Dandelion WineAfter reading Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, I became more aware of the magic of summer and what it means to truly live. The novel gave me a new perspective on the idea that life is like the summer where you are alive and feel free, but how unfortunately it doesn't last forever. The novel opened me up to the idea of ​​looking at a person's mental age instead of their physical age. The novel follows the journey of Douglas, a twelve-year-old boy who lives in Green Town, Illinois. In the novel, Douglas strives to enjoy the summer and live his life to the fullest. In his adventures, he becomes more aware of the nature of the world and tries to make sense of life and death. At the same time, Douglas sees people as “machines” that serve a purpose until they break. Among other themes, Ray Bradbury suggests that too much dependence on these "machine" people could drive us away from ourselves. The novel begins with Douglas embracing the beauty of summer and his young life without restrictions. Almost immediately, the reader is introduced to the idea of ​​the magic of life and the wonder of childhood. At the beginning of the summer, Douglas suggests writing about summer rituals and jotting down his reflections on those rituals. Douglas' summer is very eventful. Leo Auffmann, the city jeweler, decides to invent a happiness machine. Even if he fails, he learns from his failure that his family has always been the happiness machine. Douglas discovers that adults and children are two different races and that old people have never been children despite having a past. Douglas's friend Charlie takes John and Douglas to meet Colonel Freeleigh, a very old man they call the time machine because he tells stories that have the power to take them back... middle of paper... like a of another race, Tom and Douglas are fascinated by the elderly and the stories of their past. When Douglas' old friend Colonel Freeleigh dies, Douglas is sad knowing that "The Time Machine" will no longer work. Living in the Northwest, I can relate to Douglas in the book because I like to get outdoors in the summer and be as active as possible. While Douglas emulates his happiness from Dandelion Wine, I think my summer joy emulates watching summer sunsets and sitting by a campfire looking at the stars. After making this connection, I realized that summer is incredibly precious to Douglas and that, conversely, the idea of ​​death is painful. My understanding is different after reading Dandelion Wine because the novel taught me to accept death and live without a “machine”. Whatever happens, everything can be healed with a sip of dandelion wine.