Classics Corner: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster; A Fantastic Magical Journey With Deep Meaning

Classics Corner: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster; A Fantastic Magical Journey With Deep Meaning

By Julie Sara Porter,

Bookworm Reviews

The Phantom Tollbooth is a classic Juvenile novel in the tradition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or The Chronicles of Narnia. On the surface, it’s an imaginative story about a boy who goes to a fantasy world, meets unusual creatures, goes on a quest to save the world, and is declared a hero. What makes The Phantom Tollbooth a classic along the lines of Alice is the depth that the journey takes. The Phantom Tollbooth is a magical journey that is really an allegory about the importance of learning.

The protagonist, Milo, is a young boy who the narrator tells us “doesn't know what to do with himself not just sometimes but always.” He can't get excited about anything. His toys and books bore him. He finds his school lessons unimportant. He isn't satisfied when he goes places. He is one unhappy young boy and would be miserable for the rest of his life if he didn't find a mysterious tollbooth that appears in his room with instructions on how to use it.

Milo drives his small electric car through the tollbooth and finds himself on the road to Dictionopolis, a fantasy kingdom with residents that live for words and letters. Dictionopolis’ ruler King Azaz is in constant conflict with his brother, The Mathemagician, the ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Digitopolis, whose residents live for numbers. Milo learns that Azaz and the Mathemagician will continue to war with each other until someone goes to the Castle of Air and rescues the Princesses of Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason who bring balance to the world. Naturally Milo is the lucky volunteer for the quest.

As seen by the summary alone, the Phantom Tollbooth is a buffet of symbolism and verbal byplay. Only a truly gifted writer could create characters named Rhyme and Reason (as in the old saying “There is no rhyme or reason.”) with a straight face. Naturally the two kingdom's rulership of words and numbers illustrate the basics of learning. (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.)

The book is filled with clever plays on words such as a place called Conclusions (which naturally can only be reached by Jumping to it.) When Milo says that he got in a bad situation because “he wasn't thinking.”

Another character tells him the only way out is to start thinking which pulls Milo out of his trouble.

The visits to Dictionopolis and Digitopolis are rich in passages which take word and number concepts literally. Milo goes to a word market where Dictionopolis residents actually eat their words and each letter has a different taste. (C is crunchy and chocolate, while I is very cold, and so on.) The Spelling Bee is an adorable insect that spells words. The Whether Man is a character who wonders whether there will be weather.

Meanwhile, at Digitopolis there is a figure called the Dodecahedron with ten faces and a different emotion for each face. A boy is the .58 of his average family of mother, father, and 2.58 children and looks like it. (He has only half a body.). There are roads to Infinity in which unwary travelers keep going without stopping.

The clever characters and situations aren't just found in the two kingdoms. They are sprinkled throughout the book. Milo is aided on his journey by Tock, a stern but lovable watchdog that has a timepiece on his back and the Humbug, a pompous braggart who occasionally is able to talk himself and his friends out of a bad situation.

 Milo and his friends also meet a conductor who conducts colors each morning and night (his sunsets and his sunrises are particularly gorgeous) and the Sound Keeper, who collects every beautiful sound in the world. With each character and situation, Milo learns to appreciate the beauty of words, color, sounds, and numbers finding happiness that he took for granted in the real world.

Of course no fantasy would be complete without its antagonists and these are found within the minds of the character. (and no doubt the Reader.) Early in the book, Milo encounters the Doldrums, lethargic creatures that have busy days of lazing about, dawdling and dreaming,and putting off until tomorrow. The Doldrums echo Milo’s earlier depression and are warnings for what he could have become if he hadn't taken the journey through the Tollbooth.

On their way to rescue Rhyme and Reason, Milo, Tock, and the Humbug have to journey through the aptly named Forest of Ignorance and encounter several demons that like the Doldrums symbolize  psychological traps people fall into. There's the Terrible Trivium who makes Milo and his friends do mindless unnecessary tasks to distract them from their journey. The Demon of Insincerity claims to be a large terrifying creature but is really a small coward. A giant would rather conform to the thoughts and appearance of others so he could blend in rather than be his own individual.
 It is easy to see how the characters and the Readers can fall into the traps in the Forest of Ignorance. Because the demons are ones that we fall into every day, it becomes more meaningful to read about Milo and his friends get out of them and rescue Rhyme and Reason.

While this book was written for children, adults would certainly enjoy it for the clever word play, the references to words and numbers, the allegorical characters but also for the journey which shows the best way out of dull complacency or complete ignorance is learning and appreciating what we learn.