In the very first paragraph of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Winter Dreams," the third person narrator indicates that Dexter Green's father "owned the second best grocery store in Black Bear—the best one was the 'Hub' patronized by wealthy people from Sherry Island—and Dexter caddied only for pocket money." This snippet of information seems to reveal that Dexter comes from a middle class family but that the narrator, and Dexter himself, are keenly aware of the upper class.
Dexter comes from comfortable circumstances. His father, who is revealed at one point as "prospering now," offers to pay for Dexter's education at a state college, but Dexter strives for something else and attends a "more famous university in the east" (possibly Princeton, where Fitzgerald attended) where he is plagued by "scanty funds." Dexter has an obvious fascination for the rich and wants to become one of them. He directly parallels another Fitzgerald character, Jay Gatsby, who buys a giant mansion on West Egg (a symbol for the new rich) across from East Egg (established wealth). Dexter, too, becomes quite wealthy in the laundry business and eventually moves to New York. Like Gatsby, Dexter falls for a selfish and willful girl, Judy Jones (a forerunner of Daisy Buchanan), who comes from established wealth. And, just like Gatsby, Dexter is rejected in the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment