The Wolves Attack

The Wolves Attack is a decisive battle early in the Wicked Witch of the West's campaign to destroy Dorothy and her companions, in which the Tin Woodman single-handedly defeats forty wolves, demonstrating both the Witch's escalating malice and the unique defensive capabilities of a body made of tin.

Background and Cause

The Wicked Witch of the West, who possessed a single eye as powerful as a telescope, spotted Dorothy and her friends lying asleep in her country from the door of her castle. Enraged by their presence, she blew upon a silver whistle that hung around her neck, summoning a pack of great wolves from all directions. The wolves had long legs, fierce eyes, and sharp teeth. When the leader of the wolves asked if she intended to make the strangers her slaves, the Witch refused, declaring that one was made of tin, one of straw, one was a girl, and another a Lion, and that none of them was fit to work. She therefore commanded the wolves to tear them to pieces.

The Battle

The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were wide awake and heard the wolves coming. The Tin Woodman declared the fight his own, telling the others to get behind him as he would meet the wolves as they came. He seized his axe, which he had made very sharp. As the leader of the wolves came on, the Tin Woodman swung his arm and chopped the wolf's head from its body, killing it instantly. As soon as he could raise his axe, another wolf came up and also fell under the sharp edge of his weapon. There were forty wolves, and forty times a wolf was killed, until at last they all lay dead in a heap before the Woodman. After the battle, he put down his axe and sat beside the Scarecrow, who praised him, saying, "It was a good fight, friend."

Consequences and Aftermath

The travelers waited until Dorothy awoke the next morning. The little girl was quite frightened when she saw the great pile of shaggy wolves, but the Tin Woodman told her all that had happened. She thanked him for saving them, and after breakfast they started again upon their journey. The Wicked Witch, seeing all her wolves lying dead and the strangers still traveling through her country, became angrier than before and blew her silver whistle twice, summoning a great flock of wild crows for the next attack. The Wolves Attack thus marks the first of four escalating assaults the Witch launches, each countered by a different member of the party, and it establishes the Tin Woodman as a formidable protector whose lack of a heart does not prevent him from acting with decisive courage.