Eyeflash - the Land of Earth_Oz

Clifford Drane · 24 Jun 1999, 20:59 · from urth-v0027.mbox · original

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From: Clifford Drane <dranec at hotmail.com>
Subject: (urth) Eyeflash - the Land of Earth_Oz
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 15:59:50 CDT
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>You can call me William, Clifford.

Ok, William it is. :)

I feel at somewhat of a disadvantage not having as much scholarly knowledge=20
about the Oz books. I only have the movie to go from, so bear that in mind=20
when you read my responses.

I need to refer to one of my earlier suppositions about the 'why' - 1) Oz i=
s=20
an alternate reality of which Little Tib is a doorway. I prefer this=20
explanation. I can best illustrate by answering your questions.

>Why doesn't Little Tib recognize any of the Oz characters?

Dorothy experienced the world of Oz in a dream state, but not necessarily=20
'dreamed' it. I think it is open to interpretation that she experienced an=20
actual world called Oz through her dream. So, Little Tib being the=20
extraordinary person he is, can not only visit Oz, but pull people out of i=
t=20
to help him out of tight spots. This is why he doesn't recognize the Oz=20
characters - this is the world of the movie (or books), not our world! Afte=
r=20
all, Dorothy doesn't recognize them either!

>When is it taking place? Is it our near future, or an alternate history=20
>line?

Like I proposed above, I think this is the world of the movie in our near=20
future (which would be about 100 years after Dorothy's world).

>Where is it taking place? It seems to be the United States, but why is the=20
>capital in Niagara? Has the US broken up?

Oh, probably in some vision of the world that Wolfe thought would be=20
condusive to a ruthless form of citizen control. I think this is secondary=20
detail without much depth behind it.

>Did Little Tib's parents really both become government agents?

I can't imagine his mother becoming an agent, and want to kill her child. I=20
think it is likely that the father killed the mother. Pure supposition,=20
though.

>Was Little Tib's father complicit in his blinding? Little Tib's first drea=
m=20
>suggests this.

I don't have the book with me to re-read, but it never struck me that the=20
parents were that imaginative.

>I don't think (1 (Tib as doorway idea)) is likely. Little Tib's contacts=20
>with Oz are either through dreams which are (to me at least) obviously=20
>dreams (albeit with many Oz elements) and not visits to an alternate=20
>reality (unless it is an alternate reality that is dream-like in a way tha=
t=20
>Oz, in Baum's hands at least, never was) or by interacting with a single O=
z=20
>character in the "real" world. These Oz beings never talk about being=20
>transported from Oz in any manner, although they may mention Oz related=20
>people, places and things.

If dreams are the road to Oz, then Little Tib could be a 'lucid dreamer'. I=
f=20
his mind can bridge the gap without losing track of the 'real' world, then=20
it stands to reason that he'd have a little more control than Dorothy.=20
Here's some wild supposition - perhaps Oz is the source of mystical power,=20
and that power spills over into our world in the form of psychic powers. Ti=
b=20
is the psychic embodiment of Oz's ruler, but doesn't know it yet. So, Tib=20
can cross back and forth and bring people with him, including Oz characters=20
who aren't surprised (he's the ruler, after all).

And the beings in the book never talk about being transported because they=20
haven't been YET. Tib is in their future, too.

>(2 (Tib conjuring 'aquastors' of Oz characters)) fits in with the way I=20
>read the story much better. As to why the "spirits" Little Tib's "conjures=
"=20
>up take on the form of Oz characters, I still can't come up with a better=20
>answer than my suggestion in my Ozflash postings that the Oz images are=20
>coming from the mind of Little Tib's father, Big Tib. Of course this leads=20
>to another why. Perhaps part of Big Tib's (subconscious) mind is trying to=20
>offer Little Tib a safe hiding place or help and the best hiding place and=20
>source of help it can come up with is (childhood memories of) Oz.

I find your theory about Tib drawing from his father's subconscious mind to=20
be very tenuous. Tib didn't seem that close to his father, and his father=20
wasn't around for most of the story. Why not draw from any of the other=20
characters? Why not his mother? His father doesn't seem preoccupied with Oz=
,=20
so why would the characters be so important as to be conjured? (think about=20
a hard drive - if a hard drive contains one MS Word file about Oz, what is=20
the likelyhood that that one file would pop to the surface during a random=20
search?). Tib's father doesn't seem too interested in saving Tib (didn't th=
e=20
Tin Man block a lethal blow?).

>It is interesting to compare Little Tib's angels with Silk's Enlightenment=20
>in TBotLS. The angels seems to help Little Tib, but it may well be that=20
>Little Tib is actually causing the helpful events to occur, with the angel=
s=20
>as a guiding rather that effective force. Little Tib may be the help that=20
>was sent to him, as well.

I haven't read the Long Sun yet, but your statement 'causing the helpful=20
events to happen' is exactly what I'm proposing, just drawing from a real=20
source not a literary one.

So, what do you think? Fun topic!

cd

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