The Way Out With Ruby Slippers

The ruby slippers are the magical shoes worn by Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz.  Dorothy receives the slippers to protect her from the Wicked Witch of the West.  The slippers are very magical and have a secret about them: Whenever Dorothy wishes, she can return home to Kansas by simply clicking her heels three times and repeating, "There's no place like home".  The ruby slippers seem to be a way out of Dorothy’s confusion and a way back to the old days.  That is, back before her time of her transcendence into this eccentric, confusing world filled with witches and tyrants.

 

Salman Rushdie uses ruby the slippers in one of his stories in this same manner in his book, “East, West”.  This book is a compilation of short stories. The story I am referring to in the book is titled “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers”.  This is a very insightful story about an individual at this grand auction, hoping to buy the slippers and have another chance at love with his love interest.  But through the point of the narrator, there seems to be other bigger messages or issues if you will, in this story.  I will let him describe it to you from the story in these short excerpts:

“This permeation of the real world by the fictional is a symptom of the moral decay of our post-millennial culture.”

 

“There can be little doubt that a large majority of us opposes the free, unrestricted migration of imaginary beings into an already damaged reality, whose resources diminish by the day.”

 

“We, the public, are easily, lethally offended. We have come to think of taking offence as a fundamental right. We value very little more highly than our rage, which gives us, in our opinion, the moral ground.  From this high ground we can shoot down at our enemies and inflict heavy fatalities. We take pride in our short fuses. Our anger elevates, transcends.”

 

 

So what do the slippers seem to be portrayed as in this story? The ruby slippers seem to represent a way out of this “damaged reality” and era of “moral decay”.  I feel they are being referenced in this manner, which is close to that in the film The Wizard of Oz.  All the bidders are looking at the slippers as a second chance at life and an exit from their own reality.  This is why they are so valuable.  I would say you can’t put a price on a second chance at life. Even the narrator is looking to get a new start with his love interest in the story. The ruby slippers and what they represent in the story can be seen in this short excerpt:

 

“We revere the ruby slippers because we believe they can make us invulnerable to witches (and there are so many sorcerers pursuing us nowadays); because of their powers of reverse metamorphosis, their affirmation of a lost state of normalcy in which we have almost ceased to believe and to which the slippers promise us we can return; and because they shine like the footwear of the gods.”

 

There seems to be a broad array of bidders coming to bid on the ruby slippers.  Movie stars with their auras are attending; political refugees are at auction; individuals seeking help are also in attendance, ready to put up everything they have to obtain the slippers.  There also seems to be another group of spectators coming to catch a glimpse of these valuable slippers. Exiles, the homeless “emerge from their subterranean hollows to catch a glimpse.” “Orphans arrive, hoping that the ruby slippers might transport them back through time as well as space, hoping to be reunited with their deceased parents by the famous shoes.” “Children from nineteenth-century Australian paintings, and wandering souls are also in attendances. So as you can see from the guest, this is a very big event. As far as the auctioneers, they seem to be have a governmental figure in the story.  The opening lines in the story suggests a separation of faith from the auctioneers, such as there is a separation between the state and faith. Various ideas and moves by the auctioneers support this idea. Aficionados and the SWAT teams keeping control of the auction also seem to support this idea as well as many other quotes in the story. The following quotes support this idea:

 

“There are no priests. The Auctioneers have drawn a line. The priests remain in other, nearby buildings, buildings with which they are familiar, hoping to deal wit any psychic fall-out, any insanity overspill.”

 

“’Money insists on democracy,’ the liberal Auctioneers insist. ‘Anyone’s cash is as good as anyone else’s.’”

 

“It is to the Auctioneers we go to establish the value of our pasts, of our futures, of our lives.”

 

 

Ruby slippers are not the only valuable item that has been auctioned off at this event:

 

“If you stand here for long enough all the wonders of the world will pass by.  In the Grand Saleroom, in recent years, we have witnessed the auction of the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, The Alps, the Sphinx.”

 

Even human souls have been auctioned off at this event.  It seems as though it is an auction of demand for willing consumer.  It seems we have been memorized to become a nation of consumers here in the United States, shopping whenever we have any spare time.  When looking at these quotes throughout the story from this standpoint, I can’t help but think of Annie Leonard’s piece on “The History of Stuff”.  In this short video, she talks about the history of this transition and gives us some statistics on how we have become a nation of consumers. She also gives us some excellent information on how we are unknowingly contributing to this ideal.  She would probably gasp at the sight of this auction.

 

Overall, I found Rushdie’s story to be very insightful.  I am sure that we would all pay ridiculous amounts to go back and relive a part of our lives, or rectify a past mistake that might have occurred that had a big impact in our lives.  We would all like to have a pair of ruby slippers.  Although this would be nice, it is important to look at your past and learn from it instead of trying to rectify it.  We must not dwell on it as well.  I feel that we must as Rushdie puts it in the story:

 

“….In that miasmal ocean, we may simply float away from our desires, and see them anew, from a distance, so that they seem weightless, trivial. We let them go.”