Throughout Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury, there is a constant battle between good and evil, and many problems dealing with greed. In most stories good prevails, but things happen differently this time. The characters, as in real life, have problems with greed and evil thoughts, which will bring them great misfortune during the story. During the story the author often uses foreshadowing to give hints to the reader of future events. When the story starts, a storm is coming on a late October night. The storm symbolizes the evil approaching the town.
Usually it seems a storm would resemble something dark and evil, because a stormy night is always a classic setting for something evil. At the climax of the story, Charles Hallo way reads a passage from Shakespeare which says, ‘By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.’ (p. 137) Again, this passage tells of an evil that is approaching. This sets an eerie mood to the story and hints the climax is starting.
The reader is told of the evils coming, but there is not enough good in the townspeople for them to all realize the situation. Throughout the story, Jim and Will, who are both around thirteen and are the main characters in the story, are the only people who understand the evil and try to fight it. When Mr. Cougar nearly dies, the police do not believe Jim and Will’s story.
This demonstrates the ignorance some people show about seeing the truth. If only people decide to listen to things others say, problems in life may be solved easier. When Jim and Will tell Mrs. Foley about the mirror maze, she does not listen to them at all. Mrs. Foley, like many others is somewhat stubborn when it comes to realizing the truth.
The Essay on Short Story Characters the Bath And good Morning Wardrobe
Question: With close reference to AT LEAST TWO short stories that you have studied, show how the author(s) have used the characters to present insights into the worlds the characters inhabit. Essay Answer: Social isolation in a societal world is an engaging theme explored by many short stories. Janet Frame has successfully done this in her story The Bath and Edith Campion has in Good Morning ...
Mrs. Foley instead learns the truth the hard way by being tricked by the carnival. If some of the characters in the story choose to listen to Jim and Will, the evil may easily be defeated. During the story, greed makes some of the characters suffer horribly.
When Mrs. Foley sees herself as a kid in the mirror maze, she desires to become young again. The carnival gives her the wish, but she realizes the mistake she has made. If Mrs. Foley likes herself as she is, she will not desire to become younger. Everyone wants to stay young, but Mrs.
Foley showed her greed when risking her life going back to the carnival. Jim Nightshade also suffers from greediness and ignorance, as he wishes to be a little older. Jim makes the same mistake Mrs. Foley does, but is luckily saved by Will. Jim may be smart enough to realize the true evil of the carnival, but he still is very tempted. This greed and temptation affects not only the characters in the story, but everyone in life.
The examples given in this essay have shown how the characters in Something Wicked This Way Comes are exactly the same as many people in today’s society. A battle between good and evil is always happening in the world, and this story is just a small piece of that fight. Part of the fight between man and the evil that lurks within is the simple problem of greed and selfishness. The evil didn’t really win in this story, it just didn’t lose. Neither good or evil wins in life, because the struggle will never end, and people will live with this struggle for the rest of their lives.
