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20100304-930 Fitzgerald (Group 4)

Page history last edited by Dawson Zimmerman 14 years ago

Summary

 

We began class by discussing the reasons why Dexter Green wants Judy Jones so much, causing the class to divide over whether he truly loves her or not. It is shown in the text that Dexter tells himself on more than one occasion that he does love Judy. However, it appears that he does not love her for herself, but what she represents--the "glittery things" and the life he wants. Fixated on the physical and material side of the world, he misinterprets love for something superficial. F. Scott Fitzgerald, through the character of Dexter, gives an excellent depiction of a young man who aspires to obtain the American Dream yet is unable to do so. Dexter's inability to achieve the American Dream and the eventual realization of his disillusionment with Judy is Fitzgerald's way of exposing the foolishness that often comes with aggressively chasing the wealth, fortune, luxury, and women: all components of the American Dream.

 

Another idea discussed during class was the similarities between Miller's "Winter Dreams" and The Great Gatsby. Both Fitzgerald stories feature wealthy men who become enraptured with a woman; Daisy and Judy are both representative of the ephemeral nature of the "American Dream."  We ended the discussion briefly mentioning the idea of city versus country; Dexter was brought up in the country as part of middle class, and became a success when he moved to the city. The city once again represents the flourishing, civilized society while the country represents the less fortunate, "uncivilized" society.

 

One last thing that we touched on was that Fitzgerald uses Dexter's past in order to shape the story and how this really shows the American Dream and the true rags to riches story.

 

Word Count: 294

 

Passages

"It is not so simple as that, either. As so frequently would be the case in the future, Dexter was unconsciously dictated to by his winter dreams" (1826).

This passage was interesting because during the story, the reader never finds out what these winter dreams are. Readers can only conclude that his winter dreams involved his aspirations toward wealth and accomplishment.    

 

"Then she dropped her bag and set off at a haughty mince toward the first tee. 'Well?' the caddy-master turned to Dexter. 'What are you standing there like a dummy for? Go pick up the young lady's clubs.' 'I don't think I'll go out today,' said Dexter" (1825).

Dexter does not want to be looked down upon, especially by a girl a few years younger than him. The condescending attitude of Judy towards Dexter makes him quit caddying with the combination of his "winter dreams."

 

"He waited for Judy Jones in her house, and he saw these other young men around him. It excited him that many men had loved her. It increased her value in his eyes" (1830).

This passage alludes to Dexter's "flawless taste." He wants only the best of things in life and views Judy Jones as one of the "glittering things" that he must have. By specifically making a reference to her "value," it makes Judy seem more material and artificial, thus feeding Dexter's desire for such things. 

 

Key Terms

Conspicuous Consumption -- the argument that people spend money on particular goods/services to show off or seem more wealthy. For example: Louis Vuitton, which Prof. Croxall believes is just poop covered in mustard, yet people pay several hundreds of dollars just to have one.

American Dream -- idea that America is a land of opportunity and anyone who is willing to work hard can get ahead.  Powerful idea that motivates people in our country.

Story -- chronology

Plot -- the way in which it is told/the words on the page

Comments (6)

Nicole Thomas said

at 2:50 pm on Mar 4, 2010

Hey guys, I just added a little to the beginning because Im always in class and by the time I get to it, its always done :(
Soooo Im just doing what I can with the time I have.

Katie Simmons said

at 10:30 pm on Mar 5, 2010

I think we should talk about the similarities between the short story and The Great Gatsby? I'm just not sure whether it should be through a quote or in more detail within the summary...probably the summary. What do y'all think?

Caroline Smith said

at 8:22 pm on Mar 8, 2010

I changed the summary around so that we weren't summarizing as much and added a few things here and there. let me know what you think!

Caroline Smith said

at 8:25 pm on Mar 8, 2010

also i'm not sure that the references to prof. croxall are really necessary but if yall want to leave them there for comedy sake then that's fine. just a thought. i want yall's thoughts before i delete those parts out

Dawson Zimmerman said

at 11:30 pm on Mar 8, 2010

I changed some stuff up. I deleted the part about Gatsby and Dexter being opposites because I don't necessarily agree....If anyone wants to add on the stuff about the comparison between Gatsby and Dexter then go for it...that can be some more of our 2nd paragraph. Also feel free to edit whatever I've changed...

Brian Croxall said

at 11:32 pm on Mar 11, 2010

Your notes for "Winter Dreams" do a pretty good job of capturing our discussion. The summary touches on important points such as the question of Dexter's love for Judy, the "American Dream," and the relationship between Gatsby and Dexter. I was a bit surprised at your assertion that Dexter is unable to attain the American dream since it seems pretty obvious that he has gone from rags to riches by the end of the story. Yet, he weeps at the end for the loss of Judy as an ideal, of the representation of what he had thought it would mean to achieve the American Dream. He sees that she doesn't remain the same, and this seems to be hard on him. It's a complicated relationship, but again I'm not sure that I would say that he doesn't achieve the American dream. As might have been obvious from our discussion of Death of a Salesman today, I think the bits about Dexter arranging his story to fit the archetype of the American dream are important as well.

You've got the key terms down. Your passages seem a bit anemic in their explanations. It's hard to write a good one about winter dreams since we didn't really reach a conclusion as to what that means. It's obviously important within the story, but I still don't have a sense of exactly what Fitzgerald is getting at, and your explanation adds nothing to that. The third passage, however, is more to the point.

On the whole, these notes don't seem quite as polished as they could be.

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