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Winter Dreams By F. Scott Fitzgerald: Character Analysis

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During his years, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a member of the “Lost Generation”, a group of artists disillusioned with America’s obsession with money and material items. In his short story, “Winter Dreams”, Fitzgerald reinforces his stance on this issue through the experiences of the main character, Dexter Green. Dexter’s life starts with him being a successful small-town caddy. But, as he grows older, he becomes much more ambitious, with an endless appetite for wealth and social status. When Dexter comes across Judy Jones, a beautiful, young woman from the same town he grew up in, he is unable to escape her grasp and falls madly in love with her. In the story, Dexter’s winter dreams are to climb as high as possible on the social ladder, ultimately leaving him rich and successful but also unhappy and empty through his involvement with Judy Jones and his focus on money. …show more content…

He wants to be a part of the higher class in America. This is clearly shown through the quote, “He wanted not association with glittering things and glittering people — he wanted the glittering things themselves" (Fitzgerald, 200-201). Dexter’s winter dreams also lead him to pursue Judy Jones for more than 15 years, again in an attempt to again join the higher ranks of society. However, Dexter refuses to admit the clear flaws in Judy and denies that his dream is blatantly unattainable. Even after promising to marry him, Judy backs out of the wedding. But, Dexter still wishes her to be his

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The characters in both “Winter Dreams” and The Great Gatsby share undeniable similarities and yet subtle differences that not only drive them together but also make them unique in their own way. Gatsby, like Dexter in “Winter Dreams”, yearned to make a name for himself and strove to do so. However, both characters did not have themselves in mind so much as they thought of the woman they loved more than any other. Gatsby and Dexter both chased their dreams. For Gatsby this dream was Daisy Buccanan, while for Dexter this dream was Judy Jones.

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She loved him, but it just was not enough. Dexter met Judy when he was only 13 out on the golf course, and he knew from that point that Judy was the one for him. When he grew older, and saw how she was, and how she manipulated men so they would never leave her, he did not want any part of that. He realized he was just being toyed with, something that Gatsby could never understand. “Oh, you want too much!"

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It is revealed that Dexter has never been drunk, and in The Great Gatsby, Nick describes his encounter with alcohol at Tom’s apartment as being only the second time he has been drunk. “The little girl who had done this was eleven-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. The spark, however, was perceptible.” (Winter Dreams 1). As the text states, Dexter fell in love with Judy Jones, a golfer when he saw her playing with her nanny as he caddied one afternoon.

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Many social and political events during the early 20th century helped play a role in the molding of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams.” The conclusion of World War I, the Roaring Twenties and the emergence of the new woman all were reflected in Fitzgerald’s work. When the US entered WWI, women all over the country had to step up into new leadership roles, ones that had never been filled by women prior to the war. Men of the households were rushed out of the house and on to the battlefields, leaving openings in the workplaces, and the homes. Women began becoming self-sufficient and were forced to rely on themselves and other women.

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In a sort of panic he...tried to bring up a picture of the waters on Sherry Island and the moonlit veranda, and gingham on the golf-links and the dry sun and the gold color of her neck’s soft down... Why, these things were no longer in the world! They had existed and they existed no longer.” (Winter Dreams 9). When Dexter discovered that Judy had gotten married, he felt like all his dreams were gone.

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Winter Dreams By F. Scott Fitzgerald is a short-story telling of a 14 year-old caddy named Dexter Green. In this narrative Dexter meet Judy Jones while working at his golf course. As the story continues on, Dexter becomes severely infatuated by Judy. The desire to be hers overcomes him so greatly, he works his way to wealth to be in the same social class as her, hoping to catch her attention and marry her someday. However Judy may be beautifully the outside as she ages, but her insides say differently.

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Judy Jones will not be with Dexter because he is not as wealthy as she is. It is clear that both of the female characters are susceptible to the social standards because being with someone of a different class than you is frowned upon so they will not be with the male characters in each story no matter the feelings. “I lived at West Egg, the - well, the less fashionable of the two… The one one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard… It was Gatsby’s mansion…

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Over the last couple of days in class we have discussed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Winter Dreams”. This short story explores several themes such as reality vs idealism and over expectations. These themes communicates through the use of various literary devices such as irony, symbolism, allegories and imagery. Through the use of these literary devices each character is brought to life and given its own type of personality. One quote that explores how the main character, Dexter, is given a unique personality states “The helpless ecstasy of losing himself in her charm was a powerful opiate rather than a tonic”.

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Chasing the American Dream “Life is essentially a cheat and its conditions are those of defeat; the redeeming things are not happiness and pleasure but the deeper satisfactions that come out of struggle,”quoted by the famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald, in behold of the truth. In the two stories Winter Dreams and The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both demonstrate a high demanded society of wealth and social class. Both main characters from each story, known as Dexter and Gatsby are reaching to fit in the high class society to achieve the American Dream. Which is well-known as old money in New York for Gatsby and general wealth in Minnesota for Dexter. As both characters try to fit in this society to impress the woman of their dreams, they see the other side of love and its’ effects of it.

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The text also mentions, “The dream is gone. Something had been taken from him. In a sort of panic he pushed the palms of his hands into his eyes and tried to bring up a picture of the waters lapping on Sherry Island and the moonlit veranda, and gingham on the golf-links and the dry sun and the gold color of her neck soft down.” (Fitzgerald 9.) Both these excerpts from the story emphasize Dexter’s feelings of sorrow.

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Through the early to mid 1900s, the concept of striving to attain more than one is originally born with became predominant in most American societies. During this era, many authors, through literature, began expressing their concern with the rise in materialistic ideals and its effect on society and the individuals living within it, one being F. Scott Fitzgerald. Two of Fitzgerald’s widely-known works of literature, The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”, both heavily elaborate on the effects of the increase in materialism and the ultimate effects of attempting to achieve the American Dream; this is conveyed through the unhappiness of the Dexter and Gatsby despite their perseverance to acquire women of higher social statuses. These texts both reach the conclusion that the American Dream is not within reach of anyone. Fitzgerald’s representation of the unattainable American Dream is demonstrated in The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams” through his portrayal of the materialistic nature of society as well as the characters’ failure to possess the women they love.

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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.

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Sometimes we as humans think all we need is this specific thing in our life to make us happy, but sometimes down the road we realize what we thought was really gonna make us happy, is something we wouldn 't of thought of. This is where we find our true happiness. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the story “Winter Dreams”. The main character in this story is Dexter Green. This young boy works at a golf course as a caddy and as he is working he came across this eleven year old girl who is very demanding and rich.

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However, in “Winter Dreams”, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes diction, juxtaposition, defeated language, and symbolism to inform his readers that though many yearn for the benefits that the American dreams supposedly brings, the idealization of it is unrealistic. He also works to inform the readers that greed and obsession of material things will only lead to personal destruction, and most importantly, he best emphasizes the fact that wealth and success are not the epitome of personal

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald´s “Winter Dreams” Fitzgerald portrays Judy as a woman with a free-spirited attitude toward men that can give her satisfaction. Even though Dexter, who is a wealthy business man, is trying to win her over, she takes on other men, leaving Dexter incapable towards her love. Judy´s dominance, attempts at golf and usage of men can be traced as a more masculine type, instead of the stereotypical feminist approach to control her desires. She gives Dexter the impression on not trying to peruse her, and takes on the dominant role in the relationship. This essay will show how Judy´s behavior as a masculine character can be portrayed negatively, as she defies expectations and is able to manipulate events to her advantage despite being a woman in a patriarchal society, and how

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