Imagine a town infested with a mysterious carnival, where it up to two boys to solve the secrets it holds. This is the reality for Green Town, Illinois and for Will and Jim. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury takes place in a small Illinois town in late October. When a carnival rolls into town late at night the two boys are drawn to it, but they don’t know what it is truly capable of. In the novel, Ray Bradbury, uses figurative language to create a mysterious mood about the carnival.
Bradbury uses verbal irony to convey the theme of rules and order as a form of control. The use of this irony is when Montag asks Mildred “When did we meet. And where?” then Mildred says that she doesn’t know and it doesn’t matter.
In “Something Wicked This way Comes”, Ray Bradbury uses the archetype of the unhealable wound to develop Jim’s character. Jim’s unhealable wound is that he wants to die. In chapter 9, his mother asks him if he will ever have kids and his response is that there is no use in “making more people”(9:19) because “people die”(9:19), and later in that same chapter, he thinks about climbing up and taking the lightning rod down. Since the lightning rod is meant to protect him, he must have a morbid death wish. Later in the chapter, it gives a reason as to why he might have this death wish because it says that Jim’s mother has a face “that had been hit a long time ago.
In the novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury a wise tone is seen every time Charles Halloway addresses the carnival. The author shows this when Charles says “they make you empty promises, you stick out your neck and- wham!” (Bradbury 200). This shows a wise tone because it shows how Charles realizes how the carnival tricks people into giving them their souls by making them false promises about their desires and end up turning people into freaks. The author uses this wise tone to emphasize the fact that Charles was the mentor of the boys, and he knew that there was something evil about the carnival.
In “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, Jim Nightshade does have some verbal and dramatic irony associated with him. In the quotes, “You look familiar… Like an uncle of mine,” (Bradbury 85 & 86) “Darn Baptist preacher, you,” (30) and, “Storm’s coming. Don’t wait Jim boy,” (10) show how Jim uses irony and how others use irony to foreshadow the danger targeted at him. The author shows how Jim uses irony to lie to Mr. Cooger and crack jokes about how Will is and how Jim will be defenseless from the carnival. Bradbury does this because it shows the sentimental bond between Jim and Will, how Jim is deceitful, and also how Jim is inferior to the power of the carnival itself.
In Ray Bradbury’s, Something Wicked this Way Comes, William Halloway frequently expressed anxious and fearful tones due to his inexperience in dangerous situations. Will’s anxious tone is apparent when he and Jim stopped by the Theatre and he “…swallowed hard…” (Bradbury27) When someone has, “…swallowed hard…” (27) they are usually nervous and guilty, indicating anxiety. Will’s reaction at the Theatre demonstrates an anxious tone because he knew he wasn't supposed to be there and if he was caught peeking into a brothel he would be punished. Also, being found there would ruin his respectable reputation that he valued highly.
Many times in history humans have come into conflict with each other trying to get their needs. The novel written by Ray Bradbury tries to argue that conflict is not the best way to resolve competition. He uses various messages throughout the story to prove his point. In the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury shows how friendship through the use of teamwork are important by causing the two friends to assist each other in perilous situations, stay loyal to each other against self-judgement, and work together against greater evil.
A complicated relationship between a father and son can be very frustrating for both people. The complications, however, generally dissolve or resolve themselves over time. In the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, the main character, Will Halloway, and his father, Charles Halloway, share a troublesome relationship. The complications come from when Will tries to protect Charles from dangers and when Charles doesn’t believe he is a good father to Will. As the story progresses, the relationship changes from where it was at the beginning to the middle, from the middle to the end.
Because so many developed to change their personalities and their mentality, the most important word in Part III of “Something Wicked this Way Comes” is “Journey.” According to Dictionary.com, the definition of “journey” is “Traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip:. ” I saw the word “journey” and automatically thought about the adventure instead of the travel itself. Not the Something that I thought was very obvious evidence for the word I chose was how WIll and Jim journeyed together throughout this adventure to find the truth on the Carnival together.
Edgar Allan Poe creates horror and suspense in his use of irony -including verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony-in his short story “ The Tell-Tale Heart”. Verbal irony is when something that is said means the opposite of what is meant. Poe uses verbal irony when he states, “ I loved the old man.” Situational irony is similar. It is defined as when what happens is different from or even the opposite of what we expected.
Dramatic irony is usually an over the top, tragic form of irony. Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are great examples of an ironic situation. Every expresses the common theme in their own way. Although both of these literally pieces provide us with the theme of irony, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" gives the reader a sense of suspense with the irony that proves to be more effective. Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" emphasizes on how a man’s thoughts and perception can affect oneself and other’s lives.
For instance, Gaiman takes a funny spin on the subject of death to lighten the mood. “You might think–and if you did, you would be right–that Mr. Owens should not have taken on so at seeing a ghost, given that Mr. and Mrs. Owens were themselves dead and had been for a few hundred years now, and given that the entirety of their social life, or very nearly, was spent with those who were also dead” (Gaiman 14-15). Another example of irony is presented through the explanation of the definition of death. “A graveyard is
Revelation of Lies Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a deranged and mysterious story that holds a stunning finish. George and Martha, a middle aged married couple who struggles with their relationship, invites Nick and Honey, a younger married couple they met at a faculty party, over to their household near midnight to enjoy drinks and have fun.
Situational Irony is a very important element in literature and can be found in many famous literary works including Ray Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains. Situational Irony adds drama to the story and engages the reader. There are three specific examples of situational irony in There Will Come Soft Rains: The house continues to perform its daily tasks even though no one lives there, the house is destroyed by a tree branch that starts a fire yet it survived a nuclear fallout, and Mrs. McClellan’s favorite poem describes the situation in the story. The first example of situational irony can be seen in the fact that the house continues to do its everyday tasks even though all of the humans that used to live there are dead.
In Roald Dahl’s riveting short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” dramatic irony is used to build tension. Dramatic irony is defined as a literary device where the reader knows more about a situation than the characters in the story. The main character Ms. Maloney, a devoted and tender wife, suddenly turns into a reckless murderer as her husband tells her he wants to leave. Throughout the narrative a prominent example of dramatic irony is when the policemen eat the leg of lamb. " ‘That's why the weapon should be easy to find.’
