Tolog Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury
reviewed by Ella Kitt

Ray Bradbury’s 1962 dark fantasy novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, depicts the lives of young Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway. The two boys, growing up in the fictional Green Town in Illinois, are one day confronted by a peculiar lightning rod salesman, who promises the coming of a storm. Instead of a storm, the town is greeted by Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show, a mysteriously dark carnival, as hinted by the name. Jim and Will are thrilled by the idea of a carnival arriving so late in the year and, fraught with curiosity, go to investigate the new attractions. The boys do not expect the confusion, fear, and horrifically mystical events that the enticing carnival will eventually bring to disrupt their lives. Bradbury suggests through the sinister carnival that, as humans, we are easily seduced by the idea of the supernatural. The author urges readers to resist the temptation of evil and sin, as good and purity is ultimately what helps the boys to prevail in times of hardship.

The main protagonists, Jim and Will, are characterized as complete opposites. Jim Nightshade, as his cacophonous name implies, is dark and wild. By contrast, the softer Will Halloway is light and methodical. Bradbury uses the boys’ physical appearances to describe their opposing personalities. Jim’s hair is “wild, thick, and the glossy color of waxed chestnuts”, whereas Will has “hair as blonde-white as milk thistle” (Bradbury 6). Despite the juxtaposition of their characters, Jim and Will remain the best of friends. Bradbury implies that the boys’ differences enhance their friendship when tried by the malicious Mr. Dark, the head of the carnival.

Throughout the novel, Bradbury weaves simple yet eloquent metaphors to cleverly describe supernatural events that would otherwise be unfathomable to readers. In a disturbing encounter at the carnival, Bradbury describes a character’s gradually disfiguring face as “melting like pink wax” (56). By employing this eerie imagery, Bradbury brings readers to an understanding of the carnival’s paranormal abilities that transcend the limits of human mortality. The reader is able to better comprehend the extent of Mr. Dark’s malevolent power and the destruction it is capable of causing.

I would recommend this novel to all Dickens lovers. Like Charles Dickens, Ray Bradbury crafts beautifully descriptive sentences and has an adept sense of human emotion and behavior. Bradbury also shares Dickens’ ability to create complex characters that seemingly jump off of the page with vivid descriptions and sharp dialogue. The use of a third person limited omniscient point of view gives readers a unique look into Bradbury’s intricate microcosm of small-town America. This novel is for readers looking for a piece of literature that is eerie and disturbing, yet enlightening.