Study Guide

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Volume 2, Chapter 2, Part 4

By Gregory Maguire

Volume 2, Chapter 2, Part 4

Boq, Crope, and Tibbett all end up helping Elphaba with her work over the summer.
The group often meet at a café and discuss Dillamond's work and their own findings and beliefs.
Dillamond is making scientific breakthroughs and has invented something that sounds like a microscope.
The group has all been researching origin myths that involve Animals in order to see how people have thought about the issue over time.
Tibbett researched one involving the Fairy Queen Lurline: Lurline drank lots of water and then peed all over the world and the Animals who swam in her urine became intelligent. That's certainly a wacky take on the "flood" myth:

"Baptism by piss," said Elphaba. "Is that a subtle way both to explain the talents of Animals and to denigrate them at the same time?
"And what of the animals who drowned?" asked Boq. "They must have been the real losers."

Boq studied a Unionist myth that said the Unnamed God cried over the doomed land of Oz, and the animals who swallowed his tears became Animals.
Elphaba studied a myth that said a Kumbric Witch put a powerful spell on animals to make them Animals, and that the spell hasn't worn off. Elphaba is worried about this, since a spell implies that the Animals condition is reversible.
Aslan made all the animals talk in Narnia; they should probably look into that one.
Madame Morrible's robot Grommetik comes in. Elphaba is nervous around it and quickly leaves.