Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life And Times Of The

A person is not born evil, but, in fact, he, she in this case, is molded into evil by the actions of those around said person. In the fictitious novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire, motifs to give the reader the knowledge that evil is not inherent. Using the motifs of love and past events shaping a person, Maguire forms the novel to make the Wicked Witch less wicked. This creates an understanding for the actions of the witch. In turn, it also allows the reader to know that evil is not inherited, but it is thrusted upon an individual. The Witch, Elphaba, is perceived as evil and an outcast. This is due to her green skin, which set her apart from the rest of society. From the moment of birth,

From the moment she was born, life was hard for her, which caused her to be set apart from the rest of society. When she arrives at school, all the girls are apprehensive to talk or to stand near her due to her appearance, thus causing the wedge between her and society deeper and wider (Maguire, 70). Ostracization can cause a person to act out in ways that people disagree with. From conception, Elphaba’s life was destined to be horrible. As revealed to her through the Clock of the Time Dragon, the antagonist of the book, the Wizard of Oz, is her father. Through this medium, it is revealed that, as well as being her biological father, the Wizard is the cause of her green skin because he gave her mother, Melina, a “green glass bottle” (Maguire, 374-375). While people around her made the wrong decisions, Elphaba receives the long-term punishments for the actions. An event that causes Elphaba to feel anger is when Dorothy kills her sister and Glinda gives her sister, Nessarose,’s magic shoes to Dorothy, even though Nessarose had promised to give them to Elphaba after her death (Maguire, 346). Feeling as though she had been robbed, Elphaba becomes more and more wicked. Another reason she feels anger is because her