Is The Wizard of Oz like a thriller?

Answer 1

Yes and No. A thriller is supposed to make audiences and readers feel strong emotions such as Horror or joy. Such reactions may be expected from reading about the Wicked Witch of the West and the sobering efficiency of her wolves, crows, black bees, enslaved Winkies, and winged monkeys. Or they may be expected when hearing the ominous chant of the guard, or the Witch's threats. Or they may be expected even more so when reading, or seeing, the successful quests of the endearing fivesome of Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion. But perhaps The Wizard of Oz offers the gamut of emotions, in less intense form and with a less widely ranging variety than may be expected with thrillers. After all, author and Oz series originator Lyman Frank Baum [May 15, 1856-May 5, 1919] says in his introductory page that his intent is entertainment of children, in a fresh way and in a new direction. For previous Fairy Tales, which is the category in which he puts The Wizard of Oz, aren't above couching their morals in contexts of "bloodcurdling" horror. And Baum identifies his aim as entertainment definitely, moral maybe, in a context of "wonderment and joy."