Contextualising Autobiographical Fantasy In Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore how Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine builds its symbolic architecture, which primarily depends on the usage of myth, and tries to expose the autobiographical fantasy. This fantasy novel is autobiographical and takes place in childhood. It unravels the enigma of life and death. He highlights the awful aspect of these happenings. The protagonist, Douglas Spaulding, imagines a contemporary human being who becomes suddenly and exhilaratingly aware of the magical and wonderful world around him. Beginning on the first day of summer and ending on the last, when Douglas realises that everyone must die eventually and becomes extremely concerned about his own death, it is also a meditation on morality, memory, nostalgia, and childhood. A portion of the novel consists of vivid, colourful fantasies told in exquisite poetry. It can be challenging at times to solve the enigma. Bradbury consistently explores temporal relationships, mental telepathy, and the idea that humankind may not have fully developed.