The Balloon Launch

The Balloon Launch is the pivotal event in which Oz, the Great and Terrible, having been unmasked as a common humbug, attempts to flee the Emerald City in a homemade hot-air balloon, but his plan collapses when Dorothy cannot board in time, leaving him to drift away alone and ending his long deception forever.

Background and Motivation

For three days after the travelers returned from destroying the Wicked Witch of the West, Oz made no reply to their demands. The waiting grew tiresome, and the Scarecrow finally threatened to summon the Winged Monkeys if Oz did not keep his promises. Terrified at the prospect of facing the Winged Monkeys again, Oz agreed to see them. When the four travelers entered the Throne Room, they found no one—only a disembodied Voice claiming to be everywhere and invisible. The Lion's roar knocked over a screen, revealing a little old man with a bald head and a wrinkled face. Oz confessed that he was "just a common man" and "a humbug," having fooled everyone for years by using a paper head, a ventriloquist's voice, a sewn-up beast costume, and a burning cotton ball. He admitted he had no magical powers and had lived in deadly fear of the Witches. He had promised to help Dorothy only because he hoped she would destroy the Wicked Witch of the West. Now that she had melted the Witch with a bucket of water, Oz was ashamed to say he could not keep his promises—except that he could give the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion what they thought they wanted. But for Dorothy, he had no way to send her back to Kansas.

Construction of the Balloon

Oz told Dorothy he believed the best way to cross the desert was through the air, since she had arrived by cyclone and he by balloon. He proposed building a balloon of silk coated with glue to hold the air. Since there was no gas in Oz, he decided to fill it with hot air, warning that if the air cooled the balloon would come down in the desert. He announced he would go with her, tired of being a humbug and longing to return to a circus. Dorothy agreed to help sew the silk. For three days they worked together: Oz cut strips of light green, dark green, and emerald silk, and Dorothy sewed them into a bag more than twenty feet long. Oz painted the inside with thin glue to make it airtight. He then sent the Soldier with the Green Whiskers for a large clothes basket, which he fastened with ropes to the bottom of the balloon.

The Launch and Separation

Oz sent word throughout the city that he was going to visit a great brother Wizard in the clouds. Everyone came to watch. The Tin Woodman chopped a pile of wood and made a fire; Oz held the bottom of the balloon over it, and the hot air gradually swelled the silken bag until the basket just touched the ground. Oz climbed into the basket and announced to the people, "I am now going away to make a visit. While I am gone the Scarecrow will rule over you." The balloon tugged hard at its rope. Oz cried, "Come, Dorothy! Hurry up, or the balloon will fly away." But Dorothy could not find Toto, who had run into the crowd to bark at a kitten. She finally found him, picked him up, and ran toward the balloon. She was within a few steps, and Oz was holding out his hands to help her into the basket, when the ropes snapped and the balloon rose into the air without her. Dorothy screamed, "Come back! I want to go, too!" Oz called back, "I can't come back, my dear. Good-bye!" Everyone watched as the Wizard rose higher and higher into the sky.

Aftermath and Significance

That was the last any of them ever saw of Oz, the Wonderful Wizard, though the narrator speculates he may have reached Omaha safely. The people remembered him lovingly, saying, "Oz was always our friend. When he was here he built for us this beautiful Emerald City, and now he is gone he has left the Wise Scarecrow to rule over us." Still, for many days they grieved over the loss of the Wonderful Wizard and would not be comforted. Dorothy wept bitterly at the passing of her hope to get home to Kansas, but when she thought it over she was glad she had not gone up in a balloon. She also felt sorry at losing Oz, and so did her companions. The Tin Woodman wept for several minutes, and Dorothy wiped his tears away with a towel so he would not rust. The Scarecrow became the ruler of the Emerald City, and the people were proud of him, saying there was not another city in all the world ruled by a stuffed man. The balloon's failure forced Dorothy to seek a new path home, leading her to consult the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, who suggested she visit Glinda, the Witch of the South, whose castle stood on the edge of the desert and who might know a way to cross it.