Or
Why the Tin Man has a heart (and you should too)
The Tin Woodman (as he is always referred to in the books) has
always practiced ahimsa (the Sanskrit word for non violence) long before
he had his heart. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz there is a scene
where they are all walking down the yellow brick road on their quest to ask the
great and powerful Oz for the gift they believe they lack--The Scarecrow
for brains (despite that he shows great ingenuity in the book), the Tin
Woodman for a heart (despite the fact that he is so gentle and loving), the
Cowardly Lion for courage (despite being quite brave) and Dorothy who
shows all the qualities mentioned above (cleverness, kindness, bravery) despite
only being seven years old who only wants to get back home to Kansas.
Once, indeed, the Tin Woodman stepped upon a beetle that was crawling
along the road and killed the poor little thing. This made the Tin Woodman very
unhappy, for he was always careful not to hurt any living creature; and as he
walked along he wept several tears of sorrow and regret. These tears ran slowly
down his face and over the hinges of his jaw and there they rusted.
When Dorothy asks him a question, he cannot speak and must mime for them
to get to get the oil can.
“This will serve me a lesson,” said he, “to look where I step. For if I
should kill another bug or beetle I should surely cry again and crying rusts my
jaw so that I cannot speak.” Therefore he walked very carefully, with his eyes
on the road and when he saw a tiny ant toiling by he would stopover, so as not
to harm it. The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he
took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything.
The band of travellers who have now added Dorothy--yes that
Dorothy--to their numbers, travel west towards the Winkie country. So best beloved, can you recall what items
were on the list that Ojo need to procure for the antidote to petrifaction?
Whilst talking to the Tin Woodman (who was now Emperor of the Winkies) Ojo spies a drop of oil at his knee and
quickly catches it in a small bottle.
They discuss the fact that he has found the three hairs from the
Woozy’s tail (still in the Woozy as no one could pull them out), a six
leaved clover (which he spent time in prison for), a gill of water from
a dark well and the seemingly impossible ingredient found only moments
before--a drop of oil from a live man’s body. But one item remains.
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| from deviantart.com |
“The left wing of a yellow butterfly,” said Ojo. “In this yellow
country and with your kind assistance, that aught to be very easy to find.”
The Tin Woodman stared at him in amazement.
"Surely you are joking!” he cried.
“No,” replied Ojo, much surprised; I am in earnest.”
“But do you think for a moment I would permit you, or anyone else, to
pull the left wing from a yellow butterfly?” demanded the Tin Woodman sternly.
“Why not sir?”
“Why not? You ask me why not? It would be cruel--one of the most
cruel and heartless deed I ever heard of,” asserted the Tin Woodman. “The
butterflies are among the prettiest of all created things, and they are sensitive
to pain. To tear a wing from one would cause it exquisite torture and it would
soon doe in great agony. I would not permit such a wicked deed under any
circumstances.”
Ojo was astounded to hear this. Dorothy, too, looked grave and
disconcerted, but she knew that the Tin Woodman was right. The Scarecrow nodded
his head in approval of his friend’s speech, so it was evident that he agreed
with the Emperor’s decision.
Scraps is the only one on Ojo’s side stating “I want to help Ojo, who
is my friend, to rescue his uncle whom he loves and I‘d kill a dozen useless
butterflies to enable him to do that,” but as the Tin Woodman points out
she cannot help her heartless remark because she was created without a heart.
“The yellow country of the Winkies,” said Ojo sadly, “is the only place
in Oz where a yellow butterfly can be found.”
“I’m glad of that said the Tin Woodman. “As I rule the Winkie Country I
can protect my butterflies.”
“Unless I get the wing--just one left wing--” said Ojo miserably, “I can’t
save Unc Nunkie.”
“Then he must remain a marble statue forever,” declared the Tin Emperor
firmly.
They decide to go back to the Emerald City and seek the advice of Ozma.
She was informed of the situation whereby the Tin Woodman had positively
refused to sacrifice the yellow butterfly to the magic potion.
“He is quite right,” said Ozma, who didn’t seem a bit surprised. “Had Ojo told me that
one of the things he sought was the wing of a yellow butterfly I would have
informed him, before he started out, that could never secure it. Then you would
have been saved the troubles and annoyances of your long journey.”
Ozma informs the group that Glinda the Good has known all along
what Dr Pipt was up to and what happened to Unc Nunkie and Margolotte and about
Ojo’s quest. She also knew that Ojo would fail so she sent the Wizard
and told him what to do. Dr Pipt’s four kettles and spell book have been
destroyed. His body was straightened out so that he would no longer be crooked
in any sense of the word. Unc Nunkie and
Margolotte are brought back to life and Ojo the Unlucky is re-christened Ojo
the Lucky.
Aww…gee that’s swell.
This was a huge and powerful lesson for me growing up and I’m sure is
one of the reasons I try to practice ahimsa today. I always say that if you
love animals the best way to help them is to not eat them. But there are other
ways that animals are exploited for our gain.
Many people are shocked at the experimentation still being done
(considerably worse in the U.S. as the EU has tighter laws) on animals for
cosmetics and household products. Proctor and Gamble are one of the
worst offenders for this http://www.uncaged.co.uk/pg.htm and it is well worth considering boycotting them
for this reason. If you do decide to boycott, make sure you tell them why.
If you are interested in cruelty free cosmetics and household products
then in the U.K. look for the Leaping Bunny logo. This means it was
certified cruelty free by the BUAV (British Union Against Vivisection) but if
you are in the U.S. check out this list of cruelty free companies. http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx
But what about medical testing? Surely we *still* need to test on
animals here? Well organisations like the Dr Hadwen Trust (based right
in our town!) think differently. They point out that animal experiments predict
correctly how a medicine will react on humans between 5-25% of the time.
That’s far worse than tossing a coin!
What about birth defects? Don’t we need to test drugs on animals to see
if they cause birth defects? How many of these do you recognise?
Chondroitin
Codeine
Morphine
Aspirin
Paracetamol
Nitrous oxide
Erythromycin
Insulin
Thyroxine
These are just a sampling of medications that are safe for humans but
cause birth defects in animals.
If we don’t use animals, what will we use?
The Dr Hadwen Trust says, “This statement falsely assumes that animal
experiments have been responsible for medical advances in the past. However,
the real benchmarks of medical progress have relied on non-animal methodologies
as will future developments.” Such as:
In vitro (test tube) research
Epidemiology (population research)
Post mortem studies
Genetic research
Clinical studies
Human tissue
Computer modelling
Advances in technology (MRI and PET scanners)
Human stem cells--which have already successfully been used to treat
children with leukaemia.
Just to name a few.
So we don’t need to needlessly torture animals to save humans. There are
alternatives. For more information visit http://www.drhadwentrust.org/
So be like the Tin Woodman.
Use your heart.
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