Dreams in Scott Fitzgerald's Stories

Key words: American Dream, Scott Fitzgerald, May Day, Winter Dreams, disillusionment ABSTRACT The theme of the American dream is explored in many American writings. The dream, in fact, had long existed before but the expression was created as recently as 1931, coined by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America. He wrote of a “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity according to ability or achievement” (Adams, 1931). Since then it has been used with regard to almost any aspect of life in America, both negatively and positively (Frederic I. Carpenter, 1955). Some writings touch upon the increasing motivation with the dream. For example, Scott Fitzgerald, in The Great Gatsby, says to keep on dreaming despite the sorrowful death of Gatsby whose ultimate dream was to have Daisy. He fought for this dream. Through the end of the novel, Fitzgerald was very optimist noting that: “Gatsby believed in the green light…, so, beat on, boats against the current.” However, in his stories May Day and The Winter Dreams, the disillusionment is depicted through the characters who struggle to attain their dreams but also who come out with some difficulties. Fitzgerald draws not an optimistic picture of the characters, each one of whom has a different end with some sorrowful experiences. This article aims to explore the dreams of his characters in these stories, how the post war period shapes their dreams and how Fitzgerald’s view is pessimistic unlike his attitude in The Great Gatsby within the framework of American dream