Olivia's Essay

Olivia Denison

Mr. Salsich

English 9

7 October 2008

Loss Vs. Gain;

An analysis on the theme, “Loss and Gain”, in Sonny’s Blues and Winter Dreams and a consultation of an on-line essay

In the short stories “Sonny’s Blues” and “Winter Dreams”, each of the protagonists lost and gained something significant from their experiences. One had greater losses than gains and the other had greater gains than losses. Dexter Green from the story “Winter Dreams” was successful and, at one point, had a beautiful love interest named Judy Jones. Sonny in contrast, lived in the ghetto and few understood him.

In “Sonny’s Blues”, the protagonist, Sonny, had many losses and gains. For example, Sonny is arrested for a heroin addiction that had plagued him for a few months and his problems result in being in trouble with the law and he lands in jail. While in jail, he has time to think about what he did. Later on, he has a fight with his brother about what he is going to do in life. Sonny explains to his brother that he wants to be a jazz pianist and explains how it felt to be on drugs. His brother, who is a schoolteacher, does not understand how someone could do something so worthless. After their fight, Sonny invites his brother to come and see him play the piano at a gig, where his brother sees how he plays and is surprised how talented he actually is. Sonny’s brother finally realizes that Sonny is doing well and he realizes that his life style is not that bad. “Sonny’s Blues” is an inspirational story because Sonny gained so much by overcoming his heroin addiction, and was able to follow his dreams.

Recently we read the short story, “Winter Dreams”, and as in “Sonny’s Blues”, the protagonist Dexter Green experiences many losses and gains. Dexter is a young boy and is working as a caddy at a golf course and is contemplating whether to quit his job or not. Before he quits, he sees this wonderful, oddly beautiful girl, who needed a caddy. He wanted to start to work so that he could help her, but he could not because his boss had not arrived yet. After his boss arrives, he decides to quit, losing his chance to meet the stunning Judy Jones. Years later, Dexter becomes a very successful businessman. As the years pass, he plays a game at the golf course where he used to work and that night he meets Judy and a romance begins. The loss, which he gains while romancing the gorgeous Judy Jones is that every other man in the town thinks she is attractive and she begins to cheat on Dexter, often. When she is faithful to Dexter, all others are jealous. Ultimately, their relationship ends as Judy pursues another suitor. Many years later, Dexter is informed by a man named Devlin that Judy Jones is married to a drunk and is no longer beautiful. When Devlin tells him this, he starts to cry, because, “Devlin destroys this imaginative present.”(Burhan 3) Then again, if he had married her, she would have lost her beauty anyway. In the Story “Winter Dreams” it is obvious that Dexter looses more then he gains.

The two men in these short stories had very different lives. The irony is that the rich successful man suffered the largest loss in life while the reformed drug addict with past legal troubles eventually followed his dreams gaining success in life. Some people lose more than others and some people gain more than others, while some people’s lives are more tragic than others and some are more successful than others. In the end it all evens out, proving that you do not need to have a perfect life in order to be happy.

Works Cited

Burhan, Clinton S.,Jr., ‘‘‘Magnificently Attune to Life’’’: The Value of ‘‘Winter Dreams,’’’ in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 6, No. 4, Summer 2000, pp. 401-12.

[databaseon-line];http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-dreams (accessed 4 October 2008).