The Struggle For Identity In Dexter's Dream

Though Dexter seems to have better access to the material portion of the Dream, he builds up his hopes around Judy Jones. When Judy first asks him who he is, Dexter pauses before giving his answer. He thinks about his middle-class upbringing but “chooses the one that suppresses his identity. That is given up easily in our society” (Berman 58). Dexter obscures his past in order to portray himself as the type of man that Judy wants; the stigma of having humble origins pushes him to distance himself from his family and roots. It is easy to give up one’s past when it does not fit into the idea of an affluent socialite. His identity becomes fully shaped by the illusions of a materialistic Dream as he “surrendered a part of himself to the most direct and unprincipled personality with which he had ever come in contact” (Fitzgerald 667). This personality refers to Judy, who Fitzgerald describes as impulsive, fickle, but exceedingly beautiful and alluring to men. At the same
In Kevin Mattson’s historical look at Harlem’s struggle for a democratic urban space, he concludes that, “What Harlemites were discovering could be generalized for many Americans. The culture of consumption and social mobility displaced hopes in a civic consciousness…and a democratic public” (318). Modern society straddles the competing pressures between economic growth and a socially fair citizenship. The phenomenon of equality based on a democratic American identity is taken over by the unrelenting drive for material success that is ingrained into American culture. What happened in Harlem rings true of the consumerist American Dream left unchecked. Without any accountability for the disconnect between the ideal and reality, people are left to grieve as their dreams are rendered false in light of the