Something Wicked This Way Comes: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

Instead of going inside, Will and Charles sit together on the front porch. “Dad?” Will asks. “Am I a good person?” Charles tells his son that he is sure of it, and Will asks if being good will “help when things get really tough.” Charles assures him that being good in the face of evil will help, but it may not be enough. “Good is no guarantee for your body. It’s mainly for peace of mind,” Charles says.

“Are you a good person?” Will asks Charles. After some thought, Charles tells his son that he is “all right.” Will is confused. “Then, Dad,” he says, “why aren’t you happy?” Charles explains that being good and being happy are two different things. Often, he says, those who appear the happiest have the most sin. “And men do love sin, Will,” Charles says, “oh how they love it, never doubt, in all shapes, sizes, colors, and smells.”

Charles continues. “So, minute by minute, hour by hour […] you got the choice this second” to be either good or bad. “That’s what the clock ticks,” Charles says, “that’s what it says in the ticks.” Will tells his father that he wants him to be happy, and that he would do “anything” to make him happy. “Just tell me I’ll live forever,” Charles says. “That would do nicely.” Will asks Charles what doesn’t make him sad. “Death,” Charles answers.

Will is shocked. Death is sad, he tells Charles. His father explains that “death makes everything else sad. But death itself only scares.” Will begs his father not to go near the carnival, and Charles tells Will the same. As they stand to go inside, Charles motions towards the iron ladder. “They way you came out,” Charles says, “is the way you go in.” Will asks Charles if he is climbing the ladder too, and he quickly answers “no, no.” Will smiles. “You ain’t got the stuff!” he whispers. Will and Charles both scramble up the ladder, “laughing without sound.”