Social Class In Winter Dreams By F. Scott Arlington Robinson

Social class puts people into a certain category based on how much they make and their background. There are different social classes such as lower class, middle class, and upper class. Social class is not a fair way to classify people because all people are doing is comparing themselves to others. Society classifies people as those who are below the poverty line and those who are above the line. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edwin Arlington Robinson writings show how social class affects people directly and indirectly. ‘Winter Dreams’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald and ‘Richard Cory’ by Edwin Arlington Robinson include a similar theme related to social class. To weave the theme throughout their literary works, F. Scott Fitzgerald of ‘Winter Dreams’ uses …show more content…
One symbol that is prevalent is the idea of winter dreams. The symbol winter dreams is Dexter’s desire to be rich; it is there and then gone just like winter. Dexter wants to become a wealthy man to have Judy and he does: “He sets out single-mindedly to advance himself toward his social goals without realizing that his desire to progress beyond his unexceptional circumstances is driven by hope of acquiring what will capture and hold Judy 's attention” (Werlock). The only thing Dexter has his mind on is having Judy and only Judy. Eventually, he has some kind of realization that he cannot have Judy, so he moves on and gets engaged to Irene but continues to think about Judy. Two summers, two falls, and one spring pass since he has been engaged to Irene and all he can think about is Judy and how she changed his life. He is supposed to be engaged to Irene, yet all he can think about is Judy which eventually he can never have her. Another symbol is the character Judy who represents a status symbol. Dexter is trying to be like her. He wants to become wealthy and be in the upper class just like Judy: “He wanted not association with glittering things and glittering people- he wanted glittering things themselves” (Fitzgerald 662). All Dexter was focused on was the materialistic aspect of being rich and that is what he went after. Also, the character Dexter is a symbol of the American dream. He represents the American dream …show more content…
The historical setting of ‘Winter Dreams” is in the early 1920s. The early 1920’s social class was influenced by World War 1 that had just ended in 1918. “In the 1920s social divisions erupted in the postwar years torn by widespread anxiety and distrust” (Divisions). There were many social classes and they were not classified as lower, middle and upper class but rather the KKK, black and white, city and town, wets and drys, religion and science, labor and capital, native and foreign, and reds and Americans (“Divisions”). Social class in the early 1920s did not separate people into three different groups, but rather multiple groups. Individuals were classified into different social classes based on the his or hers beliefs and way of life. The geographical setting is in different places. The setting takes place at a country club near Lake Erminie and an upper class neighborhood, specifically Judy’s house: “He had rather expected that a butler would announce dinner, that there would be a cocktail perhaps. It even offended him that she should know the maid’s name” (Fitzgerald 666). Because Judy’s house is in an upper class neighborhood, he thought that the maid and butler would come out and serve them, but they do not. He was being stereotypical of an upper class neighborhood and Judy’s house. Judy is not necessarily happy where she was living because she changed her demeanor while