Will has blond hair and blue eyes. A lightning rod salesman is making his way door-to-door throughout the town. He notices the boys and stops to talk with them.
After ascertaining that their parents aren't home and they have no money themselves, he asks their names. Will replies quickly and truthfully. Jim considers lying to the man, but ends up telling him the truth. Already differences between the two boys' personalities are being established.
The salesman comments on the abnormality of Jim's last name, and Will proudly relates the story of their births to the salesman. Will was born one minute before midnight on October Jim was born one minute after midnight on October Bradbury mentions it is a story the boys have proudly told all of their lives. After asking about the boys' financial state again, the lightning rod salesman hands them a free lightning rod, and tells them that lightning will strike one of their houses.
Will immediately comments on the weight of the lightning rod. Jim studies it for a moment and questions its various cultural markings.
He notices both Egyptian and Phoenician markings. The salesman answers Jim's question by revealing his name, Tom Fury, then discussing the idea that storms occur in all cultures, and for the rod to "communicate" properly with the storm, it must have languages of various cultures.
The salesman assures the boys, at the prompting of Jim's questions, that not only will a large storm will definitely strike their town tonight, it will certainly strike one of their homes. Will begs to know which one, and after touching both of the houses, the salesman indicates that it will strike Jim's home. Will feels a bit dejected, but Jim is quite proud. The salesman hurries on his way, leaving Jim and Will. Will pushes Jim to get the ladder and the nails to hang the rod, but Jim suggests that hanging the lightning rod would spoil the adventure of being struck by lightning.
As Will gathers the necessary materials, Jim doesn't move. Only after Will reminds Jim that his mother will also be burnt if lighting strikes the house does Jim begin to help Will. As the chapter ends, thunder sounds in the distance.
Notes The first chapter sets the agitated tone that we will feel for the rest of the story. The storm mentioned in the chapter foreshadows the uneasiness presented to us throughout the text. The fact that the markings on the lightning rod are multi-cultural insinuates that storms, mayhem, and evil cross cultural boundaries. This chapter also sets up much of the conflict between the boys' personalities. Bradbury refers to his birth as being in the "light.
Jim's birth is referred to as being in the "dark. Jim has a tendency to be more mischievous. He is starving for adventure on a constant basis. More than anything, Jim wants to know "why," and "what if" for everything. Jim looks at hidden details. Will leans toward surface issues. Jim has a mature quality that Will doesn't. Above all, though, Will is happy with who he is, and Jim isn't. From this point forward in the novel, these personality divisions will grow.
The lightning rod salesman is quite representative of the other adults we meet in the book. He seems to remember his childhood and connect with the boys on that basis. He wants to impress and scare the boys. He enjoys the youth the boys represent.
As he reads and discusses these books with Will, Will takes it in, following Jim's lead. After the boys nailed the lightning rod to the roof, an act of cowardice in Jim's mind, they literally run to the library. As they reach the library door, Jim stops, thinking he has heard music on the horizon.
Will doesn't hear it, and after a minute or so, Jim shrugs and heads in. The boys consider the depths of the library as an entire world filled with far-off places, mystery, and adventure. While making their way through the library, Will sees his father, Charles William Halloway, the library custodian. Will and his father, as always, are surprised to see each other. As Charles helps Jim look for books on dinosaurs, Will realizes that his dad looks like him if one was looking through a smashed mirror.
Will thinks back on the times he has awoken in the early hours of the morning, looked out the window, and seen the lights of library still on, indicating that Charles is still inside reading. Charles then shakes Will back to reality by asking if he wants a "white-hat" book or a "black-hat" book. The boys ask him to explain, and Charles attempts to describe the difference in people's attitudes. Charles suggests that Jim is looking for black-hat books - books dealing with excitement and evil - while Will tends toward books about goodness and peace.
Jim asks about the color of Charles' hat. It makes Charles a bit uneasy to know that Jim can't tell. As a whole, the commentary goes over the boy's heads, and Will settles for a Jules Verne story. Something Wicked This Way Comes is a very popular dark fantasy novel. The novel is written by well-known author Ray Bradbury and was published in the year The novel is about year-old best friends which are William Halloway and Jim Nightshade and their unique experience with travelling carnival which comes to Midwestern home a green town IIIionois on date 23 rd October.
In this novel, the boys overcome their fear by dealing with the creepy figures of the carnival. In the story, Mr Dark is a creature who like the carnival lives off the life force of those which they enslave. The presence of Mr Dark is countered by Charles Halloway who is the janitor of the library. The novel presents the best elements of fantasy and horror.
The novel revolves around the goodness and badness of every human being. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Fantasy Horror. Then open the file using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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