Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury-Comparison/Contrast Essay

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is the author of Dandelion Wine and presents his ideas effectively to deliver his message to the audiences as intended. The book was set in the 1920s in the Green Town, Illinois a fictional town and the book is widely based on the author’s childhood. Moreover, the author based his creative work from the short story Dandelion Wine written in the Gourmet Magazine back in June 1953. The novel is full of hidden language, and the reader must be very keen to fully interpret the meaning considering that even the title, Dandelion Wine serves as a metaphor for packing all the types of joys of the summer into a single bottle. The story widely revolves around a twelve-year-old boy Douglas, who came into realization he is alive, and he starts to rejoice in the beauty of everything around him (Yockey, 554). Besides, Douglas makes Dandelion Wine with his younger brother Tom and his grandfather, which represents the beauty of life he is living now. This assignment will attempt to examine various aspects of this novel.

Question 1

Douglas Spaulding can be described as the protagonist in this story since most of the events of the summer are seen through his eyes both at times of joy and sorrows. Being the main character of the novel, he can be described as imaginative considering that he has a vivid imagination and a compassionate nature despite being young. In the story, the author says that Douglas needs new sneakers not because he wants to look good or because last year’s pair is out of style, but just because the Royal Crown Cream-Sponge Para Litefoot Tennis Shoes have the magic he needs to run like the wind. This clearly shows his creative and imaginative nature. Moreover, just like his grandfather, Douglas cares deeply about his family and friends and that is the main reason as to why he decided to record every event occurring during his summer holiday. Both characters can be said to love life and to enjoy every bit of their lives in the summer.

On the other hand, Grandpa Spaulding is full of wisdom and his witty nature rhymes well with kids both Douglas and his brother Tom as he can integrate with them freely apart from taking delighting the beauty of life and the world. While he takes most of his time to understand nature to get a better understanding of life as well as gather wisdom, Douglas takes pleasure in learning about life from his grandfather (Condon, 170). It is also correct to say that the Grandpa is a likable person and almost everyone in the town likes him and his love for philosophy make him even friendlier to almost every person irrespective of age.

Related: Theme of Death in Dandelion Wine

Question 2

Despite the fact that machines have come to the aid of human being and people can draw many positives from their development, it is correct to say that the novel depicts technology as one of the important aspects of human life but cannot replace human interactions with nature and the community. In the story, grandpa tells Bill that a tidy lawn is no compensation for the loss of pleasure, of mowing the grass because the weeds and grass are valuable in their way. This clearly shows that technology is not the answer to every human question and humanity and human qualities are far much better and important.

Despite that fact that Douglas has never given much thought about life, but after realizing the beauty of life, he is enjoying every moment that he is alive. The novel pinpoints that life and death are two opposite things and their line of distinction is very clear to everybody. The author is quick to mention that life can only have to mean if there is death and despite taking away the magic of life, death is not a bad thing altogether (Condon, 168). The author says that we cannot go through life attempting to avoid death. Moreover, he is quick to point out that the safety of our lives is in our hands, although tragedy may strike unexpectedly and we should always be ready for anything in life. The safety of our lives is widely determined by the kind of life that we choose to live, and this determines if a person will die a death or a sad death.

Question 3

Jim can be described as a quick thinker and does not take the time to think, but rather jumps into actions without a second thought. And unlike Douglas, who is eager to explore the world after realizing that he is alive, Jim is afraid of the world and has no courage to face the world despite the fact that he favors freedom above everything else. On the other hand, Douglas can be described to be inquisitive and pensive, and he is ever willing to learn from his family especially his Grandpa to get a better understanding of life (Yockey, 555). However, Jim is not careful about his well-being despite the fact that all other [people caring and thus can be described as careless.

Works Cited

Condon, Robin. ” “A Writer, Period.”.” Science Fiction Studies 43.1(2016): 167-171.

Yockey, Matt, et al. “”The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury: A Critical Edition. Volume I: 1938–1943.” .” (2012): 553-555.

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