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Idealization in "Winter Dreams"

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Submitted By ghinson
Words 1632
Pages 7
Garrett Hinson
Critical Reading & Writing
Professor Trout
Dexter Green, Judy Jones, and the Ideal: A Love Triangle F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams” examines romantic ideals, following the relationship of Dexter Green and Judy Jones from adolescence to adulthood. Dexter and Judy’s mutual idealizations of one another bring them together at first, but ultimately, the unpredictable waxing and waning of these idealizations keep them apart as time goes on. Eventually, Judy becomes the absolute standard of beauty and desirability for Dexter even after he has married another woman and moved on with his life, and while Judy’s idealizations of Dexter are much more sporadic and seemingly-fickle, they are no less intense. When these waves of idealization intersect briefly, Dexter and Judy seem to be truly in love, but when the waves fade or run against each other, only disappointment and bitterness remain. Dexter first meets Judy on the golf course where he works as a caddy. When she arrives for lessons, her beauty and sense of entitlement are fascinating for Dexter, who is compelled to quit his job rather than carry her clubs. While his feelings for her have yet to take romantic shape, Judy immediately compels Dexter to act drastically (and perhaps irrationally), giving up his position as a respected caddy in a seemingly irrational act of defiance. This development is particularly extreme considering Dexter and Judy do not know each other at all at this point in the story. The narrator tells that Dexter was “dictated to by his winter dreams”, which Judy has now become a part of, beginning the idealization process. The story then skips forward nine years with a page break. Dexter now owns a successful laundry chain and has been welcomed back to the club that he once caddied for as a guest. As the narrator describes the experiences that led Dexter to this point,

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