“Winter Dreams” is a short story in the Realist and Modernist literary genres. Realist literature is centered on capturing people and the world as they really are. (This is opposed to Romanticism, a literary movement that sought to tell unbelievable tales of heroism, love, and more.) Fitzgerald intentionally renders much of the setting of “Winter Dreams” true-to-life, such as the fierce Minnesota winters, the tense class and gender dynamics that took place on golf courses in the early 20th century, and the fact that many men fought in World War I (as Dexter does in the story).
This story is also an example of literary Modernism, a genre that emerged in the early 20th century. Building off of Realism, Modernism sought to capture the unique struggles of (oftentimes oppressed) people in the post-war, post-industrial modern world. For example, Fitzgerald centers his story on a middle-class protagonist losing his sense of self as he strives to attain the American Dream by becoming a wealthy businessman with a beautiful and wealthy wife. Rather than having the story end with Dexter achieving all that he wants and becoming happy, Fitzgerald has him end the story disillusioned and alone, a definitively Modernist choice.
