What is the context of this reference to 'Munchkins' in the Oz books?

June 23, 2017 7:47 PM

Someone I was speaking with recently made reference to a kind of 'Munchkin' punishment in the Wizard of Oz (or similar books). The punishment involved confinement with all the best things given to the prisoner Munchkin. What book is this from and what is the context of this 'punishment'?
posted by 8LeggedFriend to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

I think you are talking about the prison referenced in The Patchwork Girl of Oz where Ojo - a munchkin - is imprisoned for picking a 6 leaf clover. He is baffled because everything is so nice and luxurious, and the jailer explains that his guit is punishment enough. (Or something like that, I haven't read it in years.)
posted by (Over) Thinking at 8:05 PM on June 23, 2017 [4 favorites]

I think (Over) Thinking has it.

Here's the relevant text, from chapter 15.

Ojo was much astonished, for not only was this unlike any prison he had ever heard of, but he was being treated more as a guest than a criminal. There were many windows and they had no locks. There were three doors to the room and none were bolted. He cautiously opened one of the doors and found it led into a hallway. But he had no intention of trying to escape. If his jailor was willing to trust him in this way he would not betray her trust, and moreover a hot supper was being prepared for him and his prison was very pleasant and comfortable. So he took a book from the case and sat down in a big chair to look at the pictures.

This amused him until the woman came in with a large tray and spread a cloth on one of the tables. Then she arranged his supper, which proved the most varied and delicious meal Ojo had ever eaten in his life.

Tollydiggle sat near him while he ate, sewing on some fancy work she held in her lap. When he had finished she cleared the table and then read to him a story from one of the books.

"Is this really a prison?" he asked, when she had finished reading.

"Indeed it is," she replied. "It is the only prison in the Land of Oz."

"And am I a prisoner?"

"Bless the child! Of course."

"Then why is the prison so fine, and why are you so kind to me?" he earnestly asked.

Tollydiggle seemed surprised by the question, but she presently answered:

"We consider a prisoner unfortunate. He is unfortunate in two ways—because he has done something wrong and because he is deprived of his liberty. Therefore we should treat him kindly, because of his misfortune, for otherwise he would become hard and bitter and would not be sorry he had done wrong. Ozma thinks that one who has committed a fault did so because he was not strong and brave; therefore she puts him in prison to make him strong and brave. When that is accomplished he is no longer a prisoner, but a good and loyal citizen and everyone is glad that he is now strong enough to resist doing wrong. You see, it is kindness that makes one strong and brave; and so we are kind to our prisoners."

Ojo thought this over very carefully. "I had an idea," said he, "that prisoners were always treated harshly, to punish them."

"That would be dreadful!" cried Tollydiggle. "Isn't one punished enough in knowing he has done wrong? Don't you wish, Ojo, with all your heart, that you had not been disobedient and broken a Law of Oz?"

posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:10 PM on June 23, 2017 [33 favorites]