The Fight with the Fighting Trees

The Fight with the Fighting Trees is a brief but decisive obstacle encountered by Dorothy and her companions as they journey south from the Emerald City toward the Land of the Quadlings, in which the first row of trees in a thick wood actively attacks them by bending down their branches to seize and hurl intruders back, forcing the Tin Woodman to chop one of the trees in two to clear a passage.

Causes and Background

After leaving the Emerald City, the travelers spent their first night sleeping on the grass under the stars and resumed their journey the following morning. They soon came upon a thick wood that extended as far as they could see to the right and left, and they dared not change direction for fear of getting lost. The Scarecrow, who was in the lead, discovered a big tree with wide-spreading branches that seemed to offer room for the party to pass underneath. He walked forward, but as soon as he came under the first branches they bent down, twined around him, and flung him headlong back among his fellow travelers. The fall did not hurt the Scarecrow, but it surprised him, and he looked rather dizzy when Dorothy picked him up.

What Happens

The Lion then called out that there was another space between the trees, but the Scarecrow, noting that being thrown about did not hurt him, volunteered to try first. He walked up to another tree, and its branches immediately seized him and tossed him back again. Dorothy exclaimed that this was strange and asked what they should do. The Lion remarked that the trees seemed determined to fight them and stop their journey. The Tin Woodman then declared he would try it himself. Shouldering his axe, he marched up to the first tree that had handled the Scarecrow so roughly. When a big branch bent down to seize him, the Woodman chopped at it so fiercely that he cut it in two. At once the tree began shaking all its branches as if in pain, and the Tin Woodman passed safely under it. He shouted to the others to be quick, and they all ran forward and passed under the tree without injury—except Toto, who was caught by a small branch and shaken until he howled. The Woodman promptly chopped off the branch and set the little dog free.

Consequences and Aftermath

The other trees of the forest did nothing to hinder them, and the travelers concluded that only the first row of trees could bend down their branches, and that these were probably the policemen of the forest, given this wonderful power to keep strangers out. The four companions walked with ease through the rest of the wood until they came to its farther edge, where they found themselves confronted by a high wall made of white china, smooth as the surface of a dish and higher than their heads. This wall marked the boundary of the Dainty China Country, the next stage of their journey. The Fight with the Fighting Trees thus served as the final barrier of the natural world before the travelers entered the artificial, fragile realm of the china people, and it demonstrated once again the indispensable role of the Tin Woodman's axe and the practical problem-solving that characterized the group's cooperation.