Essay On The Phantom Tollbooth

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What do you do or where do you go when you feel like everything is completely pointless? How do you dig yourself out of the ever growing pit you have fallen into and who do you ask when everyone is just like you? In The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, a young boy named Milo saw no meaning of anything in his life. He didn’t see the point of solving useless problems or spelling words he’ll never say, and since no one bothered to explain otherwise, he thought seeking knowledge was the greatest waste of time. Using a tollbooth he found in his room and his electric car, he travels to an alternate world where he meets people and creatures that change his life forever. King Azaz, the ruler of Dictionopolis, focuses his domain on the value of words …show more content…

All were made specifically to teach unaware children just like Milo the purpose of knowledge, school, and books. Juster incorporated each lesson in a way that captivated readers with its peculiar characters, endless plays and twists on words of the English language, and images that readers are able to see for themselves. Some lessons included admitting your boundaries when it comes to your capabilities, knowing that perspectives change depending on where you look at them from, never taking anything for granted, and many more. Whether it was the island of Conclusions that can only be reached by jumping there or the giant bee that literally spelled words, each character or place had its own back story that taught a new life lesson. All the lessons were either dressed up as funny characters or said in a tongue twister fashion so that you may not understand it the first time, but when you read it with a wider insight, everything you never saw before hits you at once. It’s like when you watch a rerun of your favorite television show as a kid and suddenly understand jokes you would’ve never gotten when you first watched it. That is why I would choose this book to memorize. It is one that kids can read and have a fun time doing so, yet when they mature to adults, they can understand its true message and