What Is The Carnival Model

The carnival models evil and temptation throughout the story. The characters get drawn into the carnival because of their desires. However, they pay the price when the carnival “gorges on fear and pain” (202). The carnival does not fulfill its purpose when nobody wants to give up everything for his or her one desire. Nonetheless, people like Miss Foley give up their souls for their greed and end up young, dazed, and forever a part of hell. Charles learned to accept “everything at last, accepted the carnival, the hills beyond” (260). Jim and Charles discover that if they accept themselves and control their temptation to change their age, then the carnival has no power. Will represents the goodness in the story. Born one minute before Halloween, he symbolizes innocence in the story. The carnival does not influence Will greatly because he does not mind his age. Will has a good streak in him because he know that “Really knowing is good. Not knowing or refusing to know, is bad, or amoral, at least” (199). Will recognizes his enemies, the freaks. Along with Charles’s help, he can see that the carnival serves as a trap so he does not get sucked into it. Charles believes, “a man half-bad and a women half-bad and put their two good halves together and you got one human all good to share between”
The carnival transformed them into their true selves. At the end of the book they show themselves as true cowards by “the fleeing away of souls…run forever trying to outflee themselves” (279-280). The freaks run away after loosing their dark leader. The reader discovers the freaks are not evil, but they gave up their humanity for their desires. Also, the evil will come back “Not in a carnival. God knows what shape they’ll come in next” (288). Some evil resides everywhere because people like the freaks cannot resist what they want. Just like the freaks, the evilness will turn anyone into their worst