Singh 1

Ravinder Singh
Ms. Ingram
English I Honors
13 November 2015
Will Halloway: The Unsung Hero
A person never realizes how much they mean to someone until they show until they
prove it. This very event occurs multiple times in Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray
Bradbury. Will Halloway is faced with a very big problem and goes through a lot to save his
town. Will has a positive effect on people all around him because of his courageous, obedient,
and protective traits.
Wills ability to do things that help others is great but when the helping puts his life at
risk makes very courageous. Will fought the evil Dust Witch that marked Jims house putting
their lives in even more danger now that the carneys know where they live. Because of Wills
courage, he was able to fight the evil Dust Witch even though this could kill him. Will used his
intellect to draw the witch to him then, using a broken bow and arrow, [ripped a] smile across
the entire surface of the gigantic pear which ended up killing the Dust Witch, as he thought
(Bradbury 152). This took a big deal of courage especially knowing that his life was at risk while
also influencing his dad and Jim in a positive way making them feel more courageous as well.
Will was also able to help young Miss Foley even though at first he did not know that that girls
was indeed Miss Foley. He did not know that this was young Miss Foley at the time, he just
wanted to help the crying little girl. That is very courageous on his part especially since this
could have gotten him in more trouble with the carnival. Will also wanted the girl to be safe
more than anything. He was worried because he could not find her and put her life ahead of his.

Singh 2
Will is very courageous during this time by doing things I doubt anyone else would. This fairly
persuaded Jim in a positive way to be courageous as well. Another time Will showed courage
was when Jim went on the carousel to get older and Will was trying to get him to get off. This
took a lot of courage because his best friend was on the evil carousel. Will got injured and using
all of his strength got him off of the carousel. Will did this knowing that Will could have ended
up on the carousel with Jim or die like how did Jim. His courage rubbed off on his dad so that
they could bring Jim back to life by dancing and being happy. Wills courage was very powerful
because it had influenced others.
Will had to put up with a lot because of Jim but Will always stood his ground and did
what was right making him a very obedient person. Before the carnival even showed up to town,
a man named Tom Fury, a lightning rod salesman, came by Jim and Wills house wanting to sell
them a lightning rod to protect them from the approaching storm. The lightning rod salesman
told them to put the rod on top of Jims house. Will, being the obedient boy he is, immediately
got a ladder then told Jim to get the hammer, some nails and wire. (10). Will did this because
he did whatever anyone told him to do. This made Jim want to be more obedient especially when
he regretted not putting it up when the Dust Witch marked his home. Will always stayed away
from trouble. When Jim and Will were watching the theater from an afar tree, Will was getting
anxious to get home because he was getting a bad vibe and it was getting late. He did not want to
stay much longer. He told Jim that but he would not listen so Will ran home alone but eventually
Jim left and caught up to him. Wills obedience must have made Jim want to leave as well. A
crucial part where Will had to really show his obedience was when him and Jim were hiding
under a grille while Charles and Mr. Dark were talking. Jim and Will had hidden from the parade
and Mr. Dark approached Charles asking him questions about Jim and Will. Will had to strongly

Singh 3
keep calm and control himself even when Mr. Dark was using his voo-doo on them causing
them pain. Will had to get through a lot but he knew that he had to stay under the grille to not
give them away which also motivated Jim to keep his control as well. Wills obedience saved
him and Jim during the many situations that they had faced.
Will is very protective of his loved ones and they show the same to him. He does not
want them to get hurt no matter what and will do anything to make sure that that does not
happen. Will was protective of Jim when Tom Fury was selling them a lightning rod. Will had a
feeling that what Tom was saying was wise so he wanted to put it up because he also wanted to
feel safe and protect his family and Jims. Will and Jim have always been best friends and it is
practically Wills job to take care of Jim so this is just routine for Will. This, over the course of
their adventure, makes Jim feel like he needs to protect Will as well. Will was protective of his
dad when his dad wanted to go into the mirror maze. Charles was about to go to the mirror maze
but Will made sure that he did not. Will loves his dad even though they seemed to have a distant
relationship. He did not want his dad to go into the mirror maze because he knew that it would be
bad for his dad and him. He did not want his dad to go so bad, he was pleading Oh, Dad, Dad, I
dont care how old you are, ever! [...] I love you! (258). He had never told him that and all of a
sudden, their relationship became much stronger on both ends because of Will. Will is close with
a lot of people making him feel like he needs to protect them. His seventh grade teacher, Miss
Foley, was in trouble because her nephew was Mr. Cooger, a leader of the evil carnival. Little
did she know that she was in a trance and that her nephew was Mr. Cooger. Will and Jim both
went over to her house to somehow warn her but could not. Even though he could not protect her
at the time, he still tried to protect her from the evil carnival. Jim ended up helping Will with

Singh 4
trying to protect Miss Foley. Wills need to protect his family and friends is very strong, strong
enough to make others feel that way too.
The whole dilemma of the carnival coming to town brought out Wills courageous,
obedient, and protective character traits that affected others in a very positive way. These
character traits helped him, Jim, and his dad stop the evil carnival once and for all. Even though
Will may not have known what he was doing was influencing those around him, him doing so
saved his life, his loved ones lives, and destroyed the evil carnival.

Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. NY: Harper, 1997. Print.