The Discovery of Oz the Terrible

The Discovery of Oz the Terrible is the story's central unmasking, the moment when the elaborate edifice of the Wizard's power collapses and the travelers learn that the being they have journeyed so far to see is nothing more than a ventriloquist and balloonist from Omaha who has been fooling the entire Land of Oz for decades. The scene transforms the quest from a search for external magic into a reckoning with the nature of authority, belief, and self-deception.

The Return and the Delay

After Dorothy melted the Wicked Witch of the West with a bucket of water, she and her companions—the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion—returned to the Emerald City. The Guardian of the Gates, astonished to see them alive, learned that the Witch had been destroyed and led them through the city, where a crowd gathered and followed them to Oz's Palace. The Soldier with the Green Whiskers let them in at once, and the beautiful green girl showed each of them to their old rooms. The news was carried straight to Oz, but the Wizard made no reply. The travelers expected to be summoned immediately, but day after day passed with no word. The waiting grew tiresome and wearing, and they became vexed that Oz should treat them so poorly after sending them to undergo hardships and slavery. Finally, the Scarecrow asked the green girl to deliver another message: if Oz did not let them in to see him at once, they would call the Winged Monkeys to help them and find out whether he kept his promises. When the Wizard received this message, he was so frightened that he sent word for them to come to the Throne Room at four minutes after nine o'clock the next morning. He had once met the Winged Monkeys in the Land of the West and did not wish to meet them again.

The Empty Throne Room and the Invisible Voice

Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning, the four travelers entered the Throne Room. Each expected to see the Wizard in the form he had taken before—Dorothy a great Head, the Scarecrow a lovely Lady, the Tin Woodman a terrible Beast, and the Lion a Ball of Fire. Instead, they found the room completely empty. The stillness of the empty room was more dreadful than any of the forms they had seen Oz take. They kept close to the door and closer to one another. Presently a solemn Voice, seeming to come from somewhere near the top of the great dome, announced, "I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Why do you seek me?" They looked again in every part of the room, and Dorothy asked where he was. The Voice answered that it was everywhere but invisible to common mortals, and that it would now seat itself upon the throne so they could converse. The Voice seemed to come straight from the throne itself, so they walked toward it and stood in a row. Dorothy declared they had come to claim his promise. She demanded to be sent back to Kansas; the Scarecrow demanded brains; the Tin Woodman demanded a heart; and the Cowardly Lion demanded courage. The Voice asked if the Wicked Witch was really destroyed, and Dorothy answered that she had melted her with a bucket of water. The Voice said, "Dear me, how sudden! Well, come to me tomorrow, for I must have time to think it over." The Tin Woodman angrily refused to wait another day, the Scarecrow insisted they would not wait, and Dorothy exclaimed that Oz must keep his promises.

The Overturned Screen and the Little Old Man

The Lion thought it might be as well to frighten the Wizard, so he gave a large, loud roar so fierce and dreadful that Toto jumped away from him in alarm and tipped over a screen that stood in a corner. As it fell with a crash, they looked that way and were filled with wonder. Standing in the spot the screen had hidden was a little old man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face, who seemed as much surprised as they were. The Tin Woodman, raising his axe, rushed toward him and cried out, "Who are you?" The little man answered in a trembling voice, "I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. But don't strike me—please don't—and I'll do anything you want me to." The friends looked at him in surprise and dismay. Dorothy said she had thought Oz was a great Head; the Scarecrow, a lovely Lady; the Tin Woodman, a terrible Beast; and the Lion, a Ball of Fire. The little man meekly replied, "No, you are all wrong. I have been making believe." When Dorothy asked if he was not a Great Wizard, he hushed her, saying, "Don't speak so loud, or you will be overheard—and I should be ruined. I'm supposed to be a Great Wizard." He admitted he was not a wizard at all, but just a common man. The Scarecrow declared in a grieved tone, "You're a humbug." The little man rubbed his hands together as if pleased and said, "Exactly so! I am a humbug."

The Confession of the Humbug

Oz led the travelers to a small chamber in the rear of the Throne Room and showed them the apparatus of his deceptions. In one corner lay the great Head, made of many thicknesses of paper with a carefully painted face, which he had hung from the ceiling by a wire and operated from behind a screen by pulling a thread to make the eyes move and the mouth open. He explained that he was a ventriloquist and could throw his voice wherever he wished. He showed the Scarecrow the dress and mask he had worn when he appeared as the lovely Lady, and the Tin Woodman saw that his terrible Beast was nothing but a lot of skins sewn together with slats to keep their sides out. The Ball of Fire was a ball of cotton that burned fiercely when oil was poured upon it. The Scarecrow told Oz he ought to be ashamed of himself for being such a humbug, and Oz sorrowfully agreed, but said it was the only thing he could do. He then told his story: he was born in Omaha, not far from Kansas, and became a ventriloquist trained by a great master. He tired of that and became a balloonist, going up in a balloon on circus day to draw a crowd. One day the ropes got twisted, and he could not come down; the balloon carried him over the clouds for a day and a night until he awoke to find himself floating over a strange and beautiful country. The balloon came down gradually, and he was not hurt, but the strange people, seeing him come from the clouds, thought he was a great Wizard. He let them think so, and to amuse himself and keep the good people busy, he ordered them to build the City and his Palace. He called it the Emerald City and put green spectacles on all the people so that everything they saw looked green. He admitted that the City was no more green than any other, but the people had worn the glasses so long that most of them thought it really was an Emerald City. He confessed that his greatest fear had been the Witches, for while he had no magical powers, he knew the Witches were truly able to do wonderful things. He lived in deadly fear of the Wicked Witches of the East and West for many years, and was pleased when Dorothy's house fell on the Witch of the East. He had been willing to promise anything if she would destroy the other Witch, but now that she had melted her, he was ashamed to say he could not keep his promises.

The Aftermath: Promises Kept and Broken

Dorothy told Oz she thought he was a very bad man, but he replied that he was really a very good man, though a very bad Wizard. The Scarecrow begged for brains, and Oz told him he did not need them—that he was learning something every day, and that experience was the only thing that brings knowledge. But the Scarecrow insisted he would be very unhappy unless Oz gave him brains, so the false Wizard agreed to stuff his head with brains the next morning. The Lion asked for courage, and Oz told him he already had plenty of courage—that true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage he had in plenty. But the Lion insisted he would be unhappy unless Oz gave him the sort of courage that makes one forget he is afraid, so Oz agreed to give him that sort of courage the next day. The Tin Woodman asked for a heart, and Oz told him he was wrong to want one, as it makes most people unhappy, but the Woodman said he would bear all the unhappiness without a murmur if Oz would give him the heart. Oz meekly agreed. Finally, Dorothy asked how she was to get back to Kansas. Oz said they would have to think about that, and asked for two or three days to consider the matter and try to find a way to carry her over the desert. He asked only one thing in return: that they keep his secret and tell no one he was a humbug. They agreed and went back to their rooms in high spirits, with Dorothy hoping that "The Great and Terrible Humbug" would find a way to send her home.