Something Wicked This Way Comes

by

Ray Bradbury

Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway Character Analysis

Will’s mother is never given a name in Something Wicked this Way Comes, but she is described as a “good Christian” who is ten years younger than her husband, Charles. Her youth makes Charles feel old, but regardless of her age, Charles describes her as “immortal,” like all women who give birth to children. Charles refers to his wife as “a strange wonderful clock” who “makes the flesh that holds fast and binds eternity,” and because of this, a part of her will live forever.

Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway Quotes in Something Wicked This Way Comes

The Something Wicked This Way Comes quotes below are all either spoken by Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway or refer to Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
).
Chapter 14 Quotes

For, he thought, it’s a special hour. Women never wake then, do they? They sleep the sleep of babes and children. But men in middle age? They know that hour well. Oh God, midnight’s not bad, you wake and go back to sleep, one or two’s not bad, you toss but sleep again. Five or six in the morning, there’s hope, for dawn’s just under the horizon. But three, now, Christ, three A.M.! Doctors say the body’s at low tide then. The soul is out. The blood moves slow. You’re the nearest to dead you’ll ever be save dying. Sleep is a patch of death, but three in the morn, full wide-eyed staring, is living death!

Related Characters: Charles Halloway, Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway
Page Number: 55-6
Explanation and Analysis:

His wife smiled in her sleep.

Why?

She’s immortal. She has a son.

Your son, too!

But what father ever really believes it? He carries no burden, he feels no pain. What man, like woman, lies down in darkness and gets up with child? The gentle, smiling ones own the good secret. Oh, what strange wonderful clocks women are. They nest in Time. They make the flesh that holds fast and binds eternity. They live inside the gift, know power, accept, and need not mention it. Why speak of Time when you are Time, and shape the universal moments, as they pass, into warmth and action? How men envy and often hate these warm clocks, these wives, who they know will live forever.

Related Characters: Will Halloway, Charles Halloway, Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway
Related Symbols: Clocks
Page Number: 56
Explanation and Analysis:
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Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway Quotes in Something Wicked This Way Comes

The Something Wicked This Way Comes quotes below are all either spoken by Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway or refer to Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
).
Chapter 14 Quotes

For, he thought, it’s a special hour. Women never wake then, do they? They sleep the sleep of babes and children. But men in middle age? They know that hour well. Oh God, midnight’s not bad, you wake and go back to sleep, one or two’s not bad, you toss but sleep again. Five or six in the morning, there’s hope, for dawn’s just under the horizon. But three, now, Christ, three A.M.! Doctors say the body’s at low tide then. The soul is out. The blood moves slow. You’re the nearest to dead you’ll ever be save dying. Sleep is a patch of death, but three in the morn, full wide-eyed staring, is living death!

Related Characters: Charles Halloway, Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway
Page Number: 55-6
Explanation and Analysis:

His wife smiled in her sleep.

Why?

She’s immortal. She has a son.

Your son, too!

But what father ever really believes it? He carries no burden, he feels no pain. What man, like woman, lies down in darkness and gets up with child? The gentle, smiling ones own the good secret. Oh, what strange wonderful clocks women are. They nest in Time. They make the flesh that holds fast and binds eternity. They live inside the gift, know power, accept, and need not mention it. Why speak of Time when you are Time, and shape the universal moments, as they pass, into warmth and action? How men envy and often hate these warm clocks, these wives, who they know will live forever.

Related Characters: Will Halloway, Charles Halloway, Will’s Mother / Mrs. Halloway
Related Symbols: Clocks
Page Number: 56
Explanation and Analysis: