Something Wicked This Way Comes

In Ray Bradbury’s novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, the two protagonists, boys, both nearly fourteen years old, go by the names of Will and Jim. They live in a small town, next door to each other. Often, they are thought to be complete opposites, but if the reader looks closely, they can see similarities existing within the differences. Though Will and Jim have differences, which Bradbury shows in part by the way that other characters perceive them and how daring they each are, the boys also share similarities, such as their origins and mutual fear of the carnival people.

Primarily, Bradbury displays the differences between Will and Jim through Charles Halloway’s opinions about the boys and Jim’s recklessness and Will’s prudence. Charles Halloway, Will’s father, has distinct opinions about the boys’ personalities. Charles, alone in the library, thinks about the two boys, “That’s Jim, all bramble hair and itchweed. And Will? Why he’s the last peach, high on a summer tree” (14). This passage portrays the boys as two very different characters. Charles compares Jim to “bramble hair and itchweed,” showing that those who know Jim best

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discern him turbulent, harsh and definite. Jim and Will have many differences, but like everything in life, they also share many similarities. When one reads deeply into Bradbury’s novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, it is seen that Will and Jim, the protagonists, share as many similarities as they do differences. Another example of the boys’ differing personalities, is when Will is chasing Jim, while Jim hurries to their teacher’s house. Will and Jim both feel a lot of pride because they share such similar backgrounds. The fact that Will has a bank account while Jim has only what he’s wearing indicates that Will plans for the future while Jim worries only for the present. The two boys are conceived, born and grow up as near to each other as two boys can and therefore, their backgrounds are very much the same. Because Will and Jim have many differences and similarities, they create a prime example of foil characters. Jim’s got the hair on his head, … the shirt on his back and the tennis shoes on his feet…. Then, the boys run and hide from Mr. Their origins help the reader to ponder how two characters with such similar backgrounds could be so different.

Approximate Word count = 773
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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