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The central theme of southern history
Winter dreams literary analysis essay
Winter dreams literary analysis essay
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For the first topic, I chose to write on the relationships described in the readings. Each story perfectly depicts the complex meaning behind the different relationships. No two relationships are the same; therefore, that is what makes them interesting to decipher. The subsequent relationships described below all had their ups and downs, which made them all very relatable, for me, as the reader. Furthermore, there was a very notable dynamic in all of the relationships in these past five weeks. I will commence with the relationship of Dexter and Judy from the story, Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Their relationship had a very inimitable dynamic to say the least. Dexter was most certainly smitten by Judy. He was
It was quite evident throughout the story that Harry did in fact respect his wife Helen; however, his many flashbacks of other women undoubtedly demonstrated that he was not in love with his wife. After all, loving someone and being ‘in love’ with them are two entirely different sets of emotions. Harry was a skilled writer, and unluckily was dying due to an infected leg. During his last hours on earth, I could undeniably sense the disdain that he had towards his wife and her wealth. What was ironic was that he lived a comfortable life and probably never complained then, but the minute he realized that he was dying, he instantaneously held her accountable for the fact that he never wrote any more works. I could not understand why on earth he would blame her for this, other than the fact that he probably did not write much because he never found the urgency to. They were already wealthy, thanks to Helen. His wife, on the other hand, did love him even if the love was not shared. She remained optimistic throughout the entire ordeal, and she treated him exceedingly well during his final hours on earth. Harry had an abundant amount of past relationships, and possibly some mistresses as well. This excerpt represented to me that he was a very passionate person, and that with his past loves he quarreled with them because he cared, and did
The story was about a young African American boy named Dave that wanted to buy a gun in order to gain respect from his peers. The setting is essential because it was based in the South, in the late 1930’s. This was important since blacks in that particular era suffered a lot of injustice and prejudice. They had virtually no respect from the opposing whites, and when they had zero respect from their own race, it made things even worse for them. This seventeen year old not only suffered injustices from the racist folk, but also had trouble gaining any respect from his fellow peers. He worked hard in the field (when not at school) to no avail. He believed that a gun would garnish him immediate respect from his fellow co-workers. Here we can see an instance of Dave thinking to himself… possibly about killing the whites and blacks that have wronged him? Merely possessing the gun gave him a sense of power. Although he never re-enacted his thoughts in real life, it is still important to note that the gun gave him a false sense of invincibility. Based on the setting portrayed, we know that this is most likely a very small town riddled with racism and poverty. I believe that being in the South may have made his situation even worse. Life differed greatly for African Americans when you compare the differential treatment that the Northern blacks and the
Task: Analyze how the story shows our themes by explaining how 3 specific quotes show (not tell) the theme in action in the story. Be sure to keep track of these and your first set, as they will help you write the reflection paper after we finish reading The Watsons Go To Birmingham (more to come!). you may use this chart, or type your own, as long as you meet the requirements of this assignment.
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
As presented in many fictional text such as Kindred, Wild Seed and The Appropropriation of a Culture “control” or “power” can be deemed the underlying influence to the concept of oppression and unjust treatment of others due to their race or social status. These fictional texts graphically detail the experiences of African Americans and how they came together as a community when facing the inevitable both in slavery and during the Jim Crow era. There are many other texts that describe the improper regulation of control and what can happen when one race or group has too much. One novel entitled Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of a wife who was sentenced to prison after shooting her husband in self-defense after he had contracted rabies and turned violent. Another novel entitled Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor details racism in America during the Great Depression (Goodreads) Despite the slavery era and modern day being two different periods of time, there are still some unresolved issues and situations in which revolve around the idea of racism and oppression. However, unlike back in the day African Americans are able to learn about their heritage and ancestors as well as receive an education so that they may acquired the knowledge necessary to diminish the destruction caused by oppression and dilute the poisonous effects of
In “Who Shot Johnny” by Debra Dickerson, Dickerson recounts the shooting of her 17 year old nephew, Johnny. She traces the outline of her life, while establishing a creditable perception upon herself. In first person point of view, Dickerson describes the events that took place after the shooting, and how those events connected to her way of living. In the essay, she uses the shooting of her nephew to omit the relationship between the African American society, and the stereotypic African American society.
... own relationships, and depicted his own seemingly conflicted attitude toward the overweening masculinity of his time. In "Winter Dreams,", Dexter Greene attempts to exhibit the quality his generation associated with manhood will-power, self-sufficiency, and affluence, buts fall short, because he does not display a dominate roll in his relationship with Judy. He allows his willpower and judgment to be obscured but emotional desire. Thus, Dexter represents Fitzgerald’s reconceptualization of male identity, an identity made more emotionally realistic by balancing what were historically considered feminine traits with conventional male attributes. Showing the ways in which these exceptions are illusions. (“Modernist Portraits” American Passages Voices and Visions.)
the black man in the South in the early 1900's. This story deals partly with racial
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.
Dexter fantasizes his life and falls victim to his adolescent dreams that he is never able to fulfill. In his quest to achieve Judy, Dexter never sees more than the outside beauty of Judy, which haunts him for the rest of his life. Judy simply goes towards the direction of wealth. She confesses that she was breaking off relation with another man just because he was not able to support her financially. Dexter is in love with the idea of having Judy as a wife because of her beauty and her social class, which blinds him from the reality of who Judy is. For Dexter, the American Dream is not just about wealth; it is also about acquiring social status to have the ability to marry a woman who is rich. We see the dark side of the American Dream, where even though the main character achieves success, glory, and wealth, he still cannot find true happiness. This is the irony about the American Dream. One would expect that once he or she achieves wealth and success, they would live happily, but for the main characters in the two works, it brings more pain and suffering. Through the use of irony in Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald exposes the shallowness that comes from the pursuit of American Dream. The pursuit of the American Dream makes Dexter blind and prevents him from achieving true happiness. Similarly, Jay Gatsby also deals with identical problems where he is not able to find happiness because of his desire to gain social status and the woman of his dreams proving another area, where Winter Dreams acts as a microcosm of The Great
“I have a dream that one day right here in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” –Martin Luther King Jr. (Atkinson). Racism is believed to be a part of the past. In many circumstances it is, such as the desegregation of the army and schools. In light of this fact, tensions between whites and blacks have been increasingly seen in the recent shootings of unarmed black boys. This is determined in many different scenarios such as: George Zimmerman shooting unarmed Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old playing with a toy gun being shot by a city police officer, and one of the most recent and controversial, Michael Brown being shot down by a
Geoffrey Canada gives his readers a rare opportunity to look inside the life of a ghetto kid and what they have to go through just to survive. He also provides answers to the many questions asked of why certain things happen the way they do in the Bronx. He used his childhood experiences and turned them into a unique tool when helping the youth of today. Now that he works as a youth councilor he sees that the problem in the slums has gotten dramatically worse with the emergence of guns. It used to be about pride and status, now any thug with a gun can be feared in the community. This, to Canada is a major problem because guns gives kids a sense of power, a strong feeling that is often abused and results in someone, even an innocent person dead.
There are two stories this semester that have been particularly interesting. ‘Paul’s Case’ by Willa Cather is a turbulent story about Paul, a young man who eventually spirals downwards into his eventual suicide. ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about a woman forced into the resting cure by means of her husband until being alone with her thoughts drives her to insanity. At face value, these stories have vastly different plots and outcomes. How are you able to compare stories with different plots? When the ideas behind the stories are similar, it becomes possible. These two stories have many parallels which will be discussed in detail throughout this essay.
with egregious murder. Historically, death at the hands of a lynch mob would be reported in the presses as occurring “at the hands of persons unknown.” To Coates this repeated ignorance is intentional, as it is necessary to preserve “The Dream.” The Dream is a repeated theme in Coates writing. He argues that white Americans live a Dream where their successful lives are the natural result of grit, honor, and good works. He argues that in reality, the lives of white Americans are built on the back of African Americans.
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
How far should someone have to go in order to impress someone in whom he or she is interested? At a young age it is instilled for one to be himself or herself and never to allow anyone or anything to change him or her or make him or her forget their morals. It could be inferred that as children, we are taught this, because with the changing of ourselves only to impress another could soon lead to unhappiness or emotional instability within oneself. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald illustrates illusion through Dexter Green’s unconditional attraction to Judy Jones.
Harry eventually learns that he narrowly escaped death because his parents, especially his mother Lily, were prepared to die for him because of their love for him. He was always Voldemort’s intended victim. His father, James, was killed trying to give his mother time to escape with their child. Lily was even given the chance to stand aside and be spared while Voldemort completed the task that he came to Godric’s Hollow, the Potter’s home for. She sacrificed herself to protect her only beloved son, which en...