Winter Dreams

“In the fall when the days became crisp and gray, and the long Minnesota winter shut down like the white lid of a box, Dexter’s skis moved over the snow that hid the fairways of the golf course. At these times the country gave him a feeling of profound melancholy—it offended him that the links should lie in enforced fallowness, haunted by ragged sparrows for the long season. It was dreary, too, that on the tees where the gay colors fluttered in summer there were now only the desolate sand-boxes knee-deep in crusted ice. When he crossed the hills the wind blew cold as misery, and if the sun was out he tramped with his eyes squinted up against the hard dimensionless glare.”

This passage presents a comparison between summer and winter. Winter is confining and restricting, shutting down possibilities “like the white lid of a box.” Dexter is offended that the “links” (the golf course) are covered in snow and surrounded by coldness. The golf course during summer presents Dexter with the opportunity to interact with “glittering people,” whereas in the winter, it is “melancholy” and lonely. It is during this time that Dexter develops winter dreams of what may happen when summer finally arrives, literally and figuratively.

“He became a golf champion and defeated Mr. T. A. Hedrick in a marvelous match played a hundred times over the fairways of his imagination, a match each detail of which he changed about untiringly—sometimes he won with almost laughable ease, sometimes he came up magnificently from behind. 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 springboard of the Erminie Club raft. Among those who watched him in open-mouthed wonder was Mr. Mortimer Jones.”

Dexter dreams of becoming a “golf champion” who not only fits in with members of high society but attracts their admiration. He compares himself to Mr. Mortimer Jones, Judy’s father, and envisions Mr. Mortimer Jones regarding him with “open-mouthed wonder.” Dexter clearly seeks to become “better” and “superior” to those around him. It is no surprise that after having these dreams and meeting Mr. Mortimer Jones’s daughter on the golf course, Dexter decides to quit his job as a caddy. Although his job as a caddy provided him with spending money, he would rather become a member of high society than cater to those who already belong there.