Discussion of the use of the green world in literature such as the Wizard of Oz and The Book of Lost Things.

1. The Green World
ABOUT OTHER WORLDS IN LITERATURE

2. Welcome to the Green World

3. What is the Green World?
 Back in Module 2, you learned about the Monomyth Cycle in the
video “What Makes a Hero?” and the supplemental website.
 In this week’s reading, our hero, David, “crosses the threshold” into
what the TED video calls the “special world.”
 This world could be compared to:
 Dorothy’s Oz
 The Pevensie siblings’ Narnia
 Shakespeare’s Forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream or the island in The
Tempest

4. We Start in
London
The Threshold
is crossed
Our “Green
World”
This technique of “crossing the threshold” is
normally part of a “FRAME NARRATIVE” – when a
story starts someplace, goes elsewhere, and then
returns to the starting point…yep, David will end
back in London (kind of…).
But when we cross the threshold, there are things
we need to know about the Green
World…particularly how it functions as compared
to our starting place.
Let’s take a quick look at the starting place first….

5. London, 1939
London is the urban center where our story
starts. It is part of a land full of rules, laws,
and organized religion and government.
Behavior in an urban center is controlled and
measured, particularly in a time of war.
There is an expected behavior for children
and adults – those who don’t follow the rules
have problems.
The urban center is a place of constraint,
morals, and laws, run by men… but also a
place where a problem occurs that cannot
be solved in the “real world”

6. In Comparison…The Green World
In contrast, THE GREEN WORLD:
o Is a pastoral haven – a refuge
o Lives by its own rules – not organized
laws and regulations
o Is full of adventure
o Allows characters to test boundaries
and discover new ways to be IN the
world.
o Is rooted in ancient pagan rituals with
summer’s victory over winter
o Addresses death and revival
o Is full of MAGIC

7. Literary Critic, Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye, a famous literary critic and Harvard
Professor of Literature, explained the “green world” this
way:
The Green World is “an unbounded natural setting such
as a forest, meadow, or glade…frequently affected by
magic and mysterious…events (think A Midsummer
Night’s Dream). The green world is indeed an ‘open’
space where the limits of law and rationality are
transcended, but this does not mean anything goes.
Rather, the opposition is between a human-centered,
inner, psychological logic and magical, natural one.”
“The Green World cannot fully be known or controlled.”

8. Here’s an Example
THE WIZARD OF OZ

9. Starts in Kansas:
 Gray and dismal
 Toto’s threatened by
Ms. Gulch because
he’s broken a “RULE”
by biting her leg.
 Punishment is going
to be given out – Toto
is to be put to sleep.
 Running away to
avoid punishment is
Dorothy’s response to
this problem.
The Green World of Oz
 Colorful, full of new life
(springtime with flowers,
fruit, grains, and
blossoming trees)
 Full of MAGIC (The
Witches, the Wizard,
Flying Monkeys)
 Full of Adventure – the
yellow brick road
 Wanting to go HOME

10. The Purpose of the Green World
Dorothy and Toto are able to get back to the REAL world once their
adventure is over and they, okay, Dorothy learns what she was sent to learn.

11. Our Green World in
The Book of Lost Things
 We start with a meeting with a Woodman, then wolves….
 We are going on an adventure with David, our hero.
So the question becomes why is David in the
Green World and what, if any, is the
transformation we can expect?