Something Wicked This Way Comes

There are many themes present in Something Wicked This Way Comes that surround Mr. Cooger. The primary one is the Knowledge of Good and Evil concerning the carousel and its powers as well as the theme of Karma/ What Goes Around Comes Around. Mr. Cooger is aware of the evil nature of the carousel since he is the one that uses it most. Mr. Cooger plays up the carousel as something that will make life better and is capable of making their deepest desires come true. He knows it is evil, but Jim does not so he tries to convince him into riding it. At one point he “stretched out pink fingers urging softly: … Jim…?” (Bradbury73) Jim, not knowing the evil nature of the carousel “Twitched one foot forward” (Bradbury73) about to jump on it. Had it not been for Will, who had better knowledge of the carousel, stopping him Jim would have ended much older. During this process the boys break the carousel and Mr. Cooger’s “hair (turned) long, spidery, white” and his “eyes were mummified shut.” (Bradbury75) Karma had hit Mr. Cooger for being so deceiving and advantageous of others. “The man was cold as an albino frog” (Bradbury76) In the end he was turned into a dust that “was an antique spice, burnt maple leaves, and prickling blue that teemed and sifted to earth.” (Bradbury196) In the attempt to be brought back to full life, Mr. Cooger and his assistants failed and killed him completely, returning him to his first stage.

ARCHETYPES

The #12: When Mr. Cooger boarded the magic carousel, it spun “around under the sky” until “Mr. Cooger was 12.” (Bradbury 57) In Literature, the archetype of the number 12 symbolizes the passage of time. In this case, Mr. Cooger spun around backwards until he was 12 years of age, symbolizing the effortless passage and manipulation of time that he and Mr. Dark are able to control.

Scapegoat: When Mr. Electrico (Cooger) is killed by the freaks “capsizing his electric chair” (Bradbury196), his death makes the role of a scapegoat evident. Because he