Wednesday, July 25, 2012

In the Spirit of Adventure

      Through various personal experiences and routine life events, I have found that most people harbor a seemingly inexplicable aversion to all things unnatural and surreal to the point of aberration. I, however, can not say that I have ever felt that way toward such things. Some of my earliest memories involve me giving into my constant curiosity to take unnecessary risks and explore the eeriest of places.  For these reasons, Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes,  has particularly intrigued me. As I began the book and read about the mysterious, haunted carnival and the haunting happenings that Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway unearth, I have to admit that I felt a little jealous of them having adventure of their lifetimes. Throughout the beginning portion of the novel, I contemplated each new character, their personality traits, and the likely undertakings that each would engage in.  It did not take much consideration on my part to realize that Miss Foley's nephew (Mr. Cooger) clearly seemed like the character that I would most want to embody, not because of his less-than-normal personality, his unnatural means of existence, or his reputation as "the evil boy," but because of his many adventures with the carnival and the life of mystery and adventure that he leads (84). For his own reasons, Cooger has connections with this bizarre carnival while still acting as Miss Foley's beloved nephew.  The secretive, adventurous life full of risk that he leads, while at first thought somewhat undesirable, seems explicitly appealing to me.  The young Cooger's personality, however cold and devious, often proves cunning and clever--two traits which also appeal to me.  When Jim and Will return to Miss Foley's house after having sat in their rooms for hours as punishment for supposedly staying at the carnival too late, Cooger realizes that they pose a certain threat to him. To ward them off, he tosses a "rain of tinkling, rattling glitter" from his place on the balcony onto the lawn toward Jim and Will (98). When Miss Foley comes to the window and sees the two boys with her jewelry, she naturally and logically assumes that they had stolen it, just as Cooger had intended. This quick and conniving act of hatred and perhaps necessity on Cooger's part made me admire his quick wit and ability to act spontaneously.  Despite his considerably harmful intentions to the protagonists and my better judgement, I still found myself wanting to spend some time in his shoes to, for the first time, experience a real adventure complete with the risks and inevitable thrills. So, in the spirit of adventure and spontaneity, Cooger's younger persona appeals most to me.

2 comments:

  1. You offer an interesting look into Cooger's character as well as your own. I find your sense of adventure admirable; I would tend to cower under the covers and avoid this carnival at all costs. I suppose, though, at some point we all wonder what it would feel like to embody the villain.

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  2. Although I did not read this novel, from the description you have given, your choice to embody this character does not come as a big surprise. The dark and mysterious always has a certain intriguing quality about it, especially when mixed with adventure. I think the intrigue comes from the freedom, ability to break rules, and lack of responsibilities that the 'evil' side often has to offer. While those qualities often present themselves as large temptations, I am not the type of person to go looking for them.

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