Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes

by

Ray Bradbury

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A traveling lightning-rod salesman who comes to Green Town the night before the carnival arrives. Mr. Fury gives Jim a lightning rod for free and instructs him to attach it to his roof immediately or be “dead come dawn.” Mr. Fury is last seen approaching the block of ice that holds the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, and it is implied that he melts the ice. Mr. Fury later resurfaces as the Dwarf in Mr. Dark’s freakshow with his memory wiped clean. Like Will and Jim, Mr. Fury struggles with temptation—his temptation is the beautiful woman, whereas Will and Jim’s temptation is the carousel—and he pays for this sin with his soul, thereby becoming part of the carnival.
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Tom Fury / The Dwarf Character Timeline in Something Wicked This Way Comes

The timeline below shows where the character Tom Fury / The Dwarf appears in Something Wicked This Way Comes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
Age, Time, and Acceptance Theme Icon
Tom Fury, a traveling lightning-rod salesman, arrives in Green Town, Illinois, just before a brewing storm, that... (full context)
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
Will, whose hair is “as blond-white as milk thistle,” looks to Mr. Fury with eyes as “bright and clear as a drop of summer rain.” He immediately tells... (full context)
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
“That’s quite a name,” Mr. Fury says to Jim. Will explains that Jim’s name is appropriate because he was born just... (full context)
Age, Time, and Acceptance Theme Icon
Fear, the Supernatural, and the Unknown Theme Icon
Mr. Fury reaches into his large bag and hands Will and Jim an “iron contraption.” He tells... (full context)
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
“Some folks draw lightning,” Mr. Fury says as he goes to inspect the houses. Mr. Fury runs his hands along the... (full context)
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
Love and Happiness Theme Icon
Fear, the Supernatural, and the Unknown Theme Icon
Mr. Fury tells Jim to hurry and hammer the lightning rod to the roof of his house.... (full context)
Chapter 10
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
Shortly after midnight, Tom Fury walks down an empty street. His bag of lightning rods is nearly empty, and he... (full context)
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
Fury remembers his childhood and the beautiful women he saw carved out of marble in Rome... (full context)
Chapter 17
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
...kicks it and it makes “a sound of iron indigestion.” The bag belongs to Mr. Fury, the lightning-rod salesman, they realize. “Storm never came,” Jim says. “But he went.” The boys... (full context)
Chapter 24
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
...enter, Will sees four men playing cards at a table. One of them is a Dwarf so small, his face cannot be fully seen from behind his cards. The Dwarf seems... (full context)
Chapter 26
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
Age, Time, and Acceptance Theme Icon
...from the freak tent, but Jim still holds his tight. Will tells Jim about the Dwarf resembling Mr. Fury. “If only there was still some way to apologize to Mr. Cooger—”... (full context)
Chapter 35
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
...there! Look!” he insists. Will can see the freaks walking by the grille, including the Dwarf. “Oh Mr. Fury,” Will thinks, “what they’ve done to you.” As the young boy’s mother... (full context)
Chapter 45
Fear, the Supernatural, and the Unknown Theme Icon
...can’t. He looks for Jim and finds him, and then his eyes fall on the Dwarf. Looking at all the freaks, Will wonders who they are, or were, before Mr. Dark... (full context)
Good vs. Evil Theme Icon
...man of twenty-two or twenty-five, but he plans to make Will a baby for the Dwarf to carry. That way Will won’t be able to “talk and tell all the lovely... (full context)
Chapter 51
Age, Time, and Acceptance Theme Icon
Love and Happiness Theme Icon
Fear, the Supernatural, and the Unknown Theme Icon
...Electrico!” he thinks. “Kill or cure!” Will looks to the surrounding tents and sees the Dwarf standing near the other freaks. Will asks Charles why the freaks don’t try to stop... (full context)