Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams" was an interesting read because it seemed so straight forward that maybe I've missed the deeper meaning. The descriptive imagery was something I noticed right off the bat with Fitzgerald's work, especially in the line "the long Minnesota winter shut down like the wite lid of a box" (1823) almost trying to show how confining and depressing Dexter's life is. To escape this death-like grip he becomes smart with money and seeks fame, "He wanted not associations with glittering things and glittering people - he wanted the glittering things themselves" (1826). To Dexter the ultimate "glittering thing" is Judy Jones, a shallow girl who plays men like puppets. Judy seemed a lot like "Daisy Miller" to me in how she plays with men and isn't aware of her effect. Dexter is also incredibly reminiscent of Winterbourne in that he wants to posess Judy, yet doesn't really know anything about who she is as a person. Judy is easily distracted by men, "When a new man came to town everyone dropped out-dates were automatically canceled" (1832) yet Dexter doesn't care. He throws aside a woman who truly loves him, knowing what he knows about Judy, to be with her anyway. It seems that Fitzgerald is making some type of statement about women being the downfall of men or how women are easily exploited. I keep coming back to the line in the story, "She would have been soiled long since had there been anything to soil her, - except herself" (1835) which I think is Fitzgerald's way of saying anyone can be the cause of their own downfall. Judy cannot be touched no matter what she does or what men do to her, only she can be the cause of her own destruction.
My critical question that I give to everyone is what is Fitzgerald trying to say about the Judy character and/or women in general? Are people really the cause of their own doom or are outside influences the factor?
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