Dandelion Wine is a book written by Ray Bradbury. Dandelion Wine is a book about a summer through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. It establishes a change of Douglas’s childhood to manhood. It will show how a young, orgulous boy goes through many stymies. Douglas Spaulding is a boy growing up in a somewhat deserted town. The time was 1928. Douglas’s house is an el dorado. Doug lives near an umbra, to others though it is just a ravine. It is just going to be the start of a new summer when Douglas finally realizes that he is free and alive. Douglas goes through many changes along the way, some for the best and some for the worst.
There are many ways to describe a boy amazing as Doug, but three characteristics come to mind. Doug is mature, smart, and lively. Maturity can be used in many ways. For Douglas it is this particular summer when Doug starts out as a boy and by the end he has become more educated about life and learns to handle many difficult situations well. How many 12 year olds can cope with death of important people at that time of their lives? Douglas is forced to deal with it quite a few times. One day Doug meets an old man named Colonel Freeleigh. The Colonel is 100 years of age.
The Colonel is a very old man who is quite sick and lonely. The Colonel is at the point in his life where he needs a nurse to take care of him. The Colonel is overjoyed to receive company. The Colonel regales Doug and two of his friends with stories of when he was younger. The Colonel shares stories such as the Civil War, Ching Ling Soo, and Pawnee Bill. After Doug had visited the Colonel he passed away that night. This is the first death Doug had to come to terms with. Doug was emotionally distraught, but learned that the Colonel died for what he believed in, happiness.
Doug is best friends with Jon Hugh. Doug had known Jon his whole life. One day Jon decided to tell Doug that his dad got a job and they were going to move that night. A myriad of emotions ran through Doug’s head at this time. Doug wondered if he would ever get to see Jon again. The realization that they had so little time and so much to do kicked in. Later that night Doug, Jon, and all of their friends played one last game of hide and go seek. Doug said, “this is my last game, then I must go. ” It was difficult for Doug to let Jon leave, so Jon made Doug go hide and then he left.
Most kids would go home and cry but Doug thought that Jon would have a good time and that this was for the best. Doug hoped that Jon’s dad would succeed in his job. For Doug, losing Jon was like a plant losing its scion. Douglas has a younger brother, Tom. Being an older brother has certain responsibilities. One responsibility is taking care of your younger sibling. Most older siblings tell their younger brothers to stay away from them or to play with their own friends. Doug realizes that Tom looks up to him as much more than a brother. Doug is mature enough to let Tom hang out with him and his friends whenever Tom wants to.
This proves to be a good move because Tom ends up saving him a lot of trouble by helping him out in sticky situations. Young boys usually do not want anything to do with work in the summer. The children jump to the conclusion that once they are out of school that there isn’t a point of working. Douglas is a lot smarter than that. Doug decides to make a notebook about all the events that happen during this summer. Doug names the notebook Discoveries and Revelations. The notebook is based on what Doug discovers and then what he thinks about it.
Doug thinking of something so brilliant shows true intelligence and brain power. Douglas is walking with his family one night when he notices a superb pair of tennis shoes in a store window. Doug asks his parents if they would buy him this particular pair of tennis shoes. Doug’s parents said that Doug didn’t need a new pair of shoes. Thinking smart, Doug didn’t keep bothering his parents. Doug thought of a master plan to get the shoes. Believe it or not, Doug got that certain pair of tennis shoes he saw in the store window. Douglas, his father, and Tom were out picking berries one day.
Doug and Tom started wrestling. Suddenly, Doug had a feeling that something big is going to happen. Then it finally hit him. The most wonderful thing took Doug so long to figure out. Doug realizes that he is alive and free. Later during the summer Doug is hanging out with his friends Charile and Jon. Doug is thinking to himself, why are my friends more alive than me. Doug does something about that. Doug starts to take the little things in life for a lot more importance. For example, before Doug took waking up every morning for nothing. Now for Doug every morning was a brand new day.
A whole 24 hours to accomplish a lot of things. If something bad was to happen now it didn’t matter because the next day he would forget about it and have the chance to start over. The summer of 1928 is basically the start of Doug’s life. Doug is forced to cope with many things for the first time. With that Douglas becomes more mature. Douglas also learns many things, such as the value of money, how writing shows many things, and a lot more. With this Douglas becomes much more smart than he once was. Last, Douglas realizes that he is alive and free for the first time. With this comes livlienes.
