Discover Dictionopolis, a major setting in The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Read a summary of The Phantom Tollbooth and understand its wordplay.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Dictionopolis in The Phantom Tollbooth | Setting & Analysis
Table of Contents
Show
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the two rulers of Dictionopolis in The Phantom Tollbooth?
Dictionopolis is ruled by King Azaz. His brother is the Mathemagician and ruler of Digitopolis. Rhyme and Reason are the princesses of the cities who have been banished for telling the kings that both words and numbers are equally important.
Which of the following statements might be said by Humbug?
Humbug likes to disagree with people. For example, when Milo is speaking with the Spelling Bee and bragging, Humbug walks over and shouts 'Balderdash!'
What grade level is The Phantom Tollbooth?
Though the book is packed with big words and tons of puns and wordplay, the reading level is geared towards the 4th grade or readers between the ages of 8 and 12. Since it has been in circulation for over 40 years, today, The Phantom Tollbooth is loved by readers young and old.
What does Milo eat for dessert at the banquet in Dictionopolis?
Desserts at the banquet are all 'half baked ideas.' Milo chooses one with the words EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR THE BEST. His companions warn him that half baked ideas are tasty but don't always agree with you.
Table of Contents
ShowMilo is the main character in The Phantom Tollbooth, a children's book written by Norton Juster. Jules Feiffer did the illustrations. The novel was first published in 1961 and is still in print today. A 50th anniversary edition was published in 2011.
Milo is an apathetic boy until one day he is surprised by the appearance of a magical tollbooth in his bedroom. He enters the turnpike tollbooth and ends up in another world where he goes on an adventure and quest. Along the way he meets strange characters including a companion watch dog named Tock whose body is literally a clock. Dictionopolis the 'land of words' is one of the cities in the Kingdom of Wisdom. Dictionopolis is ruled by King Azaz the Unabridged and many of the characters have wordplay or pun names.
The Phantom Tollbooth: Summary
In the beginning of the story, Milo is disenchanted with life, school, with everything. He is dispassionate, depressed, and listless. When he is in one place he wishes he were somewhere else but never feels satisfied. One day instructions and materials for a tollbooth appear in his room and since he has nothing better to do, he assembles them and ends up driving through the gates.
He enters a fantastical world, first stopping in the land of the Doldrums which is inhabited by the Lethargians, creatures who are trapped in boredom. He manages to escape and makes friends with Tock the Watchdog, as well as a large, human sized bug creature called Humbug. With his companions, he next visits the city of Dictionopolis after seeing the name of the city on a map. The names of the cities are symbolic of their respective meanings and are also central to the story's overall plot.
- Dictionopolis
- The word Dictionopolis is made up of two parts. Diction means the choice and use of words in speech or writing. And polis is an ancient Greek word that means city. This is one of the two key cities on the map. The other is named Digitopolis and it is the land of numbers, ruled by the Mathemagician.
The plot centers around the feud between the two kings. The kings are at odds fighting over whether words or numbers are more important. When they call their sisters Rhyme and Reason in to settle their argument, the sisters tell them that both are equally important. Rather than accept this, the kings banish the sisters from the Kingdom of Wisdom altogether.
Once Milo discovers this, he undertakes a quest to rescue the sisters Rhyme and Reason from the Castle in the Air in the Mountains of Ignorance. His quest includes passing through the City of Illusions, the City of Reality, the Fortress of Sound, and finally, the Forest of Sight. Each city presents challenges and characters to contend with before he successfully rescues the sisters and returns Rhyme and Reason back to the City of Wisdom.
After his heroics he returns to the real world where he no longer feels apathetic and bored.
Dictionopolis: Geography
Dictionopolis lies within the foothills of confusion. When Milo first attempts to enter the city, he is stopped by a threshold guardian, a gatekeeper who tells Milo that he must have a reason to enter. Milo replies that he is not there to buy or sell words and so the gatekeeper lets him borrow a reason instead, in the form of a medallion that says, 'why not?'
There are two key areas in the city. One is the orchards, where all the words in the world are grown on trees. The other is the Word Market where the grown words are bought and sold.
Dictionopolis: Shopping and Meals
The Word Market is held outside the center of the city with stalls and caravans just like one would see in a farmer's market in the real world. In this case instead of fruit and vegetables Milo is able to see, taste, and touch the words themselves.
Milo attends a banquet in Dictionopolis, and each guest has to give a speech before dinner and say what they will eat. For dessert they eat "half-baked ideas" with names like "THE EARTH IS FLAT." Milo takes a dessert for the road, a half-baked idea that says, "EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR THE BEST."
Dictionopolis Inhabitants
The city of Dictionopolis has many inhabitants, including its own government officials. King Azas the Unabridged loves words and believes they are more important than numbers, in part because he loves to disagree with his brother the Mathemagician in Digitopolis.
King Azas also has a cabinet that includes the Duke of Definition, the Minister of Meaning, the Earl of Essence, the Count of Connotation, and the Undersecretary of Understanding. When Milo encounters these men, he finds their vernacular incredibly confusing because they recite the definitions of words and use as many synonyms as possible to say the same thing.
Most of the inhabitants have names that are a play on words or a pun. There is a Spelling Bee that's as tall as Milo who spells a word in every sentence that he speaks. The Humbug that Milo befriends is, as his name suggests, disagreeable. There is a police force of one. An officer named Short Shrift who is as wide as he is tall and acts as the enforcer, judge, and jailer.
One of the key characters of the story is a prisoner, Faintly Macabre, who's known at the not-so-wicked Which. She's the one who tells Milo about what happened to the kings' sisters Rhyme and Reason which sets up the quest that Milo undertakes.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
The Phantom Tollbooth is allegorical which means most of the fantastical and strange characters and settings are metaphors and symbolic of reality. It is also considered a coming-of-age story or rite-of-passage story because the main character goes on a journey that helps him gain maturity.
The book has received critical acclaim as a cult classic. The Phantom Tollbooth has been compared to children's classics like Alice in Wonderland and The Pilgrim's Progress. The book is generally placed at a 4th grade reading level suitable for children ages 8-12.
Though some critics have said the books vocabulary is too advanced for young readers, most educators have agreed that its themes on childhood depression, its wordplay, and all the fantasy elements make it a great teaching tool.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster has become a children's cult classic since its publication in 1961. After the protagonist, Milo, assembles the tollbooth that mysteriously appears in his room he passes the gates and ends up in another world. After he escapes the Doldrums, he meets two new best friends, Tock the Watchdog and later on, Humbug. He decides to travel to the city of Dictionopolis where he borrows a reason from the guard in order to gain entry.
In the strange city of Dictionopolis, words grow on trees and are bought and sold like produce at a market. Milo meets the King of the city and his confusing cabinet members who use many words to mean the same thing. Milo enjoys exploring the city and partaking in a word filled banquet, but his adventure has only just begun. After Faintly Macabre tells Milo the story of Rhyme and Reason and how they have been imprisoned, Milo sets off on a quest to rescue them.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Additional Info
The Importance of Words
How important are words to you? If you were to use a scale of 1 to 10, 1 meaning ''I don't need it'' and 10 meaning ''I can't live without it,'' what number would you give to words? The citizens of Dictionopolis would give words a 10 - words are the most important thing in the world. To learn what that means, we should investigate the city of Dictionopolis.
The Name of the City
In The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, a boy named Milo receives a mysterious package containing a turnpike tollbooth. When he drives past the tollbooth in his toy car, he finds himself in a land unlike anything he's ever seen. As Milo meets new creatures and sees new places, he soon learns that the names of things are very important in this land.
When Milo looks at the map that came with the tollbooth, he decides to go first to a city called Dictionopolis. Because the names of places are very important, let's look more closely at this name. Dictionopolis contains two important word parts - ''diction,'' which means the use of words in speech or writing; and ''polis,'' which means city. Essentially, the name Dictionopolis means city of words. What do you imagine a city of words would be like?
The City
Dictionopolis is located in the foothills of confusion. It contains two very important areas: the orchards, where all the words in the world are grown on trees, and the Word Market, where words are bought and sold.
In order to enter the city, Milo is told by the gateman that he has to have a reason. When Milo says he is neither there to buy nor sell words, the gateman finally lets Milo borrow a reason, a medallion that says ''Why not?''
The Word Market is held outside in the center of the city. Stalls are set up everywhere, and people are buying and selling words. There are caravans coming and going, and ships loading up sacks of words. Milo looks through stacks of pronouns, names, phrases and letters. He even tastes some words!
 |
When Milo goes to a banquet in Dictionopolis, each guest gives a speech before dinner, saying what they will eat. For dessert, they eat half-baked ideas, such as ''THE EARTH IS FLAT.''
The People
Dictionopolis is full of surprising people. Let's look at some of them:
- The king's cabinet consists of the Duke of Definition, the Minister of Meaning, the Earl of Essence, the Count of Connotation and the Undersecretary of Understanding. These five men travel together and recite the definitions of words. They also use as many words as possible to say the same thing, such as nonsense, ridiculous, fantastic, absurd and bosh. Milo finds them to be very confusing.
- The Spelling Bee is twice as large as Milo. He spells at least one word in every sentence he speaks.
- The Humbug tends to disagree with people a lot.
- Short Shrift is Dictionopolis's only police officer, judge and jailer. He is also as wide as he is tall.
- Faintly Macabre, the not-so-wicked Which, is in prison. She tells Milo an important story about Rhyme and Reason. Her story explains what will happen in the rest of Milo's journey.
- King Azaz the Unabridged is the king of Dictionopolis. King Azaz loves words and disagreeing with his brother the Mathemagician, who rules the city of Digitopolis.
Lesson Summary
Dictionopolis is the city of words in The Phantom Tollbooth. It contains the orchards, where words grow on trees, and the Word Market, where words are bought and sold. Milo meets many interesting people and creatures in Dictionopolis.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Register to view this lesson
Are you a student or a teacher?
Unlock Your Education
See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com
Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a MemberAlready a member? Log In
BackResources created by teachers for teachers
Over 30,000 video lessons
& teaching resources‐all
in one place.
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
Jennifer B.
Teacher
Back
Dictionopolis in The Phantom Tollbooth | Setting & Analysis
Related Study Materials
Explore our library of over 88,000 lessons
Browse by subject