During F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, Winter Dream Judy Jones was displayed as a villain, she was nothing more than a spoiled child who was raised into a pampered ill-mannered young woman. Despite her attitude Dexter was taken with Judy, and dreamed of marrying her someday. I chose to write a creative story from Judy’s point of view, adding irony to the story. My classmate Douglas Brodbeck pointed out that, “Dexter achieved everything he wanted to except for his final goal of being with Judy, and that if it weren’t for Judy; Dexter may have had a different outcome in life. Judy’s introduction into the story was Dexter remembering a conversation he had, which was concluded by Miss Jones taking one of the clubs and hitting it on the ground with…
Often times fictional writing can be interpreted as commentary on the condition of humans and society. The work of F. Scott Fitzgerald is no exception to this principle. His most renowned novel, The Great Gatsby, is known for it’s demonstration of a society dictated by money, idealism, and love. Fewer know, however, about Fitzgerald’s earlier work named Winter Dreams. This short story about the life of an ambitious man named Dexter Green shares strong thematic topics with the tragic story of Jay Gatsby. Although the fatal flaws of Dexter Green and Jay Gatsby differ, the derived themes of perception versus reality and the corruption of the American Dream make it evident that F. Scott Fitgerald in fact intended Winter Dreams to be the prototype of The Great Gatsby.…
When Comparing Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “The Lame Shall Enter First” and James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues” many similarities and differences come to mind. In both O’Connor and Baldwin’s short story’s they urge the reader to consider what the lack of fulfillment can do to people’s everyday lives. However, Baldwin addresses the theme of growing up in neglected households while O’Connor relates to the feeling of overall loneliness when it comes to home life.…
In many pieces of American literature, one of the most frequently discussed topics, whether it be blatant to a reader or well camouflaged, is that of The American Dream. Specifically, the perfect “American” life is one of hard work and dedication, meant to turn such work into reward in the form of prosperity and happiness for the worker. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, is a prime example of the use of the concept of The American Dream. Capote perfectly encapsulates the fragility of The American Dream by building up an image of the flawless American family, living surrounded by riches that included more than money, and then taking great care in describing the details of their demise. Through one night of misfortune, a family, nearly the epitome of The American Dream, was torn apart for the entirety of less than fifty dollars. Capote also capitalizes on the despondent fact that those who caused the downfall of “The American Dream”, were the very denizen on the other side of it all.…
During the roaring 1920’s, after the devastations of World War I and 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, people in America began to change their American dreams. They started to rebel against social traditions, lose self-control, and party like never before. F. Scott Fitzgerald dubs the era the Jazz Age, as he reflects on the ambiguities of the American Dream. In Fitzgerald’s short story “Winter Dreams” and the novel The Great Gatsby, there are many similarities between the two main characters, Dexter and Gatsby. Dexter Green and Jay Gatsby epitomize the self-reliant individual; therefore, they are very successful financially; however, they fall short of attaining their full dream for they never get the girl.…
For instance “ Tender is the night” reflects the disillusionment caused by the Great Depression. Likewise, “The beautiful and damned”, “The Rich Boy” and “The Great Gatsby” talked about the Jazz Age or Roaring 20s. He also started to create short sotories that were about young, rich, post-war generation. Without forgetting his childhood and Hollywood experiences inspire him to write “Winter Dreams” and “The last Tycoon”, that actually are the favorites of the people. Fitzgerald favorite subject of writing was the rise and fall of American idealism in the first half of the twentieth…
By transfusing his life story of an American dreamer into a quest of becoming someone, first in “Winter Dreams” and later in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald provoked a continuous incarnation of the American Dream and poles apart in attitude towards his female characters. By being debutantes, popular daughters and a Golden girls, female characters in Fitzgerald’s fiction are always higher in a social ladder than the male characters. However, this does not give the female characters the main role in Fitzgerald’s fiction, but instead, the female higher position is used as the mean of achieving the male hero’s Dream. Therefore, the value of female characters in Fitzgerald’s fiction can be measured in the amount of dollars that they hold. By being…
Upon rereading Fitzgerald’s novel I was intrigued by the themes and motifs that kept cropping up throughout the story—the decline of the American dream and the spirit of the 1920’s, the role of symbols in the human conception of meaning, and the role of the past in dreams of the future. Strangely, many of these themes related to me and made me analyze and view myself, and the world, in ways I never imagined.…
I always believed that I had the perfect family. My parents (and Santa) gave me everything that I ever wanted, my sister and I were best friends, and life was all about having fun. Of course, I was only five at the time. My life was like a sitcom on TV. Boy, how things have changed. The authors Gary Soto and Mike Rose give the reader a glimpse into their childhoods into their stories, “Looking For Work” and “I Just Want To Be Average”. They show us how they both changed their views on life at a crucial point in their lives. They show us their youthful days in their specific surroundings, how their character is shown by helping others, the motivation or lack of it that drives them, and how…
"Winter Dreams" is a standout amongst the most noticeable works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was distributed in "Metropolitan Magazine" in 1922 and in the gathering "All The Sad Young Men" in 1926. This work is constantly contrasted and another Fitzgerald story "The Great Gatsby" as they both touch the point of American dream and dangerous nature of the American life. The story is considered as one of Fitzgerald's finest proclamations on the fanciful and misleading magnificence of the perfect American life.…
An author can create criticism and comment on injustice by examining the society of the time. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses an insightful perspective in the novel The Great Gatsby to illustrate the faults within society and perhaps bring awareness to the audience that there is a need for change. The words “American Dream” offer hope for a life filled with possibilities, including fulfillment and meaningful relationships. Fitzgerald, however, shows how the deterioration of American values leads to the failure of the American Dream. While everyone is so interested in drifting through life accumulating material possessions, they fail to see how the chase has a negative effect on…
Scott Fitzgerald outlined the events and lifestyles of the roaring 20s through his writings “The Great Gatsby” and “The Jelly Bean”, readers learn that wealth and class effected all the decisions and events that occurred. Jim and Gatsby, from the two works, had drastically different lives but had a lot in common when it came to people and how their story ended. Both used wealth and status as a way of gauging someone’s worth, both of them saw wealth and property as a way to get the girl and both ended up losing it all together. By using foreshadowing, irony and symbolism, F. Scott Fitzgerald captures the way of life during the 1920’s and the importance of…
5.4)Challenges and trials: when she escapes to NY her brother end up coming up after high school as well and then eventually so do her crazy parents. She learns to cope with her strange parents “wanting to be poor” ideas her parents want to be poor so they dig through dumpsters and don’t shower and she doesn’t understand why they want to do that. She has to cope with their ways of life and still create…
Another theme that is prevalent in each of these stories is the idea of the “American Dream.” Each of the stories involves parents who have willingly altered their lives in hopes of creating a better future for…
When it comes to American literature, most people think of only the stories that Americans have written throughout American history. They do not think of the Native Americans or the European explorers and settlers that lived in and explored the land. Many of their stories and literature are hard to find, translate, and research since it was a long time ago. However, the natives, the settlers, and the explorers have literature that is just as much of a big part of American literature than any other groups. In these stories the three different groups talk about their social, religious, and economic aspects and through these three things, how they lived their lives in America.…