The block of ice that is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world troubles Charles Halloway. He does not see a beautiful woman but instead a void within the ice in the shape of a woman. The void calls to a part of him, and he has trouble leaving the store even though he wants to go. Halloway does not want to stay because he knows that something is wrong with the sculpture and wrong with the carnival. But even that knowledge does not make him immune to its charms, and he stays longer than he wants to because he cannot help himself. Charles Halloway has to battle between what he should do and what he wants to do, or at least what he thinks he wants to do.
Jim and Will disagree over the significance of the theater. Although neither of them understands the things that sometimes go on inside the bedroom of the house that they look into, Jim wants to see more, while Will does not want to look at all. Jim and Will have very different personalities, and while Jim constantly wants to explore new things, Will does not always agree. But Jim is willing to do things even without Will, and so his friend's reservations do not really affect him. Since there is no one home, Jim walks back with Will, and the handbill for Cooger and Dark's show soon takes the place of the theater. The boys are enchanted with the idea of a carnival, although in different ways. Jim is excited from the beginning and cannot wait to see everything. Will seems doubtful and unsure but knows that he will not be able to resist seeing the show. Will, like his father, has mixed emotions about the carnival. The boys are so caught up in their talk that they do not realize they have walked home. Even talking about the carnival is associated with losing track of reality.
Will's father is concerned, and some of his concern rubs off on Will. Will has a sense of foreboding and feels that something big is going to happen. He is scared because his father is scared. Will's father wants to work things through on his own, and he heads back to the library without telling his wife what bothers him. In the same way, Will does not share his concerns with Charles Halloway but keeps them to himself. When Will goes to read a book, he realizes that he has one of Jim's dinosaur books. As much as Will may want to do things differently from the way Jim wants to, he cannot escape his friend. Ending up with a book that Jim selected foreshadows that when Will wants to do something different, he will be drawn into Jim's course of action.
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