What does the Scarecrow ask the Wizard for?

The Scarecrow asks the Wizard for a brain. In L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, Dorothy finds him hanging in a Munchkin Country cornfield. He believes he is mindless because a crow once told him that brains are important, so he joins Dorothy’s journey to the Emerald City seeking one.

The Scarecrow’s request is ironic: throughout the adventure, he repeatedly thinks of clever solutions and often acts as the group’s strategist. After the travelers defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard gives him a mixture of bran, pins, and needles as symbolic “brains.” The gift boosts his confidence, but his actions have already shown that he possessed intelligence.

The request is sometimes confused with the Tin Woodman’s wish for a heart or the Cowardly Lion’s wish for courage. In the 1939 film, the Wizard presents the Scarecrow with a diploma, making “a diploma” a recognizable association—but it is not the thing he originally asks for.