Analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams - Essay Example

‘Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald ‘Winter Dreams” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published in Metropolitan Magazine in 1922.  The story is one of the finest and most ardent statements on the deleterious nature of the American dreams. Through the short story, the writer gives us a glimpse into the dream, aspire and life of the high class society in the. It illustrates the society in 1920’s, their beliefs, values and the American dream of that time. The American dream at that time was basically about money, power and the happiness that allegedly came with the booming economy. “All though no one has ever managed to fully explain and describe the American Dream, it has been a constant in the American discourse since the first settlers set their feet in the continent” (Maier 37). The blissful hope that success is achieved only through hard work and sacrifice is what majority of the people believes in or rather would like to believe. The American dream of becoming rich, successful and prosperity is a personal paradise which all aspires. “Winter Dreams” demonstrate how personal ambition, hard work and networking present the right opportunity for success and the achievement of American Dream, but that life based on materialism can lead to personal degradation rather than the promised life of paradise. “Winter Dreams” represents Modernism in different aspects. Fitzgerald was a modernist writer who to capture the essence of modern life in through many of his works. He portrays the characteristics of modernism as it was at the time. In the post war era, many people veered towards the life of the American dream- glamour, success, wealth and party. Delusion, confusion and the love of freedom characterized “the modern” in the first half of the twentieth century. Many traditional and social values had shifted during this period, particularly the behavior governing the life of women. Women were excited with their new found freedom and such as going out alone, abandoning the traditional dress and smoking in public. Fitzgerald was deeply interested in the transformation of women and their status, “and this awareness suffuses his fiction, especially winter dreams” (Bryer et al. 163). But, on the other hand all these aspects of the perfect American dream only led to the degradation of life and loneliness in the end. It is evident that “...in Winter Dreams, Fritzerald is quite explicit that Dexter Green was unconsciously dictated by his winter dreams” (Hall 136). In "Winter Dreams," a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the writer created a very ambitious protagonist Dexter Green to illustrate all the challenges a young boy faces, growing up yearning to achieve his perfect goals in life with the distraction of love. Dexter strives to obtain his dream by gaining the status of what he considers to be successful “an elite man”. He worked as a caddie at the Sherry Island Golf club to network his connections with the wealthy people since he was fourteen years old. Dexter’s zeal of achieving his goals  of wealth and status effects the way he live his life as well as the choices he made throughout his life. He has grown up in a well to do family, however he desire to make his own fortune and refine himself to achieve his own interpretations of American dream. Dexter’s dream of achieving  high social status is driven by his desire to feel important and he believes that he can gain the opportunity to one day join the popular club if he have a solid connections  with the golfers of the club. Dexter also strives for an admire status through Judy Jones. She is the symbol of all the “glittery things” that Dexter wants in life. She is the epitome of success and characterized the typical American dream of status. "Judy Jones, a slender enameled doll in the cloth of gold: gold in a band at her head, gold in two slipper points at her dress's.” (Fitzgerald) She is beautiful, charming but unfortunately an evil spirit. When Dexter first met her, Judy was a beautiful girl who came from a status family. His desire for her and the status make him oblivious to the fact that she was very shrewd with her "preposterous smile". The first question that Judy asked Dexter was: "Are you poor?" "No," he replied frankly, "I'm probably making more money than any man my age in the Northwest. I know that's an obnoxious remark, but you advised me to start right." (Fitzgerald)  Dexter says this to gain her interest and to test the idea that she is interested only with wealthy man. This clearly indicate that she loves only money and social status , but he is too infatuate with Judy to care for the fact. Judy is the type of woman who would never settle down in life with a poor man. She does not want to tie down by one man as she preferred many relationships. In a way we can say that Judy is sculptured by men who view her as the ideal woman. Judy equates her beauty with great happiness. “I’m more beautiful than anybody else,” asked “why can’t I be happy?” (Fitzgerald). She fails to achieve her perfect happiness as she cannot comprehend the true meaning of happiness. “Judy Jones is probably full of emptiness as well since she cannot live the life that she led before, which included juggling wealthy men and having complete control over them” (Seay para. 4). The life that she inhabits – beauty and wealth fail to give her the dreams that she want and at the end she falls short of the life that she always expected. Love and money are often the most desired dreams for many people. For Dexter, love and money are inextricably linked together. When Dexter met Judy for the first time, he realized that he could never possess a woman like Judy by being a caddie. ‘What are you standing there like a dummy for? Go pick up the young lady’s clubs’”. Dexter responds, “‘I think I’ll quit’ ” (Fitzgerald). His yearning to be a better man and achieving the social status drives him to become a wealthy man. But, ironically, his fixation on his idealism proves to be the only obstacle to his true happiness. Judy fits into Dexter’s dream, “It did not take him many hours to decide that he wanted Judy Jones ever since he was a proud, desirous little boy” (Fitzgerald 125). Throughout the story, he is fixated on believing that Judy is the ideal woman. In reality she is flawed and human, but Dexter cannot see the short comings of Judy through his eyes. When he heard that Judy is married and transformed to a housewife with kids and an abusive husband, his illusions about her completely shatters. The major theme that runs throughout the short story is money and power. They play a big role in the story as Dexter’s dream is to obtain money and power. Dexter wants “association with glittering things and glittering people, he wanted the glittering things themselves” (Fitzgerald). When Dexter was just a tender age of 14, he dreams of making it big – having wealth, power and status in the “glittering world. He is lured by the world of successful men right from the beginning.  Throughout the story, he is an ambitious mean who always strives towards money and power. His desire to achieve social status prompts him to attend a prestigious university in the East against his father’s wish. After graduation he begins his own business. He works diligently to become a part of the elite social class. His winter dreams represent his yearning to become rich and achieving all the “glittering things” in life, “he wanted not association with the glittering things and glittering people- he wanted the glittering things themselves” (Fitzgerald). Dexter does obtain success and he becomes a very wealthy man through hard work and sacrifices.  The American Dream that Dexter comes to embody comes at a high price as success and social mobility restricts him from the happiness he longs for. Conformity is the main characteristics of the American dream. Everyone wants a successful life, wealth and a happy family as this is the image idolized by everyone. Dexter pays great attention to his appearance to portray himself as a man of wealth and success. He represents the world of earned distinctions, a self made man. Through his hollowness, Fitzgerald exemplifies the drawbacks of the pursuit of the American dreams. Dexter attain all the wealth and social status that he yearn for, but all these cannot substitute for real happiness as it eclipse the possibility of emotional fulfillment. Dexter realizes that all his success could his judgments on what he really wants in life when he hears that Judy, the woman who he loved all his life, has married a wealthy man who "treats her like the devil." Through Dexter’s life and his associations, his dreams that flourishes at the beginning but unattainable at the end, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s illustrates the corrupt ideas of the American dreams. The whole society believes that freedom of individuality; wealth and social status are all a part of the big American dreams which will make them happy. But, in reality, life based on materialism can lead to personal degradation rather than the promised life of paradise. Through the winter Dreams, Fitzgerald exemplifies that American dream is unobtainable as success and wealth cannot bring the happiness that one hopes to attain in life.     Work Cited Bryer et al. F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives. University of Georgia Press. 2000. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Fitzgerald, F Scott. Babylon Revisited and Other Stories. Scribner. 1960. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Fitzgerald, F Scott. Winter Dreams. Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. 1998. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Hall, Petry Alice. Fitzgerald's Craft of Short Fiction: The Collected Stories. University Alabama Press. 1991. Maier, Sonja. The Death of a Dream – Hunter S. Thompson and the American Dream. GRIN Verlag. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Seay, Brian. Winter Dreams: A Study of the American Dream. Universal Journal. 2003. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Read More