F. Scott Fitzgerald's Short Story, Winter Dreams Essay

Unlike Ed, her “hot tempered” nature and her inability to empathise with her son, has meant that she is unable to adapt to the demands of Christopher’s social barriers. This is evident in a letter in chapter 157 where she states “ Maybe if things had been differant, maybe if you'd been differant i might have been better at it. But thats just the way things turned out”. The repetition of ‘maybe’ demonstrates the initial complexity of human communication which in Christophers case, was further complicated by his social demands. Through Mark Haddon’s incorporation of a letter in this chapter, the difficulties in human communication is shown as his mother has resorted to indirect communication in explaining her reasoning for his abandonment. Although Judy lovingly and diligently cares for Christopher she struggles with the frustration she feels as a result of not always being able to understand her son’s behaviour. This ideology is further reiterated through the comparison in the letter between Ed and Judy seen in “Your father is a much more pacient person. He just gets on with things.. But that’s not the way i am…” Haddon’s characterisation of Christopher’s parents presents to the responder the conflicting side of love, the multi-faceted and complicated nature of human interaction, and the opposing approaches of both parents in communicating and dealing with Christopher’s condition, as part of their

The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald about Jay Gatsby, the embodiment of a rags to riches narrative, and his undying love for Daisy Buchanan. Told in the point of view of friend Nick Carraway, we learn about Gatsby and the lengths he would go to for love. “Winter Dreams” is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about Dexter Green, another character who went from rags to riches, his love for Judy Jones, and dreams of being rich. “Winter Dreams” is a prototype of The Great Gatsby because the characters in both works are similar in that Dexter resembles Gatsby, they both cover the theme of time, and the topic of unrealistic love in both of the stories is similar.

“Winter Dreams” was published in 1926 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was well known for his novel “The Great Gatsby”. Both “Winter Dreams” and “Great Gatsby” both have a common theme. The failure of the American dream, and the poor boy falling in love with a rich girl. Most of his writings depict the jazz age and what they are. “Winter Dreams” was about a young boy dreaming of this perfect life. But in the end his dream turns sour and ‘his life falls apart knowing that his dream has fallen apart. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates characterization throughout the whole short story. The setting is very significant in this story because it paints the backstory, and helps visualize what's happening during the story. The author also uses the theme to convey the lesson of “Winter Dreams”. F. Scott Fitzgerald in “The Winter Dream” depicts the fallacy of the American dream because no

The author clearly portrayed that Dexter had lost his ultimate dream. It was gone! There was nothing left except for his amazing memories; reminiscences of a woman that he never truly had to begin with. He came to that realization in this instance, and frantically desired what he had lost, and what he never actually attained…

The characters of Daisy and Judy are similar in their selfish personalities and want of material things. Both women led the men on, but end up married to other men and are unhappy in their marriages. Jay and Dexter become a distraction to the woman while they are trying to win them back, but it is ultimately not enough. All the money in the world will not fix the second part to both men’s dreams, the loves of their life. Despite all the success, their money can’t buy them the one thing they’ve been striving for and dreaming of.

Scott Fitzgerald during the time period of the Roaring 20´s. The Roaring 20´s was a time period where new customs were formed. For example, Jazz music was a new thing and the clothing that people were wearing were all new customs. ¨Winter Dreams¨ was written during this time period. Dexter, the main character was a caddy boy. He loved to play golf and loved being a caddy boy. Others would offer him jobs that would pay much more but Dexter liked what he did. Further into the story we are able to see what the characters are all feeling. Dexters gets into some relationships that don't work out and then wants the relationships to work out again. ¨When, as Judy’s head lay against his shoulder that first night, she whispered, “I don’t know what’s the matter with me. Last night I thought I was in love with a man and tonight I think I’m in love with you—”—it seemed to him a beautiful and romantic thing to say. It was the exquisite excitability that for the moment he controlled and Owned¨(Lines 404-409).At the end of the story Dexter cries. What makes him cry is Dexter wanted to care but he couldn't care. He had no compassion. He was not able to care about Judy Jones (the person he loved) anymore. He was lost in the illusion of the winter dreams. In the Roaring 20´s there were many customs that changes. In the same way in ¨Winter Dreams¨ Dexter used to love Judy Jones. At the end of the story he lost his compassion and love for her. The thinking

Furthermore, Judy Jones was a statue of a material girl who judged a man only by his material success and seemed to ignore the moral value. On the first date with Dexter, Judy straightforwardly told him about her recent upsetting love affair with a man who, in her words, “was as poor as a church-mouse”, and boldly asked Dexter “Are you poor?”. What if Dexter had said “Yes”? Logically, she might have thrown him out of her life at once!

It was during this employment where he initially came in contact with Judy Jones. This was the first time Dexter made a drastic life choice on a whim with her in mind. The reader knows Dexter is scared by this action from the following passage, “The enormity of his decision frightened him. He was a favorite caddy, and the thirty dollars a month he earned through the summer were not to be made elsewhere around the lake. But he had received a strong emotional shock, and his perturbation required a violent and immediate outlet.”

Dexter wants to be rich at a young age and when he sees Judy Jones for the first time, winning her is a top priority with becoming wealthy. The way he is attracted to Judy shows us that appearances are also very important to Dexter. As Dexter becomes wealthier, we notice he begins to get colder. For example, when he left Irene for Judy he did not really feel anything. “Nor did it matter that by his yielding he subjected himself to deeper agony in the end and gave serious hurt to Irene Scheerer and to Irene’s parents who had befriended him.

Dexter knew he was successful, so much that when he went on his first date with Judy he told her that he was “Making more money than any man my age is in the Northwest.” There was never a doubt that he wasn’t going to stop making money to get the things he want. Its

Winter Dreams is short story written by the great F. Scott Fitzgerald. The protagonist in Winter Dreams is the young Dexter Green. Dexter Green is young man who wishes to become rich. Green invasions himself being wealthy and marrying a wealthy woman. Throughout the short story we learn how Dexter made his dreams become reality, though he does not achieve all his dreams. However, if the protagonist was changed into a female, this story would have been beyond different.

In conclusion the desire for love and the desire for wealth is not always the key to happiness. In Dexter's case his desire or dream of love caused his nothing but misery and a broken heart.

Dexter shows this another time when he decides to get rid of his laundry business which was giving him large profits. When Judy Jones asks Dexter to drive her boat, Dexter shows carelessness by doing so without really knowing who Judy was and then does so again when he accepts her offer of dinner. Overall Dexter shows his careless personality multiple times throughout the short story.

The object of affection in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams,” at the onset of the story a young girl, is described as “beautifully ugly as little girls are apt to be who are destined after a few years to be inexpressibly lovely and bring no end of misery to a great number of men” (Fitzgerald 445). In this description the perspective of the male dominates. Everything detailed is inexplicably to the endearment of the man, from the “inexpressibly lovely” to the “no end of misery.” It is from this masculine vantage point that Fitzgerald’s short story is viewed through. Likewise, it is the dominating male perspective in this tale that makes a feminist analysis especially enticing. Thus, this evaluation of Fitzgerald’s work will focus on the feminine within the text, particularly the intricate romantic complex through which the narrative constructs its version of the female sex. The objectives of which are three-fold: exploring how females are presented in the text, evaluating those presentations within their historical patriarchal contexts, and lastly espousing the misconceptions of the feminine and potential male chauvinism that exists within this period of American fiction.

Fitzgerald’s stories often have a lead male character who resemble himself, including the ups and downs of his life. In “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, Fitzgerald is portrayed as Warren, who Bernice and Marjorie fight over, for he has qualities that girls envy. ‘“You may as well stop making a fool of yourself over Warren McIntyre. He doesn’t care a snap of his fingers about you”’ (Fitzgerald 374). Fitzgerald uses Marjorie to describe Warren to prove that he is sought after by women, even if Marjorie is trying to persuade Bernice to not chase after him because she secretly still wants him and has feelings for him. In “Winter Dreams” Fitzgerald also thinks and portrays himself highly through the character, Dexter. “‘The best— caddy I ever saw,’ shouted Mr. Mortimer Jones over a drink that afternoon. ‘Never lost a ball! Willing! Intelligent! Quiet! Honest! Grateful!’” (Fitzgerald 700).