Friday, May 15, 2009

Dorothy Gale Part 2

So you see I've changed Dorothy a bit. Most importantly, I've killed her. Which I know for some will take a little getting used to. But don't worry, she comes back! You see, through death, she resurrects in Oz. How she comes back, I'll get to in a later post.

Right now I'd like to delve into how I've altered the essence of the character in some ways. She and the Witch are probably changed the most out of all the characters in my story, compared to Baum's. Dorothy is a lot braver in my story. In the original, she spent a lot of the book hiding behind her friends, or gasping or crying a lot. This was written in a time when a little girl was seen as pretty weak, and of course she couldn't do much on her own, except for the odd bit of being clever. Of course.

I want a young girl (not too young though) to read my story and say to herself, "Yep, I could do that. I can be brave." Dorothy isn't scared of a thing, and in my story she meets many creatures and dangers that would leave me running for the hills. That's one of her powers.

Her other power is helping her friends realize their own strengths. When I use the term "power", don't think I mean she's a mutant. I mean she has a deep strength in her that makes her powerful. Strength of character and spirit, and in Oz, this gets her pretty far.

1 comment:

  1. Awesome work Ryan. I love stories that empower girls instead of making them cowering, simpering idiots.

    ReplyDelete