“Winter Dreams” was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1922 and released in the Metropolitan Magazine that same year. This short story follows the life of a young man named Dexter Green and his pursuit “glittering things.” Young Dexter spent the bleak Minnesota winters hallucinating and dreaming of success. It was during this season that he would begin to develop his “Winter Dreams” of possessing wealth and social status. His blind pursuit of Judy Jones, the young daughter of the prominent Mortimer Jones, embodies his goal of achieving economic success and becoming a member of the upper-class. To Dexter, Judy is the ideal of all he hopes to possess, wealth and status. By the end of “Winter Dreams,” Dexter’s ideal vision of Judy Jones is crushed along with the hopes of attaining his dreams. Although he is not a poor man he strives to became one of the upper-class. He grows up in a reasonably well-off family. His father runs the “second best …show more content…
He and his coworker, Delvin, are talking about home when Delvin evokes the name, “Judy Simms.” To which Dexter responses “Judy Jones she was once.” The memories of Judy and his dream of wealth and status come rushing back to Dexter. Then Dexter receives the news that she is now married and a mother. He also hears that she is not as beautiful as she used to be. Dexter even takes offense when Delvin says, “She was a pretty girl when she first came to Detroit.” Delvin next tells Dexter that her husband treats her “like the devil.” As their conversation continues, Dexter becomes more and more distressed. His dream slowly slips away. The once beautiful and wealthy Judy Jones is no longer the embodiment of Dexter’s dreams. She is no longer the ideal. Once he realizes this, he realizes that his dream is dead. He has forever lost the Judy Jones he once pursued with passion. He has lost his ideal dream the dream of wealth and
The sound of the tune precipitated in him a sort of ecstasy, and it was with that ecstasy he viewed what happened to him now. It was a mood of intense appreciation, a sense that, for once, he was magnificently attuned to life and that everything about him was radiating a brightness and a glamour he might never know again.” Dexter would agree that being loving is a quality that gives one satisfaction. He felt this satisfaction when he was with Judy on her boat.
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
The above quote is representative of Dexter’s trials and tribulations on a daily basis and in a way, of every individual’s too. The quote suggests that each one of us have an alternate true self which may come out to surprise us any day. Where does this alternate self dwell? It dwells deep inside our unconscious mind. The question that arises then is why do we hide our alternate true self even from ourselves? It’s because reality is too terrible and traumatic for us to be able to handle it. It provokes too much anxiety for our conscious mind. In order to prevent our unconscious mind take over, we twist and distort reality and keep pretending that everything is just fine. The unconscious mind plays these neat tricks every moment on us, so that we can blend into the crowd and avoid numbing pressure of reality and go sleep at night.
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 Perry (the murderers) with the Clutter family (the murdered) in relation to the theme of the fragility of the American Dream. Capote wrote what he considered to be the first nonfiction novel.
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.
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.
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.
After executing the near perfect plan, Dexter starts to think that Miquel is an actual best friend and invites him to be the best man at his wedding, to which Miquel accepts. Meanwhile Dexter’s sister, Debra Morgan, a police officer at Miami Metro, continues to struggle to earn her Shield, or badge to be a detective. Her partner, Joey Quin, helps Debra chase down a serial killer by the name of “The Skinner”. Miquel starts to press the Dexter that he let Miquel do the killing for once, to which Dexter sets up a kill for his newfound best friend(Netflix). Dexter watches as Miquel kills his target without remorse or hesitation. Miquel explains that he enjoyed the killing of the guilty man. The next day Dexter overhears the Lieutenant saying that a defense attorney that Miquel despises, goes missing. He decides to look into it, only to find her blood in her house and her body at the bottom of an empty grave I the cemetery, where he told Miquel that he dumps the bodies. He confronts Miquel about it and says that she was innocent and not worthy of death. Miquel disagrees with Dexter and goes about his business. Dexter decides to teach him a lesson and gives anonymous tips that lead to the police finding the body of
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Winter Dreams.” American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. Seventh ed. Vol. II. New York: Norton & Company, 2008. 1010-25. Print. The Norton Anthology.
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.
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.
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