Jinjur Snaps Back

[vovat]

Anyone who has read the second Oz book knows about Jinjur, the young Munchkin woman who led an all-female army in a revolt against the Scarecrow's government over the Emerald City, claiming that it had been ruled by men long enough. After the conquest, the girls spent their time eating caramels and plundering jewels. So much for female empowerment. Mind you, it was another girl, Ozma, who took the throne from Jinjur, with the help of Glinda and HER all-female army. Jinjur reappears in the next book, Ozma of Oz, now settled down on a farm and married to a man with nine cows. He doesn't actually appear, though, as he's nursing a black eye that he received when deciding to milk the wrong cow. Later books show Jinjur growing candy on her farm, and being a talented enough artist that she once painted new straw for the Scarecrow. Her husband never appears in these books either, however. The former general seems to be living alone in Tin Woodman, and her main companion in Neill's Runaway is a stallion named Jennifer. Is Jinjur's husband away most of the time? Does he prefer to stay out of the spotlight? Did they get a divorce? Or did he not even exist in the first place? We don't really know. I would, however, like to mention the Oziana story "Jinjur's Journal," in which the mysterious husband does appear, and is called Mr. Popp (no relation to the corkscrew of the same name, presumably).

Comments

[jadavisofmo.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

And don't forget that she has a son named Perry. (Very unofficially.) :D

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

Aw! I illustrated that story with Mr. Popp. I absolutely adored the story and adored working on it. :)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

That was actually in the same issue as the only story I've had published.

[graycardinal]

And of course there's also "Four Views of General Jinjur", , wherein a number of these questions are addressed.

As to the painting, if memory serves, that's also a plot point in one of the very late Forty -- Lucky Bucky, I think -- wherein a painting of hers comes to life and causes a fair amount of trouble before being dealt with.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

While several paintings do come to life in Lucky Bucky, and Jinjur is one of the people painting the castle walls, I don't think there's any indication that her painting comes to life. Maybe she was glad to have her picture stay where it was for a change. {g}

I liked the "Four Views" story, by the way. Seeing Mombi's point of view was pretty cool, and I liked the explanation for the mysterious Munchkin King from Ozma.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that maybe her husband was the Ozian Poet Laureate, the character from the Wizard of Oz Extravaganza. Of course, that's just me trying to retcon the musical into the canon.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Sir Dashemoff Daily? Not a bad idea. I once had the concept that he might have written the lyrics to "The Oz Spangled Banner."