# Oz: Where does the RED brick road lead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875 "2004-12-20T22:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/41 "2004-12-22T00:16:41Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Of course, I keep wonder…why doesn’t the which just kill Dorthy instead of stupid half-assed measures? Someone wanna run down how many Evil Overlord rules the witch breaks? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/42 "2004-12-22T00:26:41Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Then again, they’re Munchkins. Maybe walking forty feet is like a marathon to them. You can’t be to hard on the Munchkins. They had been living under the tyranny of the Witch of the East, and one can certainly understand their trepidation towards leaving Munchkinland, even if to assist their liberator. After all, they had just witnessed a visitation by their former oppressor’s even more evil sister whom we all know did have power just outside of Munchkinland. Really, the problem figure seems to be Glinda, who is all to happy to wave a wand and promise Munchkin escort services, but won’t help out in more concrete and valuable ways. Why can’t she lead the girl and dog out of Munchkinland herself? (We can also assume that Munchkinland is in the East, and therefore the eastern terminus of both the Yellow and Red Brick Roads— and that Oz must have been either in the North or in the benign up-for-grabs South. Might some Baum expert comment on this…I’ve only seen the film.) ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/43 "2004-12-22T00:29:58Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > Oh come on guys. It’s one of those analogy problems. She takes a YELLOW road to a GREEN city, so… > > yellow : green :: red : \_\_\_\_\_\_ > > Remember that **green = yellow + blue** and that **purple = red + blue**. Hence, she’ll end up in a city where everything is purple. Purple purple purple. The implications of this are left as an exercise to the reader. This post has been \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ by the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_! (Whoa, check out the underlined underscore!) ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/44 "2004-12-22T00:30:12Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > It goes to the “hanging tree.” Don’t worry, Diogenes, I got your joke! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/45 "2004-12-22T00:45:24Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Someone wanna run down how many Evil Overlord rules the witch breaks? Hey, now, let’s not disrespect the lady with the flying monkees. I like the idea of not wanting to step off the path for fear of retribution… “Mustn’t step off path… munchkins will eat me… mustn’t step off path… munchkins will eat me…” Plus, it’d make a really short end number, particularly considering how close the border of Munchkinland is to the center of Munchkinland: “Follow the yellow brick road, follow the… oh, okay. Bye.” ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/46 "2004-12-22T00:50:46Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Trying to find sense out of _The Wizard of Oz_ is like trying to find a nudist at the North Pole. I mean, why didn’t Glinda simply tell Dorthy right at the start that knockin’ the ruby slippers would take her home? Glinda claims Dorthy wouldn’t believe her, but after having a tornado drop her in a land of Technicolor and being mobbed by weird short people, I’m sure Dorthy would have given the idea a try. I think it had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t ready to go home at that point just yet. She had to experience the mantra (there’s no place like home) firsthand before the magic words would work. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/47 "2004-12-22T01:15:17Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Later on, she locks Dorthy in her tower and says “Those shoes will never come off…as long as you are alive”. She also says she doesn’t want to wait much longer…so she takes out a rather cool hourglass and sets it, saying(in so many words) that she’ll kill dorthy once it runs out. Why not just kill her now and get it over with? What the hell else does she have to do? She have cookies in the oven or something? Ah, but she also says (paraphrasing), “These things have to be done delicately, or you risk hurting the spell [of the ruby slippers]”. So my guess is she had no freaking idea of how to get them off, and was (a) stalling for time (b) trying to scare Dorothy into taking them off of her own accord (i.e., at the end of the hour, WW sez: “Time’s up! Take off the slippers or die!” Dorothy: “OK! Here you go! Glinda may have said to keep them on, but it ain’t her neck on the line!” ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/48 "2004-12-22T01:31:23Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > I’m _ **chomp** _ suprised _ **crunch** _ that this post _ **chomp** _ hasn’t been \_\_\_\_ed _ **schlurp** _ by the \_\_\_\_ist _ **crunch** _ yet. This post has been munched by the Munchkin. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/49 "2004-12-22T01:33:30Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Trying to find sense out of _The Wizard of Oz_ is like trying to find a nudist at the North Pole. What, you’ve never heard of [The 300 Club?](http://astro.uchicago.edu/home/web/gd1/300club.html) (Warning: link not work-safe.) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/50 "2004-12-22T01:34:48Z")
Umm, **KGS,** the warning is appreciated, but last I checked, we aren’t supposed to post non-work-safe links, even with a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/51 "2004-12-22T01:52:12Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Glinda may have said to keep them on, but it ain’t her neck on the line!" Once again the supposed “good” witch of Quadling County isn’t as helpful as she might be. Then again, she tells Dorothy to keep them ruby slippers on cuz : “Their magic must be very powerful…” so it seems likely even she doesn’t know what the slippers are supposed to be able to do. I keep getting the impression Glinda’s some sort of “Chance the Gardener” who bumbled into the witch role and, while a gentle soul, is quite incompetent at the whole supernatural biz. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/52 "2004-12-22T02:21:22Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Once again the supposed “good” witch of Quadling County isn’t as helpful as she might be. Then again, she tells Dorothy to keep them ruby slippers on cuz : “Their magic must be very powerful…” so it seems likely even she doesn’t know what the slippers are supposed to be able to do. > > I keep getting the impression Glinda’s some sort of “Chance the Gardener” who bumbled into the witch role and, while a gentle soul, is quite incompetent at the whole supernatural biz. Haven’t seen or read _Wicked_, have you? _whispers_She’s…BLOND!_/whispers_ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/53 "2004-12-28T10:16:20Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > (We can also assume that Munchkinland is in the East, and therefore the eastern terminus of both the Yellow and Red Brick Roads— and that Oz must have been either in the North or in the benign up-for-grabs South. Might some Baum expert comment on this…I’ve only seen the film.) The Emerald City was in the center of the country. (See **obfusciatrist’s** quote about the four quadrants.) —I was under the impression that the hourglass was enchanted. When the sand ran out, Dorothy would fall down dead, or at least into a coma, if the slippers could be removed when she was unconcious. I daresay that the WWotW did know how the slippers worked, since they were East’s, and East and West were sisters. —Also, in the book, Glinda was the Witch of the **South**. Dorothy and pals didn’t meet her until long after the WWotW had been vanquished. (And I’m not sure her name was Glinda, if she even had one. Don’t have my copy to hand.) The Witch of the North did appear in Munchkinland, and served the same purpose as Glinda in that sequence, but didn’t appear again. —And is anyone else bothered by the inconsistency? Dorothy\* ran away because Toto escaped and came back to her, and she thought she would be arrested and Toto destroyed. She played along with Professor Marvel’s speculation that she had the wandering bug because it was easier and safer than admitting that she was running from the law. But later, she agrees with Glinda that she shouldn’t have “looked further than my own back yard” for excitement. Great, except that that wasn’t her purpose for leaving home! If there was a lesson to be learned, it was that you can’t run from trouble; it always follows. \*in the movie. In the book, Dorothy didn’t run away at all; the cyclone happened in the first chapter, and it was a simple matter of her falling down and not making it into the storm cellar. No real-world parallels to Oz; just a brief exposition that Kansas was gray and dull and boring. Who’d want to get back there so bad? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/54 "2004-12-28T14:51:30Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > \*in the movie. In the book, Dorothy didn’t run away at all; the cyclone happened in the first chapter, and it was a simple matter of her falling down and not making it into the storm cellar. No real-world parallels to Oz; just a brief exposition that Kansas was gray and dull and boring. Who’d want to get back there so bad? I don’t think Dorothy ever hated Kansas in the book. She was quite happy when the cyclone came and her only purpose was to get home to her family. And in the book, Glinda is named. The most surprising thing is how the Wicked Witch is such a minor character. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/55 "2004-12-28T19:43:20Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > And is anyone else bothered by the inconsistency? Dorothy\* ran away because Toto escaped and came back to her, and she thought she would be arrested and Toto destroyed. She played along with Professor Marvel’s speculation that she had the wandering bug because it was easier and safer than admitting that she was running from the law. But later, she agrees with Glinda that she shouldn’t have “looked further than my own back yard” for excitement. Great, except that that wasn’t her purpose for leaving home! If there was a lesson to be learned, it was that you can’t run from trouble; it always follows. With over a dozen writers, I’m surprised there isn’t _more_ inconsistency! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/56 "2004-12-28T20:06:40Z")
I read several of the Oz books as a young 'un, and I could’ve sworn that in one of the other books someone talks about the Red Brick Road that leads to Munchkinland. But for the life of me I can’t remember the context, and I may have dreamt it. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/57 "2004-12-28T20:23:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > With over a dozen writers, I’m surprised there isn’t _more_ inconsistency! But doesn’t all that happen in the first book? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/58 "2004-12-28T20:31:46Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > What the hell else does she have to do? She have cookies in the oven or something? I think she’s just trying to figure out how to attach frickin laser beams to the flying monkeys’ heads. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/59 "2004-12-28T21:09:18Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > You take the yellow road, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red road, you stay in wonderland. And, I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. If only they had used that in the movie. That would have opened a whole matrix of possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875/60 "2004-12-28T21:15:33Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > With over a dozen writers, I’m surprised there isn’t _more_ inconsistency! Assuming you’re serious, I meant the inconsistency within the movie. Or was the movie the product of more than a dozen **screen** writers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oz-where-does-the-red-brick-road-lead/280875.md?page=4)