The stories that we read were, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, and, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire. These stories shared common themes and situations. They are also both “American” classics that withstand the test of time.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is set to be during the 20th century, when the book was published. The beginning of the story is set in Kansas in the 1900s, but the rest of the book is set in Oz. The themes that are seen throughout this story are the importance of friendship, good and evil, and the value of a journey. These are the most important themes that are seen in the novel. The importance of friendship is seen in the story and is an important theme because…show more content… The author, Gregory Maguire, without doubt uses his imagination in showing a different side to Elphaba, who is not so wicked after all and is rebelling against a politically corrupted Wizard to restore peace and harmony to the land of Oz. The themes of this novel are good and evil, guilt and blame, and family. Good and evil is seen in the story as a symbol. We all think that the wicked witch of the west is a bad person from reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but when we read her perspective of the story; she isn’t that bad of a person after all. She is good, or tries to be good, but she was put on a spell that made her do those things that she did. The next theme was guilt and blame. Guilt and blame is seen in the novel when at one point Sarima tells Elphaba that her guilt is the only thing tethering her to the world. Sarima links together the ideas of guilt, life, and home and emphasizes the way in which guilt is more than just a private emotion in Wicked. Guilt, especially for Elphaba, is something almost real. It is at the core of her major relationships, it drives her actions, it largely defines who she is as a person, and it practically functions as a companion to her near the end of her life. Guilt is an almost physical trouble that Elphaba