Dreams prove as a powerful, motivating force, propelling an individual forward into real achievements in life. Conversely, dreams can transpire as blatantly artificial. F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams" depicts the story of Dexter Green, a young man who dreams of achievements and works hard in a real, non-illusionary world to win them. His work in this plain, unromantic world brings him ever closer to the dream world he so desperately wants, while at the same time the dreams show themselves as decaying or empty. Unfortunately, this does not cure him of dreaming and does not push him to abandon his dreams in favor of a healthier attitude. When Dexter embodies all of his dreams in the beautiful Judy Jones, her fickle attitude and the inevitability of her aging destroys Dexter's dream world and dries up the source of his achievements. The author, using paradoxes, shows Judy Jones differently through Dexter's eyes, and reinforces the theme of illusion versus reality.
             F. Scott Fitzgerald uses paradoxes frequently in "Winter Dreams," thus endowing characters such as Judy Jones with a deeper meaning. When Fitzgerald introduces Judy Jones, a young obnoxious girl, he describes her appearance as pretty yet two-folded: "Beautifully ugly as little girls are apt to be who are destined after a few years to be inexpressibly lovely and bring no end to misery to a great number of men" (Fitzgerald, F. Scott, "Winter Dreams," as quoted in Elements of Literature: Fifth Course, Kathleen Daniel, Austin, Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, 1997, p. 589). Furthermore, Fitzgerald portrays Judy Jones ' expression proficiently: "The smile again radiant, blatantly artificial-convincing" (589). Yet again, the author vividly shows Judy Jones's convoluted smile: "She favored him with an absurd smirk-rather, what tried to be a smirk, for, twist her mouth as she might, it was not...