In Edith Wharton's novel Summer, she introduces us to a young lady whose life changes dramatically but in a sense remains the same. Wharton uses the season changing from the chilly early summer to the cold and dreary dead of winter to illustrate the changes in Charity Royall's life as she grows up.

At the beginning of the novel there is a brisk June wind blowing, carrying leaves and other effects from place to place, just as Charity is tumbling around in her world with no real place to go. When the wind stops blowing everything has found a temporary home until it is once again uprooted by the wind. Wharton uses this to symbolizes the life of Charity because she is content in her life the way it is, then in a matter of minutes everything changes and there isn't a thing she can do to stop...