The Phantom Tollbooth
HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
The time surrounding the writing and publishing of The Phantom Tollbooth (1961), that is, the late 1950s and early 1960s, was known for being a time of global conflict and social unrest. In an interview with National Public Radio, Norton Juster said, "I don't think I - even to this day, I don't think I can deal with important world issues, or issues relating to me as an adult, without sometimes recasting them as stories" (Norris, 2011, para. 61). Being that division was the norm of the day (i.e., the Berlin crises, segregation in the U.S. South, apartheid in South Africa), could The Phantom Tollbooth be Juster's recasting of complicated world events into a story? Certainly, the division of letters and numbers with Dictionopolis and Digitopolis could be analogous of capitalist society, for the former, and communist society, for the latter. This can become clear when one notices that the place Milo visits in Dictionopolis is a market where letters are sold, and the place Milo visits in Digitopolis is a mine where workers diligently dig out and polish numbers. One may also note that the king of Dictionopolis is not present in the marketplace, but the king of Digitopolis is present in the number mine. But what could Rhyme and Reason represent in the real world?
The following topics are those that were effecting the social climate at the time The Phantom Tollbooth came into being, and I will attempt to briefly cover them in the areas below.
The Cold War
This term refers to the years between 1945 and 1990 and the conflict between the Soviet Union and U.S. led Western powers. The two opposing ideologies were capitalism and communism, and while there were several crises (Vietnam, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis) this type of warfare was fought with threats and propaganda. Though the Cold War's dates begin at the end of World War II, the seeds were planted earlier in the century with the Russian Revolution (1917) with the end of czarist (or tsarist) regime and the beginning of the the dictatorship of the proletariat. The arms race intensified in the 1950s, involved nuclear weapons, and nations flexed their proverbial muscles by advancing their technologies and exploring uncharted territories, namely space. Treaties, programs, and associations of significance include: Truman Doctrine (1947), Marshall Plan (1947), National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, formed in 1949), Council for Mutual Aid and Assistance (COMECON, founded in 1949), Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1963), and the INF Treaty (1987). (Wright, 2007, para. 1)
The Berlin Crises began at the end of World War II when Germany was divided and occupied by the U.S., Britain, and France (West Germany, or Federal Republic of Germany, or Bundesrepublik Deutschland), and the Soviet Union (East Germany, or German Democratic Republic, or Deutsche Demokratische Republik). The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 and served as a physical emblem of the Cold War and the division of Europe. It was removed in 1989. (Carlton, et al., 2009 and Berlin Crises, 2002)
Eisenhower
Tyrol5 (1952)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was the 34th U.S. president and a five-star general. He grew up in Texas and Kansas and went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after high school. In World War II he was the commander of the War Plans Division of the Army General Staff. In 1948, after retiring from the army, Eisenhower became president of Columbia University. From 1950-52 he was the supreme commander of NATO. (Chambers, 2004)
From January of 1953 to January of 1961 Eisenhower served as president under the republican ticket with Richard Nixon as his vice-president. He is known for strengthening Social Security and authorizing the national systems for the interstate highways. During his presidency both Alaska and Hawaii were brought into the Union. He appointed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the "Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960" which "encouraged some hope for blacks against discriminations" (Chambers, 2004, para. 6). He was criticized for his frequent relaxations and fishing excursions, for being responsible for the "missile gap" between the Soviet Union and the U.S. that weakened American defenses, and his failure to stop Senator McCarthy with his anti-Communist witch-hunt. (Chambers, 2004)
Exploration
The space program largely came into being because of the Cold War. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I in 1957 marking a "technology gap between the United States and the Soviet Union, and provided the impetus for a massive increase in American aerospace endeavors" (Boyer, 2004, para. 2). In 1958, the U.S. launched Explorer 1, its first Earth satellite, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was born.
Back on Earth, Triton, the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine circumnavigated the globe in 1960. "Triton was the first submarine designed and built to serve as a 'radar picket' for U. S. surface fleets, providing early warning of approaching enemy aircraft" (Triton, 2014, para. 2).
Social Exclusion
'Social exclusion' is the term that denotes "The marginalization and exclusion of individuals and groups from full participation in normal, everyday activities and resources such as housing, work, social services, and the political sphere" (Castree, et al., 2013a, para. 1). It can be responsible for "alienation and feelings of powerlessness, social polarization and stratification, and [it] undermines social cohesion" (para. 1). This term can be thought of as an umbrella term for segregation and apartheid, while desegregation aims to correct the inequalities of these divisions.
The term 'segregation' refers to "The separation of social groups into particular roles and/or spaces," and in some cases, "people are segregated through discrimination, enforced through emotional and physical violence" (Castree, et al., 2013b, para. 1).
'Desegregation' is "A social policy intervention that seeks to tackle segregation, particularly that formed along racial or ethnic lines" and "seek[s] to encourage integration and mixing of different groups by enabling the sharing of space and services" (Castree, et al., 2013c, para. 1). Beginning in 1954, court-ordered desegregation of racially divided U.S. school districts were put into effect. (Castree, et al., 2013c)
'Apartheid' is "A political system based on the ethno-racial categorization of people and their geographical separation" (Castree, et al., 2013d, para. 1). Between 1948 and 1994, South Africa enacted this type of system and covered most facets of life. 'Piecemeal apartheid' can exist as well, and did in the southern states of the U.S. prior to the 1960s civil rights protests. (Castree, et al., 2013d)