Oz and the Dark Tower - similarities /big spoilers/

[Letti]

* End of the series SPOILERS can be found in the text. *

* Stop now if you haven't finished it yet. *

Okay, first of all it's just a litte game. I know some of my points will be very weak I know it myself.
But I was wondering about it I loved playing with the idea and with some help I could put the two tales next to each other. They are way too different to be able to make a perfect match but still I had fun with them.

Don't be too strict, my friends. You should try to play with the idea, too and I am sure it will give you some nice moments.
If after reading it you would like to add some more similarities let me know and I will be happy.
If you can't do more but laugh... I don't mind that either.

Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence that King put this tale into the story...

So.
The title of my "essay" is:

The Similarities
between
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the Dark Tower

Roland = Dorothy
They both are lost in a world that's alien and familiar at the same time. (Yeah, maybe Dorothy is far away from Kasas but she meets a child-world that could be much more her home than her real one, - Roland's world has moved on and altough he can handle it still he is just a lonely pilgrim in it without his ka-tet.)
They both are looking for something big, oh so unreachable and legendary that can solve their problems, can give answers to their questions, can show them the way to home.
They both build a ka-tet around themselves and give them the same goal = to find the big big thing that can solve their problems, make their dreams or wishes become true.

Cowardly Lion = Jake
They both seem to be innocent and fragile but they both are true in their hearts and can stand anytime.

Scarecrow = Eddie
Neither of them believes that they are intelligent (next to Henry Eddie was just the little stupid bro) however during the stories we must see and they must realise that they both are very clever and smart.

Tin Woodman = Susannah
They both are afraid to love (Tin Woodman thinks he can't love at all and Susannah builds many personalities to be able to handle her fears of confidence and love) but it turns out they both are hungry for love and they are incredibly capable of it.

Toto = Oy
/no explanation/

Oz = the Dark Tower
If we look at them ss gouls they are very similar. Both of them are hard to reach, both of them are wanted and chased with huge desires and dream but neither of them can give solutions.
Both of them are bumhugs or more exactly they are absolutely different from the pictures Dorothy and Roland have in their mind.

* * *

Okay, now you can throw the stones. I am ready.

[John Blaze]

honey, I am in my second night of a 3 day shift for work. So excuse me if I don't have the energy or resources (i'm on a work puter) to go all out on this.

Although I agree some of the characters do match up, I don't agree that the books are parallel at all.

Oz = The Dark Tower? I do not believe that the DT is a bumhug.

oy = toto: Toto was the primary character's pet, Oy was a secondary character himself, and a secondary character's pet.

Roland = Dorothy: Dorothy is an innocent, all through the book she remains that way. Roland hasn't been an innocent since the age of 14, and he darkly betrays Jake at the very onset of their friendship, something kind Dorothy would never have done.

That's all for now, sometime I have more time and energy I will go more in depth.

[ManOfWesternesse]

Oz = the Dark Tower
If we look at them ss gouls they are very similar. Both of them are hard to reach, both of them are wanted and chased with huge desires and dream but neither of them can give solutions.
Both of them are bumhugs or more exactly they are absolutely different from the pictures Dorothy and Roland have in their mind.

How about Oz = The Crimson King
Both were built up to be great, but both turned out to be Bumhugs?


Good effort Letti - & good fun!

[Letti]

Bruno, I do know how different how incredibly different the two stories and the characters are. Believe me. I am not insane. (Okay, I am but not because of this.)
When I wrote down that
Roland = Dororthy
I couldn't help but laugh
but still there are some nice similarities. That's all what I say. It's absolutely easy to find the differences because there are millions but it's hard to find the similarities. That's what I tried to work on.

Why was CK a bumhug, Brian??

Anyway thank you for all of your comments. I was sure noone would write here but run away very quickly after reading it.

[ManOfWesternesse]

Why was CK a bumhug, Brian??

For me, CK is very similar to Oz, in that he was played up to be a very powerfull figure throughout the story. Then, in the end, he was very much a damp squib. Trapped on a balcony, throwing sneetches and fits, and screaming his "EEEEEEE!''s, but getting more laughable by the minute. Quite like Oz behind the curtain, I thought.

[Matt]

Then, in the end, he was very much a damp squib

I love that line!

And I totally agree Brian.

This is great Letti, what an amazing amount of insight you have.

[John Blaze]

. Quite like Oz behind the curtain, I thought.

Brilliant comparison, my friend.

[Aesculapius]

Great thread. The two stories are definitely similar on a general scale. The Beam that Roland and his friends found = the yellow brick road. It's all there.

[Armand St Pierre]

You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead
For the most glorious place
On the Face of the Earth
Or the sky

Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate
And bid it open

[Letti]

Brian, now I understand it. Yeah there is a lot in what you say, my friend.

Matt, thank you for your kindness. I am always afraid to open such "wild" thread as this one. (Where I am planning to type that Roland is similar to Dorothy...)

[Letti]

Great thread. The two stories are definitely similar on a general scale. The Beam that Roland and his friends found = the yellow brick road. It's all there.

What an ammmmazing point! How could I miss it?
I think I focused on the characters too much.

[alinda]

Anyone remember the theroy that there are gereally speaking only 4 stories in all of history? These 2 are the "great quest to get back home varity".
Great topic as usual Letti!

[jayson]

Great thread. The two stories are definitely similar on a general scale. The Beam that Roland and his friends found = the yellow brick road. It's all there.

excellent point. keep in mind also the role of dorothy's ka-tet and roland's ka-tet, it's made up of people who represent qualities that are needed in themselves by Dorothy or Roland. in the end, they wind up back where they were bc it was all inside them. linda is right, there are only a finite number of stories but an infinite number of ways to tell them. these two stories have many parallels, some intentional, some not.

[John_and_Yoko]

Funny, I always thought of Roland as the Tin Man and Susannah as Dorothy, though I don't really know why....

Anyway, I noticed the general similarity in theme of the two stories and it makes me wonder how old that concept is--the idea that the journey is more important than the actual destination, because it's a voyage of self-discovery....

And what IS the oldest such story that we know of (or the oldest popular one)...?

[obscurejude]

Oldest ever- Epic of Gilgamesh.

Most Popular/ Influential- Homer's Illiad

[John_and_Yoko]

Oldest ever- Epic of Gilgamesh.

Most Popular/ Influential- Homer's Illiad

Really? Those stories have that same theme?

I'm going to have to read them again, then....

[mia/susannah]

Letti, I actually like your comparisons. I agree with you on most of the comparisons. I agree with Manofwesterness about both being bumhugs.

[mia/susannah]

You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead
For the most glorious place
On the Face of the Earth
Or the sky

Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate
And bid it open

I very much enojyed this peom. You are a great poet

[Whitey Appleseed]

Since Rhea is fresh in my mind, it's hard to ignore how much she reminded me of the witch from The Wizard of Oz. Some even posted pictures of the green lady on a thread in W&G.
Cordelia reminded me of Auntie Em, Auntie Em in the witch's crystal ball, 'Dorothy! Dorothy!" whatever, and there were things Cordelia said that could have come from Auntie Em, "why do say so, Susan!"

But I had another take on it, cry yer pardon. Wondered if there is a thread about what The Dark Tower characters could stand in for, like in The Wizard of Oz, supposedly, the tin man is industry, the scarecrow dumb farmers, the lion...? I dunno, but regardless of whether that is true, or not, I can see the argument, persuaded or not.

Maybe there's a thread about this already? Like what could Eddie stand-in for? Detta/Odetta/Susannah? Jake? Seems like if you looked at them as someone looked at the Wizard of Oz characters, you'd either come away with more unanswered questions, something to think about when there's four feet of snow on the roof and you don't want to go out and move it.

[gsvec]

You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead
For the most glorious place
On the Face of the Earth
Or the sky

Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate
And bid it open

I very much enojyed this peom. You are a great poet

Those are actually the lyrics to the song that plays and Dorothy and her tet are running from the field of poppies to the door of the Emerald City!

And what about our wicked witch of the west? Very "man in black: to me . . .

[Letti]

Since Rhea is fresh in my mind, it's hard to ignore how much she reminded me of the witch from The Wizard of Oz. Some even posted pictures of the green lady on a thread in W&G.

Good call.

You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead
For the most glorious place
On the Face of the Earth
Or the sky

Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate
And bid it open

I very much enojyed this peom. You are a great poet

Those are actually the lyrics to the song that plays and Dorothy and her tet are running from the field of poppies to the door of the Emerald City!

And what about our wicked witch of the west? Very "man in black: to me . . .

For me the man in black is much more frightening somehow. That's why I can't see them similar however yeah they both are villains.

[ImprisonedNtheDarkTower]

There are similarities throughout the series towards oz. some smaller, some in a bigger picture. i think the original lyrics to over the rainbow, where over the beam.