Volume 2: The Tale of the Witch of the West

In Vincus
Strange Journey | The Jasper Gate of Kiamoko | Rebellion
The Witch's Death and...
Translator's Note

★ How do those in power turn their enemies into victims of witch hunts?

“The Vietnam War ended before I could vote, but I remained terrified of the terrifying witch known as the Viet Cong for a long time afterward.
In The Wizard of Oz, the wizard hides behind a curtain and orders young Dorothy to kill the witch, saying that she is a scary creature.
In Wicked, I wanted to write about how people turn their enemies into demons.” —Gregory Maguire

“Wicked” contains allegories for everything from Nazi Germany to Nixon-era America.
“A delightful piece of metafiction, with both subtle humor and eroticism.” —The Boston Phoenix

"Wicked" is a revisionist fantasy novel that humorously overturns the classic fairy tale "The Wizard of Oz" (1890), which has been adapted into numerous films and musicals and is loved by people around the world.
However, if we simply introduce Wicked as a story in which the Wizard of Oz was actually a dictator and the Wicked Witch of the West was a hero of outsiders who stood on the side of the weak, we are making the mistake of assuming that it is a blatant parody of literature.
What the author really wanted to write about, borrowing the fantasy format, was how people transform their enemies into demons.
In The Wizard of Oz, the Wizard simply tells the unsuspecting Dorothy that the Wicked Witch of the West is a terrifying being and deserves to die, and sends a child to be the witch's assassin.
The absence of any clues as to why the Wicked Witch of the West is evil, or why she became evil, has given rise to a vast epic about the history of Oz.
Elphaba was always the center of attention and bullied because of her green skin.
However, while the intelligent Elphaba possesses moral convictions that allow her to face the world with wisdom, she also becomes a neurotic and independent nerd.
Because of their different appearances, they may have been able to empathize more sensitively with the rights of animals that are being abused.
Elphaba took up the cause of resistance against the unreasonable power exercised on such an oppressed minority, and the Wizard, who dreams of dictatorship while uniting all of Oz, systematically transformed her into an evil witch by taking advantage of Elphaba's nervous and bold personality.

★ No one can be completely good, we must constantly strive to become good!

“In fact, no one can be completely good.
“The reason Wicked succeeds is probably because Elphaba constantly struggles to be good.” —Gregory Maguire

“I was completely immersed in this incredible story.
Wicked delves deeply into important literary themes.
About the ambiguity of morality, the nature of evil, the sweetness and bitterness of power, and the price of love.
Elphaba comes across as a more terrifying presence than any of the other main characters.
But this time, it's in a slightly different sense.
Elphaba is ourselves.” ―Wally Lamb (American novelist)

The author constantly asks where good and evil come from.
But it doesn't provide an answer.
Elphaba's hatred for the chef who cooked the rabbit, which may have been a talking animal, unknowingly causes bees to kill the chef.
Elphaba's aura of hatred for Manek, who constantly harasses Lir, also drives Manek to death.
Moreover, when Elphaba cannot forgive Madame Morrible, the wizard's henchman and brainwasher of the schoolgirls, and attempts to assassinate her, her lover Fiyero mentions the victims of good intentions.
It is also hinted that Elphaba is actually of wizard blood.
In the conflict between good and evil, the origin of Elphaba, who represents true good, is actually connected to evil.
So what makes Elphaba a true hero is her constant struggle and passion to find what is truly good, despite all her flaws.
Elphaba's imperfect and tormented personality is a mirror reflecting ourselves and the true charm of Wicked.

★ Elphaba, the imperfect and unrefined green witch, is ourselves!

“A fantasy mystery novel, a psychological novel, and a fascinating political novel.
It is impossible to escape the magic of language wielded by Gregory Maguire.” —Newsday

“We all need a witch.
Elphaba, the green witch, wields intense powers and summons all our fears and desires.” ―The Times-Picka-Yoon

Wicked is, above all, a wonderful psychological novel.
The author devotes considerable effort to exploring why Elphaba became such a dogmatic, paranoid, and independent spirit.
Elphaba was born on the day her father, Prex, experienced a miserable failure, and Elphaba's green skin came to symbolize to Prex his own failure in his ministry.
Her mother, Melena, took a contraband drug to prevent her from having any more green children, which resulted in the birth of Nessarose, who had no arms.
Elphaba says of her mother, who died giving birth to her younger brother, “It’s all my fault.”
Unlike the mature Elphaba who was born with terrible teeth, Nessarose, who could not even sit up on her own, monopolized Prex's cuteness, and Prex constantly demanded sacrifices from Elphaba for the vulnerable Nessarose.
In this way, Elphaba is unable to fully integrate into her family, creates her own world, becomes stubborn, rebels against established value systems and beliefs, and becomes cynical about ideals and salvation. She becomes a witch, walking a different path from others like oil and water.
On the other hand, while Elphaba is indignant at the wizard's abuse and discrimination against animals, she cannot help but feel a pang of affection for her own son, Lir, because she herself has never received wholesome love.
In contrast to Dorothy, who flew in from Kansas and is loved by everyone for her natural innocence and bright personality, Elphaba is forced to live the life of a witch even though she is not a harmful person to anyone.
Elphaba's life is marked by failure and frustration in both love and revolution, and she never receives the forgiveness she so desperately seeks.
Elphaba's dark and twisted life is due to conditions that were imposed on her from birth, regardless of her will.
However, even though Elphaba may seem strange and eccentric, she never loses her resolve to follow her own beliefs, even as her friends, Glinda and Bok, with whom she once shared a heart and a pure passion, become worldly and vulgar.
While the protagonist of a typical fantasy story overcomes his or her moral flaws and weaknesses through hardship and trials to become a hero, Elphaba remains an imperfect and twisted failure, a witch, and ends up living in solitude. However, she displays a heroic side in that she continues her lonely struggle without compromising with injustice and absurdity.


★ The world's first movie to be released in Korea on November 20th!

The novel Wicked was made into a musical in 2005 and became a huge hit on Broadway and the West End in 2007.
It became a blockbuster musical that swept three Tony Awards and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
The story centers on the setting and characters of the classic children's book, The Wizard of Oz, which has been loved around the world and constantly recreated through films, musicals, and plays for over 100 years, but Maguire's ingenious imagination has created an original work with much more literary depth and meaning.
The name of the main character, Elphaba, is taken from L.A., the author of The Wizard of Oz.
It is taken from the pronunciation of the first letters of Frank Baum (Lyman Frank Baum).

Director John Chu's film "Wicked" (Universal Pictures), consisting of PART 1 and PART 2, will be released first in Korea on November 20, 2024.
Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), winner of the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, stars in the film, along with singer Ariana Grande (Glinda), Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum.