In the novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, the character of the Dust Witch is characterized as malicious and wicked, with a mild character shift towards the end, which changes the witch into a reluctant character through diction. Firstly, The words “The witch shouted with insane happiness” (Bradbury 151) support the witch’s characterization of malicious as she tries to kill Will Halloway. The author does this by describing the encounter that Will has with the Dust Witch when he foils her plan of targeting his house for attack. The witch acts maliciously because her actions of following Will to his house, attacking him with the basket of her balloon, and laughing with sadistic glee, are all evidence to support the idea that the Dust Witch had …show more content…
Dark’s bidding, which was to take away all five senses of Will and Jim before he puts them in a trance. The Dust Witch uses a tool she calls a “Darning needle dragonfly” (224) to take away the boy’s senses, in what they describe as a terrifying ordeal. Putting children into a situation where every part of their world is literally black, and with such a horrible sounding instrument as a darning needle, is exactly how Bradbury characterizes the Witch as wicked. In addition, Bradbury does this to further exaggerate the Dust Witch’s deep hatred for the two boys’, as well as her fear of Mr. Dark and what he is capable of. Finally, the author also includes a characterization shift of the Dust Witch, which is describing her as a malicious monster, to a scared and reluctant Woman. The text “Stop the act, The Witch cried softly” shows the Dust Witch’s shift in characterization. The writer achieves this shift by describing the event in which Mr. Dark forces the Dust Witch to perform a magic trick which involved catching a bullet in one’s mouth. He goes on to show the Dust Witch’s reluctance to do what Mr. Dark has said, as she fears for her own