The book actually does describe Kansas as a grey place. Here’s an interesting article exploring the use of color in the book: “Within the first chapter of the novel, the reader is exposed to the very dull and gray depiction of Kansas. On one page alone, the author describes the gray prairies of Kansas and the gray house where Dorothy resides. He continues on to state that even the sky and grass, which are universally known to be colorful symbols of life, are gray in Kansas.”