Dexter Green and Leo Finkle - Essay Example

 Dexter Green and Leo Finkle Bernard Malamud’s The Magic Barrel and Scott S. Fitzgerald’s Winter Dreams both revolve round the pursuit of romantic love by young men. The Magic Barrel follows the protagonist, Leo Finkle, as he searches for a wife using the services of a traditional matchmaker, Pinye Salzman. Finkle rejects Salzman’s suggestions and finally insists on being paired with the matchmaker’s own daughter, Stella. Dexter Green, the hero of Winter Dreams, is infatuated with Judy Jones, a rich socialite. His infatuation results in his giving up his chances of marriage. While Finkle and Dexter are similar in their pursuit of girls who represent the American Dream, they differ in their personalities and in their reactions to the results of their search. Leo Finkle and Dexter Green pursue girls who represent the Great American Dream: the hope of happiness, freedom, meaningful relationships and wealth. Finkle rejects Lily Hirschorn, the school teacher who “offers everything a rabbi should require: stability, intelligence, and maturity, to say nothing of a respectable dowry” (Bluestone, 2007). It is obvious to the matchmaker, and to the reader, that Lily is the “acceptable “conventional” choice for the lonely young man” (Bluestone, 2007). However, Finkle wants an attractive, pretty, young girl and chooses Stella: “Salzman’s own rebellious and Americanized daughter” (Bluestone, 2007), who her father describes as “wild – without shame” (Malamud, 1958, 205). Stella, who says that “to be poor was a sin,” (Malamud, 1958, 205), symbolizes the American emphasis on material wealth and Finkle’s break with the old world. In the same way, Green rejects Irene Scheerer, who is “sweet and honorable” and gives him “a sense of solidity” (Fitzgerald, 1922, 669). In her stead, he chooses Judy Jones, who “is a shallow, ultimately cold-hearted woman who is entertained, as Fitzgerald describes, “only by the gratification of her desires and by the direct exercise of her own charm”” (Perkins, 2002). Like Stella, Judy is also enamored of wealth, rejecting a suitor who “was as poor as a church mouse” (Fitzgerald, 1992, 667). Judy epitomizes the “wealth and status” and “the glittering and glamorous world of the rich” (Perkins, 2002) who live the American Dream. In pursuing Judy, Green has “committed himself to the following of a grail”- his Winter Dreams (Fitzgerald, 1992, 667). Stella Salzman and Judy Jones symbolize Finkle’s and Green’s aspirations. In spite of being attracted towards girls who represent the same dreams, Finkle and Green demonstrate markedly different backgrounds and personalities. Finkle is an impoverished and “spiritually wanting rabbinical student, --- deeply dissatisfied with his lonely existence” (Bluestone, 2007). He has no friends and his aged parents are his only family. He has no “time for a social life and the company of women” (Malamud, 1958, 195). Even his search for a wife is instigated by an acquaintance. He is compelled to seek the services of a matchmaker “because he was incapable of doing it himself” (Malamud, 1958, 201). He is indecisive and suffers agonies of uncertainty and embarrassment. “What he seeks is sexual gratification, but he remains, consciously at least, ignorant of the need” (Sloan, 1995). He is naïve, blushes easily and lives a life of penury. He is “befuddled by his sexual awakening” (Sloan, 1995) and the attendant spiritual crises. Even in seeking love, Finkle remains passive, hoping that “love would now come to him” (Malamud, 1958, 202). In contrast, Green is not poor and comes from a middle-class background. Unlike Finkle, Green deliberately plots a course “to gain entry into the glittering and glamorous world of the rich. Through a combination of ambition and hard work,” he becomes a successful businessman and gains acceptance into that world (Perkins, 2002). Green amasses a fortune and easily fits into the “status and power that wealth will afford” (Perkins, 2002), imitating the dress and manners of that class. He is confident in his actions, knows what he wants and sets out to get it. He is an exceptionally capable young man. Unlike Finkle, who rushes to Stella in a riot of confused passions, Green approaches Judy with no illusions as to her character. He is aware of “her glaring deficiencies as a wife” (Fitzgerald, 1992, 669). When he is jilted by Judy, he remains “completely indifferent to public opinion” (Fitzgerald, 1992, 673). Finkle and Green are a complete contrast in character and background. These differences in their personalities lead the two protagonists to react in different ways to the result of their pursuit. Finkle, at the end of the story, is a far cry from the shy, unaware rabbinical student he is at the beginning. He moves from his “state of deprivation, in a loveless prison of self” into a new world of possibility (Bluestone, 2007). His choice of Stella as his wife is “his freely taken first step on the road to sexual maturity” and his “chosen future will become the American future--the new course of assimilation, the cultural break with the Old World” (Bluestone, 2007). Stella is Finkle’s “American Eve” (Bluestone, 2007). By embracing her, Finkle achieves an emotional and spiritual awakening. He is confident that “love has at last come to my heart” and pictures “in her his own redemption” (Malamud, 1958, 206). Whatever be the future consequences of his choice, Finkle, at the end of the story, continues to hold on to his dreams and hopes. Green, on the other hand, loses his dreams. He accepts Judy’s rejection with a certain resignation and does not regret his actions. He could not be cured of his “illusion as to her desirability” (Fitzgerald, 1992, 669). He continues to associate Judy with “the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves” (Fitzgerald, 1992, 667). “As long as he could maintain a vision of Judy as the embodiment of genteel youth and beauty, he could continue to believe in an attainable ideal of power, freedom, and beauty” (Perkins, 2002). Keeping his vision of Judy in his heart, Green goes on to achieve one criterion of the American Dream: the accumulation of material wealth. However, once he hears that Judy has lost her beauty and her vitality, “his dream shatters and he breaks down, overcome by a profound sense of loss --- The world now becomes cold and gray with no point to the accumulation of material objects” (Perkins, 2002). Fitzgerald unequivocally declares, “The dream was gone” (1992, 674). Leo Finkle in The Magic Barrel and Dexter Green in Winter Dreams are young men caught up in the search for love in their lives. Both their women represent the American Dream. However, Finkle and Green are contrasts in backgrounds and personalities. This results in different attitudes and reactions to the climax of their pursuit. Finkle chooses Stella and is poised on the threshold of a new beginning. His dream is set to become reality. On the other hand, once he knows that Judy has lost her past loveliness and youth, Green loses his idealism and lets his dreams die. References. Bernard, Malamud. (year). The Magic Barrel. Title of Book. Name of Editor (Ed). Place of publication. Bluestone, Stephen. (2007). God as Matchmaker: A Reading of Malamud's “The Magic Barrel.” Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 184. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau (Ed). Detroit: Gale. http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.utulsa.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=3308269&site=ehost-live Fitzgerald, Scott S. (year). Winter Dreams. Title of Book. Name of Editor (Ed). Place of publication. Perkins, Wendy. (2002). Critical Essay on “Winter Dreams.” Short Stories for Students. Vol. 15. Carol Ullmann (Ed). Detroit: Gale. http://0-go.galegroup.com.library.utulsa.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420040800&v=2.1&u=utulsa_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w Sloan, Gary. (1995). Malamud's Unmagic Barrel. Studies In Short Fiction, 32(1), 51. http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.utulsa.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9507233933&site=ehost-live Read More