In ‘Winter Dreams’, the ending is unexpected. Throughout the story, we are under the impression that this is the story of Dexter Green's love for Judy Jones. But at the end of the story, once Dexter finds out that Judy has lost her charms and settled into a bad marriage, we begin to wonder if this story is about something else entirely. Dexter does not weep for Judy. He weeps for himself, for the young man he once was and for the illusions he once held.
The final episode occurs seven years after the war. Dexter is now a very successful businessperson in New York City. Devlin, a business acquaintance from Detroit, makes small talk by remarking that one of his best friends in Detroit, at whose wedding Devlin ushered, was married to a woman from
Dexter’s hometown. At the mention of Judy’s name, Dexter pumps Devlin for more information and learns that Judy’s life has become an unfortunate one indeed—her husband drinks and runs around with other women while she stays at home with the children. Worst of all, though, is the fact that she has lost her beauty. When Devlin leaves, Dexter weeps, not so much for the fact that Judy’s physical beauty has faded, but that something spiritual within him has been lost: his illusion, his youth, his winter dream. It isn’t winter dream but winter nightmare. This plot is the conclusion of “Winter Dreams,” Dexter’s cherished perception of Judy is destroyed, and he suffers the loss of an essential part of himself—the ability to live through his memories in “the country of illusion, of youth, of the richness of life, where his winter dreams had flourished.” Dexter’s pain as he realizes what “had been taken from him”. His dream dies before he does-- is subject to conjecture.
In the story “A Christmas Story” By Annie Dillard she begins the story describing a fest in a banquet hall that look amazing. At the banquet there were two thousand Chandeliers that were hanging from the ceiling. The author describes how the floor was looking and how it has many different colors of woods and details. Also, there were different activities at the fest like games and dancing. At the banquet there was a section that was for people that were not feeling good or was hurt. Children play with one another and they are having fun and enjoying themselves at the barguest. The fest lasted all night long and guest sat at a long table that went down the middle of the hall. The table was decorated with many colors and theme sand tableware;
In "First Day of Winter," by Breece D’J Pancake stories, “First Day of Winter” is the twelfth and the last selection of them. The story is about the edgy circumstances of a West Virginia farmer called Hollis. A single man as yet still living on the farm of his family, Hollis battles to make ends meet as he watches over his weak parents. His decrepit mother declines to bathe, "her mind half gone from blood too thick in her veins;" on the other hand, his dad, "now coughing and blind," is "bent with age, with crying" (163, 168). The only sibling of Hollis, Jake, has left the homestead, wedded, fathered two youngsters and turn into a minister. Due to this Hollis’s parents hover over him and persistently remind him that his sibling "has done fine
The above quote is representative of Dexter’s trials and tribulations on a daily basis and in a way, of every individual’s too. The quote suggests that each one of us have an alternate true self which may come out to surprise us any day. Where does this alternate self dwell? It dwells deep inside our unconscious mind. The question that arises then is why do we hide our alternate true self even from ourselves? It’s because reality is too terrible and traumatic for us to be able to handle it. It provokes too much anxiety for our conscious mind. In order to prevent our unconscious mind take over, we twist and distort reality and keep pretending that everything is just fine. The unconscious mind plays these neat tricks every moment on us, so that we can blend into the crowd and avoid numbing pressure of reality and go sleep at night.
The snow woman, a short story written by Norah Burke, brings the reader into the lives
Little did Dexter know that Judy was going to play him like she has played every other man in town, dinner, dates, and get booted to the curb when she got bored. Judy preyed on Dexter’s so-called love throughout his childhood, adulthood, and his engagement with Irene. Dexter and Judy’s relationship was based off Dexter’s dream to have the prettiest girl even if she couldn’t be
One day David Sedaris and his siblings were kicked out of the house by their mother on a cold winter day. In the story “Let It Snow” David Sedaris explains the event that transpired on this cold day. The children had had a couple of snow days in a row in North Carolina, and Sedaris’ mother was beginning to get fed up with her children.
In the book, “The Boys of Winter,” the author is making his attempt to show the reader that not only was the 1980 US Olympic hockey team not just great but also special. This team had a dream and it was to win an Olympic gold medal and for this big achievement there also is a need for a coach willing to accomplish a miracle. The improbably American adventure was one of the greatest sports moments of the 20th century. Their Soviet opponents were the best hockey team in the world at the time and didn’t think anything of their American opponents. As the American players arrived in lake Placid, NY little did anyone know that these 20 young men would captivate a country? This book describes the physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that
The plot of “Winter Dreams” is similar to a fairy tale. The story begins with a middle class young boy dreaming of fame and fortune. Dexter always will want more in life than he already does. He worked as a caddy and dreamed of one day golfing with these rich men. He first saw Judy Jones as a young boy. Like a fairytale, there’s “love at first sight”. Any fairytale would have ended this story with Dexter and Judy falling in love and spending the rest of their
...ng this unattainable reality. The happiest time of his life was the beginning when he spent his days on the golf course in the summer months as a caddy. Once started to have his winter dreams, he never looked back on the past until it was too late. When the story unravels at the end, Dexter unveils his true emotions about how his life never found purpose or fulfillment. He often believed that purpose and fulfillment would be found in material possessions and the people he was with. Throughout the short story, “Winter Dreams”, Dexter anticipated that financial stability and attaining the unattainable would lead to contentment, but it would eventually lead to the destruction of his life.
Dexter had to keep himself from forgetting he cannot have Judy Jones. In the end of the story Dexter has come to a conclusion he could not have Judy, “When autumn had come and gone again, it occurred to him that he could not have Judy Jones. He had to beat this into his mind, but he convinced himself at last. He lay awake at night for a while and argued it over. He told himself the trouble and the pain she had caused him, he enumerated her glaring deficiencies as a wife”(p 974). While Dexter cared for Judy he felt that he need to forget her since he knew he could never really have her full attention. While he knew he could never have her he knew he could never have her he meet her again and falls for her all over again one last time and this time it was her that was convincing him to date once again. "I'm more beautiful than anybody else," she said brokenly, "why can't I be happy?" Her moist eyes tore at his stability--her mouth turned slowly downward with an exquisite sadness: "I'd like to marry you if you'll have me, Dexter. I suppose you think I'm not worth having, but I'll be so beautiful for you, Dexter"(p 977). While Dexter was not too sure how to feel he didn't know how to react to this, with Judy he
Tobias Wolff is framing his story Hunters in the Snow, in the countryside near Spokane, Washington, where three friends with three different personalities, decided to take a trip to the woods for hunting in a cold, snowy weather. The whole story follows the hunting trip of these three friends. The reader can easily observe that the cold, hostile environment is an outward expression of how the men behave towards one another. Kenny, with a heart made of ice is rather hostile to Tub, while Frank is cold and indifferent to Tub and his pleas for help.The environment is matching the characters themselves, being cold and uncaring as the author described the two from truck when they laughed at the look of Tub: “You ought to see yourself,” the driver said. “He looks just like a beach ball with a hat on, doesn’t he? Doesn’t he, Frank?”(48). Near the beginning of the story the cold and the waiting surely creates an impact in the mood of the character. Tub is restless from the wait and the cold adds on to it. He complains about being cold and Kenny and Frank, his friends tell him to stop complaining, which seems to be very unfriendly. Wolff builds up the story on the platform of cold weather and the impact of the cold on each character slowly builds up.
The characters of Hunters in the Snow are more human than most characters found in fiction. Tobias Wolff did not go for an outlandish approach to repeat Mark Twain in his quote “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” Kenny, Frank, and Tubs have skeletons in their closet just like any other people. Although these three men are somewhat terrible people in their own way they are still people. The most innocent of these men is Tubs. Tubs, overweight and sensitive, attempts to maintain a clear conscience by justifying his actions no matter how
yesterday was Wednesday January 20, 2016. Yesterday was a great day. Carter, Cameron, and I decided to hang out at cameron’s house. After we got there we came to the conclusion that we should go and walk on the ice. We figured the ice would be thick enough for us to walk on and boy were we wrong.
To divorce an adored wife for a woman who will undoubtedly never love back seems unreal and comfortless. But for Dexter Green, in “Winter Dreams,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this will become a heartless reality. Dexter Green makes it his most important goal to capture the love of a beautiful young woman. However, the girl has no interest in having a long-term, serious relationship with Dexter. Dexter will, unfortunately, find out the hard way that his goal will be fulfilled under different circumstances. Although, from the start of Dexter’s ominous journey, he believed his love for Judy would progress to an even greater state. Many would suppose he was fighting a losing battle from the beginning of his journey. Fitzgerald’s
Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” depicts a man remembering and examining his childhood. The speaker recalls how his father worked tirelessly despite receiving no recognition or appreciation. The father continued to labor everyday for his family because the strength of his love overpowered the despair of the thankless job that his son could not understand.