Cui Malo? Fraud and Politics in the Wizard of Oz

In L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz Dorothy travels to the Emerald City seeking the mysterious Wizard himself. She finds a beautiful, prosperous, orderly city where everyone seems happy. The forbidding Wizard sends her on a quest to eliminate the Wicked Witch of the West; when Dorothy returns, the Wizard is revealed as nothing more than a “humbug.” How should we judge the Wizard? He has been a benign and successful ruler in the Emerald City, and yet he is a fake and a con artist who knowingly made false promises to Dorothy. Baum challenges his readers to think through the Wizard's case and judge for themselves.