Later the boys jog to the library to borrow books from the public library, where William's father (Mr. Halloway) works as a janitor who is about 54 years old. The next day, the carnival was up, at first it seemed like a normal carnival; however, the only strange eerie part of the carnival was the mirror maze, which seemed to capture the person's soul with images presented by the mirror.
Later that night, Jim wanted to investigate the carnival so they went back. At the carnival they saw Mr. Cooger and Mr. Dark (the owner of the carnival) near the carousel. Then Mr. Cooger got on the carousel, the machine started with the music playing backwards, as the carousel spun faster, Mr. Cooger grew younger and younger until finally came out a boy of about 12 years old.
As more bizarre events occur, Mr. Halloway found out the purpose of why the carnival came to town and learned that the freaks in the carnival used carousel to gain immortality, which is why the carnival appeared in old newspapers in previous decades. They also gather the towns people and convert them into freaks and make them cause grief to the citizens. The carnival is fueled with grief, the more sadness there is, the stronger the freaks are.
Mr. Dark, who already knew that the boys had found about the carnival, brought Mr. Halloway and the boys to the carnival, where William and Jim are binded under a spell by the dust witch. Eventually, Mr. Halloway discovers that the only way to end this madness was to be happy or to accept yourself, since the carnival lives off pain and suffering. After William awoke from the spell, he joined his father dancing and laughing, which seems to be destroying the freaks in the carnival. After some time, Jim also wakes up and joins in the surge of happiness, which lead to the downfall of the carnival.
Setting: This amazing story takes place in a small town called Green Town. Before the carnival came in and reeked havoc among the people, it was a peaceful town where everyone knows each other. When the carnival came to town, it set it self up in the outskirts of town where everything around the carnival seemed to be dead. Through out the whole story, it was during the month of October, which is the time of horror. In some ways the book do have some twisted moments (the freaks in the carnival), this is can explain why Ray Bradbury set the story in October.
Characters: The main characters that persist through out the book are Will Halloway, Jim Nightshade, Mr. Charles Halloway, and Mr. Dark.
Will Halloway compared to his best friend Jim, is much more quieter and more of a thinker. Will does not act on instincts, he thinks situations throughly, such as when Jim wanted to be older by riding the carousel Will told him it was not a good idea to do that. From beginning to end, Will is happy with himself, never has he been unsatisfied about whether he may be too old or too young, unlike Jim and his father. This can explain why the carnival does not have much affect on him.
Jim Nighshade is basically the opposite of Will. Remember how will is more quieter and more of a thinker, now find the opposite of that and that is Jim. Jim has messy dark hair and act purely on his instincts, never has he questioned himself whether what he is doing is right or wrong. For example, during a thunder storm Jim wanted to remove the lightning rod off his house, which there is a high chance of electrocuting himself. Another example, would be when he wanted to be older by riding on the carousel but he does not seem to wonder what the machine would do to him. All Jim cares about is getting what he wants, even if it may be completely illogically.
Charles Halloway works as the janitor at the local library, where he constantly engulfs himself in books. The library later becomes a refuge for Charles and the two boys once the evil of the carnival has been exposed. In the library, Charles is the one who gathers all the secrets of how to defeat the carnival, and during this time is where the two boys become much more bonded to Charles. Mr. Charles always longed to be young again and he was always so tempted to ride the carousel just to be in that desired age but he later overcome that desire and realized that youth is internal rather than external. With this mindset Mr. Charles literately became the ultimate weapon that took down the carnival.
Mr. Dark is the main bad guy of this novel but unlike any bad guys he is a manipulator. Mr. Dark was able to utilize people's desire and convert them into freaks, such as what had happen to the Salesman and Miss Foley. To the whole town, Mr. Dark seem like a very friendly man who is friends with the policemen and the local people, but under that mask he is a sinister man.
Themes: A major theme that is prevalent through out this book is youth. Several adults fantasized of reliving their youth, including Charles, however, once several of these adults actually went through the process of riding the carousel to regain their youth, right away they know something is wrong. The adults mentally feel like nothing has changed at all but externally they have become that person they were many years ago. This unbalanced state of these adults left them vulnerable, which they were forced to joined the carnival and become one of the many freaks in it.What the book is trying to say is that we should be happy of who we are, even if we think we may be too old or too young just accept it and live life normally.
Symbols: In the beginning of the book, it starts with a lightning rod salesman stating that a storm is coming to town. No storm actually arrives but instead of thunder and lighting, the two boys are face against an evil carnival. The lightning-rod salesman then warns that the storm will hit Jim's house rather than Will's, and this is true. Jim is far more likely to be persuaded by the evil attractions of the evil carnival than Will, since Jim was the one who wanted to be older.
READING RAINBOW!!!
This book was reviewed by Kevin Duong <3
This book was reviewed by Kevin Duong <3
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