Winter Dreams Research Paper

909 Words4 Pages
“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” – F. Scott Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald). F. Scott Fitzgerald knew what all the world had to offer. “When you open one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books, you are transported back in time to the Roaring Twenties, when many Americans lived with reckless abandon, attending wild parties, wearing glamourous clothing, and striving for fulfillment through material wealth” (Wiggins). F Scott Fitzgerald actually lived this glamorous life, which could be described as the “American dream.” In almost all his writings, Scott explores this American dream lifestyle. In his short story Winter…show more content…
Fitzgerald tells how the main character strives for success in his short story, Winter Dreams. The story begins with a young boy, Dexter Green, working at a golf club as a caddy. He is told to help a young girl, but instead, he decides to quit. Dexter had always wanted to live the American dream. “He wanted not association with glittering things and glittering people- he wanted the glittering things themselves” (Winter Dreams). It was this need that determined Dexter to strive for success. Dexter went on to college and then afterwards he bought a partnership in a laundry. At first, it was a small laundry, but Dexter was good at the things he did. Eventually, because he worked hard, he became the owner of the largest string of laundries in his section of the country. He was making more money than anyone his age as he finally obtained the American…show more content…
Fitzgerald tells of how Dexter pursues a woman in Winter Dreams. One day, a man that shared Dexter’s lifestyle invited him to go play at the golf club where he once worked as a boy. Dexter agreed to go and in his time there, he meets a beautiful young woman. Ironically, this woman was the young girl, named Judy Jones, which made Dexter quit his job so long ago. However, when he meets her for a second time, he is mesmerized by her beauty. “She was arrestingly beautiful. The color in her cheeks was centered like the color in a picture- it was not a “high” color, but a sort of fluctuating and feverish warmth” (Winter Dreams). Many men fancy her, and she fancies them in return. Almost immediately, Dexter is pulled into her web. Eventually, Dexter comes to learn that he is only one of many other men whom Judy spends her time with. She is what teenagers of this age would call a “player.” She would be in the company of one man until she got bored and then moved on to another and so on. She would forever change Dexter’s life. Judy consumes all of Dexter and all he wants is to have her. Judy is immensely beautiful and rich, which makes Dexter want her because she is a “glittering thing.” Dexter is consumed by this woman’s light just as Jay Gatsby was consumed by Daisy’s light in The Great Gatsby, also by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby looked at Daisy “in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time” (Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby). Gatsby

More about Winter Dreams Research Paper

Open Document