Genre
Children's fiction
Setting and Context
Early 1960s in fictional land of Dictionopolis and neighboring land of Digitopolis
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrator from Milo's point of view
Tone and Mood
Excited, adventurous, exploratory, whimsical, wry
Protagonist and Antagonist
Milo is the protagonist; the Demons trying to derail his journey are the antagonists
Major Conflict
King Aziz of Dictionopolis and the Mathemagician who presides over Digitopolis clash over whether words or numbers have greater importance and over whether or not Milo, Tock, and the Humbug will be able to rescue Rhyme and Reason.
Climax
Milo, Tock, and the Humbug rescue the princesses and bring them back to Dictionopolis, thereby restoring peace to the region.
Foreshadowing
The rather negative Canby warns of the demons that the trio will encounter and this foreshadows the most difficult part of the journey.
Understatement
Milo states that he was wasting time, which is a huge understatement as he was doing absolutely nothing at all apart from bemoaning his own boredom.
Allusions
1. The Humbug mentions the famous British King Richard the Lionheart, Columbus, and the pioneers (54).
2."This is the exact tune George Washington whistled when he crossed the Delaware on that icy night in 1777" (153).
Imagery
See Imagery
Paradox
Before driving by the tollbooth, Milo is bored by everything even though he has an abundance of toys, games, and books. After his return, he can't believe how much there is to do, even though he has all the same things and will do all the same things.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the Mathemagician's determination that numbers are more important than words and King Aziz's determination that words are more important than numbers.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The palace erupted into cheers meaning that all of the people in it were cheering.
Personification
Juster gives human traits to a range of ideas and concepts, for example:
1. "The little car bounced along with little effort, attributing the ability to work harder or make an effort at will to a car" (20).
2. "People wasted [time] and even gave it away" (34).
3. Expectations, Conclusions, Illusion, and Reality are made into tangible places.
4. Numbers are big and long (189).
5. Rhyme and Reason are actually people.
6. "As he and his unhappy thoughts hurried along" (11).
