I thought it was interesting in "Something Wicked..." that Bradbury refered, several times, to some point in the future when Jim and Will would stop being friends. Does anyone have an opinion?

Yes i think that they will be friends for a long time to come but then again i don't seem them being old together so I think that they go their seperate ways at some point.

I find that fascinating too. Will has a feeling they wont be friends...so it makes me wonder why is he trying to help him if he knows there is an end in sight.

Why does he help him when he feels it might end? I think he helps him becuase they are friends then. Part of SWTWC is the theme of living in the moment. When people focus on their pasts, they get in trouble. When people focus on the future, they get in trouble. In this book, when people are not focused on the present, they seem subject to temptation. When they can focus on the present, they seem safer. I think that's one theme of the book.

On whether or not Jim and Will remain friends for life, think they do. The last passage that directly addresses that is right after Will and his dad "save" Jim. In that passage, Will grabs Jim and holds him very tight and wept. Jim is a little uncomfortable, and Wills ays, we'll be pals forever. Jim said, "Sure, hey sure". But Jim and Will are both moved. I think the shared experience of learning to live life and learning not to fear death, has bonded them. I'm almost 50 and have several close friends from HS. We talk on the phone, email and have a HS web site bulletin board where we share pictures and news. I think in Jim and Will's case, they stay close. They may have separate interests, but the beginning of the book talks of how close they are, they go through these life-changing experiences, and then they seem to acknowledge that they'll be pals forever. I think they will.

I think Will wants to be friends with Jim forever but is afraid it won't happen. Will helps Jim because as his best friend he has an obligation to help him. I think the two of them will remain friends because they have so many memmories together that they are almost inseperable for life.

Yes. That is very interesting, I found that out through the book as well. I think that after all that has happened though that they will always remain friends forever.

going through a situation like that would strengthen any friendship, but as we have seen bradbury does not do the "normal" thing

Well very few people stay best friends forever with their childhood pals. Its just not very realistic to say that, but who knows right?

I think that they could be friends forever. But Will doesn't seem to go for the same things as JIm so they will probably end up seperating somewhere down the road.

I think that is interesting as well. I believe that they will stay friends though, because why would Will help Jim in the end if he saw that sometime in the future their friendship might end. They're too good together and I think it'll stay that way.

quote:

Originally posted by chelle:
I thought it was interesting in "Something Wicked..." that Bradbury refered, several times, to some point in the future when Jim and Will would stop being friends. Does anyone have an opinion?

I think after everything they went through and for it to turn out so positive then i would say they will always be friends.

Considering the way the book ended, It's hard to tell. It ends on a happy note, and the two of them seem to be their old selves, but we have to remember that Jim is older than Will now.
All in all I think they will remain friends.

Jim and Will are parallel to Toni Morisson's Sula and Nel in her novel, SULA. They are best friends of the same age and compliment each other's contrasting personalities. These characters are soul mates--they share romantic friendships. Despite the conflicts and obstacles they have experienced, these characters built such a strong foundation during childhood that they will never lose touch. Their love is unconditional.