Winter Dreams the American Dream Is a Essay

Winter Dreams

The American Dream is a concept uniquely American which says that if a person is willing to work hard enough, and then they can climb up from their birth station and become successful. This is true except that a person who is self-made, that is to say someone who was born poor and made themselves rich will never be accepted into groups who focus on "old money." Old money families are ones who have been rich for generations and will continue to be so in the future. F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Winter Dreams" is about a boy named Dexter who wants to become rich and comes to associate true success with the winning of the heart of a wealthy woman named Judy. In his interactions with women, his wooing of Judy initially, his engagement, and then her marriage to another person, Dexter shows that he associates the woman he is courting with the level of success he has achieved.

At the start of the story, Dexter is a very poor man who works as a caddy at an expensive golf course. He meets Judy who is the daughter of the man Dexter works for. One day he is told to caddy for her and cannot bring himself to do it. Instead, he says, "I think I'll quit" (Fitzgerald).This is a very important statement because it means that he gives up his employments and his only means of supporting himself because he does not want to be subservient to this woman. For him, she is a goal of a kind and to be seen by her in a lowly position is to admit to himself that he deserves to be a part of the lower class. The only route he has for social mobility is to get away from being a caddy and the only way he can force himself to do so is when he is confronted with the possibility of being her servant.

The next time that woman becomes equal to money is when Dexter decides to get engaged to Irene Scheerer. By becoming engaged to Irene, Dexter has the ability to create a family and home life which will make him happy. However, Irene is not Judy and she is….....