The book “Dandelion Wine” became a bestseller in world literature. The circulation of the book for several decades amounted to more than a million copies, and the popularity of the work is only growing every year.
What is Dandelion Wine about?Dandelion wine
The book was a revelation of its time. After the writer’s hard-to-read novels, this book became a fresh round in the career of Ray Bradbury.
The book tells about the summer adventures of children. What does the story come from on behalf of the boy. Usually, in books on behalf of children, it is about education through examples and teachings. But Bradbury was able to write a book in which there is a deep meaning, but it shows the emotions and feelings of the child, explains a lot, and does not educate.
The book is written in a light style, and after reading, any adult will want to plunge into the world of their childhood memories.
The Meaning of Dandelion WineС
By and large, the book is written about a person’s life, about the first children’s discoveries and experiences, about the knowledge of life in all its manifestations.
Analysis of the book “Dandelion Wine”
The main character of the book was a boy named Douglas. Also in the book are his friends and the younger brother of the protagonist Tom. In addition to children, the image of the boys’ grandfather lives in the book, which has a significant role in the life of grandchildren.
The book consists of a series of stories that convey different moods. The book describes a short period of the boys’ lives, in which they plunged into real life.
The story covers the life of the guys in the summer of 1928. At that time, Douglas and Tom made many discoveries for themselves, experienced the whole gamut of human emotions. The story is structured in such a way that the brothers experience different feelings in different places of the same town called Greentown.
The image of the main character is fully developed. The author was able to convey the smallest details that describe the child. The situations that happen to Douglas are far from fictional, and thus the reader presents the hero as a real person.
The main idea of the book was that the author wanted to show how much a person in the process of growing up changes his worldview. After all, children feel this world in a completely different way, unlike adults. But the author was also able to prove that it is useful for adults to plunge into the world of “childish thoughts” and enjoy life as in childhood.
In addition to all the characters, an important symbol lives in the book – a ravine. It symbolizes the connection between youth and old age. And between these states, that is, between the parties, there is a bridge that presupposes the connection of generations.
The history of the creation of the book “Dandelion Wine”
Ray Bradbury was an author who liked to revisit his past. He loved the place where he grew up, and often in his stories the characters lived in cities very similar to the writer’s hometown.
His colleagues often criticized the author for his excessive love for sentimentalism, but this did not bother the talented Ray, because he wrote from the bottom of his heart, and most often his stories described the events of his real life.
How it all started
The first idea to write a book came to the mind of the writer quite by accident. He saw a young boy in brand new tennis shoes. The joy and pride of owning such beautiful shoes was read on the face of the child. After what he saw, Ray was flooded with memories from his own childhood. He remembered how, with the same joy in his eyes, he hopped around the streets in new tennis shoes. Being a child makes it easier to enjoy life. This thought did not leave the head of the writer. Upon returning home, Bradbury wrote the first drafts for the book. This is how the first story in the series of summer stories of the book “Dandelion Screw” appeared.
The working process
The book was written in a certain rhythm, Bradbury could not stand the haste and pressure. He wrote from his heart, and his editor knew this very well. Bradbury’s editor was Don Congdon. They were life buddies, and so Don didn’t demand speed from Ray, and he never pushed the writer to the limit.
When Bradbury shared the idea for his book with Congdon, he supported the creator in his aspirations. He waited for the birth of this masterpiece, but never urged the writer.
In 1956, fruitful work began on the creation of the book “Dandelion Wine”. While working on the book, the author wrote a few more stories, so the time of creating the book was postponed each time.
The book was written at a difficult time for the country. After the release of the book, just a couple of days later, the Great Depression began. This work became a reminder for people that not everything was always so sad, and someday better times will surely come. People immersed in the negative of what is happening around, re-read the pages of this book with delight.
Also, dandelion wine did exist in history. It was made during Prohibition, which was just in the summer of 1928. Many readers have found their childhood memories among the lines of this work.
The meaning of the title of the book “Dandelion Wine”
The title of the story is symbolic: Douglas and Tom’s grandfather makes dandelion wine every year, which can be taken as a metaphor for the whole summer: “Dandelion wine is summer caught and bottled.” In “Dandelion Wine” Bradbury put a hidden meaning. He was inspired by the opportunity to bottle up memories and wait for the opportunity to open them.
Problems of the book “Dandelion Wine”
The problematic of the book lies in the understanding of childhood. Many adults forget their dreams, goals, desires only when they become adults. Bradbury specifically created the protagonist Douglas, a prototype of himself as a child. The boy’s name became Bradbury’s middle name, and he borrowed the surname for his character from his mother’s maiden names. This showed that all events are real and there was once such a boy, but he grew up. The events in the story are filled with some kind of magic, but without the use of spells, but using images and symbols.
What the book “Dandelion Wine” teaches
The legendary work of Ray Bradbury is included in the golden collection of classics. It is reread and quoted. In many educational institutions, it is included in the school curriculum, translated into almost all languages of the world.
The book lives in paper and electronic form. It is read by people of all ages. Adults reading this work not only immerse themselves in their own memories, but also understand how to help their children live their childhood. In addition, the book emphasizes the importance of connecting generations. The image of grandfather personified all adults in the eyes of children. The boys imitated their grandfather, listened and heard him. In life, it is very important to keep in touch with the adult generation, because people who have lived their lives can pass on invaluable experience to their children and grandchildren.
This suggests that the book has become useful for mankind. It would seem that simple memories of an ordinary person about his childhood. The book did not describe any unique events, many people as children went through similar stages of understanding the world and emotions. But Bradbury’s talent helped to transfer childhood memories to paper, and fill childhood victories and defeats with the charm and spirit of adventure.
Dandelion Wine” is a very kind and warm book that teaches people to live and never forget that every adult was a child, reminds them how much joy those bright moments brought in childhood (whether it was new tennis shoes, a good summer day or awareness that life is in full swing), to which, as adults, people, unfortunately, do not pay attention. Bradbury’s message to generations is that we should not forget that we all come from childhood.
Explanation of the ending of the book “Dandelion Wine”
The book ends very symbolically. Events describe the last summer days before the start of school days. The boys see how their grandfather takes off their favorite swing, nature changes colors. But Douglas is not sad, because ninety bottles of dandelion wine remained in his grandfather’s cellar. Each bottle was filled with one summer day. The boy knew that summer was not going anywhere, because it would live in memories.
I hope I have helped you find the meaning of Dandelion Wine, as well as its ending. If you have a different vision of the book – write your own version in the comments.
