As a child I found this book particularly frightening, in both a good and bad way. It’s one of Baum’s stronger stories, in that it’s more linear and more focused than many of his others. But it’s dark in a way the others are not, in part because the events of the story are less fantastic and more real. Children’s literature is full of orphans but a child seeing everyone he knows dragged off in chains is terrifying. I’m not sure if it was scarier because it could happen (and has happened, though I’m not sure I had that understanding as a child).
Published in 1916, Rinkitink is really a stand-alone novel in the guise of an Oz book. It had been written earlier, but at this point it was clear that Oz books were going to sell better than non-Oz books. The “Oz” part at the end is tacked on and unnecessary, but it’s consistent with many of the other Oz books in that the new friends get to meet up with the beloved Oz characters and everyone makes merry.
The story begins on Pingaree, a small but prosperous island. Prince Inga is a studious lad until the day his island is attacked by terrible warriors. Everyone is enslaved, their wealth stolen and the buildings destroyed. Hidden in a tree, Inga watches while everyone on the island is taken away in chains, including his parents. Only the visiting King Rinkitink escaped slavery because he fell down a well.
Inga’s family has only one type of magical protection, three magic pearls that convey safety, strength, and wisdom. These three pearls are some of Baum’s best magic, because they have awesome power, but also strict limitations. We see that combined, these three powers make a person nearly invincible, but when divided, the person is still vulnerable (in other words, strength without wisdom, or safety without strength, may not get you very far).
Also, these pearls are at constant risk of being lost. They are small objects and have to be in possession to be used. If stored safely away, they can’t protect their owners, but if they are worn they can be stolen.
These pearls are Inga’s only hope of rescuing his parents and his people from enslavement, which includes work camps and torture. In the other Oz books a character might be captured and transformed or imprisoned, which is scary enough, but in this book there are whips and chains, forced labor and death threats. Inga’s quest is a huge one, and it doesn’t go smoothly. It’s one of Baum’s best “quest” novels despite (or maybe because of) the scariness of its villains.
Baum excels at contrasting the darkness of humanity with joy and whimsy. While Rinkitink plays a fairly small role in the action of this book, he is clearly a character that Baum loves. He embodies the characteristics of humor, creativity, humility and insight, never taking himself seriously and never despairing. He’s lazy and cowardly, a very poor king, but he has a good heart and is stronger than he shows.
I loved his banter with Bilbil, the talking goat. Baum makes very clear that their spirited arguments are in good humor and with no mean intentions. Bilbil may be the stronger and smarter of the two, but Rinkitink’s humor is disarming. It’s clear they both need and love each other.
I was a bit disappointed in Baum’s use of the character Zella. I know this is Inga’s story, but Zella is introduced to us as a brave, strong woman, yet once she encounters Inga she has very little role in the action; in fact she cooks for everyone. One of the things I love about Baum is he rarely relegates his female characters to traditional female roles, so this felt like an outlier for him. Zella’s weak role is balanced, fortunately, by the very cunning but evil Queen Cor.
There is a horrible racist reference late in the book that is so completely unnecessary, it made me very sad to read it. In the Gutenberg digital version the offensive illustration is removed but the line in the book is not.
This book, and the previous few books, were published during Baum’s California years, when he became very interested in theater, and that accounts for a lot of the more theatrical elements of his books. This book has a great deal of singing and a lot of action, though it was written earlier.
On that note, the next four books in the series are written during the years of Baum’s declining health and the U.S. entry into World War I, so it will be interesting to read them from that perspective. One of the things I’m enjoying most about this Ozathon is reading these books with a better understanding of Baum’s life and the context in which each book was written. You can learn more about this book, and others in the series, at Entering the Enchanted Castle. You can find my other posts about the Oz series on my Ozathon page.