It's the classic love story; Boy wants Girl, Girl doesn't want Boy. We meet Dexter Green in his youth, a caddie who encounters a beautiful, rich little girl, the infamous Judy Jones. Instantly, I despised Judy. My instant hate of the character was only rivaled by Dexter's instant love for her. But in that moment, Dexter's life was changed by the Judy.
How I hate Judy, let me count the ways. Her character seems to made from qualities I despise; she's manipulative, abusive, and vain. But she's pretty. Yay for her. I felt like throughout the story I was actually rooting
against Dexter because I didn't want him to end up with her.
But I think after a time Dexter stopped loving the actual Judy. In this pursuit for Judy, a quest he started the first time he met her, he longed for the image that Judy became. She was 'love' and 'success'. By obtaining Judy, Dexter would have reached that perfect idea of love that he craved. So instead of loving a real person, it became this idea or symbol.
The ending gives me mixed feelings. We find out that Judy's life is a mess. No surprise to you, I'm completely delighted that things are going miserably for her. Dexter's in a pretty good spot in life when he finds out what happened to Judy. After learning that she faded and is nothing more than just some woman, below average, nothing special.
I feel bad for Dexter in this part, because his one dream, his perfect image of Judy is gone. Something he once thought of as timeless, a beauty that could never be dulled, has crumbled into a million pieces. As Dexter cries he says, what is in my opinion, the best line.
"Long ago," he said, "long ago, there was something in me, but now that thing is gone. Now that thing is gone, that thing is gone. I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more."
