Johnny Cash's song "Hurt" expresses similar themes to both Fitzgerald's works, The Great Gatsby and "Winter Dreams." Gatsby and Dexter, Fitzgerald's characters, are both longing for a woman that represents their ideals. They are delusional to the fact that their ideals cannot be reached and they are both convinced that they can repeat the past. Cash writes, "I wear this crown of thorns/Upon my liar's chair/Full of broken thoughts/I cannot repair/Beneath the stains of time/The feelings disappear/You are someone else/I am still right here." This "liar's chair" that the speaker sits upon represents the delusion that Gatsby and Dexter lived with, as they were past the point of hope in the strive for their ideals. Gatsby and Dexter are hidden "beneath the stains of time" as they will not let go of the past and they are still "right here" while Daisy and Judy, the symbols of their ideals, are "someone else" metaphorically.
Gatsby and Dexter were unable to obtain their ideals due to their delusion and obsession with the past. Cash writes, "What have I become...You can have it all/My empire of dirt/I will let you down/I will make you hurt." This chorus shows the realization of the speaker that he or she is different and that he or she should stop chasing the ideal because nothing is the same as it was in the past. If Gatsby and Dexter had reached this realization, they would not have come to such unfortunate outcomes. "Hurt" closes with the verse, "If I could start again/A million miles away/I would keep myself/I would find a way." This idea of learning from the past and having hope rather than delusion is the way the American Character must proceed to grow and have the chance to achieve other feasible dreams.
Gatsby and Dexter were unable to obtain their ideals due to their delusion and obsession with the past. Cash writes, "What have I become...You can have it all/My empire of dirt/I will let you down/I will make you hurt." This chorus shows the realization of the speaker that he or she is different and that he or she should stop chasing the ideal because nothing is the same as it was in the past. If Gatsby and Dexter had reached this realization, they would not have come to such unfortunate outcomes. "Hurt" closes with the verse, "If I could start again/A million miles away/I would keep myself/I would find a way." This idea of learning from the past and having hope rather than delusion is the way the American Character must proceed to grow and have the chance to achieve other feasible dreams.