Happiness In Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes

In Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury illustrates the power of happiness to change one’s mental state and ultimately; life. He does so by creating troubled and aging characters who alter their self-fulfillment simply by smiling. He also includes scenarios where the only way to survive is by refusing to show weakness. The happiness in this novel prevails the evil and negativity surrounding the characters by filling their hearts with warmth and their mouths with smiles.
To begin, the character Charles Halloway is a miserable man who feels that he is of no use to his son or the world. Yet, when the carnival begins terrorizing his son Will, Charles feels something; the need to help. Charles first gathers Will and his Will’s friend Jim to discuss what is keeping the evil autumn people alive. On page 201, Charles tells the boys: “‘All the meanness we harbor, they borrow in redoubled spades. They’re a billion times itchier for pain, sorrow, and sickness than the average man. We salt our lives with others

people's sins. Our flesh to us tastes sweet. But the carnival doesn’t care if it stinks by moonlight instead of sun, so long as it gorges on fear and pain. That’s the fuel, the vapor that spins the carousel, the raw stuffs of terror, the excruciating agony of guilt, the scream from real or imagined wounds. The carnival sucks that gas, ignites it, and chugs along its way.’” After hearing his father speak more than a sentence, Will is struck with disbelief and warmth. He realizes that his father is opening up to him. As the talk continues, Charles listens to everything the boys have to say about the evil ones. They eventually think of ways to stop them, but this will only if they do not feed them their agony or fear.
Subsequently, Charles must begin his fight against the evil Autumn people. In Chapter 44, Charles Halloway has his first confrontation with The Witch. In the beginning, he is skeptical of the power in his smile. Not until he begins laughing does he notice that his happiness weakens The Witch. On page 228, we can see how his smile may have saved his life: “Charles Halloway snorted. Faintly, he giggled….The Witch pulled back the merest quarter inch as if some strange but hidden electric light socket, touched with wet whorl, gave shock. Charles Halloway saw but did not see her flinch, sensed but seemed in no way to consider her withdrawal, for almost immediately, seizing the initiative, she flung herself forward, not touching, but mutely gesticulating at his chest…. ‘Slow!’ she cried. Senselessly, he permitted an idiot smile to balloon itself up from somewhere to attach itself with careless ease under his nose.” After leaving The Witch, Charles realizes that this new found happiness is unfamiliar to him, but he reminds himself that it’s going to be alright if he smiles now and then. His protection from The Witch was his smile which is growing in power up to this point in the novel.
After periods of conflict among the carnival members and the boys, Ray Bradbury includes a “break” point for Charles and Will. In Chapter 47, Mr. Dark is going to perform the “bullet trick”, on The Witch, for his audience. During this entertainment, Will is being held captive and Charles goes to save his son. On page 251 “Above the dying laughter, before the warm sound was completely gone, he made these words, silently with his lips: The crescent moon I have marked on the bullet is not a crescent moon. It is my own smile. I have put my smile on the bullet in the rifle. He waited for her to understand. He said it, silently, again.” Charles volunteers to shoot The Witch, but then tells Will to pull the trigger. The bullet he uses has a small “crescent moon” symbolizing his smile; his happiness. With one shot; The Witch is dead. The proceeding chapters are written to uphold the novel’s theme regarding the capacity of one’s happiness in overcoming adversity.
To further explain, the author depicts the disbelief from Mr.

Dark after realizing that Charles is using a smile to stop him and his army of evil. The carnival people, who were thriving off Charles's misery are weakening. In these moments, Charles decides to be happy so that he can save himself. On page 258, Ray Bradbury show’s us Charles moment of freedom while he sees himself in different stages of his life. This moment is described as: “For only a moment long he looked at all of themselves, at Will. A small sound escaped his mouth. A little larger sound escaped his mouth….He opened his mouth very wide, and let the loudest sound of all free. The Witch, if she were alive, would have known that sound, and died again.” This quote shows the reader how happiness is keeping Charles alive and strong. His sound that he is making is laughter and it is resonating throughout his entire body. He is now capable enough of not letting the Carnival people take

over.
Following Charles and Will’s journey in trying to find Jim; Will begins to cry. His juvenile emotions are uncontrollable and full of longing for his friend. Charles, however, refuses to let his son continue to be controlled by these feelings. A significant quote showing how he gets his son through this can be found on pages 281-282: “‘Damn it, Willy, all this, all these, Mr. Dark and his sort, they like crying, my God, they love tears! Jesus God, the more you bawl, the more they drink the salt off your chin. Wail and they suck your breath like cats. Get up! Get off your knees, damn it! Jump around! Whoop and holler! You hear! Shout, Will, sing, but most of all laugh, you got that, laugh!’” After Will sees his father showing strength, Will listens. They both begin laughing and singing. Will shook himself from the grasp of Sadness and Charles laughed in the face of Death. They both knew that they could release Jim from the evil forces that kept his eyes shut. So Will hollered along with his father until Jim eventually woke up. On page 285 Jim’s awakening is told: “His eyes opened. He watched the dancing fools. He could not believe. He had been off on a journey of years. Now, returned, no one said ‘Hi!’ All jigged Sambo-style. Tears might have jumped to his eyes. But before they could start, Jim’s mouth curved. He gave up a ghost of laughter. For, after all, there indeed was silly Will and his silly old janitor dad racing like gorillas knuckle-dusting the meadows, their faces a puzzlement.” This heart wrenching scene symbolizes the grand power that happiness had in saving Jim’s life. The dancing and singing of a man who has found happiness and a boy who is losing his fear of the world; brings Jim back to life.
In summary, the power of happiness is evident throughout Something Wicked This Way Comes. The evil characters such as Cougar and Mr. Dark are overpowered through happiness and joy. The Witch is killed when she has no fear to survive off. In addition, Jim is revived through Will’s hollering and Charles laughter; happiness. Charles grows throughout the novel when he finds happiness. This growing contentment with one’s own life grows within the young boys and allows them to ultimately defeat the demons within them and the outside world.