce, so Joy took her boys to live in London shortly after Christmas. When Joy, David, and Douglas moved to London, Joy struggled financially. Jack helped fill this need. Throughout this time Jack and Joy maintained a strong friendship until 1956 when the government refused to renew Joy’s permit to live in England unless she married a British citizen. Jack married her so she could stay but they regarded the marriage as a practical arrangement. Falling ill to cancer, Joy was extremely weak and had to fight hard for her life. When Jack heard this, he revealed his feelings for her and insisted on a real Christian wedding. This took place in 1957. Steadily Joy began to recover and the next years were “filled with Joy” and Jack was completely in love. Before long, her cancer returned and Joy’s health quickly deteriorated. On July 13, 1960 Joy passed away with Jack at her side. Joy’s son, Douglas Gresham, wrote later, “There were never two people alive in the history of the world who were more in love than Jack and Joy.” Belonging together, these two writers, Jack and Joy, Connected spiritually and shared many loves.

Creating Narnia as a middle aged man, C.S. Lewis was still a child at heart. If there was ever a child with an excessively wild imagination, it was Jack, who used it to write stories of other worlds. Jack loved to create magical worlds. After years of friendship with Joy Gresham , he married her 1957. The most significant thing about Jack was that knew how to use his imagination and he shared it with people through his stories.

A Story of Rescue

The talking animals, the green forests, and the roaring Lion are bits and pieces of the beautiful land of Narnia where everything is more colorful, more lovely, and more exciting. Ruled by the Lion, Aslan, Narnia is a world were animals talk, Kings and Queens rule, and magical things happen. But Narnia also isn’t too different from our world in some ways. Narnia was created by a God, sin entered by another source, and history has purpose.

In Narnia, Aslan, the great magnificent Lion, is God. Singing Narnia into life, Aslan is the creator of Narnia, as God is the creator of our world. When the Lion sings, lights appear, the earth is covered in growing things, and animals appear from humps in the ground. “Narnia. Narnia. Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters,” Aslan says. Aslan is omnipotent. Aslan always forgives wrongs, even the worst wrongs. Although Aslan always forgives, he is a holy perfect God and firmly wants justice, and believes that all wrongs must be righted. Sacrificing himself in the place of the traitor, Edmund, Aslan dies as the perfect offering, but rises again because he had done no wrong. Aslan, who is perfect and holy, laughs, cries, and talks with his creation. He is all-powerful and personal.

Like the Biblical view of our world, the nature of Narnia is that it was created by God and it has a seen and unseen portion. Created by Aslan, Narnia is intricately designed and didn’t pop into being by chance. God made it. “Thus, with an unspeakable thrill, she [Polly] felt certain that all the things were coming (as she said) ‘out of the Lion’s head.’” There is and unseen portion too. Sadly, some in Narnia can’t see Aslan or hear his voice because they are too focused on unimportant things or because they choose not to. “The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in the Lion’s song. Soon he couldn’t have heard anything else even if he had wanted to.” The nature of the Narnian world, which follows the Biblical word view, is that it is created by God and that there is a seen and unseen portion.

The cause of evil and suffering in Narnia is the free choice of individuals and is from an outside source. Evil doesn’t come from Aslan. In Narnia, all are given free will and aren’t the slaves of Aslan, but are his friends. Absolutely different from Narnia, the ancient city of Charn is where Diggory wrongly rang the bell, which caused evil queen Jadis, to awake and escape to Narnia. Although evil found its way into Narnia it was because of a wrong choice from another source, and not because of Aslan, who is holy and perfect.

Throughout the lives of the people of Narnia, Aslan is involved, weaving in and out of the circumstances and developing his plan through them. Proudly parading through the streets of Tashbaan, the so called “great” royalties notice only their own riches, wealth, and power, which is all they value. Although not immediately apparent to many, there are things of importance that don’t fit into the category of the flashiest fashion or the newest gossip in Tashbaan. Aslan, King of All, is right before them, nudging his plan along, but they pay as much attention to him as if he were in another dimension. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). There is a meaningful sequence of events in Narnia. Pushing Shasta to shore when he was baby, Aslan saved his life so that years later he could save Anvard. Aslan has a plan. In Narnia the sequence of events is significant even outside Aslan’s plan. Because Diggory rang the bell in Charn, the witch woke and escaped to Narnia, which eventually led to Aslan sacrificing his life. Similar to the Bible, in Narnia there is another world adjacent to ours, which is Aslan, and the sequence of events is relevant.

When Aslan, who is the God of Narnia, created Narnia, it was completely perfect because Aslan is perfect. Tragically, sin contaminates Narnia because of another’s choice in another place. Because history has meaning, this choice leads to Narnia becoming a desolate place for years to come. The reason this story is most beautiful is that it’s our story, the story of our loving God rescuing us because we couldn’t rescue ourselves.

A Determined Nurse

Extremely intelligent, extraordinarily brave, and exceedingly committed, Clara Barton, who was called the angel of the battle field, became the sign of hope for the soldiers of the Civil War. Living in Oxford Massachusetts, Clara was born into a large family in the middle of the eighteen- hundreds. While growing up in a typical farm family, she did not do typical things for a young girl of that time. Despite the dangers, Clara Barton founded the first Red Cross in America to help people in need of supplies and medical assistance, when they needed it most.

Clara Barton was born the youngest child of seven on December 25, 1821. Relatively small for her age, Clara was exceedingly shy, while still possessing great courage. Until she was fifteen years old, when she started teaching, she was educated at home. Clara was a tomboy. When Clara was young, she disobeyed her father by going ice skating, which was a very unladylike activity at the time, and fell and hurt her knee badly. Staying in bed for many weeks, Clara learned what a wounded person felt like. After Clara’s brother David was in a serious accident, she took care of him night and day, although she was only eleven. Clara Barton’s father had once been a soldier, and he told her stories of the battles he’d fought, which instilled an interest in Clara about military affairs. Although Clara Barton was shy, small, and the youngest of seven, she had a great passion for nursing even as a child.

When Clara Barton was in her teens, she had a great interest in becoming a nurse, although this was an uncommon profession for women. After teaching for many years, she resigned, but was appointed to be a clerk in the Patent Office in 1854. Single-handedly, when the Civil War broke out, she distributed supplies and organized supply depots, facilities to recover soldiers’ baggage which had been lost. Clara also set up a bureau to search for missing men in 1865 at the request of President Lincoln. Helping in dangerous areas, Clara Barton often courageously served near the line of fire. She was a fearless leader. Clara traveled with the army the rest of the Civil War. Nursing in harsh conditions for years, Clara Barton is now known for her courage, endurance, and resourcefulness. Thankfully, Clara Barton followed her dream of being a nurse because many would have suffered without her.

Truly, the Red Cross was an important part of Clara Barton’s life. When the German-Franco War broke out, Clara helped by distributing relief supplies. In Europe she was associated with the Red Cross. Handing out brochures and giving speeches. Clara started the Red Cross in America in 1881. Clara Barton wrote an amendment to the Red Cross, which is not only for relief in time of war, but also for famines, floods, earthquakes, cyclones, and pestilence. She was extremely dedicated. Clara Barton resigned from her position in the Red Cross in 1904 when she was eighty-two years old.

Tolkien's Magic

Since he was born, J.R.R. Tolkien had a hard childhood where many terrible things happened. Living at Oxford University years later ultimately led to his friendship with C.S. Lewis. Unexpectedly bright, J.R.R. Tolkien started his life’s work, The Lord of the Rings. When Tolkien died, his books sold quicker than he could have imagined.

On January 3, 1892, a sickly baby named John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was born to Arthur and Mabel Tolkien. Growing up to be a small, pale child, Tolkien loved stories about dragons. Arthur Tolkien died of acute peritonitis in February of 1896 and young Tolkien’s mother followed in 1904, dying from diabetes. Before his mother died, Tolkien was enrolled at King Edwards School. Quickly finding a love for poetry there, he began to write at once. Also, while he was there he studied languages.

In 1926 J.R.R. Tolkien met C.S Lewis at Oxford University. Becoming friends, they both were mesmerized by Norse mythology, and they would spend many nights staying up terribly late. While they were close friends, they were both great writers. However, J.R.R. Tolkien could not stand his friend Lewis’s books simply because of the non-subtlety of the allegory and symbols.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Starting with these words, Tolkien brilliantly wrote The Hobbit. Happily, Tolkien wrote in a letter that in many ways he was much like a hobbit: “I am in fact a hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unnmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and I like good plain food, but detest French cooking; I like and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field), I have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome), I go to bed late and get up late (whenever possible). I do not travel much.” The Hobbit, which was published on September 21 of 1937, was such a big hit that it sold out by Christmas! While the book The Hobbit was still new, Tolkien decided to write a sequel. J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings followed many years later on October 20, 1955. J.R.R. Tolkien was later nominated Author of the Century

Although he had a rough childhood, J.R.R. Tolkien loved fairytales, which became his reason for writing myths and legends. C.S. Lewis also shared the love for stories with magic, and they were close friends because of it. Writing the brilliant trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien became famous. Author of the Century, Tolkien’s legends still survive today.

Clara Barton: American Patriot

Remarkably intelligent, resolutely brave, and readily committed, Clara Barton, the angel of the battlefield, became a heroine for girls. Born on Christmas in Oxford, Massachusetts, she grew up in a large family. While growing up in a typical farm family, she was bright and hard working. In the Civil War, Clara Barton helped fallen soldiers in some very interesting places on the battlefield. She also started the Red Cross in America after the war, which became her life’s work.

While being youngest of seven children, Clara Barton was also shy and small. Living on a farm, Clara was home schooled. Happily, she delighted in animals like her pet turkey. Suddenly her brother David got smallpox when she was eleven, which was very serious, and made her aware of suffering. Clara once told her father she was going skating, and he told her that where she was going was not appropriate for young women, but she deliberately disobeyed him and skated anyway. While she was skating, she fell and hurt her knee. She didn’t tell her father, but her knee became infected, and she had to admit what she had done. But she resolved from that point on that she would help the hurt. For being smallest and youngest of seven children, Clara had a big future waiting for her.

During the Civil War, food and supplies were scarce, which meant the American troops were starving on the battlefield. Determinedly, Clara Barton bravely distributed supplied to those in need. While the war was raging, the president requested that Clara find many missing men. Clara became superintendent of nurses as she worked continuously near the front lines of the battlefield. During the war she also suffered from nervous exhaustion from strenuous work.

After the war, Clara departed for Europe to study the Red Cross action. When Clara finally came back to America, she treated many sick and started the famous American Red Cross. Working as president of the Red Cross for twenty-three years, Clara, who decided it was long enough, resigned her position. Actually, the Red Cross still exists today because of Clara Barton.

Growing up in a large family, Clara Barton helped with sick siblings which ultimately led to her love for being a nurse. Determinedly working on the battle field during war, Clara Barton was resolute in her job. While helping sick during the Civil War, she also started the Red Cross in America, which she gave her life to. Americans remember Clara Barton for her patriotism and founding the Red Cross.