Running head: INSIDE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 1 Inside the Unconscious Mind of an Author Marissa Tafolla Professor Cindy Chavez Writing 10 May 3, 2013 INSIDE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 2 Abstract According to Psychology in Modules by David G. Meyers, “the unconscious process consists of all mental processes that one is not aware of”, in other words all the things that are not actively being paid attention to for example filtered sensory information, automatic behavior, non- activated declarative memories and motivations. Freud Sigmund referred to it as unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. Therefore, writing can be an existential, unconscious confession of our selves. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, proved that by incorporating his childhood feelings in the story. As L. Frank Baum was a child he was mistreated by both of his highly strict parents. They pulled him away from his creativity and instead pushed him to become a successful entrepreneur, which was not what Baum desired. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written by L. Frank Baum with the unconscious goal to rediscover his childhood history. He was never able to enjoy his childhood the way a child should, he was manipulated by his parents and was violently mistreated. He grew up with moral discipline enforced by his parents. He believed that no parent should ever be disrespected by their children. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is written to indirectly explain what he may have suffered as a child. The unconscious process works in a way in which you are not aware of what you are doing or why you are doing it, when Baum got older and was “free” he was able to do whatever his creative mind desired. Which lead him to write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he could have chosen to write about whichever genre he wanted and chose to write a children’s book which was later recognized as the “American Fairy Tale.” Keywords: Unconscious Mind, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, childhood INSIDE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 3 Inside the Unconscious Mind of an Author Baum’s Childhood Impact When L. Frank Baum was a child, he was raised by both his mother and his father. His mother was a direct descendant of Thomas Stanton, one of the four founders of Stonington, Connecticut. His father, Benjamin Baum was a wealthy businessman who got his fortune in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. Both his mother and father lived by societal expectations. Therefore, they encouraged Baum to ignore his creative mind and pursue a job through which he could become wealthy. He was not able to enjoy his childhood the way many other kids were enjoying their lives. All his childhood thoughts, feelings, and memories were stored in his unconscious mind. His childhood experience influenced the person he later became. Could The Wonderful Wizard of Oz be a way for Baum to expose his childhood emotions, was the book an outlet to show his true desires? Unconscious Mind We cannot directly think about the urges and memories stored in the unconscious mind, bet they do affect our behavior. In James S. Nairne’s Psychology, “Freud believed that through psychoanalysis these hidden impulses and memories can be brought to the surface of awareness, thereby freeing us from unwanted thoughts and behaviors” (2009). Traumatic experiences that you encounter as a child are anxiety provoking and are there therefore difficult for the young mind to deal with, so they are buried in the unconscious. Even though they are no longer consciously available, these experiences continue to dominate and color behavior. L. Frank Baum grew up viewing the world through his parent’s perspective. He always knew that what he INSIDE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 4 wanted to do was not what his parents approved of. The way in which the unconscious mind works can help explain the reasons as to why Baum wrote the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Parent Societal Expectations Due to his parent’s societal standing they expected a lot from Baum. They did not accept his creativity nor did they want him to have a great imagination, instead they slowly forced him to become a successful entrepreneur. His parents pulled him away from his creativity and pushed him toward their own personal preferences (Robinson, 2010).They described him as a sickly child given to daydreaming, so they believed that he needed toughening up which led them to send him to study at Peekskill Military Academy, at the young age of twelve. His parent’s expectations caused L. Frank Baum to reject that creative side of him. He was always taught moral discipline so he believed that he should always obey his parents and that they should never be disrespected. He never forgot the way in which his parents treated him and the things they had prevented him from doing. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy told the witch of the North “I am anxious to get back to my Aunt Em and Uncle, for I am sure they will worry about me. Can you help me find my way?” Throughout her adventure, she always knew that the correct thing to do was to get back to her relatives. Towards the end of the story when Dorothy is getting ready to clap her heels to go back home, she finds herself crying when she says her last good-byes to the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman because she is leaving her loving comrades. She was beginning to feel comfortable at Emerald City, but she knew that going home was what she had to do. Baum expressed his feelings through Dorothy’s character. In a sense Baum was still angry at his parents for not allowing him to live the ordinary life all the other kids were living during INSIDE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 5 that time period. But he also always kept in mind that he should always obey his parents and that they should never be disrespected. Childhood Feelings The Wonderful Wizard of Oz could be seen as a reflection of L. Frank Baum’s life. The story begins by describing Kansas as a grey and gloomy place. This represents Baum’s parent’s view and their idea of them wanting him to become an entrepreneur. The story then continues with Dorothy discovering Emerald City which was described as a beautiful place, full of color and happiness. This symbolizes Baum’s creativity and imagination that he had as a child which his parents pulled him away from. Throughout the entire story, Dorothy likes Emerald City and she believes it is a wonderful place but at every step of the way she is trying to find a way to get back to Kansas. Dorothy’s journey and her feelings throughout it, represent how Baum felt in his life as a child. He wanted to be creative and keep his imagination but his parents were against that. Even though he knew what he wanted to do, he did what his parents wanted him to do. In the story, Dorothy gets taken away by a cyclone and ends up in Emerald City. She meets new friends including the Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow, and The Tin Woodman. All three characters believed they had something missing. Every chance she had, she was determined to help these characters. When Dorothy first met the Scarecrow, she asked him if he could get down from the pole he was on, and he replied, “No, for this pole is stuck to my back. If you will please take away the pole I shall be greatly obliged to you.” Dorothy then brought him down from the pole. At one point or another Dorothy helped all the characters when they needed her. Dorothy symbolizes a mother figure who helps the scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly INSIDE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 6 Lion find their inner selves, which was something L. Frank Baum’s mother did not do instead she pulled him away from it and pushed him towards something else. In Reginald Leamon Robinson’s article “Trauma, Creativity, and Unconscious Confessions: The lost childhood History behind L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he believes that the way that Frank Baum was raised could have affected him in a way that resulted in writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. His childhood experience could have inspired him to write the book in order to be able to express himself to the world without having to say what happen to him as a child directly (Robinson, 2010). This article can help explain what many things in the book really mean. It also makes things clearer as to how his life events were put into the book in different ways. This article can serve as a way to understand the Trauma behind the story The Wizard of Oz. The information in this article was written by the author Robinson, Reginald Leamon who is a professor of law at Howard University School of Law in Washington D.C. I believe that this source is not biased because it does not make us have to believe a certain way. This source was useful to write about the relationship between Frank Baum’s childhood experiences and the meaning behind The Wizard of Oz. In Sarah Hamilton’s article “Over the Rainbow and Down the Rabbit Hole: Law and Order In Children’s Literature”, she focuses on the relationship between children and bedtime stories and how they might affect them as adults. The characters in stories as well as the lessons we learn from the stories, can play a role when it comes to deciding the type of person you want to be and what society we want to be a part of (Hamilton, 2005).