9 CP English E/5
6 January 2012
Who is Mr. Halloway?
How would you describe yourself? Maybe you think you are funny, smart, kind, or maybe even eccentric. Everyone has many different character traits that can describe themselves or others. In the book Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury Charles Halloway can be described as old, depressed, and weird.
Mr. Halloway is an old man because everyone knows how ancient he looks, including his son and himself. In the book it says, “That’s Charles William Halloway, thought Will, not grandfather, not far wandering, ancient uncle, as some might think, but…my father.”(Bradbury 14). This shows that when Will sees his father he looks so elderly that he thinks others may mistake Will’s father for a grandfather of an ancient uncle because he is so elderly. For example in the book it also says, “…Will makes me feel so old…a man should play baseball with his son…” (Bradbury 38). This example shows that Mr. Halloway’s son Will makes him feel just as old as he looks by telling him he can not even play games that Will would play. One more example of how Charles Halloway can be described as antediluvian is when Mr. Halloway looks at himself in the mirror and see’s how old he looks. For example in the book it says, “…as did Dad, amazed their mouths at their own ancient quakes and masquerades.”(Bradbury 255). Mr. Halloway looks at himself and see’s his skin wrinkly and it hurt him very much. Some people may think that Mr. Halloway is not an old man because while in the mirror maze he remembers that there are many other people like him. Although there may be many others like him they do not act like him about his age and how old he feels and looks. That is why and how Mr. Halloway can be described as obsolete.
Another character trait used to describe Charles Halloway is sad because many things in his life make him upset. An example of how Mr. Halloway can be described as sad is when he hears an old Christmas tune and he becomes upset. In the book it says, “Suddenly there was a the old sense of terrified elation, of wanting to laugh and cry together when he saw the innocents of the earth wandering the snowy streets the day before Christmas … the tired men and women whose faces were dirty with guilt...”(Bradbury 24). This shows how Mr. Halloway becomes sad because the old tune shows how old he is which makes him unhappy. Charles tells his own son that he is a sad man. Another example of this in the book says, “Pa”, he said, “don’t sound so sad.” “Me? I'm the original sad man. I read a book and it makes me sad. See a film: sad. Plays? They really work me over.”(Bradbury 137). Here is an example of how Mr. Halloway can be described as sad because he knows it himself that he is a depressed person. One more way that Mr. Halloway is sad is when he sees himself in the mirrior maze as a very old man which makes him very sorrowful. In the book it says, “And the mirrors shoved me half in, half out the grave. Showed me in wrinkles and rot!”(Bradbury 281). This shows that it makes him sad knowing how old he is. Some people may say he is a happy man because while at the trick show for the carnival he killed the Dust Witch with his smile. On the other hand though he only acted happy at the trick show just so that he could fool the Dust Witch and kill her. He was not happy on purpose. That is how Mr. Halloway can be described as a grieving man.
One more way to describe Charles William Halloway is weird because he does some strange things that most people his age do not do. For instance, “And suddenly Will remembered nights rising at two in the morning to go to the bathroom and spying across town to see that one single light in the high library window and know Dad had lingered on late murmuring and reading alone under these green jungle lamps.”(Bradbury 15). As a result of this it shows that Mr. Halloway is different because that is not normal for fathers to do and Will found it funny that his father did that. In addition to this is when he is alone he “listens” to his broom tell him stories. The book says, “Wandering alone in the library, letting his broom tell him things no one else could hear, he had heard the whistle and the disjointed calliope hymns.”(Bradbury 55). In this case shows that Charles is unlike most people his age because most people do not do things like that. Also “Dad whooped. He circled like a dancing crane. He was not in the silliness yet. He wanted to crack through. He had to break the moment!”(Bradbury 282). While Will thought Jim was dead his father told him to just sing and dance. This is strange because while someone is unconscious on the ground people do not dance and sing around them. Others may not think Mr. Halloway is not a strange person because he had a heart to heart conversation with his son. Even though he had a good conversation with his son, if you look at the conversation it is strange because most fathers and sons do not talk about what Will and Mr. Halloway talked about. Charles Halloway is strange for many reasons.
Mr Halloway see's him self and so do others as a very old man. Almost everything makes him upset and he does things that are very bizarre. In conclusion Charles Halloway can be described as ancient, depressed and odd.
Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. New York, NY: William Morrow, 1962.