Enhancing Character Development Through Dialogue

Have you ever watched an old science fiction movie from the 1950s? I remember watching those as a kid and being bugged by how they would start the movie with several minutes of narration explaining what was going on before the action actually started. That was so dull! I would listen to it and wonder why they didn’t just have the actors talk to one another about what was going on. That would have been much more interesting.

Advancing the Plot with Conversational Clues

Dialogue should be used to guide us through a story. It moves the plot forward.

Through dialogue, good writers place hints, foreshadowing, and subtle revelations that pique the reader’s curiosity, keeping them engaged.

Good stories, and I mean all good stories, are based on conversations and interactions between the characters in the stories. Consider L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Most of the action is driven by conversations between Dorothy and the people she meets.

Dorothy and the Good Witch of the North:  “Oh what shall I ever do? How will I get home?” The Good Witch tells her to see the great Wizard and off she goes down the yellow brick road.

Dorothy and the Scarecrow:  “I wish there was some way to get out of this cornfield.” This leads to a charming conversation during which Dorothy suggests he go with her to see the Wizard to get a brain.

Dorothy and the Tin Woodman: “Get an oil can!” This is followed by the story of how he came to be made of tin and how he lost his heart in the process. Dorothy invites him along to see the Wizard too.

Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion:  “Don’t you dare bite Toto! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You’re nothing but a big coward.” This leads to the Lion’s confession of his own cowardice. True to her kindly nature, Dorothy invites the Lion along as well.

And on and on.

Making us care

In these conversations, we see Dorothy revealed as kind, caring, and self-sacrificing. As the story progresses, we find that she is more concerned about her friends getting their wishes granted than she is about taking care of her own needs.

That’s why we love her!

We would rather hear the characters in a book talk about a problem than read a narrative describing the problem. It’s much more interesting that way and we develop an affinity with the characters, even though they don’t really exist. Dialogue doesn’t just give us information; it gives us a feel for the character and makes us care about them.

Balancing Dialogue and Narrative for Effective Storytelling

Of course, you’ve got to have some narrative as well. Like a graceful dance, storytelling demands a harmonious balance between dialogue and narrative, each complementing the other and never stepping on each other’s toes. Mr. Baum understood when to allow the characters to speak, their voices carrying the story forward, and when to describe the action from the narrator’s perspective.

In L. Frank Baum’s original Wizard of Oz series of books, the Gnomes (spelled “Nomes” by Mr. Baum) are a nasty breed of creatures who live to the east of the Land of Oz, across the Poisonous Desert. This places them opposite of Munchkin Land, former home of the Wicked Witch of the East. The Gnomes first appear in the third book of the original series, “Ozma of Oz” (1907).

One of their more peculiar traits is their absolute immortality. It is almost impossible to kill them, except for touching them with the inside part of an egg. Very weird, that. Now mind you, we never actually see a Gnome hit with an egg so we can’t prove it would kill them. Nevertheless, the narrator assures us this is a fact.

Understanding Immortality in Baum’s Oz

The hope of immortality has fascinated philosophers, religionists, storytellers, and story readers for centuries. In the Land of Oz, immortality takes on some unique features that don’t normally appear in our thinking about the subject.  For example, in the sixth book of Mr. Baum’s series, “The Emerald City of Oz,” we see an officer in the Gnome Army, sentenced to “death” by his King Roquat for refusing to obey orders. Roquat has the soldier sliced into thin pieces with a very sharp knife. However, each piece of the poor fellow remains alive. Next, Roquat has the pieces fed to a pack of ravenous seven-headed dogs. We are given no word as to whether the soldier ever actually dies. Personally, I can’t quite wrap my head around that one.

The Dark Side of Living Forever

The Reverend Billy Graham once said, “Eternal death lasts just as long as eternal life.” What Billy meant was that people either go to a terrible hell forever or they go to a blessed heaven forever, depending on the choices they make about Jesus Christ in this life. The Gnome sliced up and fed to the dogs might have an interesting perspective on that, don’t you think?

The Gnome King’s Eternal Reign?

At the heart of the Gnome Kingdom lies the Gnome King, Roquat. He may be immortal, but his reign is not necessarily eternal. The Gnome world is in a constant state of turmoil because of their obnoxious, greedy, selfish nature. In my new book, “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” we see a Gnome Chieftain by the name of Rockpounder, working on a plan to overthrow his king. Read the book and discover how this works out for him.

Conclusion

The Gnomes give us a lens through which we can look at some of the trickier aspects of immortality. Their eternal existence serves as a metaphor for the human condition, a reflection of our desires to transcend mortality’s limitations.

America’s Gilded Age

L. Frank Baum’s original story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (1900) is set in the heart of America’s “Gilded Age” (1870-1910). The Industrial Revolution had given rise to a new wealthy class of people with names like Vanderbilt, Morgan, Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller. Massive fortunes were made very quickly and spent on lavish lifestyles.

Symbolism in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Mr. Baum’s story about a little girl and her friends is more than just a charming fairytale. Many see it as an allegory of American life in the late 19^th century.  Consider the following:

Dorothy: This innocent little girl is pulled out of her mundane Kansas farm life. She represents average Americans, just trying to get by in life. She is kind, hard-working, uncomplaining, brave, and determined. She puts most of us modern day Americans to shame.

The Scarecrow: This fellow symbolizes the struggling farmers of the Midwest who were looked down upon by the more educated Easterners. He is a real country bumpkin. In the book, he describes himself as brainless, but throughout the book he demonstrates common sense and cleverness as he helps Dorothy along the way. The Scarecrow embodies the resilience and resourcefulness of the American farmer.

The Tin Woodman:  The man of tin represents mistreated factory workers who are victims of the Industrial Revolution. He is neglected and has been left to rust with no one to care for him. As American industry treats workers as soulless automatons, so the Tin Woodman declares he has no heart. However, in the story, we see him as even more tender-hearted than Dorothy, worried that he might step on a bug.

The Cowardly Lion:  The Lion represents politicians who roar boldly and bravely but are as timid as mice. They strut about trying to impress others with their power but are, in reality, ineffectual and disappointing. Under Dorothy’s influence, even this hopeless coward begins to show signs of true courage.

The Gilded Age in Oz: A Reflection of American Society

Baum’s story is a mirror held up to the Gilded Age, reflecting the stark contrasts and inequalities that plagued American society in the late 1890s.

The Emerald City’s opulence starkly contrasts the humble existence of the Munchkins, and Dorothy herself. It is a moving commentary on the widening gap between the wealthy elite and the struggling masses.

The triumph of the American Spirit.

Through his charming characters, Mr. Baum develops a delightful story that exposes some of the flaws of American society. More importantly, the book is about the triumph of the American Spirit over adversity. This is not a story about a pathetic little girl wallowing in her own despair waiting for someone to help her. Dorothy faces her problems head on and overcomes them through grit and determination, all the while maintaining her kindly, humble nature.

L. Frank Baum wrote a total of fourteen Oz books, starting with “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (1900) and ending with “Glinda of Oz” (1920), this last book being published posthumously a year after he died. Few people know that Mr. Baum actually intended to finish his Oz series with his sixth book, “The Emerald City of Oz” (1910). In this book, Dorothy brings her Uncle Henry and Auntie Em to live permanently in Oz. If you think about it, this is a very nice wrap-up to the series.

Stuck in an Ozian rut

In his writing career, Mr. Baum tried repeatedly to escape the Land of Oz. In fact, he wrote forty-one other fantasy novels not related to Oz, none of which succeeded very well. His fans simply were not interested. They wanted to hear more about Dorothy, the Wizard, Glinda, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the host of other intriguing characters he created for the Land of Oz.

Personally, I don’t know why he was not content to dwell in Oz. His other works are written in the same style, with similar characters, and with similar plots. For example, he wrote “The Enchanted Island of Yew” in 1904, in an attempt to branch out in a new direction. Here is a brief description of that novel.

The Island of Yew is, obviously, surrounded by water which isolates it from the rest of the world. In like manner, the Land of Oz is isolated from the rest of the world by a poisonous desert. The Island of Yew is round and is divided into four magical kingdoms (north, south, east, and west) with a fifth, and most powerful, magical kingdom in the center. The Land of Oz is divided into four magical kingdoms (north, south, east, and west) with the Emerald City in the center.

The plot of “The Enchanted Island of Yew” centers on a fairy princess who transforms herself into a human prince. He travels about the island having adventures with no very clear purpose in mind. This reminds us of Mr. Baum’s second novel “The Marvelous Land of Oz” which features a fairy princess who has been transformed into a boy named Tip who wanders around the Land of Oz with no very clear purpose in mind.

One more thing: “The Enchanted Island of Yew” features a phony magician hiding in his castle pretending to be a great and powerful wizard. Sound familiar?

Conclusion

I would highly recommend you take a look at some of L. Frank Baum’s other works. You can still get many of them as inexpensive reprints. These lesser known stories can provide interesting insights into what is going on in the original Wizard of Oz series.