An Essay: Comparing Jim and Will's Characterizations in Bradbury's Novel, Something Wicked

In September 1962, Ray Bradbury published his fourth novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes. It contains the story of two almost fourteen-year-old friends, Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade, and their adventures over a haunting and harrowing week. At the beginning of the novel, Bradbury presents these characters in unique ways that help build their characterization. Chapters eight and nine are sketches of the home life of each boy, and examples of Bradbury’s use of contrasts and similarities to frame his characters.

At the beginning of the book, Will and Jim are both nearing the end of their childhood innocence and starting to encounter true darkness; true darkness as in Mr. Dark’s carnival that serves as an allegory to childhood wrestling with growing old and the loss of innocence. Will wrestles with this darkness through characters like his father, Mr. Dark, and even Jim, while Jim seems to be wrestling with the darkness itself. The boys are together throughout the majority of the novel and both care deeply for each other. They live next door to each other and they are both the only child of their family. They attend the same school and walk the same roads to and from school every day. Will and Jim both share a fascination with books spurred on by Will’s father who encourages them into literature. However, their similarities end very near the beginning of chapter eight.

Will and Jim are both running home from the library by the end of chapter seven, and chapter eight begins with Will’s entrance to his home. He enters, slams the door, and, feeling the weight of his parents’ authority in the other room, immediately reopens it to correct his behavior and closes it quietly. His mother responds approvingly to his self-correction. She says no more of it and greets Will with love. The hierarchy is clear in their household and Will knows his place. Will respects his parents’ rules and understands their role in his life. Bradbury continues to lay out Will’s evening in this manner and shows Will entering a well-oiled family system with which he is well acquainted. As soon as he opened the door, Will had entered an oasis of familial habits. His mother converses with him about his day and his father has already seen him throughout it. Everyone is connected and knows intimately about each other or wishes to know more when they are disconnected.

On the other hand, in chapter nine, Jim is shown already in his bed; unlike Will in chapter eight, he is not shown entering his house. A reason Bradbury may begin there is to avoid showing Jim initiating a connection with his mother. He is not shown to enter any system other than his own. Jim’s mother enters his room and merely asks if he is awake. Bradbury shows Jim’s mother entering his room without much knowledge or intrigue about what Jim has been doing. The dialogue is structurally minimal containing many unanswered questions and unaddressed points from both Jim and his mother. This scene lays out the relationship between Jim and his mother on a foundation of disconnection that informs the rest of Jim’s experience in the book and reveals more context for his character.

Will’s and Jim’s relationships with their mothers are presented in great contrast between the two chapters. Will is shown to be deeply intertwined with his family’s schedule: his mother asks him about his library books and shows great interest in their subjects. After Will goes to bed, he lies listening to his parents’ soothing voices echo through the walls. Jim’s mother does not notice his library books. She enters his room and laments at the state of Jim’s window before closing it. She critiques Jim on the way he is taking care of himself. They have a short conversation about life in general and Jim’s mother shows no interest in Jim’s everyday life. They talk of Jim’s father briefly and of how Jim is so similar to him. Jim’s mother says, “The day you go away is the day he leaves forever.” Jim has replaced his father in the household. His mother pins her hope on him, but Jim doesn’t care much for hope. It was the first time Jim had talked to his mother that day. No other details of her day-to-day life are shown, and one can only assume that Jim does not know of any either.

The library books are another interesting tool of character development for Will and Jim. Both boys picked their books in the light of epic encouragement from Will’s father who is well-versed in classic American literature. Will picks the novel The Mysterious Island, which, through its adolescent charm, is a complex literary work. From the same encouragement, Jim selects a picture book filled with dinosaurs. In Will's chapter, once he is in bed, he notices that he and Jim accidentally switched library books. He examines Jim’s books about dinosaurs and admires them. Jim, however, never notices the books. He never notices they were switched which begs a question of the reader: Did Jim ever intend to investigate his books further once home or was he merely caught in the moment of selection?

The last point centers around what Will and Jim focus on after their parents think they are asleep. Will first listens to his father and mother talk until they retire to their bed. Then, Will hears his father quietly slip from the house and return to his job at the library. He knows his mother is asleep and that she doesn’t notice. Will is alive to the sounds of his house while Jim is alive to the wide world outside. Jim reopens his window to peer out into the darkness. His experience in his mother’s house is quiet. He is only aware of his mother when she is in the room; he doesn’t hear her through the wall like Will does his parents. The day’s events swim in Jim’s mind and on the canvas of the night sky, they form the grand and passionate plans for Jim’s tomorrow.

Throughout the beginning of Something Wicked, Ray Bradbury contrasts Jim and Will with each other. They are both fourteen, nearing the end of their childhood innocence, and starting to encounter true darkness. In chapter eight, Bradbury shows Will entering an oasis of familial habits while Jim is shown alone at first, with severe disconnects between himself and his mother. At the library, Will picks the somewhat complex novel, The Mysterious Island, and Jim selects a picture book filled with dinosaurs. Later, at home again, only Will goes to read the books when he finds them swapped; Jim forgets about them entirely. In bed, Will is alive to the comforting sounds of his house while Jim sits by his window and is alive to the wide world outside. Will is content wrestling with the coming difficulties of assimilation to adulthood within the safe world of his home and relationships while Jim endeavors to face these difficulties head-on and seeks his adventure alone.