Fourth of July

The Fourth of July appears in the unnamed protagonist’s recollection as a day of anticipated celebration spoiled by persistent rain. A plan to set off fireworks becomes a small, sharply remembered frustration, made more pointed by the fine weather that follows.

The Holiday and the Failed Plan

The unnamed protagonist recalls being allowed to buy fireworks for the occasion. Drizzle continued throughout the day, forcing him to keep the punk dry so it would remain usable for lighting firecrackers. The rain did not arrive as a brief shower followed by clearing skies; it lasted through the holiday, disrupting the plan from beginning to end.

The Following Day and the Memory’s Emphasis

The contrast comes immediately afterward: the next day was sunny. That change intensifies the speaker’s sense of bad luck, since the weather improved only after the one day he had been counting on for fireworks. The recollection presents the Fourth of July less as a public celebration than as a measure of thwarted expectation, with the protected punk and the next day’s sunshine fixing the disappointment in memory.