Isabel De La Calle

Mrs. Cereghino

JH Literature

27 January 2021

Dandelion Wine, Written Response #1

Colonel Freeleigh—the time machine—symbolizes the past, the memories, all the things that

are long gone. He represents the past because he has lived a full life filled with adventures and

he enjoys sharing them with others. He tells stories to the boys about the past that “they’d

never heard about”. He has lived so long that he can travel almost 100 years back into his past.

“He’s been down the track, and knows”. Colonel Freeleigh is particularly important in

Dandelion Wine because he shows Douglas the real meaning of time. “He can really sight back

further than you and me will ever sight ahead”. It might not be very uncommon for people to

live as long as Colonel Freeleigh, but it is extraordinary to have experienced so many exciting

events in a lifetime and remember them to the month and to the day. When Colonel Freeleigh

dies, all his memories and stories disappear, for they can never be told again by anybody.