The New Perceptive of Men
...us to make money. Horace declares, “Well, I’ve been thinking it over, and I believe I’d like to try it. I could work at night and on Saturday afternoons--and regularly if the pay is high enough.” (17). This example shows how Fitzgerald writes about a very, intelligent man who throws it all away, so he can support his family. He leaves the reader thinking that Horace is either crazy or a loving husband. At the end of this story, Horace goes from a lonely person attending college to having a family and joining the circus. Similar to the previous story, “Winter Dreams” reveals their character as having intelligence, but Dexter also possesses wealth . When Dexter is young he notices a carefree girl named Judy Jones. Then as he gets older, he sees her again and has enough courage to spring up a conversation. He immediately falls in love with her. Fitzgerald seems to write many short stories that have a love-at-first-sight meeting comparable to this one. One passage reads, “It did not take him many hours to decide that he had wanted Judy Jones ever since he was a proud, desirous little boy.” (“Winter Dreams” 226). For the next year, Dexter then follows Judy wherever she goes. Unfortunately for him, he realizes she lives a life of wanting freedom with many men. In this instance, Dexter recognizes that he must move on, so he gets involved with an another woman. He changes his lifestyle by becoming a wealthy, businessman. Then one day, after his engagement with another woman, Judy comes back into his life. Fitzgerald writes about Judy desperately wanting Dexter back, “I’d like to marry you if you’ll have me, Dexter. I suppose you think I’m not worthy having, but I’ll be so beautiful for you, Dexter.” (232). After hearing this, Dexter declines which throws the reader off because he has always wanted to marry Judy. He gets a chance to spend the rest of his life with her, but he chooses not to because he has lost his love for her. F. Scott Fitzgerald does a great job of a character reversal here because he made the reader think Dexter was going to take her back. In contrast, “The Bridal Party’s” main character shows uniqueness because Michael does not have wealth or intelligence at the beginning of the story. He has a relationship with a girl named Caroline, but loses her because of money problems. Caroline later ends up getting engaged to another man and Michael gets invited to “The Bridal Party” and wedding. He goes to “The Bridal Party” to see Caroline in hope of getting her back. When Caroline first sees Michael, she gets that feeling back for him. “Then it happened---Caroline saw deep into him, and Michael knew that she saw. She saw through to his profound woundedness, and something quivered inside her, died out along the curve of her mouth and in her eyes. He had moved her. All the unforgettable impulses of first love had surged up once more; their hearts had in some way touched across two feet of Paris sunlight. She took her fiancé’s arm suddenly, as if to steady herself with the feel of it.” (The Bridal Party 563). Although she gets this feeling back, she brushes it o...