KEY FACTS

Title

Dandelion Wine

Author

Ray Bradbury

Date Published

1957

Meaning of Title

A drink made from ingredients of summer, meant to bottle a part of that season

Setting

Green Town, Illinois

Genre

Novel, Fiction

Protagonist

Douglas Spaulding

Antagonist

Mortality, taking various forms such as the ravine, technology, and death

Mood

Often solemn and filled with wonder, sometimes comedic or even horrific

Point of View

Third person

Tense

Past tense

Rising Action

Douglas becomes aware that he is alive

Exposition

As he appreciates his new perspective on alive, he is also confronted with examples of mortality and death.

Climax

Douglas becomes ill when summer reaches its hottest peak.

Outcome

Douglas is saved by the junkman Ned Jonas and becomes heroic as the summer closes.

Major Theme

The awareness of life and resulting awareness of mortality

Minor Themes

The limits of technology, rituals and discoveries, the body as a machine, youth and old age