Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine

1. The conflict or issue of Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is the protagonist Douglas Spaulding facing the “circle” of life with the concepts of facing death and change being some of the main points to this. In the beginning of the novel, Douglas discovers that he is alive and what this means, in being a feeling that he never noticed before and had never previously thought about. This excites Douglas and makes him see the summer in a new and joyful way where he begins to record his summer with what occurs every year and with a reflection with the summer occurrences. However, after thinking about the concept of being alive, Douglas also faces the concept of death, which frightens him. Throughout the novel, Douglas struggles to fully understand

The theme of the novel Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury can be seen as the inevitability of being acted upon by the circle of life. This theme can be seen in the line, “The sunlight outside the theater blazed down upon unreal street, unreal buildings, and people moving slowly as if under a bright and heavy ocean of pure burning gas and him thinking that now, now at last he must go home and finish out the final line in his nickel tablet: SOME DAY, I, DOUGLAS SPAULDING, MUST DIE….” (Pages 189-190). This line represents the central theme and is central to the book as it shows how Douglas has come to realize that the circle of life of that being alive leads to death and change. This line also shows how Douglas has thought deeply about this realization and noticed that the circle of life cannot be changed even if you try to reach for immortality or preserve the present times to avoid change. This theme of always being acted upon by the circle of life affected Douglas and his actions greatly with many instances showing how Douglas wanted to turn away from death and change and look only to the positives of life. However, from this, the quotation can be seen as central in the novel as Douglas has come to see how life can never escape its cycle and that although the truth may be difficult to comprehend and to survive with, life will always have its struggles that people are to continue on

This novel has many unique characters, a unique plot, and a unique theme; however, Dandelion Wine can be related to the novel The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green in the sense of the theme. The theme of The Fault in Our Stars can be seen as the inevitability of death and suffering as well as the need to continue on with one’s life. This theme is very similar to the theme of Dandelion Wine as its theme was centered on the inevitability of being acted upon by the circle of life with death and change. In The Fault in Our Stars, the main character Hazel faces suffering constantly, with being diagnosed with cancer and ultimately losing her best friend Augustus to cancer. Throughout the novel, Hazel faces suffering and constantly sees the pain that the world can bring and can be seen as knowing the circle of life found in Dandelion Wine very well. With this, Hazel does not want to die but has come to the conclusion that she will eventually die and hurt the people around her when she does. In Dandelion Wine, similar concepts to the inevitability of suffering and death are found with Douglas who learns of the concept of death but is frightened of it. Douglas eventually continues on through the summer, learning more about life’s concepts through seeing Great-Grandma dying and a dead woman that was strangled by a killer, until finally realizing that he, like everyone else, will eventually die. Both of the themes of these novels involve the inevitability of death and of