The Inner Monologue

Everyone remembers the Wicked Witch of the West as the villain of The Wizard of Oz. But watch the 1939 movie again and consider a more unsettling possibility.

What if Glinda was the one manipulating everything?

When Dorothy arrives in Oz, she accidentally kills the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda immediately appears and places the dead witch’s powerful ruby slippers on Dorothy’s feet. She doesn’t explain what they can do. More importantly, she doesn’t tell Dorothy that those slippers can take her home.

Instead, she sends Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road.

Think about what Glinda has just done. She has placed the most desirable magical objects in Oz on the feet of a frightened young girl and sent her traveling through hostile territory. The Wicked Witch of the West now has an irresistible reason to pursue Dorothy.

Dorothy has effectively become bait.

Along the way, Dorothy recruits the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. By the time she reaches the Emerald City, the little girl from Kansas has unknowingly assembled a surprisingly capable team.

Then the Wizard gives them their mission: bring him the Wicked Witch’s broom.

In other words, eliminate the witch.

Dorothy doesn’t want to kill anyone, but Glinda’s chain of events eventually puts her inside the Wicked Witch’s castle. Dorothy throws water to save the Scarecrow and accidentally kills the witch.

Another rival is gone.

Dorothy returns to the Emerald City, where the supposedly great and powerful Wizard is exposed as an ordinary man hiding behind machinery. Soon afterward, he leaves Oz entirely.

Another rival is gone.

Only now does Glinda return and reveal something extraordinary.

Dorothy could have gone home all along.

The ruby slippers had possessed that power from the beginning.

So what has happened between Dorothy’s arrival and departure?

The Wicked Witch of the East is dead.

The Wicked Witch of the West is dead.

The Wizard has been exposed and removed.

Dorothy, the only person who might understand what happened, returns to Kansas.

And Glinda remains.

Better still, Dorothy’s friends—the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion—have been rewarded and elevated. The old power structure of Oz has effectively been replaced by people whose legitimacy comes from Dorothy’s adventure.

Glinda never raises an army.

She never storms a castle.

She never kills anyone.

She simply gives Dorothy a pair of shoes, points her toward the Emerald City and allows everyone else to eliminate one another.

Perhaps Glinda really is the Good Witch.

Or perhaps The Wizard of Oz is the story of the most successful coup in movie history.

Either way, when Dorothy clicks her heels and disappears back to Kansas, there is one undisputed winner left standing.

Glinda.