Grommetik
Grommetik is a bronze tiktok mechanical man, standing about three feet high, built by the firm of Smith and Tinker. It is a clockwork automaton, a thing of burnished metal with an identifying plate screwed into its front. It serves as the personal attendant of Madame Morrible, the Headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University, and is a constant, silent presence in the corridors and private chambers of the college. More than a mere servant, Grommetik is an instrument of surveillance and, ultimately, of lethal violence, embodying the intersection of technology, political power, and moral abdication that defines the Wizard's regime.
Design and Function
Grommetik is a small, industrious machine, described as a "little bronze industrial crab" and a "clockwork servant." It is capable of a range of domestic tasks: it collects empty teacups, clears away crumbs, and can be sent on errands such as delivering a pot of tea. It is also used for more formal duties, such as sweeping open the double doors for a poetry soiree. The machine is not merely a tool but a presence that is both useful and unsettling. When it is sent away to lubricate itself, it does so with what seems like an "offended air," suggesting a semblance of personality or programmed affect. Its movements are precise and mechanical, yet it is capable of independent action, such as when it wheels away to a closet. The machine is also sensitive, as Madame Morrible notes that it suspects it was blamed for the Goat's slaughter and is still troubled by the memory.
Role in Surveillance and Control
Grommetik functions as an extension of Madame Morrible's will, a silent spy that shadows her like a "lovesick puppy." It is present during private conversations, such as when Galinda is interviewed in the Head's reception room, and its presence is a constant reminder of the Head's omniscience. Elphaba, who is deeply suspicious of the machine, recognizes it as a threat. During a secret meeting with Boq, Crope, and Tibbett in a cafe, she spots Grommetik buying coffee beans and immediately goes silent, fearing it has seen her. She later identifies it as a potential agent of the regime, a tool that could be used to track and report on dissenters. The machine's ability to move freely and observe without being noticed makes it an ideal instrument of surveillance in a police state.
Implication in the Murder of Doctor Dillamond
The most damning evidence against Grommetik comes from the dying testimony of Ama Clutch. As she lies on her deathbed, she reveals that she saw the knife in the air and the "clockwork turn" that stopped the Goat's time. When Elphaba presses her, asking if it was Grommetik, Ama Clutch confirms, "Well, that's what I'm saying, duckie." This revelation is corroborated by Madame Morrible's own account, in which she admits she sent Grommetik over to Doctor Dillamond's lab with a cheering pot of tea. She claims the machine found the Animal already dead, but the implication is clear: Grommetik was the instrument of the murder. The machine's involvement in the killing is a chilling example of how technology can be used to carry out political violence without direct human culpability, a perfect crime for a regime that prefers to operate through proxies.
The Machine's Afterlife
After the death of Madame Morrible, Grommetik's fate takes a surprising turn. In the aftermath of the Witch's death, the tiktok labor force meets secretly in what used to be the Philosophy Club to hear the "freed and grieving Grommetik talk class revolution." This transformation from a tool of oppression to a revolutionary speaker is a striking reversal. The machine, once the silent enforcer of the Head's will, becomes a symbol of resistance, its grief over its mistress's death channeled into a new political purpose. This final act suggests that even the most compromised instruments of power can be repurposed, and that the line between tool and agent is never entirely fixed.
