One of the brightest tales of our childhood is “The Wizard of the Emerald City”. It tells about the adventures of a girl Ellie, accidentally trapped in a magical land. And to return home, she needs to find one wizard - this is Goodwin. The book of A. Volkov “The Wizard of the Emerald City” is a retelling of the story written by the American writer L. F. Baum “The Amazing Wizard of Oz”.
Briefly about the character
Goodwin is a dreamer and an illusionist who, having hit a hurricane in a balloon, finds himself in a magical Green Country. Residents take him for a sorcerer. Perhaps that is why Goodwin wanted to build the Emerald City. But in the process it turned out that there were not enough materials for the construction.
Then he finds an interesting way out: the wizard ordered all residents to wear green glasses. That is, Goodwin used simple glass for construction, and the townspeople believe that these are emeralds. The wizard gradually gets bored in Green Country, and he decides to restore the balloon to return home to Kansas.
Although Goodwin is not a wizard, but a good magician, he helps Ally and her friends. He appoints the Scarecrow as the new ruler of the city.
Upon returning to Kansas, Goodwin begins working in the circus, and then opens a grocery store. Ellie saw him in Kansas and even invited her to travel again to the Wizarding Land, but Goodwin stayed home.
The request of Ellie and her friends
Ellie and her friends were looking for the wizard Goodwin to help him realize their dreams. The girl wanted to return home to Kansas, the Scarecrow dreamed of getting brains, the Lumberjack - the heart, and the Lion - courage. Before entering the Emerald City, the heroes wear green glasses.
The locals called the Ruler of the city Great and Terrible, because they considered him a magician. Despite the fact that he did not possess magic (Goodwin hid it), he was a wonderful illusionist. Therefore, he appeared before friends in different images: a talking head, a beautiful woman, a monster and a ball of fire. He nevertheless agrees to help friends, but only if they fulfill his request will they destroy the Evil Witch of the West, who seized power in the country of Miguns.
Help
Friends fulfilled the request, but despite this, Goodwin does not want to accept them. Heroes are persistent and receive an audience. Goodwin tells them that he is no wizard, but a simple magician. He talks about how he came to this country and how the Emerald City appeared.
However, Goodwin was able to fulfill the requests of Ellie and her companions. The scarecrow received brains made of pins and sawdust, the Lumberjack - a silk heart, the Lion - a carbonated drink that gave him courage. However, here, most likely, the placebo effect worked.
And then Goodwin and Ellie in a new balloon return to Kansas. The fact that the ruler of the Emerald City was able to fulfill requests without magic confirms that he was a gifted magician and quick-witted person.
Character in other works
Goodwin from the tale “The Wizard of the Emerald City” is practically no different from the hero of the original story created by the American writer L. F. Baum. A.M. Volkov only changed the name of the main character and some details of his biography.
Unlike the stories of other authors, in Volkov’s cycle, little information is given about the ruler of the Emerald City. In addition to the first part, he is also mentioned in the book "Oorfene Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers." In it, Ellie finds Goodwin, who has already opened his grocery store, and offers to go back to the Magic Land, but he refuses.
Also, a separate cycle about adventures in the country of Oz was created by S. Sukhinov. He pays more attention to the personality of the wizard and even devotes a story to him called "Goodwin, the Great and Terrible." Like Baum, his Goodwin becomes a real wizard.
But in all adaptations, most of the biography remained the same as in the original story. The wizard Goodwin from the tale of Oz is one of the most popular sorcerers. Even despite the fact that he was not. But tricks can also be attributed to magic, because not all people can understand how this or that trick is done. Goodwin, despite the reputation of the Great and Terrible, was a kind and sympathetic person. After all, he agreed to help Ellie and her companions.
He also possessed good ingenuity and charisma: he managed to convince the inhabitants that he was a wizard and that the city was built of emeralds. But Goodwin did this not so much because of vanity, but because of the creative side of his nature. And by the way, he managed to bring some magic to the life of Ellie and her companions.