How Is 'Winter Dreams' Modernist?
Modernism Reflection:
WINTER DREAMS by F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
I found F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Winter Dreams” to be very avant-garde and elitist as it tells of the rise of Dexter Green, a hardworking, middle class man who becomes caught up in the pursue of wealth and status. In his quest to be part of the ‘old money’ elite, he meets Judy Jones, a beautiful and youthful woman who further fuels his desire for greater wealth. The story addresses the ‘American dream’ where it was believed that achieving status, materialism and the idea that anything can be bought, even love. Fitzgerald exploited the dream and revealed the inability to achieve it and its tendency to leave characters disappointed.
Other than dealing with the elitist society, the story also displays many features of modern literature. The main character’s obsession for material items and desire to gain wealth was another aspect of the story that made it very modernist. At a young age, he thought he was too young to work as a caddy and strived to obtain greater wealth. This was one of the main qualities of characters in the Modernism time.
Dexter was also a main character that desperately wanted love. His unrelenting quest for love can also be seen as modernist. Judy Jones, the object of his affections, was the woman whom he met at the club that he caddies for at a very young age. He wanted her even though he thought he could not get her. After he quits his job at the golf course he ends up regretting the fact that he is away from his ‘true love’. The affair between the two is told in several subtly uneven and fragmented recounts that play with time as Fitzgerald jump great lengths of time. We are not told how great the periods of time are and it is only through the dialogue, it is shown how much time has elapsed since their last significant meeting.
Another way is which it represents Modernism is the fact that he goes off to war after he sells his laundry business. World War 1 was a big
WINTER DREAMS by F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
I found F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Winter Dreams” to be very avant-garde and elitist as it tells of the rise of Dexter Green, a hardworking, middle class man who becomes caught up in the pursue of wealth and status. In his quest to be part of the ‘old money’ elite, he meets Judy Jones, a beautiful and youthful woman who further fuels his desire for greater wealth. The story addresses the ‘American dream’ where it was believed that achieving status, materialism and the idea that anything can be bought, even love. Fitzgerald exploited the dream and revealed the inability to achieve it and its tendency to leave characters disappointed.
Other than dealing with the elitist society, the story also displays many features of modern literature. The main character’s obsession for material items and desire to gain wealth was another aspect of the story that made it very modernist. At a young age, he thought he was too young to work as a caddy and strived to obtain greater wealth. This was one of the main qualities of characters in the Modernism time.
Dexter was also a main character that desperately wanted love. His unrelenting quest for love can also be seen as modernist. Judy Jones, the object of his affections, was the woman whom he met at the club that he caddies for at a very young age. He wanted her even though he thought he could not get her. After he quits his job at the golf course he ends up regretting the fact that he is away from his ‘true love’. The affair between the two is told in several subtly uneven and fragmented recounts that play with time as Fitzgerald jump great lengths of time. We are not told how great the periods of time are and it is only through the dialogue, it is shown how much time has elapsed since their last significant meeting.
Another way is which it represents Modernism is the fact that he goes off to war after he sells his laundry business. World War 1 was a big