""You damn little mean old thing!" cried Miss Jones wildly.
..."See in text(Part I)
Characters are developed in a story in several ways, including what the character says and does. When Judy is prevented from playing golf, her outrageous behavior indicates that she is not used to being told no and not getting what she wants.
"Again, stepping from a Pierce-Arrow automobile, like Mr. Mortimer Jones, he strolled frigidly into the lounge of the Sherry Island Golf Club-- or perhaps, surrounded by an admiring crowd, he gave an exhibition of fancy diving from the spring-board of the club raft. . . . Among those who watched him in open-mouthed wonder was Mr. Mortimer Jones...."See in text(Part I)
Dexter’s boyhood fantasies reflect his desire to inhabit the wealthy upper-class society of the Sherry Island Golf Club where he caddies each summer, a society that seems glamorous to him. He dreams of impressing the members of the club by demonstrating amazing talents and winning their acceptance and admiration. Dexter’s fantasy of strolling “frigidly” into the club’s lounge suggests his desire to feel utterly self-confident and superior to those he now envies. Dexter’s boyhood fantasies relate to a central theme in the text regarding class mobility in American society.
"that would lessen the gap which lay between his present and his past...."See in text(Part II)
Despite his early success in business and his dreams of becoming a member of the wealthy elite, Dexter seems uncomfortable with the “gap which lay between his present and his past.” His discomfort suggests recognition that his ambition has separated him from himself or has caused a divide between who he really is and whom he is trying to become. The passage subtly suggests that Dexter’s winter dreams are leading him astray.
"the quality and the seasonability of these winter dreams varied, but the stuff of them remained...."See in text(Part II)
Dexter’s “winter dreams” refer specifically to his boyhood fantasies described in part I, but his dreams don’t end there. Dissatisfied with his station in life, Dexter continues to dream about the life he imagines living, with each new scenario expressing the same desire: to overcome his middle-class personal background and transcend his social class.
"it disturbed him that her smile could have no root in mirth..."See in text(Part III)
The passage also echoes the description of Judy’s smile when Dexter first met her: “blatantly artificial.” Judy’s character traits seem to have been set when she was a child and have not changed.
"This feeling was accentuated..."See in text(Part III)
In context, “accentuated” means increased in intensity. Dexter’s disappointment about Judy’s simple attire is intensified when she, rather than a butler, announces that dinner could now be served. Dexter’s illusions about having dinner at Mortimer Jones’s fine home prove to be unrealistic.
"Irene was light-haired and sweet and honorable, and a little stout, and she had two suitors whom she pleasantly relinquished when Dexter formally asked her to marry him.
..."See in text(Part IV)
Fitzgerald’s develops the character of Irene Scheerer as a literary foil for Judy Jones. A foil in literature is a character whose traits emphasize the opposite traits in another character. Irene’s traits are opposite of Judy’s. Instead of being slender like Judy, she is “a little stout,” suggesting she is not as attractive as Judy. Irene is “sweet and honorable,” traits that emphasize Judy’s selfishness, deception, and dishonorable conduct. Irene’s ending her relationships with her two suitors “pleasantly” suggests that she treated them with respect, unlike Judy who humiliates her suitors before dropping them without notice or explanation.
"There was all the ecstasy of an engagement about it, sharpened by his realization that there was no engagement...."See in text(Part IV)
Dexter’s intense romance with Judy creates in him the joy of being engaged to marry her, but he recognizes the reality that she has made no commitment to him.
