Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
  • Shakespeare dark gray
    • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
    • Shakespeare Study Guides
    • Shakespeare Life & Times
    • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
  • Literature dark gray
    • No Fear Literature Translations
    • Literature Study Guides
    • Glossary of Literary Terms
    • How to Write Literary Analysis
  • Other Subjects dark gray
    • Biography
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Drama
    • Economics
    • Film
    • Health
    • History
    • Math
    • Philosophy
    • Physics
    • Poetry
    • Psychology
    • Short Stories
    • Sociology
    • US Government and Politics
  • Test Prep PLUS dark gray
    • Test Prep Lessons
    • AP® English Literature
    • AP® English Language
  • Teacher dark gray
    • SparkTeach
    • Teacher's Handbook
  • Blog
My PLUS Dashboard
  • My PLUS Activity dark gray
    • Notes
    • Bookmarks
    • Test Prep PLUS
    • No Fear Translations & Audio
    • Mastery Quizzes
    • Flashcards
    • Infographics
    • No Fear Graphic Novels
  • Account Details
  • Subscription & Billing

Please wait while we process your payment

Reset Password

  • Please wait while we process your payment

    Log in Sign up

    Sparknotes

  • By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.

    Don’t have an account? Subscribe now

    Create Your Account

    Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial

    • Ad-free experience
    • Study notes
    • Flashcards
      & Quizzes
    • AP® English Test Prep
    • Plus much more

  • Already have an account? Log in

    Your Email

    Choose Your Plan

    BEST VALUE

    Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!

    Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?

    Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!

  • Price

    $24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax

    Subtotal $37.48 + tax

    Save 25% on 2-49 accounts

    Save 30% on 50-99 accounts

    Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.

    Your Plan

    Payment Details

  • We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country.

  • Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    SparkNotes Plus

    You'll be billed after your free trial ends.

    7-Day Free Trial

    Not Applicable

    Renews February 10, 2023 February 3, 2023

    Discounts (applied to next billing)

    DUE NOW

    US $0.00

    SNPLUSROCKS20  |  20% Discount

    This is not a valid promo code.

    Discount Code (one code per order)

    SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.

    Choose Your Plan

    Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    Suggestions

    Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
    • My Account Icon My Account white
      • My PLUS Activity
        • Notes
        • Bookmarks
        • Test Prep PLUS
        • No Fear Translations
        • Mastery Quizzes
        • Flashcards
        • Infographics
        • No Fear Graphic Novels
      • Account Details
      • Subscription & Billing
      My PLUS Dashboard
    • Shakespeare white
      • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
      • Shakespeare Study Guides
      • Shakespeare Life & Times
      • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
    • Literature white
      • No Fear Literature Translations
      • Literature Study Guides
      • Glossary of Literary Terms
      • How to Write Literary Analysis
    • Other Subjects white
      • Biography
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Computer Science
      • Drama
      • Economics
      • Film
      • Health
      • History
      • Math
      • Philosophy
      • Physics
      • Poetry
      • Psychology
      • Short Stories
      • Sociology
      • US Government and Politics
    • Test Prep PLUS white
      • Test Prep Lessons
      • AP® English Literature
      • AP® English Language
    • Teacher white
      • SparkTeach
      • Teacher's Handbook
    • Blog
    • Help

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    Your PLUS subscription has expired

    • We’d love to have you back! Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools.
    Renew your subscription

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    snpromo-logo
    • Get 20% off of AD-FREE study tools!
      Use Code: SparkPLUS20

    The Phantom Tollbooth

    Norton Juster

    Study Guide
    • Study Guide
    • Summary
      • Summary & Analysis
      • Chapters 1–2
      • Chapters 3–5
      • Chapters 6–8
      • Chapters 9–11
      • Chapters 12–13
      • Chapters 14–16
      • Chapters 17–18
      • Chapters 19–20
      • Full Book
      • Full Book Summary
      • Key Facts
    • Characters
      • Character List
      • Milo
      • Tock
      • The Humbug
    • Literary Devices
      • Themes
      • Motifs
      • Symbols
    • Quotes
      • Important Quotes Explained
    • Quick Quizzes
      • Book
      • Full Book Quiz
      • Chapters 1-2
      • Chapters 3-5
      • Chapters 6-8
      • Chapters 9-11
      • Chapters 12-13
      • Chapters 14-16
      • Chapters 17-18
      • Chapters 19-20
        • More
        • Context
        • Plot Overview
        • Character List
        • Analysis of Major Characters
        • Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
        • Essays
          • Mini Essays
          • Suggested Essay Topics
        • Further Study
          • Norton Juster and The Phantom Tollbooth Background

        Please wait while we process your payment

        snplus-logo

        Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

        Unlock your FREE Trial!

        Sign up and get instant access to bookmarks.
        • Ad-Free experience
        • Easy-to-access study notes
        • Flashcards & Quizzes
        • AP® English test prep
        • Plus much more
        Already have an account? Log in
        Characters

        Character List

        Characters Character List
        • Milo

          The main character, Milo is a little boy who goes through all of his days in a state of horrible boredom. This routine changes when Milo takes a trip through the mysterious make-believe tollbooth that appears in his bedroom one day.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Milo .

        • Tock

          Milo's friend Tock is a literally a "watchdog." A giant clock makes up part of his body, and he constantly makes ticking noises. He patrols the Doldrums and stops people from wasting time.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Tock .

        • The Humbug

          The Humbug is an insect who lives only to flatter people—especially himself. The Humbug is ignorant about everything from math to geography and proves himself the fool by his constant attempts to say intelligent things. After trying to brown-nose his way to favor with King Azaz, he accompanies Milo and Tock on their journey.

          Read an in-depth analysis of The Humbug .

        • King Azaz

          King Azaz is ruler of the realm of letters and words. Azaz and his brother argue over which is more important—numbers or letters, and they banish the princesses Rhyme and Reason. Once he realizes the foolishness of his squabble, King Azaz sends Milo to rescue the princesses.

        • The Mathemagician

          Azaz's brother, the Mathemagician, lives in a world of numbers. Unlike Azaz, the Mathemagician has doubts about releasing Rhyme and Reason.

        • Rhyme and Reason

          The two princesses were adopted by the King of Wisdom and raised alongside Azaz and the Mathemagician. When Azaz and the Mathemagician asked them to determine whether numbers or letters are more important, Rhyme and Reason say each is equally valuable. The brothers then imprisoned the two princesses in the Castle in the Air.

        • Faintly Macabre

          The Which, Faintly Macabre, has been imprisoned since Rhyme and Reason disappeared. It was once her duty to select the words to use for every occasion, but she became corrupted by her power and began to horde the words for herself. Faintly tells Milo the story of the imprisoned princesses and inspires him to broach the subject with King Azaz.

        • Alec Bings

          Milo first meets Alec Bings in the Forest of Sight, where Milo sees a boy floating several feet off the ground. Alec explains that in his family, everyone's head remains at the same height from the day they are born until the day they die and that their legs grow toward the ground. Alec has the special ability to "see through things" and can see anything except that which is right before his eyes.

        • Chroma

          Conductor of the great color orchestra in the Forest of Sight, Chroma makes sure all the colors of the day are properly handled. When he decides to take a rest, Milo makes a mess of the colors of the day.

        • Dischord and Dynne

          Dr. Dischord, a quack doctor, prescribes medicines of terrible noises to all of his patients and has an assistant, a smoke monster named Dynne. Dischord and Dynne invent new sounds, peddle noise pulls, racket lotions, clamor salves and hubbub tonics in the Valley of Sound.

        • The Soundkeeper

          Once ruler of the Valley of Sound, the Soundkeeper becomes dismayed with the lack of appreciation of beautiful sounds and the rise of Dr. Dischord's terrible practice. In protest, she cuts off sound and retreats to the fortress where she keeps all sounds made since the beginning of time.

        • The Dodecahedron

          The Dodecahedron has twelve different faces wearing twelve different emotions. He leads Milo and his companions through the numbers mine, where workers chisel out gemlike digits, to the city of Digitopolis.

        • The Everpresent Wordsnatcher

          More nuisance than demon, the Everpresent Wordsnatcher is a bird who flutters around the Mountains of Ignorance turning the words of others around to illustrate his own cleverness.

        • The Terrible Trivium

          The Terrible Trivium is a demon with no facial features. He lives in the Mountains of Ignorance and preys upon travellers, convincing them to undertake tasks that can never be completed.

        • The Demon of Insincerity

          The Demon of Insincerity looks like a cross between a beaver and a kangaroo. He tries to scare Milo and his companions off their path through the Mountains of Ignorance by throwing half-truths at them, which are only dispelled when they see this demon for what he really is.

        • The Gelatinous Giant

          The Gelatinous Giant is so huge that Milo first mistakes him for a mountain. He is the epitome of spinelessness. He hides in the Mountains of Ignorance and tries to look exactly like everything around him because he thinks it is "unsafe" to be different.

        • The Senses Taker

          The Senses Taker spends his days in the Castle in the Air trying to rob people of their senses by bombarding them with detailed questions. His appearance as an ink-stained old man perched over an enormous book deceives Milo into thinking his purpose is anything other than wasting time.

        • Officer Shrift

          Officer Shrift is twice as wide as he is tall. In Dictionopolis, he works as a police officer, judge, and jailer all at the same time. Officer Shrift has a habit of sentencing people to millions of years in prison then immediately forgetting about them.

        • The Whether Man

          A peculiar fellow who says everything three times, the Whether Man is the caretaker of Expectations. He is so busy thinking about what could be and why that he never seems to go anywhere or get anything done.

        • The Lethargians

          The Lethargians, minute creatures, live in perpetual boredom in the Doldrums. They change colors to match their surroundings and sometimes enforce laws against thinking and laughing.

        • The Spelling Bee

          Though he is a giant bee, the Spelling Bee is a self-taught master of spelling and enjoys randomly spelling the words he hears or speaks.

        • The Half Boy

          The result of a statistic, the Half Boy is really the leftover .58 from the 2.58 children the average family has. He believes in the reality of averages and likes to spend his time on the staircase to Infinity.

        Next section Milo
        Test your knowledge

        Take the Character List Quick Quiz

        Take a study break

        QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

        Take a study break

        The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

        Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? x

        Please wait while we process your payment

        snplus-logo

        Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

        Unlock your FREE Trial!

        Sign up and get instant access to creating and saving your own notes as you read.
        • Ad-Free experience
        • Easy-to-access study notes
        • Flashcards & Quizzes
        • AP® English test prep
        • Plus much more
        Already have an account? Log in

        Popular pages: The Phantom Tollbooth

        • Milo: Character Analysis CHARACTERS

        • Important Quotations Explained QUOTES

        • Themes LITERARY DEVICES

        • Review Quiz FURTHER STUDY

        Take a Study Break

        • QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

        • The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

        • The 6 Best and Worst TV Show Adaptations of Books

        • QUIZ: Which Greek God Are You?

        Sign up for our latest news and updates!
        By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. You can view our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe from our emails at any time.

        SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

        • Quick Links
        • No Fear Shakespeare
        • Literature Guides
        • Other Subjects
        • Blog
        • Teacher’s Handbook
        • Premium Study Tools
        • SparkNotes PLUS
        • Sign Up
        • Log In
        • PLUS Help
        • More
        • Help
        • How to Cite SparkNotes
        • How to Write Literary Analysis
        • About
        • Contact Us
        • Advertise

        Copyright © SparkNotes LLC

        • Terms of Use
        • |
        • Privacy
        • |
        • Cookie Policy
        • |
        • Do Not Sell My Personal Information