Ray Bradbury is an American science fiction writer. He is considered to be a classic of science fiction, although many of his works are closer to the genre of fairy tales, fantasy. The author has written about eight hundred literary works in various genres. "Dandelion Wine", according to readers, is considered one of the writer's favorite books.
General characteristics of the work
Ray Bradbury's short story Dandelion Wine is autobiographical. In the main character of this work, you can guess the author himself. This is a boy who has a kind heart, an inquiring mind and a subtle soul. He is curious, everything is interesting to him.
The summary of Dandelion Wine is based on the events of summer through the eyes of a boy, Douglas Spaulding. The author describes them through a romantic perception of reality. This is not so much the inner world as the world that a child sees. It does not at all look like the adult world, it is bright, sometimes incomprehensible, unpredictable, changeable. But the main intrigue of Bradbury’s novel “Dandelion Wine” is the search for the secret of life, which makes the world interesting, scary and beautiful at the same time. And the idea of good as the greatest miracle in life passes through the whole story of the author. What is the book "Dandelion Wine", you can learn more.
Picking dandelions
In the center of Ray Bradbury's Wine of Dandelions is Douglas Spaulding, a boy of twelve. He met the morning of the first day of summer 1928 in the highest tower of Greentown.
In the early morning, the boy, together with his father and younger brother Tom, went to the forest to collect wild grapes. Suddenly, he felt something gigantic and unknown surging over him, he felt the contraction of his muscles, the movement of blood through his veins. The first time he felt that he was living. This sensation intoxicated him. When dandelions blossomed, the children began to collect them in bags. Grandfather paid 10 cents for each bag. Flowers were carried into the cellar and poured them under the press. Then the juice was poured into clay jugs in which he wandered. After that, grandfather poured them into clean ketchup bottles. Each dandelion wine bottle seemed to fit one summer day. Then, during the long winter, the whole huge Douglas family was saved from the common cold by this wonderful summer drink. Collecting flowers for wine from dandelions is the first summer rite for the boy.
After collecting dandelions, Douglas went to a meeting with his friends. They were Charlie Woodman and John Hough. They traveled together around Greentown and its environs. Douglas was especially attracted to the ravine. It seemed to him that some secret was hidden here.
The Second Rite of Douglas
When in the evening the boy and his parents returned from the cinema, he saw new tennis shoes that were on display in the store window. Douglas realized that he simply needed them, because the old shoes no longer had the magic that only a new pair could possess. But his father refused to buy him.
Since the boy had too little of his own savings, he went to Mr. Sanderson's shoe store. The boy wanted to work with him as a courier all summer. But the old man only asked Douglas to carry out his petty errands.
On the same day in the evening the boy bought a notebook with a yellow binding. He divided it into two parts. One was called “Rites and Ordinances”, in which summer events occurring annually were recorded. In the second part with the title “Revelations and Revelations” it was necessary to record what was happening for the first time or everything old that was perceived in a new way. Douglas and Tom filled this notebook every night.
Rite on the third day of summer
Grandfather built a swing. Now, on summer evenings, the entire Spaulding family will rest on the veranda, swinging on them.
Once, a grandfather with grandchildren passed a tobacco shop. He advised the men who gathered there to make a car of happiness. City jeweler Leo Aufman decided to tackle this.
Car of happiness
The story of Bradbury "Dandelion Wine" continues the story of the creation of a machine of happiness. Lina, his wife, was against the creation of this machine. However, Leo spent two whole weeks in the garage, creating it. Finally it was done. The machine of happiness became a cause of contention in the Leo family. Once his son secretly got into a car from everyone. At night, Leo heard him cry. The next morning, his wife decided to leave him. But before that, she looked at the car of happiness. In the car, she saw something that would never happen in her life, which had already passed. Lina said that this invention should be called the “grief machine”, because she will now always strive into the world of illusions. Leo himself wanted to verify this and climbed into the car. But she suddenly burned out. In the evening, looking out the window, Leo saw real happiness - playing children and his wife, busy with household chores.
Old people could not be children
One day, Alice, Jane and Tom Spaulding wandered into the lawn of old Mrs. Helen Bentley. She, seeing them, treated them to ice cream and began to talk about her childhood. As evidence, she showed the children her baby photo, old things and toys from childhood, which she carefully kept in her chests for many years. However, the children still did not believe that such an old woman was once a little girl. The next morning, Helen gave her old toys to the children, and pulled out all the other old things from the past from the chests and burned them.
Douglas wrote in Revelations and Revelations that old people were never young children.
Time travel
The content of the story "Dandelion Wine" includes a story about an extraordinary man. Colonel Freelay had the ability to travel into the past. As a time machine was his memory. One day, Charlie Woodman came to him with his friends to take a trip. They traveled to the Wild West during the time of the Indians and cowboys. After that, children often came to him to travel again.
Green car
Miss Fern and Miss Robert bought a green car on a battery from a visiting salesman, because Miss Fern could not walk for a long time because her legs hurt. The old women drove this car for a week. But once Mr. Quaterman got under their wheels. The old women got scared, ran away from the scene of the accident and hid in the attic. Douglas witnessed this story. He decided to inform the old women that their “victim” was alive and well. But they did not open the door for him. As a result, women forever refused to travel in a green car.
Farewell to the tram
One fine day, Douglas, Tom, and Charlie rode around the city with a city tram counselor. This old tram drove for the last time: it was closed, and instead of it a bus should now ride. The counselor showed the guys a half-forgotten route.
Once, a friend of Douglas John Haw told him that his father got a job away from Greentown, and now they are leaving this city forever. So that the time before parting did not pass too quickly, friends sat and did nothing. However, the day, as always, passed very quickly. When they played in the evening, Douglas tried in vain to keep his friend. But nothing helped, he left. When Douglas went to bed with Tom, he asked him to never part.
Failed witchcraft
With Elmira Brown, the postman’s wife, all sorts of troubles constantly occurred: she broke her leg, tore expensive stockings, she was not elected chairman of the honeysuckle women's club. Guilty of all her troubles, she considered Klara Goodwater. Elmira was sure that Klara could not do without witchcraft here, and decided to answer her the same. Having prepared the potion and drank it, she took Tom with her as having a “pure soul” and went to the next club meeting. But the potion didn’t work - the ladies again chose Clara as the chairman, and not her. But the potion caused vomiting in Elmira. She ran to the ladies room, but, having mixed up the door, fell down the stairs. After clarifying relations with Clara in the presence of the ladies around them, Clara ceded her position to her. It turned out that there was no witchcraft at all. It’s just that Elmira was very awkward.
Freelay's death
When the apples ripened and began to fall from the trees, they stopped letting children go to Colonel Friel. He had a very strict nurse. Secretly from her, Freelay made his way to the phone and called to Mexico City, where his friend lived, who helped him wake up his memories. The colonel died with a telephone in his hands. With his death, an entire era ended for Douglas.
Soul mates
After collecting a second crop of dandelions, Douglas, at the invitation of Bill Forester, sat at a table in a pharmacy, gobbling up unusual ice cream. At a nearby table sat Helen Loomis, a ninety-five year old woman. Bill spoke to her. Once, having seen her old photo, he fell in love with her, not suspecting that this beautiful girl had already become an old woman. They talked with each other for a long time. It turned out that these are two soul mates who missed each other in time. In August, she died. Before she died, she wrote Bill a letter.
Murderer
The children ate “fruit ice” and remembered the Murderer who lived in Greentown. The whole city was afraid of him, since he was killing young girls. Once, Lavinia Nebbs and her friends gathered in a movie. As they walked through the ravine, they found the murderer’s victim. Calling the police, they continued on their way. After the session ended, the girlfriends persuaded Lavinia to stay overnight at one of them, because it was already dark on the street, and her house was behind a ravine. But the stubborn girl refused the offer of girlfriends and one went home. On the way through the ravine, someone began to chase her. Lavinia ran home with all her legs. Arriving at home, she immediately closed the door, but suddenly near her someone coughed. The girl was not taken aback, grabbed the scissors and pierced the intruder. Greentown legend came to an end, which the boys very regretted. But then they came up with the idea that this attacker was not a murderer at all, so you could continue to be afraid.
Inevitability
Douglas’s great-grandmother was very energetic throughout her life. She was constantly engaged in some household chores. But once, going around the whole house, she went into her room and died there.
The quotes “Dandelion Wine” give a slightly different idea of simple things. The reader involuntarily draws attention to the words of the grandmother, the family said goodbye, that if the work brings pleasure, it always works out well.
After these events, a new entry appeared in Douglas’s notebook saying that if people die, then he will someday die.
Witch
Realizing that one day this would happen, Douglas lost his peace. Only the wax sorceress was able to calm him - an attraction that stood in the Gallery. In it, a wax witch doll wrote predictions. She gave Douglas a card predicting a long and fun life for him. Since that time, the boy became a frequent visitor to the Gallery. He watched with interest the machine guns that performed the same actions. It seemed to the boy that before the sorceress was real, but she was turned into a wax doll. Once the sorceress began to issue empty cards instead of the promised predictions. Tom thought that the machine was out of ink, but Douglas decided that Mr Dark could not have done it, and he wanted to save the fortuneteller. The children witnessed a drunk Mr. Gloom breaking a machine gun. They picked up a wax doll and ran. Mr. Gloom overtook the boys at the ravine, took the sorceress from them and threw him far into the ravine. The brothers called for help from his father, who helped to pull out the doll and bring it to the garage.
Useful things
Above Jonas is an eccentric who got tired of life in Chicago, and he came to Greentown. He drove around the clock a van with things around the city, collecting unnecessary things from people to give them to those who needed them. One hot summer day, Douglas fell ill. All day he had a fever shot, but all in vain. Tom told Nad Jonas about this, and he urgently wanted to visit the boy. But mother did not let the stranger to her sick son. Then at night, Jonas secretly made his way to the patient and gave him two bottles. In one of them was the cleanest northern air from the Arctic, in the other - the salty wind of the Aran Islands and Dublin Bay, fruit extract, menthol and camphor. Douglas inhaled the contents of the bottles, and the disease began to recede.
Culinary talent
Dandelion Wine, in summary, continues with the following story. My grandmother had extraordinary culinary abilities. In the kitchen she worked a miracle, but there was no order. One day, Aunt Rose came to visit the Douglas family. She decided to rectify the situation and put the perfect order in the kitchen. All spices and other products were neatly arranged in jars, on shelves. The whole kitchen shone with order and cleanliness. She bought new glasses and a cookbook for her grandmother. In the evening, the family gathered for dinner. Everyone expected something unusually tasty from their grandmother. But the food turned out to be inedible, since in the new kitchen my grandmother forgot how to cook. The family sent Aunt Rosa home, but her grandmother's talent did not return. Then Douglas sneaked into the kitchen at night and returned the old mess to her, at the same time throwing out his grandmother’s new glasses. He just burned the cookbook. The grandmother came to the noise in the kitchen. Dar returned to her, and she began to cook.
End of summer
School supplies began to be sold at the stationery store. This meant that the summer had come to an end. Grandfather went through the last gathering of flowers for wine from dandelions. He removed the swing from the veranda. The last time Douglas slept in his grandfather tower. Like a wizard, he waved his hand, and the lights began to go out in the city. But he was not upset: the cellar was filled with bottles of wine from dandelions, in which summer days were canned.