45 pages 1 hour read

Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1962

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Part 3, Chapters 45-54Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “Departures”

Part 3, Chapter 45 Summary

As Mr. Dark marches Will and Jim through town back to the carnival, he forces them to greet unsuspecting townspeople and taunts them with his evil plans.

Part 3, Chapter 46 Summary

Mr. Dark parades the hypnotized boys through the Mirror Maze and traps them behind it where he keeps his wax figures on display. He calls for the crowd’s attention. After learning that the witch failed to kill Charles, he promises the town a live bullet trick involving her. She is terrified as Dark asks the audience for a volunteer to fire the rifle. Dark is shocked to see Charles volunteer.

Part 3, Chapter 47 Summary

Indicating Charles’s still-broken hand, Mr. Dark objects to him being able to handle the rifle. Charles holds it in his good hand but calls for another volunteer to help him shoot. The crowd cheers him on. Charles calls for Will, sensing him in the maze nearby. The crowd helps him yell Will’s name, and soon, Will emerges in a robotic trance from the maze.

Mr. Dark angrily hands Charles the bullet to inscribe with his initials. Instead, Charles draws a smile on the bullet. He knows the trick calls for Mr.