In these chapters the companions learn that Oz is not what he seems: he is a regular man who took advantage of the credulity of the denizens of the future Emerald City to attain a position of power for himself. Although he did not do so with malicious intentions, he nonetheless is the epitome of a humbug, as the Scarecrow labels him accusingly. He is full of sound and fury and cannot actually grant the wishes that Dorothy and her friends ask for. However, he is not completely lacking in wisdom – he is able to, through small sleights of hand, give the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion exactly what they already possessed within themselves. He does come up with a plan to take Dorothy home, but in a moment that resembles the earlier scene where Toto prevents Dorothy from getting into the storm cellar, she misses the basket trying to find the dog.
The simplicity and utopian quality of the Oz novels often provoke critics to look for deeper meaning in the text (see other analyses in this study guide). Fred Erisman offers his take on the novel's relationship with progressivism in his influential 1968 article. He explains that Baum's books in general "illustrate one American's commitment to the older value system, his tacit recognition of the dilemma posed by this commitment, and the resolution he evolved for himself and his readers.