We're Off to See the Wizard ... On Oscar Diggs and Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Oscar Diggs as imagined by William Wallace Denslow 

in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

 

'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain ...'

 

 

I. 

 

Even as a young child, I was no friend of Dorothy's and avoided spending time in Oz if I could possibly help it: I hated the Munchkins, had no time for the Scarecrow, Tin Man, or Cowardly Lion, and if my sympathies lay anywhere they were with the Wicked Witch of the West and her army of wolves, crows, and bees.  

 

Of late, however, I have become fascinated by the character of Oscar Diggs, the Wizard who, it turns out, is not so very wonderful at all; who is in fact a humbug - that is to say, a fraud, an imposter, a great deceiver ... 

 

 

II. 

 

I suspect we all know people like Oscar Diggs; individuals who, for example, use elaborate titles and self-descriptions to appear more important, more successful, and more interesting than they actually are; individuals who mask a very ordinary nature behind a carefully crafted image that is projected for so many years that they themselves come to believe it real. 

 

Such individuals are not bad people; just fake magicians or fake whatever else they try to pass themselves off as, unable to perform the miracles that they promised. 

 

This is not to deny they may have certain gifts and achieve certain things of which they are rightly proud. But, alas, they are not the mighty figures, the wonderful wizards, or true talents they pass themselves off as and they maintain a facade of accomplishment only through lie and illusion.         

 

 

III.

 

It's possible, of course, that certain individuals exhibiting the Wizard of Oz syndome are not faking things, but are, rather, suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder; i.e., a mental health condition characterised by an inflated sense of self-importance and a deep need for attention and admiration often masking fragile self-esteem and leading to arrogant behavior, entitlement, and difficulty handling even the mildest criticism. 

 

Other symptoms include: preoccupation with fantasies, unreasonable expectations, and resentment and envy of others, making both personal and professional relationships strained and often unsustainable.     

 

I'm not a therapist, so I don't know what causes this condition. Nor do I know what can be done to treat it. I would, however, encourage those who recognise something of themselves in the character of Oscar Diggs to seek treatment unless they wish to spend their lives behind the curtain, dreading the day when they might be exposed ...