The Wizard of Oz and DNA

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Upon viewing Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz, something crossed my mind, and that is what role the Wizard of Oz actually plays in the story.

Emerald City itself can be metaphorically viewed as a land of rebirth, with the Wizard representing a scientist, one that specialises in the genetic modification of persons, or perhaps the personified version of what we deem 'God', animals and things so as to grant them their very desires. Each character visiting the Wizard of Oz seeks a trait change, whether it be physical or mental, Dorothy set aside in the time being because she desires a 'home', or to 'go home'.

It is of peculiarity that the characters chosen to represent the wanting of a trait are particular animals or things - the tin-man, made of cold steel with a hollow inside seeks a heart. This can be metaphorically seen as cold humans seeking emotions, so to speak, seeking a to love and to be loved, seeking to push out the coldness within them and replace it with warmth.

The lion, what is meant to be a brave leader, the king of the entire jungle, seeks out courage. This could represent all those persons who act confident in order to feel as though they are and in order to avoid others thinking that they are not. True courage, though, is what is needed because one may fool others, but one certainly may never fool themselves. What is the point of appearing confident when one can be and feel confident? Alternatively, the lion can represent persons fighting their inner demons, and they want the courage to be able to see a new day without prematurely leaving the earth.

Finally, the scarecrow. The scarecrow could represent all those in society who are loaded with falsities, or hay. The scarecrow seeks a brain, seeks the desire to think cognitively, to think before it acts and to act realistically.

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One could argue that Dorothy is a conglomeration of all three characters. She seeks a heart so as to love truly; she seeks courage so that she may face reality when she returns to it; and she seeks a brain so that she may not let those like Almira Gulch get their way. The taking of Toto, thus, can be viewed as the taking of her innocence, yet she retains her innocence throughout her journey and thus remains true to herself in this rebirth of some of her traits.