You Win Some and You Lose Some

Wendell Frink

H. Salsich
9English
7 October 2008
Sometimes life is good and we gain something or sometimes life is bad and we lose something. In the two short stories "Sonny's Blues" and "Winter Dreams," both Sonny and Dexter lose something and gain something. It could be a loss of family, like in "Sonny's Blues" or a personal gain like in "Winter Dreams." "Sonny's Blues" and "Winter Dreams," two exceptional short stories, are both about two people with exceptional losses and gains in their lives.
Sonny has had a hard life that usually tends to having losses, but not always. First of all, Sonny has had losses within his immediate family. For example, after Sonny told his brother that he was heading off for the army, he in a sense lost his brother who didn't want him to go. In reality he lost his mother and father due to natural occurrences. Secondly, he has had losses in his life. He lost the ability to attain a reputable job by getting arrested for using heroin and peddling. Also, thanks to his love of music he lost his education because he played music so much. Sonny has had some gains, too. Most importantly he gained his brother’s recognition, which was one of his greatest accomplishments. He also had a personal gain, in which he lived his dream to be a jazz pianist. Sonny may have had many losses in his life, but also, he has had some gains.
Dexter Green had more gains than Sonny did, but his losses were quite strong. Dexter has had several gains. As a child he was one of the poorer families in his town, but as he grew up he gradually accumulated more funds. This all started back when he was fourteen and working as a caddy, he was one of the best caddy's and he made a decent amount of money for a teenager. Dexter had several gains in the area of friendship. There was a young woman in the story named Judy, who Dexter was madly in love with and finally she and Dexter dated. Then, the woman started to see other men and "Dexter [...] finally g[ave] up all hope of Judy (Burhans 2)" and became engaged with a woman named Irene. Throughout his life Dexter had some losses. Dexter lost the love of his life, Judy, to other men, which struck a final blow to Dexter's plans to try and marry Judy. A man named Devlin came to New York and told Dexter that Judy had lost all of her beauty and was now a regular housekeeping mother; he lost her image in his mind which affected him dearly. The story of Dexter Green contains many losses and gains.
If there life is good then they gain something if its bad then they lose something. In both "Winter Dreams" and "Sonny's Blues" losses and gains occur throughout the stories. "There are occasions when it is undoubtedly better to incur loss than to make gain. (Titus Maccius Plautus)" Even though "Sonny's Blues" and "Winter Dreams" are by two different authors they both contain loss and gain.

Works Cited

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