Center Munch
Center Munch is a small hamlet in the eastern agricultural region of Munchkinland known as the Corn Basket. It is the site of the most consequential single event in the political upheaval that follows the secession of the Free State of Munchkinland: the death of Nessarose, the self-styled Wicked Witch of the East and the Eminent Thropp.
The Tornado and the Falling House
On the day of the disaster, Nessarose was presiding over a ceremony outside a local chapel, awarding prizes for perfect attendance at religious education classes. A tornado of unprecedented violence—described as a wind twisted up in a vortical braid—drove into Oz thirty miles north of Stonespar End, sliced through the Corn Basket, and devastated the economic basis of the renegade nation. The funnel cloud petered out at the precise spot where Nessarose stood, dropping a house on her. The house, of exotic design and carrying a passenger named Dorothy and her dog Toto, was set down almost intact upon the platform rigged for the visiting dignitaries. All the children at the ceremony survived and later prayed for Nessarose's soul. The event was immediately understood as both a political assassination and a supernatural judgment.
Immediate Aftermath and Political Consequences
The death of Nessarose ended the theocratic rule of the Free State of Munchkinland. The honorific of Eminence was abolished. Her father, Frex, was devastated, asking Elphaba, "How will I live without my pet?" The liberated Munchkinlanders began to destroy Colwen Grounds, Nessarose's seat of power, painting revolutionary slogans on its walls. Glinda, who happened to be nearby on a charity visit, arrived on the scene before most locals understood what had happened. She found no blood, only massive internal injuries, and noted that Nessarose's more unhappy subjects thought it a droll act of the Fairy Queen Lurline, releasing them from Nessarose's fundamentalist bondage. Glinda took charge of the situation, commandeering a Mature Pfenix to reach Center Munch. She decided to remove Dorothy from Munchkinland to prevent her from being used as a figurehead by rival factions, and sent the girl toward the Emerald City with Nessarose's enchanted silver shoes as a form of protection.
The Shoes and the Wizard's Campaign
The silver shoes, which had been enchanted by Glinda to allow the armless Nessarose to stand and walk unaided, became a political totem. Glinda gave them to Dorothy, telling Elphaba later that she had to get them out of Munchkinland because the superstitious Lurlinist population had put too much credit in them. The Wizard of Oz, who was pursuing reunification with Munchkinland, also wanted the shoes to prevent them from giving Elphaba ideas. When Elphaba confronted the Wizard at Colwen Grounds during Nessarose's memorial service, he revealed that he had kept an army at Red Windmill, the town below Kiamo Ko, for years specifically to keep Elphaba in check. The death of Nessarose and the removal of the shoes were thus key steps in the Wizard's plan to re-annex Munchkinland.
Narrative Significance
Center Munch is the location where the novel's political and personal threads converge in a single, violent event. The tornado that kills Nessarose is the same storm that brings Dorothy to Oz, making the girl an unwitting agent of political change. The hamlet's name—Center Munch—underscores its position at the heart of Munchkinland's agricultural and religious life, making the destruction of its leader there a symbolic blow to the entire secessionist state. The event also marks the point at which Elphaba, who had refused to join forces with her sister, is forced to confront the consequences of her isolation and the Wizard's relentless campaign against her family.
