Analysis

This section explores a fundamental difference between Jim and Will: Jim cannot look away from the physical world, while Will often thinks beyond it. On one hand, this difference makes Jim more childlike than Will because Jim lives entirely in the moment, while Will thinks things through more rationally. However, this difference also means that Jim lives more passionately than Will and that he will always be the first to try something. Part of the reason that Jim lives this way comes through from his conversation with his mother. Jim's mother does not have anything besides her son, and she cares deeply about him, but Jim seems weighed down by her caring. He is aware that she was hurt by his father and his passion for the world may demonstrate his longing to break free from personal relationships. Jim immerses himself in the present so that he cannot be hurt. After his mother leaves, Jim knocks down the lightning rod. His immediate response to her show of caring is to attempt to precipitate another event, to throw himself back into action.

The moths banging on the windows outside the shop are similar to the lightning- rod salesman. Just as moths are relentlessly drawn to light, the man finds himself unable to escape the draw of the beautiful woman inside the ice. The door that shuts behind the salesman seems to suggest that something terrible is about to happen to him, and the final image of the moths at the window again suggests that his fate reflects that of moths who are burned by the fire that they seek.

When Jim decides to go look at the arrival of the carnival, Will does not really want to go. But he cannot let his friend go out at 3 A.M. on his own. Will would rather be with his friend, even if it means doing something that he does not want to do. The reasons they seek adventure differ. Jim is going to seek adventure, whether Will follows him or not. For Will, a large part of the fun is the fact that whatever he does, he does it with his best friend. Will thinks about these facts while they run, and it is hard to imagine that Jim thinks about anything similar. The friendship is important to both boys, but Jim simply spends more time acting and less time thinking than Will does.

Charles Halloway is deeply troubled by the carnival, and its arrival at three in the morning further convinces him that something is wrong. He thinks deeply about that hour and considers it to be a time when men are most vulnerable. He believes that men and women are fundamentally different because women actually give birth and therefore are a part of the cycle of Time. Men, on the other hand, although they are necessary for birth, do not really feel themselves to be a part of Time, and instead feel it working against them. While women gain immortality through children, men can only see Time as an enemy that cannot be defeated, and three in the morning is the time when that battle seems most hopeless. The fact that the carnival arrived at the hour when men despair for their lives is a very bad omen to Charles Halloway.