Faulkner and Fitzgerald

Like all of the texts read and studied in this unit, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Winter Dream doesn’t meet the whole criteria demanded by William Faulkner’s idea of the writer’s duty, but in some of Faulkner’s demands, does so in an extremely effective way.

F. Scott Fitzgerald succeeds in transmitting to the reader the honour and hope the young man has for his future in this short story. ““The best ------ caddy I ever saw”, shouted Mr. Mortimer Jones over a drink that afternoon. “ Never lost a ball! Willing! Intelligent! Quiet! Honest! Grateful! ””671). Fitzgerald shows us the ambition of the young man, as well as his high expectations in life. The Determination he has in his decisions make him never back down from what he decides, he is solid and determined for what he believes in. ““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. “You don’t----” “I think I’ll quit”(671). Dexter is a determined young man and knows what he wants. Fitzgerald is transmitting his security, honour, and hope. He believes in his future and is willing to fight to fight for his future and for what he wants. Fitzgerald makes the young man’s hope, ambition and honour visible as soon as possible in the story.

Fitzgerald then transmits to us the compassion that starts between the couple, even earlier on in the short story. “The little girl who had done this was eleven- beautifully ugly as little girls are apt to be who are destined after a few years to be inexpressibly lovely and bring no end of misery to a great number of men. The spark however, was perceptible”(671). Fitzgerald makes a beautiful physical description of the girl, and then to give more emphasis adds that “ The spark however, was perceptible”. The life of the young man then goes on, and the “Spark” grows to something strong, and more compassion between him and the young lady follow, with an almost perfect flow of descriptions. “ A lump rose in Dexter’s throat, and he waited breathless for the experiment, facing the unpredictable compound that would form mysteriously from the elements of their lips. Then he saw- she communicated her excitement to him, lavishly, deeply, with kisses that were not a promise but a fulfilment”(677). It starts with a strong physical attraction between both of them and continues to a more serious relationship. She says she loves him, but however has a tendency to run off with other men, and this makes Dexter jealous, because he really loves her. She is uncertain, mysterious, and unpredictable, which makes her word a hard one to believe even in most intimate of times, but Dexter believes her, because of her excellent timing, and because like most men, Dexter is predictable