A breakdown of The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913 novel)

The Patchwork Girl of Oz​ (1913) is L. Frank Baum’s 7th book in his Oz series. We will attempt to break this down from several perspectives. Some characters from the classic movie The Wizard of Oz (broken down in this earlier post) are present: Dorothy, Toto, the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and very very briefly the Cowardly Lion. However, the major characters are new.

The characters that occur in more than one chapter are, in the approximate order we meet them in the story:

• Ojo (a young boy about 10 years old who lives in Munchkin County)
  
• Unc Nunkie (Ojo’s terse-speaking uncle, later accidentally turned to marble by the Crooked Magician’s petrifying potion)
  
• Dr Pipt (also called the Crooked Magician, due to his crooked shape and the fact his practices magic “illegally”)
  
• Margolotte (the magician’s wife, later accidentally turned to marble by the magician’s petrifying potion)
  
• Bungle (the magician’s glass cat, made alive by the magician’s potion before the story began)
  
• Scraps (the Patchwork Girl, a sort of large raggedy Ann doll who, when made alive by the magician’s potion, was to be Margolotte’s household helper)
  
• Phonograph (accidentally made alive by the magician’s potion)
  
• Shaggy Man
  
• Woozy (a dog-like creature with a square head who can shoot sparks and fire from his eyes)
  
• Scarecrow (who likes Scraps and is now a ruler of one of the counties of Oz)
  
• Sawhorse (Scarecrow’s steed)
  
• Dorothy (and Toto, of course)
  
• Ozma (a princess who now rules Oz)
  
• Hip Hopper (one of many one-legged cave-dwelling miners)
  
• Jak the Horner (one of many miners, who have a 6 inch horn sticking out of their forehead and are fond of telling awful puns)
  
• Wizard (here he’s an assistant to Glinda the Good Witch)
  
• Tinman (or, the Tin Woodsman, now a ruler of Winkies, one of the counties of Oz)
  

Although mentioned several times, we never meet Glinda the Good Witch.

In spite of the title, it is fair to say that Ojo is the protagonist, not the Patchgirl Scraps, who is really more of an ally. While there are plenty of obstacles in Ojo's journey, there is no clear antagonist in this story, although one could argue Ojo himself is his own antagonist. It could be argued that, by ignoring adult decisions and doing what he wanted, he indirectly caused the major problems that he had to overcome. In the end, when he finally apologized and explained the mis-guided reasons he did what he did an adult took pity on him and helped him out of his problem. Using my old post on the seven basic conflicts, I'd classify this as "man vs self", or "boy vs self" to be more accurate.

Act 1: ​The first 5 chapters comprise the first act: Ojo and Unc Nunkie, The Crooked Magician, The Patchwork Girl, The Glass Cat, A Terrible Accident. In these chapters, we meet Ojo (the protagonist), who’s unhappy with his lonely life in the woods with his uncle but no one nearby. He doesn’t quite know right from wrong but is basically good and loves his uncle. We also meet his uncle Unc (soon to be accidentally petrified by the Crooked Magician),

who agrees to take Ojo on a trip to meet Dr Pipt. Dr Pipt is Unc’s nearest neighbor, but still a long distance away. Once at Dr Pipt’s house they learn from Pipt’s wife Margolotte (soon to be accidentally petrified by her husband) he’s working on a magic potion of some type.

They also meet Bungle, their self-centered Glass Cat,

Scraps the brainy and kind Patchwork Girl (who is in almost every scene once we meet her but is less active than Ojo, at least in the beginning), and we witness the inciting incident.

We learn something important about Ojo as well. Margolotte says clearly it was a big mistake to give Bungle brains “much too good for a cat” and wanted her servant girl to have only enough brains and obedience to understand her commands and obey them. However, when no one was looking, Ojo added a lot of other qualities to the potion that was to be used to animate Scraps (such as "Cleverness," "Judgment," "Courage," "Ingenuity," "Amiability," "Learning," "Truth," "Self Reliance," ...). The “terrible accident” occurs when Dr Pipt is in the process of animating Scraps. She suddenly becomes alive when the animating potion is poured on her, knocking into people, causing the petrifying potion to be poured on Margolotte and Unc. She also causes the rest of the animating potion to be spilled on the phonograph. Of course, Ojo is crushed, as is Dr Pipt. Dr Pipt tells Ojo it takes 6 years to make a dose of the animating potion needed to reanimate Unc and Margolotte. However, he can do it in short order if he can obtain five ingredients:

1. a six-leaved clover,
   
2. the left wing of a yellow butterfly found in the yellow country of the Winkies (west
   of the Emerald City),
   
3. a gill of water from a dark well,
   
4. three hairs from the tip of a Woozy's tail, and
   
5. a drop of oil from a live man's body.
   

Ojo and Scraps and Bungle set off on a journey to find these ingredients.

Act 2: ​The second act is pretty long. If we take as the act 2 brake the point where the Tinman refuses to give them item #2 above then it goes from chapters 6 to 26. First, they find the Woozy but as they are unable to pluck out 3 hairs, the Woozy goes with them.

They are almost eaten by giant plants, but saved by Shaggy Man.

They are blocked by a huge locked gate, but again Shaggy Man helps them get through it. They meet and get distracted by quite a few minor characters (Foolish Owl, Wise Donkey, Giant Porcupine, the Tottenhots, Mr Yoop, Lazy Quadling). The Giant Porcupine is truly dangerous, but Scraps protects Ojo from harm and only Shaggy Man is wounded. Ojo shows his mischievous side by illegally picking a 6-leafed clover and being jailed once he tries to enter the Emerald City. Ojo is a prisoner for a day but when he explains what it is for, Ozma releases him and is given the stolen 6-leafed clover. At that point, Dorothy

and Scarecrow

join Ojo and Scraps on their journey, but Bungle decides to stay in the palace with Ozma.

They return on their journey to find the remaining ingredients (#2, #3, #5). They meet the man-eating Mr Yoop

but they avoid capture with the help of Scarecrow and Scraps. They must also ride the Trick River, which changes direction at random times.

All these obstacles they managed to get past. Besides these smaller characters, they meet and are helped by Shaggy Man, Woozy, Scarecrow, Dorothy, Ozma, Hip Hopper and Jak Horner (who together help them get item #3). In the end they have obtained three of the five needed ingredients.

Towards the end of chapter 26, Ojo is told about the Tinman and his need for oil. Before he’s met the Tinman, Ojo basically knows how to get the fourth ingredient.

Act 3: ​In chapter 27, they enter the yellow country of the Winkies and meet the Tinman. Ojo thinks quickly and uses a vial to catch a drop of oil falling from Tinman’s knee joint before it hits the ground.

Now they have four of the five ingredients needed to reanimate Unc and Margolotte. They ask Tinman for help with #2. He refuses, arguing it is cruel and painful for the butterfly, and recommends they ask Ozma for advice. In the final chapter 28, they return to the Emerald City. The petrified Unc and Margolotte are already there. Dorothy pleads their case to Ozma, and Ozma tells the Wizard

to use Glinda’s magic to reanimate Unc and Margolotte and also to remove the magic skills from Dr Pipt. As he’s de-magicized, Dr Pipt changes from crooked to a normal man and is reunited with his wife. Ojo is reunited with his uncle. Ojo won’t live a lonely life in the woods by get to live in a cottage outside the Emerald City. Everyone lives happily ever after.