An analysis and comparison of Modernist themes of several short stories
Evan Widloski


Cultural revolution from
1910-1945

Rejection of old ways

Disillusionment with city life

Rejection of extravagance and ornamentation
Modernist architecture with clean, rectangular lines


Rejection of old ideas – realism, romanticism

Desire for material things

Protagonist whose dreams are shattered
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Over-indulging culture

Blindness from wealth

Past is inescapable


Follows the life of an ambitious young man

Changes life directions whimsically
– Winter Dreams

Dexter meets a strong-headed girl,
Judy, but she is uninterested in him

 She only cares for wealth
They meet years later and Dexter brags of business success

Judy flirts with other men, and ends up marrying elsewhere

Dexter mourns over the years he lost chasing her


Judy and Daisy play the same role in both stories

 They represent the allure of extravagance and the emptiness from it
Gatsby parallels Dexter Green



Both were ambitious young boys with targets set on success
Focused solely on gain. Material earnings are everything.
Gatsby and Dexter's dreams are destroyed by their overwhelming attraction to prosperity


Charlie is a likeable young man with a sinful past

He seems repenting but his attitude is sly and extremely persuasive

Charlie comes to Paris for the purpose of reclaiming his daughter, Honoria

He is hopeful that he will get to spend time with her
 There is a change of plans: Charlie will not get Honoria, and the story abruptly ends


Both Charlie and Gatsby led consuming lives



Changed their image and were presented as likeable characters
Despite being virtuous their history caught up with them and they pay dearly for it
Their dreams vanish immediately


Gatsby is killed without a fight and uneventfully
Charlie ends the story quickly, unable to bear the pain of losing his daughter


Orrison Brown is asked to take Trimble out to lunch

Brown begins to notice oddities in Trimble's answers

 He wants to see the backs of people's necks and he is fascinated by the weight of spoons
Trimble finally reveals that he spent the last decade drinking heavily and that he is trying to reclaim it

Trimble's odd behavior shows the absolute loss resulting from his alcohol problems and encourages the reader to appreciate the detail of everyday life


Fitzgerald is able to convey so much in this short story


Trimble and Gatsby experience a disconnect


They are both “dreamers”
Drunk by Egon Schiele
Trimble lost a decade to drinking while Gatsby lost 5 years obsessing over Daisy
Orrison Brown and Nick serve as observers
 They both make mental remarks, but never directly ask what they are thinking


Fitzgerald

Images:
 http://fitzgeraldmusings.blogspot.com/2011/04/he-knew-shewas-lying.html
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/2006-06-
05_1580x2900_chicago_modernism.jpg
 http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium/drunkinspired-by-egon-schiele-udi-peled.jpg
Sources
 http://gutenberg.net.au/fsf/WINTER-DREAMS.html
 http://gutenberg.net.au/fsf/BABYLON-REVISITED.html
 http://www.gutenberg.net.au/fsf/THE-LOST-DECADE.html