Summary: Chapters XXIII: Glinda the Good Witch Grants Dorothy’s Wish

Dorothy tells Glinda her story and explains her desire to return to Kansas. In exchange for the Golden Cap, Glinda promises to tell Dorothy how she can return home. Glinda then asks the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion what they will do next. The Scarecrow wants to return to rule the Emerald City. The Tin Woodman wants to rule over the Winkies, and the Cowardly Lion wants to be King of the Beasts in the forest. Glinda agrees with these plans and states that she’ll use her three requests of the Winged Monkeys to safely transport Dorothy’s friends to their new homes. She then promises to give the Golden Cap to the King of the Monkeys so the Monkeys can live free. 

With this business complete, Glinda tells Dorothy she can click her heels three times and command her silver shoes to take her wherever she wishes. After kissing her friends goodbye, Dorothy holds on to Toto and clicks her shoes while stating that she wants to go home to Aunt Em. Instantly, Dorothy whirls through the air so quickly that all she can see or feel is the wind—and at once, she and Toto are back in Kansas, Dorothy realizes she has lost her sliver shoes and that Uncle Henry has rebuilt the house. 

Summary: Chapters XXIV: Home Again

An astonished Aunt Em greets Dorothy with warm hugs and kisses and asks her “where in the world” has she come from. “From the Land of Oz,” Dorothy replies, “and here is Toto too. And oh, Aunt Em! I’m so glad to be home again!”

Analysis: Chapters XXIII–XXIV

Just as her companions already had the heart, brains, and courage they sought from the Great Oz, Dorothy too already possesses what she needs to return home. The Silver Shoes, which Dorothy has been wearing since arriving in Oz, can take her across the desert easily. Just like her companions, who believed they didn’t have what they needed, Dorothy has possessed the key to getting home from the very beginning of her time in Oz. 

Dorothy finally gets home to Kansas, finding her way back to the place where she truly belongs. The theme of home and belonging has resolved for each of her companions already: the Scarecrow will rule in the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman will rule the Winkies, and the Lion will rule the forest beasts. Now, Dorothy gets to take part in this resolution as well, returning at novel’s end to the home she was uprooted from at the beginning.