Deadly Desert
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The Deadly Desert is the magical desert that completely surrounds the Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.
Anyone who sets foot into the sand of any of these deserts disintegrates. The desert is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. However, it has been crossed several times by people from within Oz and the outside world.
Notable Crossings
- Dorothy Gale is carried over the desert into Oz in her house by a cyclone.
- The Wizard of Oz leaves Oz in a hot air Balloon.
- Ozma, the queen of Oz, crosses the desert with her whole court by use of an infinitely unrolling carpet.
- Dorothy Gale, Shaggy Man, and Button Bright cross the desert into Oz by use of a sand ship.
On his deathbed, L. Frank Baum reportedly said, "now we can cross the shifting sands".
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