Prologue: On the Yellow Brick RoadIn this short introduction to the book, the Witch is high in a tree watching the group of four (Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, the Lion, and the Scarecrow) from the classic story "The Wizard of Oz". They speculate on stories they have heard about the Wicked Witch of the West, when a storm approaches and they begin to look for shelter. This is when the Witch sees Dorothy wearing her sister's sparkling red shoes. At this point the Witch, afraid of getting wet, departs but knows that she will meet up with the foursome again.
Part 1: Munchkinlanders
Chapter 1: The Root of Evil
In this chapter, Melena, who is from a high-society family, is pregnant with her first child and expected to go into labour at any time. Frexspar, her unionist minister husband of considerable lower social standing, is preparing to depart from her to tackle some kind of unknown ministerial duty in Rush Margins. Before he leaves, he talks of the devil coming, in reference to the task he is about to face, but Melena scolds him for talking of the devil on the day their child is expected to be born. They say their goodbyes and Frex leaves.
Chapter 2: The Clock of the Time Dragon
In this chapter, Frex prepares himself for his holy campaign, which we learn is about the "Clock of the Time Dragon". It is a huge mechanical device disguised like a dragon that is taken care of by dwarfs that can put on little plays. These plays very accurately depict real-life incidents that happened to audience members (or will happen) with the use of marionettes. Frex believes that it is his duty to prevent it from affecting the people in his village; he thinks of it as unholy and a "temptation" that will lead to no good.
Chapter 3: The Birth of a Witch
In this chapter, Frex arrives and begins preaching about resisting temptations, when the dragon clock arrives. Frexspar is silenced (beaten up) by the mob of people around him and the "show" begins. The dragon displays a figure resembling Frex preaching about simplicity, poverty, and generosity, meanwhile keeping precious jewels hidden in Melena's bosom. Then it shows him being killed and roasted for his hungry flock. Back at their house, Melena is being cared for by two other women when a young lady rushes in to tell them what has happened with the clock and that they need to hide Melena quickly because a mob was coming to kill her and the "dragon" baby. So the women put Melena in a hay cart and take her into the woods where she has the baby (ironically) inside the clock. The baby is a girl with bright green skin who refuses to cry and bites off the finger of the one woman when she gives it to the baby to suck on. The three helpers discuss this incident and leave quickly afterward.
Chapter 4: Maladies and Remedies
In this chapter, we learn that the child's name is Elphaba (after Saint Aelphaba of the Waterfall) and that Melena can not stand her because she is a girl and green, so she calls her old Nanny to come to Colwen Grounds to help. Frex takes her first to see the baby and then to see Melena. After getting settled, she begins to notice many upsetting things about Elphaba: she does not like to be touched, has amazingly sharp teeth that she wishes to use to bite of her own hands, and is deathly afraid of water. They contemplate reason's for why the baby turned out green included what was said the day of her birth, if there were and green coloured people in Frex's family background, and whether Melena had slept with someone other than Frex (which she admitted she did not know since she was often high on pinlobble leaves when Frex was away). Frex tries an exorcism which fails, and Nanny heads back home, coming to the conclusion that Elphaba defied her parents by choosing a gender and colour that they did not want.
Chapter 5: The Quadling Glassblower
In this chapter, Melena is telling little Elphaba about how she misses Frex and the two plan to go picking berries when Melena sees a man at the gate. He is a handsome Quadling with red skin who can not speak English perfectly and is apparently lost. He is invited in and tells them his name is Turtle Heart. After some small talk, the Quadling makes a glass ornament to repay them for their hospitality (he is a glass blower) and gives it to Elphaba as a looking glass to see other worlds. Melena does not care about the ornament much because she is distracted by her yearning for Turtle Heart. The Quadling reveals that Frex and Nanny should be home by the evening, and he and Melena have "intimate relations" before they arrive.
Chapter 6: Geographies of the Seen and Unseen
In this chapter, Frex and Nanny arrive back and Melena shows great joy at her husband's return, but Elphaba is cautious. He gives her a little bird he whittled for her while he was in solitude, but she ends up breaking its wings off because she liked playing with the little pieces better. Frex and Turtle Heart start to talk and get along very well, and Frex draws a map on the ground so the Quadling can figure out where he is. They all have dinner and briefly discuss religion (Lurline the Fairy Queen as well as the Ozmas) and lastly the tale about the dragon who lives under the earth who dreamt up the world, who Elphaba impersonates.
Chapter 7: Child's Play
In this chapter, Nanny warns them that she has seen a beast prowling around and she talks with Melena about her "intimate time" with Turtle Heart. Also, after unrelenting persuasion, she convinces Melena to take Elphaba to be around other children. The next morning, Melena, Nanny, and Elphaba head to see a woman named Gawnette, who is to watch over Elphie while she plays with the other children. At first the children are cautious of the green girl, but they end up playing together rather violently (throwing rocks, biting, etc.) while the grown ups make small talk about Frex and Turtle Heart.
Chapter 8: Darkness Abroad
In this chapter, we learn why Turtle Heart left Ovvels. He says that it has been discovered that there are rubies in the mud where he lives and that greedy men from the Emerald City will come to try to collect them, but he knows it will not go well for the ones who try to dig them up or for the Quadlings. This causes Frex to believe that he is needed down in Quadling Country, but Melena, disgusted at the idea, tells Frex that she is pregnant again. During this conversation, Elphaba says her first word, "horrors". Then Nanny takes Melena inside and reveals that she went to see an old woman named Yackle, who gave her pills for Melena so that the next child would not be green (they kept this information from Frex because he is against this kind of witch medicine). They realize that it is getting late so the call Elphaba in, but she is nowhere to be found. Nanny panics and says that the creature she saw creeping around got her, but Turtle Heart leads them to her. She is down by the water sitting in the arms of the beast (tiger/dragon) with her looking glass and she says "horrors". Turtle Heart explains that Elphaba can "see him coming" (the wizard).
My Thoughts/Questions:
-this book is a much more advanced read, it will probably take me about 2 weeks to finish
-theme: real life to fantasy world (works for both books)
-why is Elphaba afraid of water? and why is she GREEN?
-Clock of Time Dragon-symbol for something/important that Elphaba was born in it? I'm guessing it will appear later in the story
-is Elphaba evil? theme: good vs. evil in main characters
-is Frex Elphaba's father? is that why she is green?
-theme: importance of religion (not in The Book of Lost Things)
-is the glass ball Turtle Heart made the same one the Wicked Witch of the West has in The Wizard of Oz? -TH says Elphaba can see "him" coming
-is the beast a symbol for something? the evil in Elphaba?
- what are the "horrors"? something bad is about to happen...
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