"And that was the week in October that they grew up overnight and were never so young again..." You say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Thus begins Ray Bradbury's dark carnival fantasy, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Age and the loss of innocence are strong themes in this story: the boys launch themselves into adulthood while the adults look back, mourning their lost childhood. By comparing and contrasting the circumstances and desires of children and adults, Ray Bradbury creates an in-depth exploration of childhood and the aging process that positions his work as much more than a typical coming-of-age story. Something Wicked This Way Comes and Dandelion Wine, two of Ray Bradbury's most acclaimed novels, are both set in the small, picturesque hamlet of Green Town, Illinois. This town is in many ways similar to Bradbury's hometown of Waukegan, Illinois (Johnson 89). These stories therefore belong to a rarely seen genre, that of autobiographical fantasy (Mogen 112). The events of Bradbury's childhood in Waukegan and his experiences as an adult have such a clear influence on these writings that "it almost seems as if he has forgotten nothing: no incident from his past escapes his artistic vision and revision" (McNelly) . Bradbury conceptualized these tales as depictions of the two sides of adolescence, symbols of summer and autumn (Mogen 113). This notion of the progression of adolescence has deep roots in the author's own history. During Bradbury's childhood, a common occurrence in Waukegan was for a circus train to stop in town. When he was four years old, Bradbury rode a carousel for the first time and the experience terrified him, a terror that is clearly present in Something Wicked This Way Comes (Mogen 125). There is also an old library identical to the one described in this story in Waukegan (Johnson 90). This infusion of the real into the fantastic generates a sense of realism that makes the Green Town stories so unique in the literary canon. It's only natural that, since Bradbury put so much of himself into Something Wicked This Way Comes, the story contains both deep symbolism and a depiction of his views on many aspects of life - and particularly that of adolescence, which It is a central theme in the book. Bradbury “expands and distorts the symbols that represent adult concerns” (Diskin 148). The carnival, the carousel and the mirror labyrinth are all manifestations of the themes of frivolity and superficiality. Those citizens tempted by superficial desires are also tempted by the evils of carnival. Will and Jim, being still children, have not yet succumbed to sin, and as such are able to resist the temptations of the carnival (Diskin 148). In Something Wicked This Way Comes, Bradbury offers an unflinching opinion on the many differences between adults and children. It is almost as if the children and adults in the book are completely different species (Diskin 128). In fact, they are so opposite that they are unable to achieve any semblance of peaceful coexistence. The adults in the story long to recapture their youth, feeling as if they are aging too quickly. Charles Halloway repeatedly talks about wanting to be young again. It is only when Charles Halloway bridges the gap between himself and his son, thus embracing the part of himself that is still a child, that he is able to work alongside the boys to destroy the carnival and evade the dangers it poses (Diskin 149). The theme of the sadness of aging is also symbolized by the carousel. Lures unsuspecting victims with images, 1986. 113-127.