Key Facts
full title ·
Dandelion Wine
author · Ray Bradbury
type of work · Novel
genre · Science fiction/fantasy/autobiographical narrative
language · English
time and place written · Written over a twelve-year period from 1944 to 1956
date of first publication · Parts were published as short stories as early as 1951 but the entire novel was first published in 1957.
publisher · Doubleday
narrator · Omniscient narrator
climax · Douglas's sickness is the climax of the novel.
protagonist · Douglas Spaulding
antagonist · The Lonely One, not as the man whom Lavinia Nebbs kills, but as the force who represents evil and death.
setting (time) · Summer of 1928
setting (place) · Green Town, Illinois (the name Bradbury gives to Waukegan, his hometown)
point of view · Mostly presented from Douglas's point of view, although several chapters are presented from the point of view of one of the other characters.
falling action · Douglas passes on the gift—the magic of life—that Mr. Jonas gave him to Grandma Spaulding.
tense · Immediate past
tone · The tone is one of playful and blissful reminiscence.
themes · Life; happiness; change
motifs · Memory; magic
symbols · Dandelions; machines
