The Infamous American Dream is an old tale, stuff of nightmares and daydreams alike. Started as a true infinite achievement or means of surviving in the best possible way, possible for anyone who is capable, this dream of rejuvenation in a cruel system took a sharp twist in 20th century. It had its first roar in Roaring Twenties, the decade of bourgeois, careless and Cindrella-level optimism brought by feasible technological advancements, such as broad usage of telephones, automobiles, refrigeration, electricity and so on. Once was a dream of equality, now the American Dream stood for getting rich and even richer, because it was possible. This was triggered by the need of belonging, the very basic innate longing of humankind. The glamourous …show more content…
Not everyone was worthy of this elevation, though. Some did not even make it to the top, some lost more than they gained on the road, nearly all of them were crestfallen. Just like Dexter Green of Winter Dreams, a short story by Francis Key Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s troubled love life with wayward, brazen and spoiled upper class woman, Zelda Fitzgerald inspired the story. Ultimately, it is story of a man whose infatuation with a lax girl of upper class and how this infatuation elevated and crashed him just as much, maybe even worse, for his gainings were nothing compared to the psychological trauma he has been put through along the …show more content…
Throughout the story, Dexter aspires to live by his winter dreams, only to be denied and welcomed like a cycle, which wears his self out in the end. He never dreams to be happy with Judy, Irene or his enterprise. All there is for him is achievement and having achieved the economic success, social acceptance and coming to terms with the fact that “he would love her until the day he was too old for loving--but he could not have her,” he was petrified and dull as a statue now. Cruel and demanding society, cloaked under the American Dream, destroys a young stargazer and it does not care. He will stay as unsignificant and impotent as every other American Dream child, nothing left
However, Dexter faces reality when he is told Judy had gotten married. Dexter falls apart, realizing that his lifelong dream that he had given everything to achieve had been broken and
Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about a young man named Dexter Green who starts off as a golf caddy and then becomes very successful later on. The main point of the story is not his success, though: it is about the girl he meets and falls in love with named Judy Jones; more specifically it is about his dreams.
Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby and Dexter Green from Winter Dreams both encounter the dangers of being driven by their desire to achieve the American Dream and the pursuit of their unrealistic infatuations. However, while Dexter’s ambitions for success are driven by his own desire to work hard and attain financial freedom, Gatsby’s ambition for success is derived entirely from his infatuation with Daisy Buchanan, a beautiful and charming girl he met and fell in love with in his late 20s. Dexter’s values and willingness to take initiative for his own life before the life of others is what differentiates him from Gatsby’s delusional characteristics which ultimately lead to his death. Comparing the characters of both Jay Gatsby and Dexter Green
Despite all of his success, he still has regrets about feeling that he wasted his childhood chasing after Judy and spending so much time achieving a wealthy status. “For he had gone away and he could never go back anymore,” (Fitzgerald 550) this shows how he wishes he could go back in time and spend less time on these things, but sadly he can’t. No matter what Jay and Dexter did or did not have, they always endeavored for
Dexter begins to fall for Judy even more and realizes how much she really means to him. Judy Jones wrapped many men around her fingers, especially because she was rich and could have almost anyone she wanted. “NEXT EVENING while he waited for her to come down-stairs, Dexter peopled the soft, deep summer room and the sun-porch that opened from it with the men who had already loved Judy Jones. He knew the sort of men they were--the men who, when he first went to college had entered from the great prep schools with graceful clothes and the deep tan of healthy summers. He had seen that, in one sense, he was better than these men.
The passage, Winter Dreams, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has the same theme. A poor man loves a wealthier woman and revolves his life around trying to get her. To be able to relate to these characters and truly get a feel and understand each characters actions in these novels, readers must use intellectual empathy to put themselves in their shoes to see how they would feel and react in the same situation. Gatsby sees Daisy as not only a woman whom he loves, but also a symbol of his American dream of being seen as “old money”. Dexter does not see Judy for how she truly is; he sees her how he wants her to be.
The Great Gatsby is a story about a man who has revolved part of his life around trying to achieve his American dream by conforming to a woman and society 's standards. As well as The Great Gatsby, the passage Winter Dreams, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has a similar motif; a poor man
Scott Fitzgerald then reversed Judy and Dexter back to their normal stereotypes as in the stereotypical male and stereotypical female. They went back to their normal cliche stereotypes when Dexter went back to look for judy again, but completely single with his engagement to Irene called off, only to find that Judy got married and had kids while her husband was being unfaithful to her. Overall, with this short story written by F. scott Fitzgerald, he was trying to show that life goes on and to break the stereotypes because something good could come out of it, even though Dexter and Judy never fully realized it. “Winter Dreams” is a very successful name for the short story if it truly means what Jill Gidmark had written; “ The aging process is signified by the word “winter” in the title, but “winter” also signifies a transition that is more tragic than physical deterioration... Dexter’s emotions have become frozen.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, a month after Dexter and her engagement she leaves him once again. With this decision Judy never thought about how it would affect Dexter in the long run. Her actions proves that he desire for wealth drives her to only take part in these selfish acts. Winter Dreams concludes when Dexter finally hears of Judy after the end of their engagement.
Many people are aware of the theory that money cannot buy happiness, but how many people really believe this? In the short story, “Winter Dreams”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dexter Green and Judy Jones are utilized to address this concept. In “Winter Dreams”, the author acknowledges the unrealistic idealization of the American dream and through Dexter’s constant pining for Judy, underlines the perception that greed and obsession over material goods will inevitably lead to personal destruction; however, Fitzgerald most effectively presents the idea that money and success are not the epitome of personal happiness. In “Winter Dreams”, Fitzgerald utilizes Judy Jones to symbolize many peoples goal of succeeding through the American dream and to juxtapose
F Scott Fitzgerald’s character Judy Jones in “Winter Dreams” was described as “She was not a girl who could be “won” in the kinetic sense – she was proof against cleverness, she was proof against charge, if any of these assailed her too strongly she would immediate resolve the affair to a physical basis and under the magic of her physical spender the strong as well as the brilliant played her game and not their own”(Fitzgerald
Characters in novels can have obsessions with people, the same as in the world readers live in today. In the book, The Great Gatsby, the main, male character, Gatsby, is obsessed with a woman named Daisy Buchanan. In the passage Winter Dreams, Dexter, the main male character, is obsessed with a woman, Judy Jones. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote both of these novels/ passages introducing the same theme. The Great Gatsby is a story about a man who has revolved part of his life around trying to achieve his American dream by conforming to a woman and society 's standards.
No matter who you are or where you have come from, you have undoubtedly heard of the American Dream. The idea that no matter who you are or where you have come from, you can do whatever it is you desire in America. What was once one the main driving forces for immigrants to flock to the new world, has slowly changed over the years, but still holds its value in the eyes of those who are looking for a promising new place to live. The American dream might not hold the same awe inspiring sound that it once did, but for many generations before ours it was a beacon of hope that helped build the foundation that the United States was built on. And, still, today the American dream might not be as achievable as it once was, but it is still an important
By the end of the story he cannot have the girl, and his dreams are ruined. The author illustrates Dexter Green as a wishful boy longing for what the future holds. Fitzgerald incorporates many symbols as one being solely Judy Jones. The author uses style in the story by separating the story into 6 sections. Fitzgerald in “Winter Dreams” depicts the fantasy of the American dream and how no matter how hard one works he may never achieve his dream.
Even after he has become a successful businessman he longs for that which he cannot have. It has been said that your worst battle is between what you know and what you feel. Dexter Greene ponders the world and happenings around him, but he never takes action. On the first night that he visits Judy's home he thinks about its previous guests. " Next evening while he waited for her to come down-stairs, Dexter peopled the soft deep summer room and the sun-porch that opened from it with the men who had already loved Judy Jones.