F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams” is a great story that is written a manner that grabs attention of the reader in a wistful and nostalgic tone. I quick glance at the story sparks interest of a reader to the relevance of the characters and how they are used to successfully bring out theme in the story. This is a story of Dexter who has the drive to achieve his American dream. American dream has been known all over the world as the hope that keeps many people alive and that, American is the best place that has equal opportunities to pursue happiness. In a more attention grabbing approach, the author successfully uses flow of events to introduce Judy whom Dexter found very alluring. Introduction of Judy’s character also affirms the feministic mind of the 1920’s American males, who were dominant in decision and other control (Zhang and Cui). “Winter Dreams” portrays American dream as theme or the author’s point of interest. In most cases, people pass through trials and tribulations to succeed in …show more content…
In his pursuit of happiness, Dexter finds out that his so called “Winter Dreams” won’t be complete without love. He therefore focusses on Judy as the sole goal of achieving romantic dream. In that case, it can be said that, Dexter is still within his adolescent fantasies which he thinks he can fulfill. Contrary to what she is supposed to do, Judy does not fulfil Dexter’s dreams but causes continuous thirst by affection she displays. From the time the two met, Dexter’s sees Judy as woman who is from a high social class and would only fall for a man who has a drive to succeed. In her confession to Dexter, the reality is the fact that she does not care about wealth (Baremore). Dexter in the other hand casts a blind eye on the Judy’s realistic nature and makes good his idealism. The two characters have a perfect contradiction of reality and idealism and how those factors affect their
When Dexter embodies all of his dreams in the beautiful Judy Jones, her fickle attitude and the inevitability
Little did Dexter know that Judy was going to play him like she has played every other man in town, dinner, dates, and get booted to the curb when she got bored. Judy preyed on Dexter’s so-called love throughout his childhood, adulthood, and his engagement with Irene. Dexter and Judy’s relationship was based off Dexter’s dream to have the prettiest girl even if she couldn’t be
During the summers, Dexter works hard at being the best caddie at the Sherry Island Country Club. This is foretelling of the hard work he will do to change his socioeconomic status. We are shown how dedicated Dexter is by the tears in Mr. Jones' eyes on the day he decides to quit (Fitzgerald, 120). After meeting Judy Jones, Dexter developed a stronger sense of urgency to change his status. Dexter is so determined to fulfill his dream that he opts to go to a "more famous university in the East" rather than the state university that was more affordable (Fitzgerald, 122). This is an example of his determination to lift his status in the eyes of others. While speaking with Judy, he uses his prestigious university as the starting point of his life. Unfortunately for Dexter, he cannot conquer Judy Jones as he has every
Literature attempts to shape or reflect society, and oftentimes literature reveals truths and provides insight into the condition of that society. The American Dream is a dominant theme in American literature, and in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the idealistic dream is critically evaluated. In this paper, I will explain the context of the work, and then I will compare and contrast Dick any Perry (the murderers) with the Clutter family (the murdered) in relation to the theme of the fragility of the American Dream.
Throughout history, men and women have never been considered equal. Women have always been judged on their appearance rather than the quality of the person they are. In the short story, “Winter Dreams,” Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization and metaphor to stress the fact that women are often objectified by other people.
Dexter and Judy could have had a fairytale ending, but in the end both of their lives were lonely and depressing. Judy wanted Dexter, but not to fall in love with her. She wanted him because she knew she could have him and wanted to prove to herself that her beauty could get a man to do anything. She convinced a man to break off an engagement with a girl he could have been happy with. She didn’t even stick around Dexter long enough for him to even propose.
Winter Dreams follows the life of Dexter Green as he pursues wealth and societal affluence in the hopes of winning the love and affection of Judy Jones, a spoiled socialite from a wealthy family who he first met when he was an adolescent while caddying at an exclusive golf club. As a result of this meeting and the embarrassment he felt in his role as a mere caddie; Dexter makes the irrational decision to quit his caddying job and begin his quest for upper-class social status. The author recapitulates this decision by the protagonist with the following statement; “It is not so simple as that either. As so frequently would be the case in the future, Dexter was unconsciously dictated to by his winter dreams.”
In ‘Winter Dreams’, the ending is unexpected. Throughout the story, we are under the impression that this is the story of Dexter Green's love for Judy Jones. But at the end of the story, once Dexter finds out that Judy has lost her charms and settled into a bad marriage, we begin to wonder if this story is about something else entirely. Dexter does not weep for Judy. He weeps for himself, for the young man he once was and for the illusions he once held.
The symbols that encompass the novel underscore the theme that the American Dream, corrupt and unjust, eventually concludes in anguish. Money, greed, and lust overtake everything in their lives to the point of nothing else being of importance. The characters in this novel lost themselves to a fruitless dream that eventually brought and end to the “holocaust” that embodied their lives (162).
Each character in the novel has their own interpretation of the ‘American Dream – the pursuit of happiness’ as they all lack happiness due to the careless nature of American society during the Jazz Age. The American Dreams seems almost non-existent to those whom haven’t already achieved it.
In “Winter Dreams” by Scott Fitzgerald imagery and symbolism are used to show how someone's love for money can interfere with their love for what they truly care about. At the beginning
The American Dream is not something easily achieved, and according to Fitzgerald it is literally unattainable. There is always some obstacle or barrier in the way of success. Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby is not a very satisfied man; he seems to have a sense of ennui when it comes to his marriage and his life. So he lives the life he really wants part time with his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. However, this semi-fulfillment of his dreams is stopped, and what stops it is the fact that Myrtle is married, and her husband, George, has “discovered that Myrtle [has] some sort of life apart from him in another world” (The Great Gatsby 130). Tom is reaching for his own idea of success with Myrtle, but he cannot reach it due to her being married. What keeps one from attaining their dreams is not necessarily something as physical as a marriage; it can be someone’s attitude, like that of Judy Jones in Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams”. The young protagonist in this story, Dexter Green, is in love with the flighty flirt Judy Jones. His dream is to be with her; unfortunately, “She [is] entertained only by the gratification of her own ...
The American Dream provides a uniformed idea of a goal that is seldomly achieved. It includes having a successful job, a healthy family, and happiness achieved through hard work and determination. Those born and raised well with strict parents often attain the American Dream, but those raised with abusive parents that live separately often find the American Dream extremely difficult to achieve. However, this idealistic stereotype can be false. Surprisingly, in the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote the American Dream poses as a difficulty to maintain and achieve by the Clutter family, Perry Smith, Dick Hickock, and Floyd Wells.
Dexter had to keep himself from forgetting he cannot have Judy Jones. In the end of the story Dexter has come to a conclusion he could not have Judy, “When autumn had come and gone again, it occurred to him that he could not have Judy Jones. He had to beat this into his mind, but he convinced himself at last. He lay awake at night for a while and argued it over. He told himself the trouble and the pain she had caused him, he enumerated her glaring deficiencies as a wife”(p 974). While Dexter cared for Judy he felt that he need to forget her since he knew he could never really have her full attention. While he knew he could never have her he knew he could never have her he meet her again and falls for her all over again one last time and this time it was her that was convincing him to date once again. "I'm more beautiful than anybody else," she said brokenly, "why can't I be happy?" Her moist eyes tore at his stability--her mouth turned slowly downward with an exquisite sadness: "I'd like to marry you if you'll have me, Dexter. I suppose you think I'm not worth having, but I'll be so beautiful for you, Dexter"(p 977). While Dexter was not too sure how to feel he didn't know how to react to this, with Judy he
The American Dream can obliterate any prospect of satisfaction and does not show its own unfeasibility. The American dream is combine and intensely implanted in every structure of American life. During the previous years, a very significant number of immigrants had crossed the frontier of the United States of America to hunt the most useful thing in life, the dream, which every American human being thinks about the American dream. Many of those immigrants sacrificed their employments, their associations and connections, their educational levels, and their languages at their homelands to start their new life in America and prosper in reaching their dream.