When I think of The Wizard of Oz, one thing comes to mind immediately: those glittery, ruby-red slippers. They are Dorothy's main accessory, a huge fixation of many characters in the story, and the catalyst that launches Dorothy into her epic journey in the first place. Here's a fun fact for you: in the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, author L. Frank Baum had Dorothy skipping her way to Oz in silver shoes, not red, but the film executives decided to punch up the color seeing as they now had the ability to produce the movie in Technicolor rather than black and white. Regardless of the color change, the shoes are the thing in both the novel and the film, right? To this day, little girls are clamoring to be Dorothy for Halloween, and I'd bet getting to wear those fabulous shoes has a little something to do with it.
I've been thinking a lot lately about characters and their "things." So many characters in literature have a prop or accessory that makes them who they are, and it's hard not to wonder if this prop is an extension of this person's character or a supplement for other personality traits (in Dorothy's case, perhaps the shoes represent glamour, magic, and extravagance in this Kansas farm girl's formerly uneventful, unremarkable life). Or maybe they're just slippers? But if that's the case, the question must be asked...what is Dorothy without them? Has Dorothy lost her intrigue if she's lost her slippers?
Off the top of my head I can think of several characters who are remarkable or identifiable because of the prop they carry: Sherlock Holmes and his pipe, Mary Poppins and her bag (and umbrella), the purple crown belonging to Harold in Harold and the Purple Crayon, Harry Potter and his wand, Katniss and her bow and arrow, Hester Prynne's scarlet letter, the yellow hat belonging to Curious George's Man With the Yellow Hat...the list goes on (and there are so many hats, by the way).
I have not even begun to scratch the surface, but it is an interesting exercise to picture these characters without their iconic "things." And maybe it's a test, really, to see which characters can be extraordinary without them. What do you think? Any more to add to the list?
image via eyemage.
