Review of Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Written before his classic novel "The Great Gatsby", "Winter Dreams" shares a lot of the same themes. The main character of "Winter Dreams" is Dexter Green shares a similar background with Jay Gatsby. Both comes from middle-class families and build their wealth to gain access to a girl from an upper class family. The love interest Judy Jones is a prototype of Daisy Buchannan (from "The Great Gatsby"). It's clear that she strings men along for attention and marries for money, despite not being in a happy marriage.
The title of the story refers to Dexter Green's dreams of creating his own wealth an achieving a social status higher than what he was born into. Even after Dexter achieves some financial success, owning laundry business', he still wants to seek the attention of Judy Jones. She's a young, rich woman with a multitude of revolving suitors chasing after her. After a year has passed, Dexter decides to move on from her and becomes engaged to a new woman. When Judy comes back into the picture, Dexter gives into her seduction and it ends his engagement. Years later when he is a wealthy entrepreneur in New York, he finds out that Judy's life isn't as lavish and happy as he thought her life might end up. It causes him to reconsider his past relationship with her, and he's sad that he never married.
While this story was written during an era where social class and wealth determined who you could marry, I still couldn't help but view this in modern times. Dexter continues to see Judy and kiss her for months, despite her seeing other men. Firstly, Dexter should have more self respect for himself, and not want to be with a girl that won't commit to him. However, Dexter can look past Judy's bad behavior because she represents a part of society that he desperately wants to be a part of.
Romance is a big theme in Fitzgerald's body of work. The idea of unrequited love and social class serve as a cautionary tale in "Winter Dreams". Dexter was on track to fulfilling the financial success and lifestyle that he wanted to achieve for himself when he met Judy. He wasted 18 months with her, and then when he did get engaged to another woman, he ruined that for one night and false promises with Judy. His efforts for social mobility “restricts Dexter's capacity for happiness” (Sparknotes.com).
"Winter Dreams" is a short, light read that evokes a familiarity to "The Great Gatsby". As a fan of "The Great Gatsby" and Fitzgerald, I enjoyed reading this story. I look forward to reading more of Fitzgerald's work. "Winter Dreams" was a part of collection that was a called, "All the Sad Young Men". You can buy it here https://amzn.to/3yJzMGK
Works Cited
https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/winter-dreams/themes/ (2021).
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