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Chapter 48
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
Will stands behind Charles in the dark Mirror Maze and digs in his pockets. He produces a kitchen match and strikes it, bathing the maze in soft light. “No!” yells Charles, knocking the match from Will’s hand. “Dad, we gotta see!” Will yells, reaching for another match. As Will strikes his last match, Charles falls to his knees, his eyes “clenched” shut.
Charles doesn’t want Will to light the match because he doesn’t want to see his elderly reflection in the mirrors; however, without some light they will be unable to navigate their way through the maze. Charles again needs to face his fear directly.
Themes
“Oh, Dad,” Will cries. “I don’t care how old you are, ever! I don’t care what, I don’t care anything! Oh, Dad, I love you!” he weeps. Charles stands and looks at his reflection in the mirror and sees his son reflected behind him. A small whimper escapes Charles’s mouth, and then he opens his mouth wide and “lets the loudest sound of all free. The Witch, if she was alive, would know that sound, and die again.”
Will’s encouragement to his father is evidence of both his innate goodness and the deep love he has for Charles. Charles finds strength by ignoring his own reflection and focusing on Will instead—the object of his own deep love. With his scream, Charles rejects the evil of the maze and instead embraces the love of his son, as the book once more presents the power of positive, instinctual human actions, like laughter or a yell of adoration.
Themes
