Question: What did the Scarecrow want in The Wizard of Oz?
Show answer
A brain.
In L. Frank Baum’s classic novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and its famous 1939 film adaptation “The Wizard of Oz,” the Scarecrow is one of the central characters who accompanies Dorothy, the story’s protagonist, on her journey to meet the Wizard. The Scarecrow yearns for a brain, believing that his creation with straw stuffing has left him unable to think and incapable of intelligence.
He hopes that the powerful Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City can grant him a brain, allowing him to be wise. This quest reflects the book’s recurring theme of self-perception and the power of belief. Interestingly, throughout the story, the Scarecrow frequently comes up with clever ideas and strategies, displaying wisdom and intelligence, even though he believes himself to be without a brain.
In the end, when they finally meet the Wizard, he does not perform magic to give the Scarecrow what he wants. Instead, the Wizard provides him with a placebo – a head full of bran, pins, and needles – suggesting it’s a brain. The Scarecrow, content, believes he has received a brain, highlighting that he had what he desired – intelligence – all along, and only lacked self-confidence. This realization forms one of the central moral lessons of “The Wizard of Oz.”
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