Dandelion Wine Analysis

Pop singer Alanis Morissette’s song, “Ironic,” focuses on how people can allow their lives to be controlled by irrational fears, that ironically, turn out to be justified when it is too late to make amends. Similarly, Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, written about the summer of 1928 in Green Town, Illinois, correlates to Morissette’s lyrics. In an episode entitled, “The Whole Town is Sleeping.” The chapter is about a woman named Lavinia Nebbs insists that logic and reason can protect her from a killer on the loose. Her friends disagree, but she maintains her viewpoint and tells them that the likelihood of this killer showing up is minimal, and that their daily lives shouldn’t be interrupted. But when she’s walking home alone, she second-guesses
Bradbury’s admonition to consider factors beyond science and reason is demonstrated by the foreshadowing in the scene where Lavinia and her friends stop for candy at the drugstore before the movie. The druggist informs the women that a stranger inquired about personal information regarding Lavinia after she left earlier that day. Afterwards, even the druggist regrets sharing the information, given the fact that there is a serial killer hunting young women. But Lavinia, being stubbornly logical, disregards this clear harbinger, although, “She felt nothing. Except, perhaps, the slightest prickle of excitement in her throat” (165). Bradbury demonstrates the author’s craft of foreshadowing simply by including this small glimpse into Lavinia’s subconscious feelings. By just using the word “prickle,” Bradbury suggests to the reader a feeling of fear and foreboding. Lavinia is clearly not attuned to it, but this “sixth sense” type of fear represents a mysterious feeling, like a gut feeling, that can’t be explained by science. Bradbury admonishes the reader to listen to this feeling, warning them to not ignore it. Lavinia, however, chooses to disregard this valuable intuition, which leads to her eventual