i
IN TENDER IS THE NIGHT
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By Sunardi
Student Number : 934214035
Student Register Number : 930051120106130035
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
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complete this thesis after all those problems that prevent me to finish this thesis. Because of His blessings that I finally could complete this thesis.
Secondly, I would like to show my gratitude to Drs. Bambang Hendarto , M.Hum who has been willing to guide me in the beginning of writing this thesis. My deepest gratitude goes to Dra. Th. Enny A.. M.A. who is willing to spend her precious time to guide me in correcting and improving this study. Without their guidance, I will not be able to complete this thesis in time.
I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my father and mother who have been patient enough in encouraging me to finish the thesis. Their prayers and blessing will always be in my heart. My special thanks also go to my sister and brother, I thank them for all their understanding and support. I dedicate this thesis to all of them to show my respect and love .
Last but not the least, I would like to thank Utari, Hans, Yoesiantoro and Suryo who are continuously warning me with the dead line in submitting this paper. These guys are indeed friends, not a friend in need. Thanks for your encouragement in the last minutes before I am being dropped out from my study because of being unable to complete the thesis.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
PAGE OF TITLE………..i
PAGE OF APRROVAL………..ii
PAGE OF APRROVAL……….iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT………....iv
TABLE OF CONTENT………..v
ABSTRACT………..vii
ABSTRAK………...viii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION………...1
A. Background of the Study…...………1
B. Problem Formulation……….5
C. Objectives of the Study……….5
D. Benefits of the Study……….6
II THEORETICAL REVIEW………...7
A. Elements of Literature...……….7
B. Literature and Biography………...9
C. The Biography of Fitzgerald………11
III METHODOLOGY………..17
IV ANALYSIS…….………..21
A. The elements of the story which reflect Fitzgerald’s life………...….21
A.1. Setting………...22
A.2. Characters………28
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BIBLIOGRAPY………49
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ABSTRACTSunardi : The Reflection of Fitzgerald’s life in Tender Is the Night
Tender Is the Night is Fitzgerald’s longest and most ambitious novel intended to become his masterpiece. The novel reveals the tragic story of a man who is ruined by his own faults. It is the story about the young and clever psychiatrist who marries his wealthy mental patient because his need of being needed by her and because he likes to enter the top class society. The novel itself strongly reflects the biography of the author although the author still uses his creative invention in writing the book.
The objectives of this study is to find out which elements of the story which reflects the life of the author and what is the intentions of the author in writing the novel by putting his own life into the story.
The approach used to analyze this thesis is the biographical approach. In order to find out what are the similarities and differences between the novel and the author’s life, we have to know the life of the author thoroughly. The biographical approach seems to be the most appropriate tool in comparing and analyzing the novel and the life of the author. From the analysis we will be able to see how sometimes author is inspired by his own life in writing his book.
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Tender Is the Night adalah novel Fitzgerald yang paling panjang and ambisius yang di harapkan menjadi puncak karyanya. Novel ini mengungkapkan cerita tragis tentang seseorang yang jatuh karena kesalahannya sendiri. Buku ini bercerita tentang seorang dokter yang mau mengawini pasiennya yang menderita sakit jiwa dan kebetulan kaya raya. Dokter itu mau kawin dengan pasien itu dengan alasan karena dia akan merasa selalu dibutuhkan oleh seseorang dan dia juga akan memasuki klas sosial yang tinggi. Buku ini sendiri secara kuat merefleksikan kisah hidup yang di alami pengarangnya walau pengarang buku ini masih malakuakn kreasi dalam menuliskan pengalaman hidupnya.
Tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini adalah untuk mencari bagian-bagian dari novel ini yang secara meyakinkan merefleksikan kisah hidup pengarangnya dan juga untuk menemukan apa tujuan pengarang dalam menulis novel ini.
Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan biografi. Untuk mengetahui persamaan dan perbedaan antara buku ini dan hidup pengarangnya, kita harus mengetahui secara detil biografi pengarang buku ini. Pendekatan biografi sangat tepat di pakai dalam menganalisa skripsi yang bertujuan untuk melihat sejauh mana buku ini mengungkapkan kisah hisup pengarangnya.
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literature is a reflection of human life since it presents and brings its readers
back to the reality of life. Although it is the reflection of human life, literature does
not merely copy life as it is. It is always recreated in a new and different way.
Literature is also presented in an interesting and beautiful way. Indeed it enchants us
to read it.
Literature is needed in our lives because it pleases us. We like reading any
literary works since there are some impulses behind our need of reading the works. In
Understanding to the Study of Literature William Henry Hudson declares that we
enjoy reading literary works because it is important for our self-expression, for our
interest in what other people do, for our interest in the reality of world in which we
live, for our fulfillment of our imagination, and for our love of its form and beauty.
( 1958:11 )
Literature is able to please us because what is expounded there is about our
own lives. It is a kind of mirror that reflects ourselves. It is the nature of every man
that we are interested in and curious about the way people live their lives. Trough
literature we can see how people live with their cultural background differently.
In his book, Understanding Fiction, Francis Conolly says:
Literature is then created because it fulfils our need of pleasures and aesthetic
feelings by imitating our lives or created life from the process of creative invention of
the authors. In writing his works, usually an author uses either his experience in life
or his imagination in order to dramatize his works or to make them more interesting.
Trough literature we will learn a great deal of things. We may learn the
cultural context which is completely new and different from our daily life and
activities. We may even encounter with people from different social background and
culture. Indeed, literature is very rich with the disparities between one culture and
another. Literature also enables us to recognize human problems and struggles as to
help us develop our mature sensibility and compassion for all aspects of our lives.
Literature will provide us with abundant knowledge, understanding, and perception of
which of course helpful in our process of growing mature and wise.
By reading a great literary work we will exercise our emotion through
excitement, hope, laughter, fear, sympathy, or even regret. We can make any
comparison between the positive and negative things we may find in a literary work.
From the comparison we make, we can judge or decide what is good and what is bad
for our lives. Literature really assists us in shaping our judgment about ourselves.
Among many forms of literature, fiction is one of the forms which is widely
read. It is the most famous form of literature which many people prefer to read and
enjoy. People prefer to read it because of its content, simplicity, and beauty. Fiction
itself is a made-up story telling about characters and their problems. Philip Stevick in
The Theory of The Novel states:
The novel, more than any other genre, is capable of containing large, developed, consistent images of people, and this is one of the reasons that anyone reads novels. The novel, more than any other genre can give form to a set of attitudes regarding society, history, and the general culture of which the novel is a part.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the modern American writers who is highly
praised for his craftmanship in writing. He is the writer who voiced the Jazz Age and
its hilarious and gay time during the Twenties. Many critics regard him as the
spokesman of the age. He was the most important and representative writer of the
1920's. His writing career started with his first novel written during his college years
at Princeton. His first novel was This Side of Paradise and it brought him
immediately into a fame when it was published in 1920. After writing the novel,
Fitzgerald wrote another novel called The Beautiful and Damned which was also
successful. His writing career reached its highest point by the writing of his third
novel The Great Gatsby. It is a novel about the Jazz Age and the American dreams.
Fitzgerald was admitted as a great writer for his ability and talent in writing his third
novel. The way he used his craftmanship in writing the novel was so perfect that he
became the most famous writer during the Twenties in America.
After reading Fitzgerald's works, people start noticing that there are similarities
between his life and his books. They are convinced by the facts that Fitzgerald
frequently puts his own life and experience in most of his works. Some of his works in
a way really resemble Fitzgerald's life although Fitzgerald still uses his creative
invention in writing his books. People believe that Fitzgerald reflects his life into his
story because they can easily recognize it in the book. They start believing that
Fitzgerald has projected himself in the story he writes. By comparing his life and his
stories people can see how much Fitzgerald uses his life , experience, and his feelings
as the inspirations of his works.
After the publication of The Great Gatsby in 1925, Fitzgerald seemed to loose
his craftmanship because he could not produce any new novels except some short
stories for commercial magazines for sometimes. After nine years of bareness, finally
Fitzgerald wrote the story of a young psychiatrist who married his wealthy patient
suffering from schizophrenia because of an incestuous attack from her father.
Tender Is the Night is the longest novel Fitzgerald had ever written.
Fitzgerald intended the novel as his masterpiece as he was not really satisfied with his
previous novel. The book itself had become the legend before it was published in
1934. People had been curious enough to wait Fitzgerald's new book to publish since
he had promised them to write a better book. Because of the domestic problems
Fitzgerald had with his wife, he could only complete the book in nine years. This long
period of waiting had generated high expectations among people and especially the
reviewers.
When Tender Is the Night was finally published in 1934, there were various
reaction from people as a public reader and critics. The reviewers were not hostile, nor
did they attack Fitzgerald for writing the unfashionable subject of the extravagant life
practiced by the Americans expatriates in Europe as written in Tender Is the Night.
They were only expressing their disappointment since they had expected some
improvements of Fitzgerald's craftmanship in the book, but in fact they did not find it.
The novel was less appreciated and in a way it was a failure for Fitzgerald. These
reviews are well collected by Andrew Turnbul in his book titled F. Scott Fitzgerald, a
biography
Despite the hard criticism of the book, actually Tender Is the Night in some
respects was better than Fitzgerald's previous novel, The Great Gatsby. It was also
the most ambitious project Fitzgerald had ever intended to write. In his book entitled
The Literature of The United States, Cunliffe states:
The reviewers were too hard on Tender Is the Night though recent critics have more than redressed the balance. In some respects it is a better book than The Great Gatsby; it is more ambitious and reveals an even more sensuously alert intelligence. Tender Is the Night is abundantly talented. ( 1959:279 )
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On the other hand, some other critics also give a good judgement about the
book. According to Henry Seidel Candy in F Scott Fitzgerald, In his own Time,
edited by Brucolly, Tender Is the Night is interesting and brilliant. In theme, setting,
characterization and in the difficult art of narrative, the book promises its important
.( 1971:371 )
Having read Tender is the Night, the writer of this thesis has become
interested in the richness of the theme, characterization, and setting of the story. The
novel reveals the description of human characters and relationship in the era of
hedonism in which Fitzgerald had experienced by himself. To some extends, the
characters , setting and theme of the novel reflect novel reflects Fitzgerald's life and
experience . Based on his pre analysis, the writer is curious enough to find out what
are the similarities and differences between Fitzgerald’s life and the novels,
particularly in Tender is the Night. Acknowledging that Fitzgerald is also famous for
his semi-autobiographical works, the writer of this thesis has decided to analyze this
subject as the object of his thesis.
B. Problem Formulation
In conducting the analysis, the writer formulates the discussion into two problems as
follows:
1. What are the elements of the story that reflect Fitzgerald's life?
2. What does Fitzgerald want to convey by writing the novel?
C. Objectives of theStudy
The objectives of this study is to answer the problems formulated above. By
analyzing the elements of the story such as characters, setting, and theme, we will
characters, setting, plot, and theme as to expound his own life, his tragic marriage with
Zelda, his experience while staying in Europe as the sources of the novel.
By discussing the second problem formulation, we will see what are
Fitzgerald’s intentions in writing the novel. From this discussion we will be able to
see what does actually Fitzgerald intend to say or do by presenting his life into the
story.
D. Benefits of the Study
The writer likes to conduct this study because of several reasons. By
conducting the analysis we will be able to see how very close the relation between
Fitzgerald's life and most of his works are, especially his life experience with Tender
Is the Night. This study will enable us to see how the biographical information are
sometimes very significant to an author's work. By acquiring an author's biography we
will have a better understanding and appreciation of his work. From the analysis of
the study we will see what does Fitzgerald create in the story and what kind of life
experiences inspiring him in the writing of the novel. In short we will have a deeper
and better appreciation toward the close relation between Fitzgerald and Tender Is the
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Elements of Literature
As stated on the previous chapter , the writer of this study would like to
analyze the element of the novel related to the biography of its author. After reading
through the novel and making the comparison between Tender Is the Night and
Fitzgerald’s life, the writer is curious enough to prove his first hypothesis that in
some aspects, the novel directly or indirectly resembles Fitzgerald’s life. To back up
his hypothesis into a solid analysis, the writer needs the tools to conduct his study.
In conducting the analysis, the writer would like to limit his study on the elements
of the novel which are obviously and clearly presented by Fitzgerald as to reflect his
life. Among many elements of the novel, the writer found that the setting,
characters, and theme are clearly created from Fitzgerald’s life and his
experiences.
A.1. Setting
In Fiction, Roberts and Jacobs describes some terms for the description of
setting. According to them, setting is a place where the characters in the fiction live
and move. Setting in here covers the natural environment, the time, space, time,
weather, light, cloth, building, etc. What is important to be notified from this term is
the background of the novel because of its strong reasons in influenting the
characters’ way of thinking, living, or behaving.( Roberts and Jacobs: 190) In
Understanding Fiction, Conolly further emphasizes the importance of setting to
other elements of the story “ Setting is in a sense the time, place, and concrete
situation of the narrative, the web of environment in which characters spin out their
destinies”. ( 1954 : 14 )
A.2. Characters
There are many descriptions of characters described by writers. In describing
this term, they put some stresses to its importance toward the story. On the other
hand, sometimes we are also confused its description with the description of
characterization. To avoid this confusion, we should first distinguish the description
between character and characterization. In The Mirrors and The Lamps, Abrams describes characters as the persons in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with
moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say and they do.
( 1971 :20 )
Characterization is clearly described by Roberts and Jacobs as the major traits
of the characters. A character may be characterized as lazy, hotheaded, stubborn,
ambitious, honest, brave and so on. ( 1987 : 119 ) From the descriptions between
characters and characterization above, we will not be confused anymore with the two
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A.3. Theme
As one of the elements in the narrative works, theme is the most important
aspect in the story. A writer usually starts writing his work after finding an idea for
the story he is about to write. Theme is not necessarily stated or implied directly in
the story. It may be implied in the whole story and interpreted in a single short
sentence freely. However, the theme is not merely a moral teaching or something like
this ( 1987 : 318 ).
Roberts and Jacobs further write that the theme of the story is supposed to be
developed from the story itself and that it embodies the implied idea in the story. A
careful reading and clear thinking is needed in catching the idea of the story correctly.
People may have different idea from the same story they read, it may happen either
because they have different point of view in seeing a thing or because they sense
something differently. Literature itself is very open for different interpretations as
long as we still stick to the facts found in the story.
B. Literature and Biography
In discussing the relation between literature and biography, Welleck and
Warren exclaim the importance of an author behind his work. From what an author
writes, we can study his experience in his life, his personalities, or even his feelings
written in his works. They further describe the different functions of biography in
Biography can be judged in relation to the light it throws on the actual production of poetry : but we can of course, defend it and justify it as a study of the man of genius, of his moral, intellectual, and emotional development, which has its own intrinsic interest; and finally we can think of biography as affording materials for a systematic study of the psychology of the poet and the poetic process (1970:75).
From these two points of view on the function of literary work related to the
biographical information of its author, the writer will adopt the first point of view in
which a literary work is used as a useful tool for studying the artist who works on his
art works. By using the biographical information in our literary study, we will be
able to see what an author witnesses in his life such as his travels, the landscape and
cities he sees, his personal acquaintances with others and even his growth, mature
and decline as an author.
There are many critics and scholars of the literature using the biographical
information as means of critical considerations. More recent critics have gone
further in using the biography as the way to deal with the body of an author's work.
They tend to explain the work of art in relation with the outline of the author's
life. For example, in his study of “Tennyson”, Sir Harold Nicolson divides the
poet's art into periods, then he judges and analyses the poetry and Tennyson's
periods of life accordingly. Newton in his study of Melville's Moby Dick relates it
with the journal of sea voyages Melville made in his life. (Danziger and Jonson,
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At the end of their discussion about biography and literature, Welleck &
Warren argue that even though there is a close relation between an author's life and
his work, the relation is not as simple as cause and effect relationship. The author
will rearrange his life and experience, he may even dramatise them so that they loose
their personal sense and become simply concrete common human material. Therefore
a careful scrutiny is very important to be implemented in comparing his biography
and his work ( 1970 : 79 ).
C. The Biography of Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St Paul,
Minnesota. His father was a gentleman with beautiful Southern manners and his
mother was an Irish descendant whose father had emigrated from Ireland in 1850.
As the grocery business of Fitzgerald's grandfather was flourishing, Fitzgerald had
been living at St Paul's most important residential street, Summit Avenue. The
family lived in a huge house called Victorian McQuilland Mansion. The house
in a way represented the security of wealth to Fitzgerald's life. especially his
education. From his mother Fitzgerald learned about the passion for literature and
from his father's character, he learned a great tradition of gentility.
In 1908 Fitzgerald started his first schooling by going to St Paul Academy, a
private boy school. Although his family was not really rich. Fitzgerald
was always encouraged to uphold the importance of education and of material and
showing his interest in writing. He wrote a mystery story based on the history of the
United State of America and the happenings on the city. Although he was not
popular at his school, Fitzgerald had managed to publish his short stories in the
student paper. He even wrote two short plays entitled A Regular Fix and The Girl from Lazy J.
In 1911 Fitzgerald entered Newman Academy in Hacken Sack, New Jersey.
He was sent to a boarding school after his parents had noticed that he neglected his
school. Fitzgerald did so because he did not like the behaviour of his classmates,
who considered him as an outsider for being poorer than the others. Although his
family always lived in the most important area, they were in fact living socially on
the edge of it. Starting from this point Fitzgerald was anxious enough about his
social environment. In his secondary school Fitzgerald wrote two plays entitled
The Captured Shadow and The Coward.
In September 1913 Fitzgerald entered Princeton University. Here he soon
became a member of The Triangle Club which later would give him a way for his
literary career. It was the influential social organization organizing an annual
music show. Fitzgerald wrote Fie! Fi! Fi! and The Evil Eye for the club.
While studying at Princeton, Fitzgerald meet Father Signourney Fay, John
Peale Bishop and Edmun Wilson. From his initiation with those gentlemen
Fitzgerald was encouraged to write. He also realized that writing would only be a
way he could do to gain his lost popularity and shattered social status. By the end of
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and imperfect, the manuscript was rejected by publisher. The publisher encouraged
Fitzgerald to improve the manuscript. Fitzgerald was disappointed and he ignored it
for a while since he had to serve for the army. While he was stationed in Alabama.
Fitzgerald meet Zelda Sayre, his future wife, in Montgomery.
Being discharged from the army, Fitzgerald worked seriously on his first
manuscript. Once again he realized that writing was the only thing he could do to
conform himself as a man with dignity. In this 1920 This Side of Paradise was
published and it turned out to be a successful one. Fitzgerald was finally convinced
by himself that he could write and be successful. By the success of the book
Fitzgerald could earn a lot of money and most importantly his popularity. What
made him happier was that Zelda Sayre, his girlfriend reaffirmed her love from
Alabama soon after she heard about Fitzgerald's success as a writer. She told
Fitzgerald that she still loved him very much and that she could not forget him.
This Side of Paradise itself reflects Fitzgerald's life while studying at
Princeton. It records what he felt and experienced during his college years. Through
Amory Blaine, Fitzgerald put his preparatory years at school at Princeton. This
book also notes the moral decadence and protest against the old tradition practiced
by the young generation. Like Fitzgerald himself, Amory Blaine is finally able to
escape from the unpleasant system by finding himself.
After his first success as a writer, Fitzgerald married Zelda in April 1920
in New York. Zelda would later play an important role in Fitzgerald life. As
distinction of her husband. However the newly married couple soon became a new
attraction in New York. Almost every evening they attended parties from one place
to another. Little did Fitzgerald realise that actually his wife brought no
tranquillity to his life and literary career. He even enjoyed living extravagantly with
his wife. This expensive life cost Fitzgerald a serious financial problem. To cover
the expenses Fitzgerald wrote stories with little or no literary quality. His stories
were collected in Flappers and Philosopher published in 1920. To indulge his
expensive life style, Fitzgerald had begun borrowing money from Harold Ober and
Scribner's. This was the beginning of his lifetime practice of borrowing money.
On March 3, 1922, Fitzgerald completed The Beautiful and Damned and was soon published. This book was a serious one and directly reflected the conflicts
between Fitzgerald and Zelda. The main characters of the book, Anthony and
Gloria represented how Fitzgerald felt about the attitudes of his wife. Anthony
and Gloria were characterised as people who neither could resist the charming
and ugly world they were surrounded by nor be strong enough to escape from it. It
was just like the way Fitzgerald and Zelda led their lives. As Fitzgerald felt, actually
Anthony and Gloria were pitiful and silly instead of beautiful and damned people.
Through the novel Fitzgerald could make the public feel what he felt about his
life with his wife.
The sales of the book was fairly good but it was not financially good
enough since Fitzgerald had been deeply indebted to Ober and Scribner's.
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publication of the second novel, Fitzgerald published the second collection of
stories called Tales of The Jazz Age. However he still had his financial problems. Fitzgerald and Zelda could not stop living extravagantly. They did not care about
keeping the money well. What they enjoyed to have was the mobility and grace
which was in fact available only to the rich. But it seemed that it was necessary for
them to keep up their appearances. In order to earn more money Fitzgerald wrote
The Vegetable. When it was performed in 1923, it turned out to be a big flop.
With the illusion of reducing expenses and still having the fashionable life,
Fitzgerald decided to move his family to France. He moved there in May 1924.
They settled at St Raphael on Rivera. They left Great Neck after being told that
everything was very cheap in Europe.
The Great Gatsby was published in April 1925 and it was the big leap forward for Fitzgerald's literary achievement. Many critics praised the book as the
best work of him. In this book Fitzgerald expounded his deepest feeling from what
he had experienced in life. This time he created a hero living without money and
acquiring it later. Jay Gatsby, the hero of the book enters the army in The South
and meets a charming girl over there. While Gatsby is away, Daisy, the girl he is in
love with, married a rich man. Having earned enough money, Gatsby tries to
recapture Daisy's love, but it only causes him to die in futile.
Although the book was highly praised, Fitzgerald was disappointed with the
sale of it. He escaped it with thousand parties and he did not write at all. He hated
held by a friend, Zelda started showing her madness. Being tired and disillusioned,
Fitzgerald had decided to come back to America at the end of 1925.
In 1928 and 1928 Fitzgerald and Zelda revisited Paris to spend the summers.
This time Zelda wanted to take a ballet course. During this period Fitzgerald had
begun writing his fourth novel. He basically wrote it based on his life experience. At
the end of 1933 Fitzgerald was finally able to complete Tender Is the Night which reflected his life in many ways. The sales of the book was not really satisfying since
the book itself was about the chic people living luxuriously on the Rievera while in
reality most people were suffering from the enormous economic depression since
1929. Tender Is the Night was published in 1934. In 1936 Fitzgerald wrote The Crack Up describing his own down fall.. Despite his difficulties in life, Fitzgerald
tried to write his fifth novel, The Last Tycoon. His illness prevented him from finishing the book.
In November 1940 Fitzgerald had a heart attack and had to rest. While lying
in bed he worked hard to write the book. He could write as far as the first part, of
chapter VI, before the second and fatal heart attack took his life, on December 21,
1940. The artist had prematurely died and left behind his unfinished book. He was
buried in the Rockville Union Cemetery in Marylan on December 27, 1940
17 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
The object of the study is Fitzgerald fourth novel, Tender Is the Night. It is
the most ambitious novel Fitzgerald ever wrote. The novel is divided into three
parts consisting of sixty one chapters in total. The novel used in the analysis is
published by Wordsworth Editions Limited in 1994.
Tender Is the Night is the story about the life of Richard Diver, a young
psychiatrist from America who marries his mental patient, Nicole Warren. In the
beginning of the story, Dick Diver is described as a clever scholar who gets a
scholarship to study in Swiss. While working in a hospital during his study, Dick
meets Nicole Warren who suffers from a schizophrenia, a mental disorder illness,
because of an incestuous attack from his father when she was a teenager. Nicole is
from a very wealthy family and Dick is just from a simple family. Out of his pity and
attracted by Nicole’s wealth, finally Dick marries Nicole. Being charmed with the
new rich world, Dick is busy with his new world and social activities, Dick gradually
ignore his career as a psychiatrist. After being recovered from her illness, Nicole
finally leaves Dick and chooses another man. Being too late to realise his downfall,
Dick is forced to go back to America with his ruined life.
What attracts the writer of the study to analyse the novel is the great
similarities between the story of the novel and the life of the author. Some
resemblance is, Fitzgerald still uses his creative imagination in expounding his life
and experiences. Knowing these facts, the writer of the study tries to find out the
elements of the novel reflecting Fitzgerald life and what Fitzgerald wants to yield
out by writing the novel.
The approach applied in the study is the biographical approach. The writer
believes that the approach chosen will lead him best to investigate every possible
relation between an author and his works. Fitzgerald himself is famous for his
semi-autobiographical works because he frequently uses his life and experiences as
the sources of his writings.
In Reading and Writing About Literature, Mary Rorhrberger states that
the biographical approach is an approach starting with the conviction that a literary
work shares the ideas and the personality of the author either directly or indirectly.
As the product of an author, a literary work reflects the personality and the life of its
author. Consequently, in understanding a literary work we can relate it with the
biographical information of the author. The biography of an author is very
significant to the analysis of his works as it will provide us sufficient facts (1971:8).
Rorhberger further describes that when we apply a biographical approach we
are not allowed to make any moral judgement toward any literary work we study.
We should avoid this practise as it will only lead us to the shallow criticism to a piece
of literary criticism. What is far better to do is trying to find out what an author wants
to speak out through his writings. This is what the writer is going to do in studying
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As Rorhrberger suggests, the writer uses the primary sources and the
secondary sources in doing his study. Using both sources means that the writer
will use either his own findings from his careful reading and observations and the
observations of the critics to corroborate the analysis (1971:99).
The first step of conducting the study is to observe the elements of the novel
such as characters, setting, and theme. He limits the analysis to those elements
only as he wants to prove his hypothesis that those elements are obviously
reflecting Fitzgerald's life and experiences.
The main source of the study is Fitzgerald's fourth novel Tender Is the
Night. The writer of the study reads the novel carefully and observes the elements
of the story thoroughly. After reading the novel carefully, the writer gathers the
data from the significant elements relevant to the topic of his study. The same
method is applied in reading Fitzgerald's biography. By conducting a library research
the writer finds many important information about Fitzgerald's biography and
the criticism of Fitzgerald works, especially Tender In the Night. The writer
obtains the most complete biographical information of Fitzgerald from Some Sort of
Epic Grandeur The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald written by Mathew J. Bruccoli.
To enlarge the basic resources of his analysis, the writer uses the criticisms
of Tender Is the Night. He mainly uses Mizener's F. Scott Fitzgerald A collection
sources are important so as to supplement the writer's own finding and
observations.
The comparison between the elements of the novel and the life of Fitzgerald
and his experiences will finally give the thorough answers toward the discussion
21 CHAPTER IV
THE ANALYSIS
Before the writer of the analysis starts his analysis of the study, he likes to describe necessary steps that lead him to a thorough analysis. He will describe theoretical background of his analysis as to validate his study with sufficient sources such as the
biography of Fitzgerald written by Andrew Mizener, the biography approach formulated by Welleck and Warren, and Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
A. The elements of the story which reflect Fitzgerald’s life
In writing Tender is The Night, the writer of this study has been confirmed by facts
found in the story and in Fitzgerald’s biography written by Arthur Mizener that there are some elements in the book revealing Fitzgerald’s life either directly expressed or recreated in an imaginative figure. The writer in here will only reveal the elements of the novel which have significant similarities with Fitzgerald’s life as to focus his analysis.
Among many elements of the story, setting, characters, and theme are found to be the ones strongly reflecting Fitzgerald’s life recreated in Tender is The Night. Before going further to the analysis of the setting, characters, and theme, the writer of this thesis likes to emphasize that Fitzgerald uses flash back method in unfolding the story of the novel.
Tender Is the Night is divided into three parts. The first part of the book has twenty five chapters. This part of the novel begins in 1925. From Rosemary Hoyt, a rising movie star from America who spends her holiday with her mother in French Riviera, we are led
The second part of the book has twenty two chapters. This part of the novel reveals the back ground of Dick Diver from his college time in America. He receives a
scholarship to study in Swiss. He is in love with Nicole Warrens, his mental patient suffering from schizophrenia. This part of the novel starts in the year of 1917 with the arrival of Dick Divers in Zurich for his study. This book is mostly dedicated to Dick Divers . On the other hand, we also find the past of Nicole Warren, Dick’s future wife
who suffers from a mental disorder because of an incestuous attack from her father. In short, the second part of this book tells us the past of Dick Divers and his wife.
The third part of the book is the last part of the story which is telling us the continuity of the first part of Tender Is the Night. It tells us how finally Dick’s marriage
cracked down and his carrier is deteriorated.
A.1. Setting
The setting of Tender Is the Night mostly takes place in Europe and a little part in America. The setting in Europe is set particularly in the neighborhood of French Riviera,
and Swiss The analysis of the setting will start from the setting of places to the setting of time as to show the significant of this element toward the story related to the biography of Fitzgerald. The writer would first analyze the setting of places. The setting of time will be analyzed afterward. These two categories of setting are the found to be closely similar
to Fitzgerald’s experience.
The novel begins with the setting set in French Riviera where Dick Divers and Nicole Warrens, his wife, live with their family. Dick Divers and Nicole will be analyzed later as
the main characters in the story. Dick has a huge and luxurious house built in a high class environment where most high class Americans stay in this place for summer holiday.
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Deferential palms cool its flushed façade, and before it stretches a short dazzling beach. Lately it has become a summer resort of notable and fashionable people; a decade ago it was almost deserted after its English clientele went north in April. Now, many bungalows cluster near it, but when this story begins only the cupolas of a dozen old villas rotted like water-lilies among the massed pines between Gausse’s Hotel des Etrangers and Cannes, five miles away ( pp. 1 ).
The quotation above shows a certain type of society which belongs to the high class. The Riviera itself is described as a dazzling beach where notable and fashionable
people live. After the First World War ended, the economy in America and Europe has crumbled significantly. Many Americans go to Europe with the hopes of finding cheaper places to live in.
As a rich family, the Divers has built their own world by having a big house at the
top of the cliff in Tarmes. We can see it from the following quotation :
She stood in the ancient hill village of Tarmes. The villa and its grounds were made of a row of peasant dwellings that abutted on the cliff – five small houses had been combined to make the house and four destroyed to make the garden. The exterior walls were untouched so that from road far below it was indistinguishable from the violet grey mass of the town ( pp. 27 ).
The villa signifies the small world where Dick Divers creates his dreaming world by becoming a notable person. Dick and Nicole often invite people to have a party , in a way
it is to show off how wealthy they are.
Fitzgerald himself sometimes spends his summer holiday with Zelda, his wife. They even stay in the Riviera. Fitzgerald and Zelda spent their summer holiday for the first time in 1921. They stayed in the neighborhood of Paris at that time. However, they did not enjoy their first trip to Europe.
home to spend the summer in St Paul waiting for their child to arrive ( Mizener : 59 : 1972 ).
Paris, as the capital of France is also used as a city where the story of the novel takes place. In the Twenties, Paris was famous as the gathering place for famous artist. It is the center of cultural and art activities. Many famous writers spent their time in this place as to find new and fresh inspiration for their artistic works. Hemingway, Perkin,
were few to mention among many writers Fizgerald sometimes met during his stay in Europe. The Dome is a favorite café in Paris for expatriate writers. The following quotations show Paris as the setting of the story :
…What I’m coming to is – Nicole and I are going up to Paris to see Abe North off for America- I wonder if you’d like to go with us’ ( pp. 39 ).
WHEN THEY REACHED PARIS Nicole was too tired to go on to the grand illumination at the Decorative Arts Exposition as they had planned…( pp. 63 ). ABE NORTH WAS STILL IN THE RITZ BAR, where he had been since nine in the morning…( pp. 108 ).
In 1924, Fitzgerald and Zelda decided to move to France with the expectation that life in Europe is cheaper than that in America.
After his winter’s burst of money-making, Fitzgerald found himself some $ 7000 ahead. He and Zelda decided that they could not live reasonably at Great Neck but could do so in Europe, where everyone told them that, it was very cheap. “ We are going to the Old world to find a new rhythm for our lives,’ Fitzgerald wrote, ‘ with true conviction that we had left our old selves behind forever…’ ( Mizener : 66 : 1972 ).
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From the quotation of Tender Is the Night and Fitzgerald biography, we could see that Fitzgerald merely creates the setting in Paris based on his own experiences while
staying there. He simply puts some places he has visited in France as the setting of the novel. The choice of the Riviera and Paris as the setting of the novel is to illustrate a historical record from the Americans who favor this place as the best destination for their emigration in the Twenties.
Another important place for the setting of Tender is the Night is Swiss in which Dick Diver first starts his long stay in Europe. Swiss is described on the second part of the novel where Dick studies psychiatric before he meets Nicole Warren and later marries her.
IN THE SPRING OF 1917, when Doctor Richard Diver first arrived in Zurich, he was twenty-six years old, a fine age for a man, indeed the very acme of bachelorhood….( pp. 121 ).
Switzerland was an island, washed on one side by the waves of thunder around Gorizia and on another by the cataracts along the Somme and the Aisne… ( pp. 121 ).
The setting in Switzerland is written in Tender Is the Night based on Fitzgerald experiences when he has to hospitalize Zelda because of serious mental breakdown. Zelda breaks down in April 1931 and has to stay in the clinic for the rest of the year there.
While staying in the clinic Fitzgerald has been initiated with some mental psychiatrists and doctors there.
…During the fifteen months his wife remained at Prangins, Fitzgerald lived mainly in Lausanne, where he occasionally met people who were studying with zurich schol of psychiatrist. In Lausanne, sometimes in 1931, Fitzgerald obtained a copy of Jung’s Psychological Types. He also came to own Jung’s
Psychology of the Unconscious ( Sklar : 263 : 1967 )
It is very obvious that setting in Swiss and Austria are inspired by Fitzgerald experience while hospitalizing Zelda in Swiss and Prangins, Austria. As written on
Fitzgerald’s biography above, we can see that Fitzgerald writes that Dick Diver’s study in psychology based on Fitzgerald’s study on Jung’s theory.
After discussing the setting of place, the writer of the study would go further with the novel itself starting with the arrival of Mrs. Elsie Speers and Rosemary Hoyt,
her daughter, to Gausse’s Hotel. The setting of the time is in June, 1925. As one of the main characters in the novel, Rosemary has a big contribution to the story as from her observation in the first part of the book, we are introduced to Dick Divers and his family. A mile from the sea, where pines give way to dusty poplars, is an isolated railroad stop, whence one June morning in 1925, a victoria brought a woman and her daughter down to Gausse’s Hotel ( pp. 1-2 : 1994 ).
As notified in the earlier part of this chapter, the novel uses flash back in unfolding the past before continuing the story. In the second part of the novel, the setting of time is in the year 1917, eight years earlier before the novel begins.
IN THE SPRING OF 1917, when Doctor Richard Diver first arrived in Zurich, he was twenty-six years old, a fine age for a man, indeed the very acme of bachelorhood. Even in war time days, it was a fine for Dick, who was already too valuable, to much of a capital investment to be shot off in a gun…( pp.121 ).
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In order to have a better life with limited money, Fitzgerald and Zelda decide to move to Europe in 1924. They are told that Europe is a cheap place to live and they could
have an extravagant life with little money. Fitzgerald also hopes that by moving to Europe he will have a fresh and new ideas for his writings as he has been in trouble for some years after finishing his last novel. A year later, they decide to go back to America.
After the success of The Great Gatsby, and some other writings, Fitzgerald and
Zelda once again try to come back and settle in Paris in 1929. They stay in Paris and Riviera for the summer. In 1930 Zelda has to be hospitalized in Switzerland because of her mental breakdown. A year later, after Zelda recovers from her illness, they are back to America ( Mizener : 82- 85 : 1969 ).
From the setting of Tender Is the Night set in 1917 – 1925 and the years when Fitzgerald spends his life with Zelda in the Riviera between 1924 and 1929, we can see that the setting of time in the novel is slightly different from the time when Fitzgerald lives in Europe. From this comparison we can say that Fitzgerald uses his creative
writing in setting the time. In reality Fitzgerald has to stay in Swiss to accompany Zelda at the clinic in 1931, but he uses the setting of Swiss in 1917 as the back ground of Dick Diver’s study of psychology. The Divers move to Riviera and live there in 1925, but in reality Fitzgerald and Zelda live in Paris and Riviera in 1930. Although the setting of
time in the novel is not exactly the same as the time when the Fitzgeralds stay in Europe, the situation of that period is about the same. This decade is famous as the roaring Twenties where hedonism is widely practiced by people.
enjoy their lives. With his sense of romantic feelings Fitzgerald writes the setting beautifully as shown by the following quotations :
The hotel and its bright tan prayer rug of beach were one. In the early morning the distant image of Cannes, the pink and cream of old fortifications, the purple Alps that bounded Italy, were cast across the water and lay quavering in the ripples and rings sent up by sea-plants through the clear shallows…( pp. 1 ).
Switzerland was an island, washed on one side by the waves of thunder around Gorizia and on another by the cataracts along the Somme and the Aisne…( pp. 121 ).
A.2. Characters
The characters to be analyzed in this thesis are only the main characters in the novel. The writer chooses three major characters in Tender Is the Night which are related closely to the resemblance between the characters and the life and experiences of Fitzgerald. After a scrutiny and careful study, Dick Diver, Rosemary Hoyt, and Nicole
Warren are found to be the major characters in the novel. Rosemary Hoyt is the first major character in Tender Is the Night as she dominates the first part of the book. Through her eyes, we are led and guided to observe Dick Diver, his family, his groups and his world. Dick Diver and his past are fully exposed in the second part of the novel.
In other words, this book is dedicated to Dick Diver. Nicole Warren, on the other hand, has her own significant part in the last part of the book. As she is getting herself recovered, she is no longer in need of Dick’s treatment for her illness. She is finally
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A.2.1. Dick Diver
Based on Abrams’ description that characters as “ the persons in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that expressed in what they say or do”. ( Abrams : 20 : 1971 ), we will see the main characters of the novel based on what they say or do. We could also see the character from what other people
think, feel or say about him.
As the novel uses the flash back method in unfolding the story, the writer of this thesis will describe Dick Diver from the second part of the book as it reveals Dick Diver from his past. By doing so, we could see the character development from the very
beginning of his life written in the book .
Dick Diver is described as a young and clever student graduated from Oxford Rhodes Scholar from Connecticut who continues his psychiatric study in Vienna.
IN THE SPRING OF 1917, when Doctor Richard Diver first arrived in Zurich, he was twenty-six years old, a fine age for a man, indeed the very acme of bachelorhood. Even in war time days, it was a fine age for Dick, who was too valuable, to much of a capital investment to be shot off in a gun…( pp. 121 ) Doctor Diver had seen around the edges of the war by that time : he was an Oxford Rhodes Scholar from Connecticut in 1914. He returned home for a final year at Johns Hopkins, and took his degree. In 1916 he managed to get to Vienna under the impression that, if he did not make haste, the great Freud would eventually succumb to an airplane bomb…( pp. 122 )
Meanwhile he had projected a new work: An Attempt as a Uniform and Pragmatic Classification of the Neuroses and Psychoses, Based on an Examination of Fifteen Hundred Pre- Krapaelin Cases as they Would Be Diagnosed in the
Terminology of the Different Contemporary Schools – an another sonorous
paragraph – Together with a Chronology of Such subdivisions of Opinion as Have arisen Independently ( pp. 156 ).
study instead of going to the army servicing for the war. Dick also likes to behave as a romantic hero himself.
Meanwhile he had projected a new work: An Attempt as a Uniform and Pragmatic Classification of the Neuroses and Psychoses, Based on an Examination of Fifteen Hundred Pre- Krapaelin Cases as they Would Be Diagnosed in the
Terminology of the Different Contemporary Schools – an another sonorous
paragraph – Together with a Chronology of Such subdivisions of Opinion as Have arisen Independently ( pp. 156 ).
From the quotation above we can see that before he gets married, Dick Diver is active in writing scientific paper in psychology.
Dick is also a man with a good character. This is told by Doctor Dohmler at the clinic in Switzerland.
‘ Doctor Diver is a man of fine character,’ he said. ‘ I feel he only has to appreciate the situation in order to deal correctly with it. In my opinion Dick can cooperate right here, without anyone going away.’ ( pp. 149 ).
While practicing in a clinic in Switzerland, Dick meets Nicole Warren, an American mental patient suffering from incestuous assault from her father. Dick takes
part in taking care of Nicole. Gradually, Dick and Nicole continue developing their contact into love relationship, but Dick admits that he is first in love with Nicole. We can see it from the following quotation :
‘ I like her. She’s attractive. What do you want me to do- take her up in the edelweiss?’
‘ No, I thought since you go in for scientific books you might have an idea.’
‘- devote my life to her?’ ( pp. 147 ).
Dick felt churlish in the face of the situation; at the same time he realized in the silence after Dohmler’s pronouncement that the state of inanimation could not be indefinitely prolonged; suddenly he spilled everything.
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As a student in Zurich, Dick has a simple life, but he now sees the opportunity to become rich by marrying Nicole. Dick tells his reasons for marrying Nicole to Baby
Warren, Nicole’s sister in the following quotation :
… Baby, I’m more practical than you think – It’s only for clothes and things I’ll need it…Why that’s more than – can the estate really afford to give me all that? I know I’ll never manage to spend it. Do you have that much? Why do you have more?… ( pp. 170 ).
Finally Dick marries Nicole with the considerations that he will be needed by Nicole for her cure. Dick marries Nicole for the reasons of being pity toward her and needing her money as to enter top class. The following quotation shows what Dick
wants by marrying Nicole,
…He delighted in her stretching out her hands to new octaves now that she found herself beautiful and rich. He tried honestly to divorce her from any obsession that he had stitched her together – glad to see her build up happiness and confidence apart from him; the difficulty was that, eventually, Nicole brought everything to his feet, gifts of sacrificial ambrosia, or worshipping myrtle ( pp. 146 ).
After Dick marries Nicole, they move to Tarmes in France as Nicole Warren likes to leave the clinic.
… When I get well I want to be a fine person like you, Dick – I would study medicine except it’s too late. We must spend our money and have a house – I’m tired of apartments and waiting for you. You’re bored with Zurich and you can’t find time for a scientist not to write. And I’ll look over the whole field of knowledge and pick out something and really know about it, so I’ll have it hang on to if I go to pieces again. You’ll help me, Dick, so I won’t feel so guilty. We’ll live near a warm beach where we can be brown and young together ( pp. 172 ).
X. This chapter is the last part from the use of flash back narration in telling Dick’s past or back ground.
No one comes to the Riviera in summer, so we expect to have a few guests and to work. There are some French people here – Mistinguette last week, surprised to find the hotel open, and Picasso and the man who wrote Pas sur la Bouche. ( pp. 172 )
Being busy with new and rich live, Dick has been busy with parties held in their
house. As quoted previously, Dick likes to win every one. Giving a good and cheerful party is one easy way to win everyone’s heart.
ALTHOUGH THE DIVERS were honestly apathetic to organized fashion, they were nevertheless too acute to abandon its contemporaneous rhythm and beat – Dick’s parties were all concerned with excitement, and a chance breath of fresh night air was the more precious for being experienced in the intervals of the excitement ( pp. 81 ).
What is worse for Dick is that being busy with new life makes him loose and neglect his scientific activities. Parties and being happy is more attractive to Dick than the job as a psychiatrist.
He was currently uneasy about the whole thing. He resented the wasted years at New haven, but mostly he felt a discrepancy between the growing luxury in which the Divers lived, and the need for display which apparently went along with it... ( pp. 177 ).
When Dick meets Rosemary on the beach and gets to know her better after having several encounters with her, he is deliberately making a flirt with Rosemary Hoyt, the movie star he meets on the beach. He is gradually being in love with her. It is revealed on
the conversation between Dick and Mrs. Speers.
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From the quotations above we could see the development of Dick Diver’s characterization. First he is described as a clever young man with good or fine character.
After getting married with his patient who inherits a great fortune, Dick is charmed by a new world of being the rich. Dick gradually neglects his scientific activities and is busy with parties. When his wife, Nicole, is in love with other man, he tries to do similar thing by having an affair with Rosemary Hoyt. From these facts we could see either moral
deterioration or professional degradation from Dick Diver.
At the end of the story Dick’s marriage is breaking down. Nicole Warren chooses Tommy Barban and Dick leaves her and goes back to America. We can see it from the following quotations :
‘ The first drink I ever had was with you,’ Rosemary said, and with a spurt of enthusiasm she added, ‘ I’m so glad to see you and know you’re all right. I was worried –‘ Her sentence broke as she changed direction, ‘- that maybe you wouldn’t be.’
Did you hear I’d gone into a process of deterioration?” ‘ Oh no. I simply – just heard you’d changed.( pp. 305 ).
NICOLE KEPT IN TOUCH with Dick Diver after her new marriage; there were letters on business matter, and about the children. When she said , she often did, ‘I loved Dick and I’ll never forget him,’ Tommy answered, ‘ Of course not, why should you?’
Dick opened an office in Buffalo, but evidently without success. Nicole did not find what the trouble was, but she heard a few months later that he was in a little town named Batavia, New York, practising general medicine, and later that he was in Lockport, doing the same thing… ( pp. 337 ).
From the description of Dick Diver, the writer of this thesis could strongly see the big similarities between Dick Diver and Fitzgerald himself. In his real life, Fitzgerald with his writing in his early career seems to be promising. After he marries Zelda and is
But their lifestyle was expensive. ‘It costs more,’ Zelda said, ‘ to ride on the tops of taxis…and Joseph urban skies are expensive when they’re real.’ ( Mizener : 55 : 1967).
… Their regular late night trip back to Great Neck from a party at the Palais Royal, the Plantation, the Rendezvous, or the Club Gallant, was always an odyssey…( Mizener : 62 : 1967 ).
In Tender Is the Night, Dick Diver marries a girl who suffers from schizophrenia,
in reality Fitzgreald’s wife, Zelda Sayre also suffers from schizophrenia as well. Nicole Warren has this mental disorder because of an incestuous attack from her father, while Zelda has the mental disorder because of her habit of taking heavy drinks and domestic problems.
… To intensify his sympathy and remorse, Fitzgerald had his knowledge of howmuch he had contributed to Zelda’s collapse, however inevitable – as the doctors all assured him was the case – it had been… ( Mizener : 85 : 1967 ).
Dick Diver and Fitzgerald are both acting like heroes in the cure of Nicole Warren and Zelda Sayre. Dick’s career as a psychiatrist gradually deters as Dick has been
occupied himself with luxury life style he has never had before and Fitzgerald’s writing career deters as he has been too busy with parties, heavy drinks, and domestic problems with Zelda.
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At the end of the story, Nicole Warren gains her complete recovery and leaves Dick Diver while Zelda has never been cured completely. Dick Diver goes back to
America and practises general medicine while Fitzgerald never leaves Zelda but he looses his craftmanship and is only able to write simple writing works at the end of his career. He gradually gets a hart attack from his habit of taking alcohol heavily and finally dies because of a serious heart attack.
From this comparison between Dick Diver and Fitzgerald, the writer could say that Dick Diver is the transference of Fitzgerald himself. In other word, Dick is the projection of the writer’s biography. Fitzgerald does not merely transfer his life into Dick’s character, but he still uses his creative ability in making up different
circumstances between his life and Dick’s.
A.2.2. Rosemary Hoyt
Rosemary is introduced in the novel as a rising American movie star who spends
her summer holiday with her mother on the Riviera. She is only 18 years old and she is much dependent on her mother, Mrs. Elsie Speers.
…Her mother’s face was a fading prettiness that would soon be patted with broken veins; her expression was both tranquil and aware in a pleasant way. However, one’s eyes moved quickly to her daughter, who had magic in her pink palms and her cheeks lit to a lovely flame, like the trilling flush of children after their cold bath in the evening. Her fine high forehead sloped gently up to where her hair bordering it like an armorial shield, burst into lovelocks and waves and curlicues of ash blonde and gold. Her eyes were bright, big, clear, wet, and shinning, the colour of her cheeks was real, breaking close to the surface from the strong young pump of her heart. Her body hovered delicately on the late edge of childhood – she was almost eighteen, nearly complete, but the dew was still on her ( pp. 2 ).
with Dick at the first time she meets him on the beach. She does know what to do by falling in love with a married man. She consults it with her mother and Mrs. Speers calms
her down.
‘ I fell in love on the beach,’ said Rosemary. ‘ Who with?’
‘ First with a whole lot of people who looked nice. Then with one man.’ ‘ Did you talk to him?’
‘ Just a little. Very handsome. With reddish hair.’ She was eating, ravenously.’ He’s married though – it’s usually the way.’
Her mother was her best friend and had put every last possibility into the guiding of her, not so rare a thing in the theatrical profession, but rather special in that Mrs. Elsie Speers was not recompensing herself of a defeat of her own… ( pp. 11 ).
‘ I love him, Mother, I’m desperately in love with him – I never knew I could feel that way about anybody. And he’s married and I like her too – it’s just hopeless. Oh, I love him so!’
‘I’m curious to meet him.’
‘ She invited us to dinner Friday.’
‘ If you are in love it ought to make you happy. You ought to laugh.’
Rosemary looked up and gave a beautiful little shiver of her face an laughed. Her mother always had a great influence on her ( pp. 22 ).
Instead of thinking that being in love with a married man is not a good thing to have, Rosemary developing her love to Dick. She continues saying in love with Dick every
times she meets Dick or being together with him.
‘WHAT ARE YOU GIVING UP?’ demanded Rosemary facing Dick earnestly in the taxi.
‘Nothing of importance.’ ‘Are you a scientist?’ ‘I’m a doctor of medicine.’
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‘There is no mystery. I didn’t disgrace myself at the height of my career, and I hide away on the Riviera. I’m just not practising. You can’t tell, I’ll probably practise again some day.’
Rosemary put up her face quietly to be kissed. He looked at her for a mnoment as if he didn’t understand. Then holding her in the hollow of his arms he rubbed his cheek against her cheek’s softness, and then looked down at her for another long moment.
‘Such a lovely child ,’ he said gravely( pp. 66 ).
From the quotation above we can see that Dick at the beginning does not respond
Rosemary’s love properly. She is a teenager and Dick has also a daughter. Even though Dick does not reciprocally respond her love in the beginning, Rosemary keeps teasing him, even sexually.
‘ I know you don’t love me – I don’t expect it. But you said I should have told you about my birthday. Well, I did, and now for my birthday present I want you to come into my room a minute while I tell you something. Just one minute.’
( pp. 67 ).
But he was too late – she came close up against him with a forlorn whisper. ‘ Take me.’
‘ Take you where?’
Astonishment froze him rigid.
‘ Go on,’ she whispered. ‘ oh, please go on, whatever they do. I don’t care if I don’t like it – I never expected to – I’ve always hated to think about it but now I don’t. I want you to.’… ( pp. 68 ).
No matter how hard Rosemary tries to tease Dick to have a sexual encounter with her, Dick does not do so at that time. This sexual encounter occurs when few years later
Rosemary is in Rome for the movie and she meets Dick there .Dick happens to be in Rome after attending his father’s funeral in America. He is on the way home to the Riviera now.
wanted to be taken and she was, and what had begun with a childish infatuation on a beach was accomplished at last ( pp. 229 )
Rosemary in Tender Is the Night is purely the characters Fitzgerald invented based on his creative work. Rosemary in the beginning of the book is described as a childish young girl who is very much dependent on her mother. At the end of the book, she has become a mature young girl. She makes a movie scenes in Rome but this time,
she is not accompanied by her mother.
Fitzgerald himself in his life has never had any affair with a movie star. However, when he writes some scripts for the movies company in Hollywood in 1927, Fitzgerald meets Lois Moran, a young and famous movie star. Fitzgerald is fascinated by
her.( Mizener : 79 : 1972 )
Rosemary is created based on Fitzgerald’s admiration on Lois Moran. Fitzgerald expresses his personal feeling about her by creating Rosemary Hoyt who has been infatuated by Dick Diver from the first time she meets him. It shows Fitzgerald’s
wishes or dreams of becoming Lois Moran’s lover.
A.2.3. Nicole Warren
Nicole warren is the wife of Dick Diver. She has suffered from schizophrenia
because of an incestuous assault from her father, Devereux Warren. She is only sixteen years old when she is sent to a mental clinic in Switzerland as to have a proper medical treatment.
‘Doctor Dohmler, my daughter isn’t right in the head. I’ve had lots of specialists and nurses for her and she’s taken a couple of rest cures but the thing has grown too big for me and I’ve been strongly recommended to come to you.’
