The Wizard of Oz: The Unexpectedly Dark Tale of Tin Man’s Missing Heart
How many times have we all watched The Wizard of Oz? There is a literal number, of course, but no one can count that high. I’ve seen it enough times for the sounds of the movie to be soundtracks to my childhood. Enough times to both love and take issue with the film.
One of my issues has forever been this notion that the Tin Man doesn’t have a heart. Why doesn’t anyone notice how kind he is? And thoughtful. Or that he cries! If not in his chest, he has a heart somewhere. I still feel relief every time I hear The Wizard tell him so.
But I’ve learned there is much more to the story of Tin Man’s “missing” heart.
On February 14, with no idea how ironic that date was going to become, I began reading The Wizard of Oz for the first time in my life. The movie and the book’s differences are almost immediate, but I’ll leave you to discover those things on your own. For now, lets’ jump to page 33…
The smooth, even road that began in Munchkin Land has become a craggy thing with pits and missing bricks. The yellow bricks disappear into a forest so overgrown, it would be impossible for Dorothy and Scarecrow to cross, save for Tin Man and his axe. Luckily, in all of Oz, he is the most skilled man for the job.
For the Tin Man was born to a woodman.
Once Upon A Time
In a cottage in the woods of Oz, a woodman lived with his wife and son. He sold wood chopped from the forest trees for a living and made enough to take care of his family.
Well, one day the woodman dies, leaving his son to be The Woodman of Oz, and the son uses his woodchopping skills to provide for himself and his elderly mother. Then his mother dies.
He’s alone for the first time in his life and decides it totally sucks.
We’re not told where or how, but the woodman falls in love with a beautiful Munchkin girl who agrees to marry him with one condition: He must have enough money to build them a better house. (Yes Ma’am.)
“You ain’t said nothing but a word,” he (basically) says.
