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Prologue
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Something Wicked This Way Comes, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Good vs. Evil
Age, Time, and Acceptance
Love and Happiness
Fear, the Supernatural, and the Unknown
Summary
Analysis
Tom Fury, a traveling lightning-rod salesman, arrives in Green Town, Illinois, just before a brewing storm, that “like a great beast with terrible teeth cannot be denied.” He comes across Jim and Will carving wood whistles in their front yards (Will and Jim live next-door to one another on Oak Street). The boys’ parents aren’t home, and the two don’t have any money. “Boy,” says Mr. Fury to Will, “what’s your name.”
Tom Fury’s name harkens to violent storms, but it also predicts the danger of Mr. Dark and the carnival, who also “cannot be denied.” Here, Will and Jim appear very young and innocent (they rely on their parents and don’t have money of their own), and this youth makes them appear good by extension.
Themes
Will, whose hair is “as blond-white as milk thistle,” looks to Mr. Fury with eyes as “bright and clear as a drop of summer rain.” He immediately tells the man his name, but Jim is reluctant. As Jim considers a false name, he looks at the stranger. Jim’s eyes are “mint rock-crystal green” and his hair is “wild, thick, and the glossy color of waxed chestnuts.” “Jim Nightshade,” he finally tells the man.
Will and Jim are foils of one another. Will is described in terms of lightness and purity, whereas Jim is described in terms of darkness. In this way, Will is viewed as inherently good, and while Jim is not exactly bad or evil, he struggles more than Will does to steer clear of evil.
Themes
“That’s quite a name,” Mr. Fury says to Jim. Will explains that Jim’s name is appropriate because he was born just one minute after midnight on October 31. Will himself was born just one minute before midnight on October 30. “Halloween,” Jim says.
Jim’s last name and birthday reflect his darkness and struggle with evil (nightshade is a poisonous plant). Will, however, was born just one minute before Halloween, which reflects his own inherent goodness and suggests that he is too good to share a birthday with the evil connotation of Halloween.
Themes
Mr. Fury reaches into his large bag and hands Will and Jim an “iron contraption.” He tells the boys to take it for free. Without it, he says, one of their houses will be struck by lightning. The contraption is full of “little curlicues” and “doohingies,” and it is covered with etchings of strange languages and symbols. “That’s Egyptian,” says Jim pointing to an iron bug soldered onto the metal. “Scarab beetle,” he clarifies. Will looks to the strange salesman, confused. “Which house will it strike?” he asks.
As Will and Jim do not initially know whose house will be struck by lightning, this establishes a fear of the unknown that pervades most of the novel. Additionally, the scarab beetle, often viewed as a symbol of transformation and immortality within Egyptian culture, foretells the transformative abilities of the carousel and Charles’s desire for immortality.
Themes
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“Some folks draw lightning,” Mr. Fury says as he goes to inspect the houses. Mr. Fury runs his hands along the posts of Will’s front porch, letting the home’s “bones speak to him.” He tells the boys that he has provided over one hundred thousand “God-fearing homes” with lightning rods. He next goes to Jim’s house. “This,” Mr. Fury says, “is the one. Jim Nightshade, this your place?” he asks. “Mine,” says Jim.
Mr. Fury’s “God-fearing” customers are presumably religious, which implies purity, goodness, and the rejection of evil. Here, lightning is a reference to the evil of the carnival, and since Jim struggles to reject evil throughout the novel, his house “draws lightning,” meaning he is more susceptible to sin than Will is.
Themes
Mr. Fury tells Jim to hurry and hammer the lightning rod to the roof of his house. “Don’t wait,” Mr. Fury says. “Git, boy! Hammer it high or you’re dead come dawn!” Mr. Fury warns him that there is “bad” coming. “Feel it, way off now, but running fast,” he says, and then turns and walks away. As the strange man leaves, Will encourages Jim to place the rod. “No,” smirks Jim. “Why spoil the fun?” Will reminds Jim of Jim’s mother. “You want her burnt?” he asks. Jim admits that he doesn’t, and the two boys climb to the top of Jim’s roof.
Mr. Fury’s warning adds to the fear of the unknown and the sense of impending doom that permeates most of the novel, and he identifies Jim as the target of this doom. Jim’s comment underscores his taste for trouble, which he refers to as “fun.” Jim only agrees to stave of the “bad” that is coming because of his love for his mother, which is in keeping with Bradbury’s underlying argument of the power of love in the face of evil.
Themes
