Book 2, Gillikin Summary

"Galinda" opens the section of the novel entitled Gillikin. A young Gillikinese woman, Galinda, travels alone to college in Shiz after her guardian, Ama Clutch, injured her foot. On this trip, the author introduces, for the first time, Animals, characters that appear like beasts, but with intellect and emotions like humans. Such citizens of Oz have begun to suffer injustices for their differences under the rule of the new Wizard of Oz.

At Crage Hall, the university for women in Shiz, Galinda judges the other girls on site. She feels superior to most and drives to make inroads with those superior to herself. She soon realizes though, without her Ama, she must live in a communal dorm rather than a more luxurious private room. When she argues this with the head of the school, Madame Morrible, she receives placement in a...