How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It was a beautiful map, in many colors, showing principal roads, rivers and seas, towns and cities, mountains and valleys, intersections and detours, and sites of outstanding interest both beautiful and historic.
The only trouble was that Milo had never heard of any of the places it indicated, and even the names sounded most peculiar. (1.25-26)
At first glance this map seems like any other. It's got all the major landmarks you could want, it shows the natural and man-made parts of the area, and it points out the places you're most likely to want to go. But, as the book says, "the only trouble" with the map is the fact that it maps out a totally unrecognizable area. It's full of places he's "never heard of." But this makes us all the more eager to explore it, right?
Quote #2
"Expectations is the place you must always go to before you get to where you're going. Of course, some people never go beyond Expectations, but my job is to hurry them along whether they like it or not." (2.13)
This quotation could apply almost as well to the theme "Versions of Reality" as it does to "Exploration." That's because, even though this character is describing a place that only literally exists in the Lands Beyond, "Expectations" does seem like a state of mind rather than a real place. But in the Lands Beyond, Expectations becomes a literal place – a spot on the map – instead of a thought process people have to go through.
Quote #3
"Then one day a small ship appeared on the Sea of Knowledge. It carried a young prince seeking the future. In the name of goodness and truth he laid claim to all the country and set out to explore his new domain." (6.2)
Notably, just like the European guys who took over the New World, this young prince "laid claim" to the Lands Beyond without considering the thoughts and feelings of those who already lived there. By the time characters like Milo arrive, all those natives are the demons who've been pushed back to live in the Mountains of Ignorance, where they seem pretty ticked off.
Quote #4
"From there it's a simple matter of entering the Mountains of Ignorance, full of perilous pitfalls and ominous overtones – a land to which many venture but few return, and whose evil demons slither slowly from peak to peak in search of prey. Then an effortless climb up a two-thousand-step circular stairway without railings in a high wind at night (for in those mountains it is always night) to the Castle in the Air." (8.48)
Check out the Humbug's descriptive language here. Even though the journey is "full of perilous pitfalls and ominous overtones" and the destination is full of "evil demons" that "slither" about, he describes undertaking it as "a simple matter" that involves "an effortless climb." The harder and more difficult the elements of such a quest are, the more strongly the Humbug describes them as really being no problem. Why do you think that is?
Quote #5
"Ah, the open road!" exclaimed the Humbug, breathing deeply, for he now seemed happily resigned to the trip. "The spirit of adventure, the lure of the unknown, the thrill of a gallant quest. How very grand indeed." Then, pleased with himself, he folded his arms, sat back, and left it at that. (9.2)
The Humbug can talk himself into just about anything, can't he? A moment earlier, going on this adventure was the last thing he wanted to do. If the king hadn't made him, he wouldn't have gone. But now that he's on "the trip," the narrator says, he's "happily resigned" to it. It seems like the Humbug has to make the trip sound as exciting and "grand" as possible to make himself feel better about going.
Quote #6
"To be sure," said Canby; "you're on the Island of Conclusions. Make yourself at home. You're apt to be here for some time."
"But how did we get here?" asked Milo, who was still a bit puzzled by being there at all.
"You jumped, of course," explained Canby. "That's the way most everyone gets here. It's really quite simple: every time you decide something without having a good reason, you jump to Conclusions whether you like it or not. It's such an easy trip to make that I've been here hundreds of times." (13.52-54)
If the things and people of the Lands Beyond are more than what they seem at first, so are the methods of travel used in the Lands. From the wagon that "goes without saying" to the Mathemagician's erasing, to the quick and easy jump to Conclusions, each area comes with its own benefits and problems – and its own landscapes to explore.
Quote #7
"What a curious idea," said the Mathemagician, raising his staff over his head and scrubbing the rubber end back and forth several times on the ceiling. "The next thing you'll have us believe is that you only sleep when you're tired." And by the time he'd finished the sentence, the cavern, the miners, and the Dodecahedron had vanished, leaving just the four of them standing in the Mathemagician's workshop.
"I often find," he casually explained to his dazed visitors, "that the best way to get from one place to another is to erase everything and begin again. Please make yourself at home." (15.31-32)
The Mathemagician's "staff" sure seems like it's more magical than an ordinary pencil. It enables him to travel "from one place to another" quickly and easily. And he can take as many people with him as he likes. Statements like this show that the whole world around him is at his fingertips. He can explore whenever and wherever he likes.
Quote #8
"Just follow that line forever," said the Mathemagician, "and when you reach the end, turn left. There you'll find the land of Infinity, where the tallest, the shortest, the biggest, the smallest, and the most and the least of everything are kept." (15.72)
Straightforward directions, right? Like almost everything else in the Lands Beyond, the closer you examine them the less sense they make. "Follow that line forever." Well, if you did that, you'd never "reach the end," because it goes on "forever." Duh. But the Mathemagician's instructions include an action that Milo should take after he "reach[es] the end": he should "turn left." Well, how can you turn left at the end if there is no end?
Quote #9
Higher and higher they climbed, in search of the castle and the two banished princesses – from one crest to the next, from jagged rock to jagged rock, up frightful crumbling cliffs and along desperately narrow ledges where a single misstep meant only good-by. (18.1)
This is either an exciting landscape to explore, or a totally frightening one, depending on your point of view. For thrill seekers, the high "cliffs" and "rocks" and "narrow ledges" have huge potential for thrills. For scaredy-cats, they have huge potential for sheer terror. Why is our Milo so willing to risk it all and conquer this crazy scene just to rescue to princesses he has never even met?
Quote #10
"And remember, also," added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, "that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow." (18.66)
The Princess of Sweet Rhyme offers Milo excellent advice that he can take with him for any and all future journeys. She says that he will develop skills and talents that will help him travel wherever he wants to go, even if it means going "off the map," like a true explorer. He's building the skills that will enable him to "discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow." Even if he doesn't see the sense of what he's working on learning in the moment, he just needs to trust that whatever it is will help him, later on down the road. It's a leap of faith.