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Summary: Chapter XV: The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible

The Guardian of the Gates seems amazed when the travelers return to the Emerald City, claiming to have killed the Wicked Witch. The Great Oz is told the news but won’t grant them an audience until the Scarecrow threatens him with the Winged Monkeys. As the Great Oz speaks to them with a disembodied voice, the travelers demand he make good on his promises. In anger, the Cowardly Lion roars, frightening Toto, who knocks over a screen, revealing a little old man to be the Great Oz. 

Dorothy and the others feel upset to discover that the Great Oz is just a humbug. Caught in the truth, the Great Oz admits to the travelers that he’s a ventriloquist and balloonist who worked for the circus in Nebraska until his balloon accidentally floated too high into the sky, landing him in the land of Oz. The people of Oz thought he was a great Wizard, so he ordered them to build the Emerald City. The Great Oz reveals that he’s a good ruler, but he hides from his people and fears the wicked Witches. He explains that he must think about how to get Dorothy back to Kansas, but he promises to fulfill the others’ requests, even though he thinks they aren’t necessary.

Summary: Chapters XVI: The Magic Art of the Great Humbug

The Great Oz stuffs the Scarecrow’s head with “brains” made from pins and needles mixed with bran. He then cuts a hole in the Tin Woodman’s body to insert a silk-and-sawdust heart, and he has the Cowardly Lion drink some green liquid to fill the lion with courage. The Great Oz happily gives them what they think they need even though he knows that what they ask for is not possible. Yet the Great Oz remains unsure how to help Dorothy. 

Summary: Chapters XVII: How the Balloon Was Launched

The Great Oz finally comes up with a solution for Dorothy. He decides to send her home in a hot air balloon. He tells Dorothy that he plans to travel with her so he can return to the circus. Together they make a green hot air balloon. When the time to launch arrives, the Great Oz asks the Scarecrow to rule over his people. Before getting into the balloon’s basket with the Wizard, however, Dorothy must chase after Toto. In that moment, the ropes holding the balloon accidentally break, and the Great Oz lifts into the air without Dorothy. He’s never seen again.

Analysis: Chapters XV–XVII

These important chapters bring the plot to a climax and reveal the Great Oz as a deceiver, proving once again that things are not what they seem to be in the land of Oz. The dramatic climax fizzles when they realize that the Wizard is a fraud and has no power to grant their desires. Dorothy’s companions symbolically achieve their goals, but when the Wizard attempts to take Dorothy home in a hot-air balloon, it lifts off without her. Dorothy remains on her quest to return home. While Dorothy and her companions had believed the Wizard of Oz was a very powerful wizard, in fact he is nothing but “a little old man . . . a humbug.”

Although the Scarecrow, Woodman, and Lion believe in the power of the gifts they receive from the Wizard, it is clear that the gifts are symbols of qualities they already possess. This truth has been thematically highlighted throughout the story, and here each companion comes face to face with their own abilities. Now that the Great Oz has flown away in his balloon, Dorothy must find her own way home and reckon with what she already possesses as well.

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