This will be the last Bullying Prevention contribution book review for a little while as I’m moving back to my hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I’m come to realize that it takes a trained eye to recognize the beauty of a desolate prairie landscape and my eye has been already trained. In the meantime, please note other Bullying Prevention book reviews here on the site, or take some time to sign up for my good friend, J. Richard Knapp’s Bullying Prevention International Newsletter that comes delivered straight to your inbox at the top of each month. We’ll see you soon in the Land of the Living Skies!
A Bully with a Background: Gregory Maguire’s Take in
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
To the grim poor there need be no pour quoi tale about where evil arises; it just arises; it always is. One never learns about how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her – is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if si is he not a devil? It is at the very least a question of definitions. ~page 298, Wicked
Some people may be familiar with this book because of the Tony award-winning musical, Wicked, featuring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The musical’s storyline follows the general premise of the book: we, the reader, discover the background history of green-skinned Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West who lives in the land of Oz made famous by Frank L. Baum.
Elphie, as her friends know her, is born to a minister and his promiscuous wife. It is implied that neither she nor her sister, NessaRose the eventual eastern menace, are blood children of their father. Elphie doesn’t speak she is nearly five, whereupon her first word is ‘horrors.’ She is shunned from her mother, who can’t get past her odd manner and her green skin. Her father is primarily absent. Some respite comes when Nanny takes it upon herself to social Elphie with the other children, who promptly take to throwing rocks at her.
Skip to twelve years later and Elphie meets her roommate, Galinda, at boarding school. You may have guessed already, but this Galinda eventually drops the ‘a’ and becomes Glinda, the person we know as the Good Witch of the North. Of course, things get off to a rocky start as Galinda cares more about the social set than her moody, scholarly roomie, but as time goes by the two become good, if not great, friends. Elphaba encourages Galinda to use her brain more instead of acting stupid to impress people. Galinda drops the ‘a’ when she joins Elphie’s cause to discover why the talking Animals are disappearing from Oz (non-speaking animals are not represented with the formal ‘Animal’ term). Political pressure reigns down from the top dog in the land, the Wizard of Oz.
Another five years pass and a chum from the boys’ school, Fiyero, finds Elphaba in hiding as she is a member of an underground movement to save the Animals. Fiyero and Elphie start an affair, which leaves Elphie pregnant with a son, Liir. More is written about him in Macguire’s sequel, Son of a Witch. After a botched attempt by the authorities trying to capture Elphaba, it is believed Fiyero is dead. Elphaba travels to his homeland to make penance with his wife and discovers Chistery, who later becomes the leader of her flying monkey squadron. Life continues to go downhill for Elphie from here…and Dorothy hasn’t even appeared yet!
Maguire’s view is both dark and unique as a peek behind the curtain at the person before she became the Witch. He poses a good question: are bad people born or made? Are bullies only a result of their environment? Is it the responsibility of everyone to maintain a social normal, or do we encourage out-of-the-box ideas and seek to understand them?
The Wicked Witch certainly is a sympathetic character in Macguire’s point of view. Socially awkward, she only tries to improve the destiny of those she sees as oppressed by the system using radical measures. In return, the system makes her an outcast. Glinda, on the other hand, falls into conformity, married well and is sainted.
If being bullied, it is difficult to want to stop and examine why the bully is acting the way they do but it may be worth it. A bully’s background may provide a key to why they act the way they do and, given this key, you may discover a way to reverse or correct their past. Asking questions of a bully in calmer moments may lead to common understanding and deeper insight. Maybe your bully only wants a sympathetic ear or someone to pay attention to them. Maybe they want someone to take seriously what they have to say. Given the circumstances, it is most likely your bully doesn’t have the tools to communicate properly and is given to bullying as a method of being. Pick your moment and try being a try friendship as a viable option. Your may be pleasantly surprised!
One last note on Wicked, the book: as opposed to the musical, this is a book intended for an adult audience and includes dark and sexual themes. It is not recommended reading for children or teens.
My name is Britty and I'm chief bottle-washer at this site. I'm a book-lover, student and freelance writer when I'm not being a mom of three and wife of one.
