The Reality Of Dreams In Winter Dreams By F. Scott Fitzgerald

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Winter Dreams,” ambitious, “desirous” Dexter stands at the threshold between admiring “glittering things” and finding out that the “glittering things” he admires fade away sooner or later. Dexter‘s character throughout this short story, changes in many ways, from being unaware of what he really wanted in life to being aware of what he actually became.

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.

The absolute understanding of the “American dream” is lost by the characters in The Great Gatsby, and by this Fitzgerald illustrates that there is no need for a dream like this. It is a dream with the same name, but with a stark contrast. True happiness is not guaranteed by having a

Dexter starts as a lower class and Judy starts as an upper class when they first interact. Expectations are assumed, such as the upper class sees the lower class as servants and the lower class sees upper class as ridiculous. When they meet in the middle, they conflict in their lower and upper classes. After Dexter leaves for college, Judy stays in the upper class and he slowly joins the upper class. When he comes back home, he and Judy interact and become friends. However, when Dexter realizes that Judy misuses him and treats him badly, he leaves her even though he loves her. Because he’s part of the upper class and is able to, Dexter goes to parties and clubs where he forgets about her and mingles with other high class members, eventually finding a fiancee named Irene Scheerer. Soon, Judy comes back looking for the Dexter, “I wish you’d marry me.” This is an example of collision between classes. Judy now recognizes how rich Dexter really is and wants him. After the war, Dexter is talking to a man named Delvin who mentions the wife of one of his friends, “‘Judy Simms,’ said Delvin with no particular interest; ‘Judy Jones she was once.’” Delvin mentions how he is sorry for her, which surprises Dexter. He is told Judy married into the lower class to a man who “drinks and runs around.” In Winter Dreams, the lower and upper class characters interact, meet, conflict, and soon split. Judy Jones and Dexter Green have

In the book “In Cold Blood” people had dreams because of their life in the past and that is how their dreams were formed and they would depend on their dreams to help the

Fitzgerald “Winter Dreams” The entire tone of ‘Winter Dreams’ was nostalgic and wistful. His past memories permeated throughout the story. Dexter tried very hard to forget his humble beginnings. He was on a mission to disregard the recollections of his immigrant mother, and grocer father.

With the end of World War I, came the beginning of a population that was engulfed with materialism. Americans were focused on obtaining wealth and materialistic pleasures in order to receive recognition, as well as feeling complete and settled with their lives. The issue with this idea was that obtaining these materials were difficult, and achieving full blissfulness, resulted in frustration. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Winter Dreams”, the main character, Dexter, dreams of obtaining wealth to achieve object-oriented jubilance. Dexter “wanted not association with glittering things and glittering people--he wanted the glittering things themselves”

The American Dream, the idea that anybody can be successful through hard work and dedication, has been a driving force in the American history. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun express the notion that the Dream itself is defined differently to different people. The American Dream is not the same for everybody, it is instead an idealistic achievement that changes based on who is driving themselves towards the Dream. Success through the Dream, therefore, is defined by the Dreamers themselves. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby achieves materialistic wealth, but that wealth is not enough to fulfill his definition of the Dream. Gatsby’s idea of success is to gain respect from others and to receive love back from the women he loves - Daisy. A Raisin in the Sun’s Walter Younger, on the other hand, desires wealth, and struggles utilizing the Dream’s ideals to attain said wealth. His definition of success revolves around a stable income that would allow him and his family a comfortable lifestyle where money is not as big an issue. Both Gatsby and Walter’s experiences and the polar differences in their Dream’s definitions reveals that the success of one’s Dream is based heavily on the person themselves and not measurable by tangible aspects such as wealth or respect.

As the late Osho believed, "And desires are never here and now -- they are non-existential. They are just mental, in the mind. And they cannot be fulfilled because their very nature is to move into the future." John Steinbeck 's novella, Of Mice and Men explores this theme of futile desire through various relationships and character complexes. This fictional story begins by introducing two men with a relationship built from the very foundations of love. As the novel progresses, we begin questioning innate truths. Steinbeck uses his literary prowess to entwine us within a story of loneliness, loss and morality. The characters ' hopes and dreams, regardless of outcome, are a mechanism of survival and a desire to lead something other than an otherwise inconsequential existence.

The short story of “Winter Dreams” was written around the same time that Fitzgerald was developing ideas for a story to turn into a novel. While The Great Gatsby wasn’t published until 1925, “Winter Dreams” débuted in 1922 and the similarities between the novel and short story were done on purpose. “Winter Dreams” became a short draft which Fitzgerald paralleled The Great Gatsby after, but also differentiated the two in specific ways (“Winter Dreams” 217). The main characters are both men, Jay Gatsby and Dexter Green, who desire for the American dream, not necessarily for themselves, but in order to lure back the women they idealize. In The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s constant theme is shown through the

In the books Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby, and the short story “Winter Dreams”, John Steinbeck and F. Scott Fitzgerald talk about hope and dreams. In “Winter Dreams” Dexter has many dreams that he pursues that keep him going in life. He dreams of being with his idea of a perfect girl, Judy Jones. She manipulates his feelings over and over again, but he does not change his dream of being with her. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby has the same dream, except with Daisy. This dream of being with Daisy is so great that he bases five whole years of his life to become better for her. Gatsby becomes rich, throws huge parties, and pushes to become successful just for her. His biggest motivation for his dream is the green light that comes from her

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about the American Dream. In the Great Gatsby, the dream is that one can acquire happiness through wealth and power. To get his happiness Jay attempts to reacquire the love of his lost sweet heart, Daisy. The main problem with Jay's dream is that Daisy is married. Gatsby's personal dream symbolizes the larger American Dream 'The pursuit of happiness'.

Because Dexter’s life is unintentionally controlled by these dreams, he does not realize that he is being driven toward material success. He is unaware that these dreams are leading him to fall in love with the woman who stands at the core of his materialistic fantasies. His complete focus in life becomes geared toward “gaining the love of a beautiful woman who expresses the glamour and promise of the exclusive world” (Perkins). Dexter begins to strongly believe that Judy Jones is his key to unlocking the world of the rich and wealthy. By illustrating the luxurious lifestyle of Judy Jones, Fitzgerald reveals how she represents, to Dexter, what life is like for the rich and prosperous.

The short story “Winter Dreams” was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and was first seen by anyone in December of 1922 when it appeared in Metropolitan Magazine. The story also illustrates many of the same themes as “The Great Gatsby,” the greatest novel in American history. “Winter Dreams” is about a young man named “Dexter” who has desires, but thinks the only way he can have them is if he is rich. His ambition gets the best of him when he strives for everything he cannot have. When unmasked to reality, your dreams can expire instantaneously.

Since commerce systems have replaced the days of bartering and trade, proverbs about money, wealth, and status have gained some popularity. Why is that so? Perhaps it’s the idea that money is “inherently evil”. The old saying, “Money can’t buy you happiness” is heard by all individuals at some point in their lives. This aphorism warns the dangers that happiness doesn’t stem from money, but by different avenues of life or that happiness comes from within. In the story Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it chronicles the life of Dexter Green as he rises through the American societal hierarchy of being middle-class to the wealthy