F. Scott Fitzgerald. A man to revolutionize the way we look at modernism and the dream all americans have. The short story “Winter Dreams” by Fitzgerald is about a young man by the name of Dexter that falls in love with a young rich women by the name of judy. Judy is made of old money whereas Dexter has always worked to make the money he has to be in the same “social class” as Judy. Although Dexter has the money to hang out with those people he is still left out in most parts of the story. Judy cheats on Dexter multiple times yet he still stays with her because he wants to stay a part of the social class that she is in. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his character Dexter in the short story “Winter Dreams” in many ways to portray his idea of the american …show more content…
Fitzgerald represents this dream with the character dexter in many ways. The first and most significant reason in my opinion is that Dexter is trying to stay with Judy through everything she has done because he is in love with her. Dexter has determination to be with this girl and he will do whatever it takes to end up with the woman of his dreams: Judy. In the short story Judy wants an open relationship with Dexter and Dexter agrees to it because he would rather have a little bit of her love than none of her love. Even though he has some of her love he still wants all of the love she has to give. That is what everyone wants from a partner; They want a partner who is committed to them and no one …show more content…
He was a hard worker, he did somewhat get the girl, he did make the money, and he did get the amenities with it. Dexter in my eyes is the person to be rather than one of the other people in the story who don’t have to work to get where they are. It is a good thing to have dedication and work hard for what you want rather than having it handed to you. Hard work has always helped build character and can create a good person. Not having to work for what you want can produce good people to but in that case they don’t really know the hardship of everyday life so they can’t spot it as easy as someone that has lived it. The girl in the story is a perfect example of this because she is very selfish in Dexter’s loving her. She doesn’t see how much he really does love her and she really doesn’t care so she just stays with him while getting with other people at the same time. She isn’t able to see that he is working for her because he loves her and wants to be with her although in the end it doesn’t work out that
Dreams prove as a powerful, motivating force, propelling an individual forward into real achievements in life. Conversely, dreams can transpire as blatantly artificial. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams” depicts the story of Dexter Green, a young man who dreams of achievements and works hard in a real, non-illusionary world to win them. His work in this plain, unromantic world brings him ever closer to the dream world he so desperately wants, while at the same time the dreams show themselves as decaying or empty. Unfortunately, this does not cure him of dreaming and does not push him to abandon his dreams in favor of a healthier attitude. When Dexter embodies all of his dreams in the beautiful Judy Jones, her fickle attitude and the inevitability of her aging destroys Dexter’s dream world and dries up the source of his achievements. The author, using paradoxes, shows Judy Jones differently through Dexter’s eyes, and reinforces the theme of illusion versus reality.
Scott Fitzgerald showcases the American Dream and how success can lead to fortune, but not all people meet all their goals and sometimes “the dream” is just an illusion that leads to misfortune. “Of course, Dexter’s renunciation of the world that he sees Judy dominating leads to success in business and his conquest of the adult world, since he forgoes pleasure to concentrate on getting ahead. But even at the beginning of that conquest, the victory turns sour” (Fahey 147). Dexter the moment he saw Judy he became determined to become wealthy and marry the prettiest girl around, only then he would have reached the American Dream. “Because his winter dreams happened to be concerned at first with musings on the rich” (Fitzgerald). Dexter was obsessed with become part of the rich, he dreamed of being a golf champion, he went to a more prestige college even if it meant more debt, he bought a laundry company, and he tried to win the girl. When Dexter was a caddy he desperately wanted to be successful and wealthy; he wanted to feel the happiness it would bring to his life. Years later when Dexter beat T.A. Hedrick in golf it brought him little joy to his everyday life. Dexter was forced to realize while living in the middle class that money could not buy his happiness no matter how hard he strived in business. By the end of the story Dexter realized the American Dream was just an illusion and could never fully 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
Scott Fitzgerald chose to maintain a lifestyle that he could not sustain and constantly put him in debt. Instead of finding true love through richer or poorer, he chose to love a woman who only married him because his first novel was successful. Fitzgerald died at 44 years old and alone. Jay Gatsby as died young and alone while still loving a woman who didn’t love him. Dexter Green was the only smart one out of the 3 men who gave up loving the woman of his dreams. After joining the military, he came back to see Judy’s beauty faded, and she was married to a man with money. Dexter cried when he finally understood that he had to also cast aside "the country of illusion, of youth, of the richness of life" (Fitzgerald, 1922) that used to inspire him so
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.”
The similarities between Jay and Dexter are quite apparent when reading each story. They both come from the Midwest and although Dexter’s family has some money, both are similar in the fact that they did not start out as wealthy, upper class men from rich families. Their hard work and determination to make their own wealth and acquire the luxuries and social status that come with it are completely by their own doing. Both men achieve their goals of the American dream at a relatively young age and are able to be a part of the high society they once observed from a distance. Their desire to amass wealth and the perks associated with it come with an ulterior motive, to win back the girls they desire that will only be with them if they have the wealth and status to bring to the table.
...career ahead of you, Dexter showed us that if you work hard enough you can end up at the top, but you have to be willing to do the work, and everyone has an equal opportunity to be successful it is just the people who are willing to make sacrifices and want to be successful in life. I think that this story has a really good message in it especially because we live in such a small town and reading this makes it more inspiring because it shows us that we can do something with our lives. Even if the odds are against us in being someone important or being super rich we know now that it is possible to achieve this. Dexter shows the American Dream perfectly he demonstrates how you can start from the bottom of the food chain and make your way to the top, but it is going to have to take some work and sacrifices. You never know what is going to happen unless you take risks.
The qualities of these compelling characters was their pursuit of pleasure, particularly associated with the amassing of wealth, as a principal goal, upsetting traditional ideas of hard work, social conformity, and respectability. Dexter Greene was desperate to accumulate wealth in hopes that it would partner him with the social elite. Gatsby also pursued wealth in an attempt to raise his own status. Fitzgerald wrote “Winter Dreams” while he was still working on The Great Gatsby and this could be why the two works share numerous thematic and technical components. Both works center on a young man from a decent background who attempts to be a part of the elite world occupied by the women they love and dream about. For this reason, both Jay Gatsby and Dexter Greene are the two most compelling Fitzgerald characters.
Scott Fitzgerald mentions the following quote “Over on a dark peninsula a piano was playing the songs of last summer and of summers before that songs from “Chin-Chin” and “The Count of Luxemburg” and “The Chocolate Soldier” and because the sound of a piano over a stretch of water had always seemed beautiful to Dexter he lay perfectly quiet and listened” (F. Scott Fitzgerald 191). Another example, in the story “The Great Gatsby” author F. Scott Fitzgerald mentions the following quote “”I know what we’ll do.” said Gatsby, “we’ll have Klipspringer play the piano” (F. Scott Fitzgerald 94). These two quotes are great examples because both Dexter and Gatsby enjoy listening to music but Gatsby he hires a musician and plays for him every time there is a party going on at his house. The theme to me in these two stories are having to do with the American Dream. For the story “Winter Dreams” it is refer to the American Dream that Dexter comes to embody, but success brings a high cost, and social mobility restricts Dexter’s capacity for happiness, and for the story “The Great Gatsby” the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. The Protagonist in these two stories are Dexter Green and Jay Gatsby because they both are the main characters and they play an important role in the story. As for Dexter
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 end result of both these novels shows the tragedy that can occur to everyday people, even if they didn’t do anything wrong. The American Dream made the fantasies of the men of the novels strive to attain it, but in the end the dreams of both the men ultimately destroyed them. Both Fitzgerald and Hansberry wrote these books not only for the intention to merely entertain people, but also to entice the reader into a thought, and question how things happen in the world. Both Realist authors embarked a rapid departure from the Romantic Movement, writing a novel that conveys to the reader what truly happens to people, and try to show the true pragmatism of the real world. Both authors write in tangent about the American dream, and both put forth the question of if it actually exists, and concluding from their very cynical novels, it truly does not.
Though the evils of the world may discourage us from reaching our full potential, fairytales such as Little Snow-White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm teach us that good will always triumph over evil. As many tales of its kind, Little Snow-White uses a number of literary devices to attract a younger audience and communicate to them a lesson or moral that will remain with them throughout their lives. Since children have such an abstract stream of thought, it is vital to use language and devices that will appeal to them as to keep them interested in the story.
A doctor, a firefighter, a teacher, an astronaut: these are the kind of answers children give when asked the infamous question: What do you want to be when you grow up? As you grow older, this repetitive question becomes annoying because it forces you to confront and decide what exactly you want to do when you have been through adolescence. This conundrum is what plagues two characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams.” In this story, Judy Jones and Dexter Green chase after their own dreams and collide multiple times along the way. Jones wants to continue in her current lifestyle of freedom, power, and fame which seems attainable with her charm; however, Jones’ manipulative tendencies make her unappealing to people after a time.
A dream is a deep ambition and desire for something; everybody tries to reach their dreams no matter how far away they may seem. The characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories strive for nothing less than “The Great American Dream”. This is the need to be the best of the best, top of the social ladder, and to be happier and more successful than anyone has been before. Fitzgerald writes about this American Dream that every character has but can never achieve; the dream is kept unattainable due to obstacles, the disadvantages of being low on the social ladder, and also the restrictions of having a high social status.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs the use of characters, themes, and symbolism to convey the idea of the American Dream and its corruption through the aspects of wealth, family, and status. In regards to wealth and success, Fitzgerald makes clear the growing corruption of the American Dream by using Gatsby himself as a symbol for the corrupted dream throughout the text. In addition, when portraying the family the characters in Great Gatsby are used to expose the corruption growing in the family system present in the novel. Finally, the American longing for status as a citizen is gravely overshot when Gatsby surrounds his life with walls of lies in order to fulfill his desires for an impure dream. F. Scot. Fitzgerald, through his use of symbols, characters, and theme, displays for the reader a tale that provides a commentary on the American dream and more importantly on its corruption.