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Winter dreams by f scott fitzgerald Dreams, Happiness, and Reality
American dream in literature
American dream in literature
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In “Winter Dreams”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the lifestyle is all about the American Dream. Dexter Green, the main character, has been searching for that ideal American Dream since he was a young boy. Dexter spent his entire life seeking wealth and Judy Jones, who was in fact the ideal women. In the end of the story the loss of Judy revealed Dexter’s dream for his life, his values, and the values of those around him. With Dexter’s loss of Judy the ideal women, he lost the aspect of the ideal lifestyle. Dexter always aimed for the best and when he couldn’t have it he didn’t want to settle for less. Throughout the story he is chasing after a women named Judy Jones. She represents the American dream, and the best there is. Dexter couldn’t seem to grasp the thought of Judy. He fell in love with another girl named Irene but still couldn’t resist the urge to chase after Judy. In the end he couldn’t get either, he was stuck between the perfect women and reality. He losses Judy and the ideal of the American dream, he no longer wants it. “Long ago there was something in me, but now that thin...
(Fitzgerald, 120). The hard work he had done during the summer of his life was manifested in the success he now enjoyed. The only thing missing from Dexter's idea of the American Dream was Judy. In his attempt to have the total dream he gets engaged to Irene. He knows that she is a substitute for his true, unattainable desire. When Judy ruins his engagement and leaves him, Dexter fills the void as a soldier and
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 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 with 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 on a rapid departure from the Romantic Movement, writing a novel that conveys to the reader what truly happens to people, and tries 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.
When Dexter Green meets Judy Jones, he sees that she is the most beautiful ...
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.
What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry uplike a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore-And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over- like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load.Or does it explode?While Langhston Hughes authors this poem, A Dream Deferred, it can easily be interpreted as Toni Morrison's description of Nel and her life of sorrow and dissatisfaction. Sula and Nel, the protagonists in Toni Morrison's Sula, are each the only daughters of mothers whose distance leaves the young girls with dreams to erase this solitude and loneliness. There is no question that Sula alleviates this aloneness with a lascivious and experimental life, "I'm going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world"(143). Nel, however, for the most part, fails terribly at realizing her dreams and experiencing a happy existence.
One of Fitzgerald's most famous pieces, Winter Dreams, shows an extremely significant character development. From a young age, Dexter Green has his eye set on making money and being successful. Throughout his life, he is faced with many emotional problems, most of them involving a woman named Judy Jones. Dexter puts all he has, including his dreams and prosperity, into finding love with Judy. As Fitzgerald writes in the
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.
As a little girl, she uses her smile to try and get what she desires: “the smile again- blatantly artificial- convincing” and “ he was treated to that absurd smile, that preposterous smile--the memory of which at least a dozen men were to carry into middle age.” As Jones proceeds into adulthood, she perfects her skills, particularly towards men. The night that Jones and Green’s romantic relationship began, Jones said to Green, "I don't know what's the matter with me. Last night I thought I was in love with a man and to-night I think I'm in love with you." Green first sees this as a romantic and beautiful phrase, but then Jones disappears with another man and lies about it to him. Also, in Green’s thoughts of Jones and their romantic engagements, the reader can discover the twisted tactics for capturing men. For example, “ Judy made these forays upon the helpless and defeated without malice, indeed half unconscious that there was anything mischievous in what she did,“ along with “she had beckoned him and yawned at him and beckoned him again.”
The American Dream: the traditional social ideals of the US, such as equality, democracy, and material prosperity. Dexter represents this very well in the story Winter Dreams because it shows how he starts from the bottom and eventually works his way to the top. This is kind of an inspiring story because it starts off by having him be the best and most successful golf caddy that this golf course has ever had. All of the people that had him as a caddy were against him going other places and doing something with his life. Dexter made his own decisions and went where he wanted to go and he wanted more out of his like than being a golf caddy his whole life. In the text Winter Dreams written by Scott Fitzgerald Dexter is a worthy tribute to the American Dream he showed us that you can start from the bottom and have a very successful 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.
Dexter’s interaction with Judy shown through the symbol of the motorboat in “Winter Dreams” allows Dexter to envision a new direction he wants to take in his life. A direction in life leading Dexter to the corrupted idea of the American dream emphasizing wealth and material possessions. Dexter compares his encounter with Judy to an addicting drug that allowed him to feel a sense of ecstasy. “It was a mood on 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.” (377) Moreover Dexter constantly misinterprets Judy and how she could be a bad influence on him. The motorboat demonstrates that Judy comes from a high class
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
When people think of the American Dream, they usually picture a wealthy family who lives in a big house with a white picket fence. They see the husband being the breadwinner for the wife and kids, by supporting and providing the best way that he can. They also picture the wife catering to her husband 's every need. The protagonist Janie Crawford lives this American Dream but soon comes to a realization that this life isn’t her destiny. Crawford learns that love does not involve money but rather being joyful. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie breaks the American Dream myth by living a non-traditional life through belief, happiness, and freedom.
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 ...
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